After the Islanders slogged through the first half of the first period against Columbus on Tuesday, it was only natural to wonder whether the spark generated by Doug Weight being named interim head coach had begun to fade.
Instead, the Isles scored four straight goals to overcome an early deficit and win for the third time in four games since the change at the top, this one a 4-2 victory at Barclays Center over one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
“Top to bottom, one of the best efforts of the year,” Weight said after the Islanders escaped the Eastern Conference basement with the victory. “[Columbus] has been on a roll since Game 4. They’re very consistent. We did a great job against a good team.”
It came after Weight had to make a switch on the top line, as Anders Lee was out with an illness and Nikolay Kulemin was placed alongside John Tavares and Josh Bailey.
Rather than look like a line that had just been put together, the trio flourished, scoring a pair of goals — one from Bailey and the other from Kulemin — with Tavares assisting on both.
After falling behind 1-0 midway through the first period, when Nick Foligno knocked a rebound past Thomas Greiss — who faced a barrage of pressure in the opening minutes of the period — the Isles woke up.
Bailey tied the game 1-1 at 2:21 of the second, as his pass bounced off Columbus defenseman Seth Jones’ skate and into the net. It was Bailey’s seventh goal of the season and the 100th of his career.
Kulemin then gave the Isles the lead at 16:29, when he cleaned up a rebound of a long shot by Calvin de Haan.
Brock Nelson added some insurance just 35 seconds into the third with a wrister and Jason Chimera added another at 5:25, as Columbus head coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Following a loss to the Flyers on Sunday, the Isles rested Monday, but used the time to study video to help them adjust to the tweaks Weight is making to the system.
They faced a stiff test against the Blue Jackets, and will see two more when Montreal and Washington come to Brooklyn in the next week.
“Montreal, Washington,” Weight said. “The challenges are going to get bigger and bigger as we go.”
He only can hope.
Tuesday’s game did provide reason for optimism — and did not surprise Tortorella.
“Whenever you make a coaching change … there’s always a little bit of juice within a team,” the ex-Ranger coach said prior to the game. “I know they’ll be ready to play.”
Despite the sluggish start, the Isles proved Tortorella right.
“It was a pretty good game overall,” Tavares said. “We responded to a pretty loose game on Sunday.”
And he wasn’t surprised Kulemin contributed.
“He’s a strong guy,” Tavares said. “He makes things happen.”
Weight indicated Lee would be back on the top line when he’s healthy again, but Kulemin’s performance certainly gives him something to consider.
But he’s pleased with the direction of the team that has begun to talk playoffs with four wins in five games — including Jack Capuano’s final game at the helm.
“We looked like a confident team that has something to prove and somewhere to go,” Weight said. “That’s exciting to me. It’s over for tonight. We have to go back to work.”