The countdown is on now, you can see it and feel it. The Islanders’ woebegone season never quite reached the level of dysfunction that the Rangers seem to have perfected, but everyone would like to hit fast-forward to Friday morning when it will be over and done with.

After Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Devils at Prudential Center, there’s two games to go. If the Islanders can end the season on a positive note, great. If not, well, everyone is going to forget about this anyway.

“I’m not surprised,” coach Patrick Roy said of his team’s effort. “This is the quality of that group. The guys, they won’t give up. This is a proud group and they certainly want to finish strong.”

Nevertheless, the state of things is bleak, and if it’s a bummer to see it laid out then, hey, it’s just the plain truth. Pandemic-affected seasons aside, the Islanders winning on Sunday means they passed the 2017-18 group for recent ignominy, another win and they’ll tie the 2021-22 team on points.

Coaches Doug Weight and Barry Trotz were fired after those two respective seasons.

The good news on Sunday was that Ilya Sorokin returned to the crease after suffering a lower-body injury on Tuesday night in Nashville, stopping all 25 shots he saw for his fourth shutout of the season and tying Billy Smith for second on the Islanders’ all-time list.

“He looked phenomenal,” Bo Horvat said. “He’s just so calm and cool and so athletic in the net. We’re so lucky to have him. He was definitely at his top form here today.”

It’s reasonable to ask why the Islanders would risk another injury by starting him for the 60th time this season in a meaningless game; to that, recall that the other two options on Sunday were Marcus Hogberg for a second consecutive day or Tristan Lennox, who is anything but ready to play in the NHL, as coach Patrick Roy realized 4:43 after inserting him into Thursday’s loss to the Rangers.

Also, Sorokin is a competitive person in his own right.

“You should play if you can play,” he said.

In any case, Sorokin being healthy enough to play and to play well is a sigh of relief. The Islanders have been so decimated by injuries this season, the last thing they need between now and Thursday is for another person to go down, which brings us to the bad news: Paul Cotter’s hit on Adam Pelech.

A bloodied and furious Pelech left the game after Cotter connected with his head at 6:00 of the second, slamming his helmet to the ice and screaming at the Devils winger, who was hit with a match penalty for a hit to the head. He did not return, with the team citing an upper-body injury.

Roy did not have an update after the game, though it’s worth noting Pelech has a history of concussions.

As for the game itself, Horvat broke the ice by quickly firing off Timo Meier’s turnover at 19:03 of the second, putting the Islanders in a 1-0 lead after a mostly listless two periods, which featured a spectacularly hapless five-minute power play after Cotter’s hit.

The Islanders got set up just one time in five minutes and by the end of it, were running normal lines and pairs, with even Matt Martin getting 28 seconds at five-on-four.

No matter, Horvat’s goal was enough to defeat a disorganized Devils team that needs to get itself into shape before a first-round series against Carolina next week. The Islanders have no such worries.

For them, it’s on to Tuesday. And then on to the finish.