from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The puck was dropped on the neutral zone side of the Montreal line, 1:40 remained in the game, and goaltender Carey Price was itching to get to the bench for the extra attacker with the Canadiens down 2-1 at the Coliseum.

But the Islanders were having none of that, turning back the Canadiens not once, but twice, as they tried to advance the puck out of harm’s way. It took 55 seconds for the Habs to pull Price, and by that time, time essentially had run out on Montreal.

“Islanders hockey,” Barry Trotz said of the effort his team produced in Thursday’s 2-1 victory in which Anders Lee snapped a 1-1 draw at 17:03 of the third period off a bodacious two-on-one feed from Mat Barzal. “We fixed our battle [lel].”

There are still games to be won and points to be gained before the checkmark signifying playoff qualification can be placed in front of the team’s name. But barring a dramatic dive, the Islanders will be playing postseason hockey with a team built for traditional postseason hockey.

The question is whether a traditional playoff hockey team such as this one will be able to succeed in a Stanley Cup tournament that will follow a season in which scoring chances have dramatically increased and in which offense once again has a prominent place in the equation.

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