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No one is handing out medals just yet to the Islanders penalty kill, and whether or not a unit that has been nothing short of terrible all season can keep this up is a wide-open question.
But it has not gone unnoticed that heading into Monday’s match against the Blue Jackets, which amounts to a must-win if the Islanders have any shot of hanging around in the playoff race, they have gone six — count ’em, six — straight games without allowing a power-play goal.
That is their longest such stretch since the first eight games of the 2022-23 season, a span over which the four-on-five units have deteriorated into historically poor territory and a consistent reason for losing games.
If this is a sign of the penalty kill being pulled back from the abyss, it is most welcome.
“I think we changed a couple things around,” Scott Mayfield told The Post after Sunday’s practice. “We had a couple long meetings. We realized we had to be better. I like some of the stuff we’ve done. Pressure at times, making sure we get the clears when we can. Pressure down the ice, too, I think our forwards have done a great job on that. We have pretty defined jobs now.”
This does not look like merely a product of goaltending, either — though, to be sure, the goalies have helped.
Over the past two weeks, the Islanders are eighth in the league in shots allowed per 60 on the penalty kill and second in shorthanded attempts.
They are the only PK in the league not to allow a goal over that span.
Perfection is not sustainable, but for the first time in a (very, very) long time, the Islanders have found some confidence at four-on-five.
The Islanders suddenly look willing to step up to the blue line and deny entries.
Forwards are getting down the ice and bothering puck-carriers.
Nobody is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. There is more connectedness.
“A lot of teams have tendencies. I think we’re focusing more on that,” Mayfield said. “We watched a ton of video on stick position, body position, just overall positioning on the ice, where the dangerous guy is. We sorted a couple things out between the D and the forwards, between D-pairs.”
If this is the beginning of a turnaround — and that is a humongous if — the importance of it cannot be overstated.
For two years running, the penalty kill has been a constant, unending drag on the Islanders.
It is not an overstatement to say it’s the single biggest reason why they lost the first-round series against Carolina last season, and why this season has gone so poorly.
Fixing the penalty kill and fixing the Islanders are not one and the same. But the latter cannot happen without the former.
And whatever slim chance still exists at a playoff run is going to hit zero quickly if the Islanders revert to the same old issues at four-on-five.
After failing to spend enough time on special teams in camp — something coach Patrick Roy has said he regrets — work on both units has become a daily element of practice.
Finally, knock on wood, it might just be starting to pay off.
“I think that helps — repetition,” Roy said. “I think we try to simplify things. But more importantly, the guys put pride in it. They want it. They see the importance. I think we’re sick and tired of reading in the paper that our PK isn’t very good, so I think it’s a pride thing as well. When you’re going out there, it’s a commitment from the group.”
