The Islanders needed something to go their way before Christmas. 

After their game Friday night, they have even more injuries to deal with and they’re still below the playoff cutline — but at least they did pick up a win that will send them into the break feeling good. 

After falling behind to the Panthers, the Islanders surged back to take a 5-1 victory at UBS Arena in their final game before the holiday break. Given how the Islanders have struggled lately, losing five of their last six heading into Friday, they’ll take the two points, though they did come at a cost. 

Star center Brock Nelson left the ice for good at 8:13 of the second period after an attempted clearance by Alexander Romanov hit him in his head. He was soon followed by winger Simon Holmstrom, who was helped off the ice with three seconds to go in the second after a knee-to-knee collision with Florida’s Sam Bennett. 

Coach Lane Lambert did not have an update on either player after the game. Regarding the hit on Holmstrom, however, Lambert said: “Just in real time, it looked dangerous to me. I have to take another look at it.” 

The Islanders were already missing five regulars: Casey Cizikas was declared day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Kyle Palmieri and Semyon Varlamov joined Cal Clutterbuck and Adam Pelech on injured reserve. Partially as a result of that, center Aatu Räty and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon made their NHL debuts on Friday. 

Three days off for the holidays will serve the Islanders well as they try to get some of their players recovered in time to host the Penguins on Tuesday. On Friday, though, what they had turned out to be more than enough. 

“It’s huge,” Lambert said. “Especially going into the break. It’s a situation where you need to get rewarded at some point for your efforts. And I thought our guys did that tonight. It was important.” 

Räty ended up providing the dagger goal, walking into the slot and sniping the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky at 7:10 of the third period to extend the Islanders’ lead to 3-1. Just 1:11 later, Zach Parise put a bow on the win, beating Bobrovsky off a backhand to make it 4-1. 

“I thought him and Parker had phenomenal nights,” said Anders Lee, who assisted Räty’s goal. “Great move and had a great shot. It’s a special one and first of many for him.” 

Anthony Beauvillier added a fifth goal with an empty-net tally at 15:50 of the third, his second of the night. 

The Islanders scored twice in the second period to grab the lead. Beauvillier notched his 100th career goal from the slot off Noah Dobson’s rebound at 5:20. Ryan Pulock then broke the 1-1 tie at 19:15, beating Bobrovsky with a creative shot from the right-side wall that fluttered past the netminder. 

After a poor first period in which the Islanders failed to convert four power plays totaling 6:28 and let Matthew Tkachuk clean up Brandon Montour’s shot in the crease to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead, the ensuing 40 minutes gave the Islanders a much-needed reprieve. 

“Defensively, I don’t think we gave them a whole bunch,” Lambert said. “I thought we played north, played in their zone.” 

The break comes just in time for the Islanders, not only because of the injuries, but also because of their 4-6-2 record since Nov. 29. The Islanders made that look a little bit better on Friday, but it has been a long few weeks, and a reset couldn’t hurt, even after a solid game against the Panthers. 

The two points they earned against Florida kept them on pace with the Capitals for the last playoff spot in the East. But Washington beat Winnipeg, so the Islanders remained two points behind. 

Still, they were rightly happy to take momentum with them into the break. Asked about the effects of going into three days off on the back of victory, Lambert smiled. 

“Fantastic,” he said. “How’s that?”