In the span of a little over a month, the Islanders have gone from being forced, against common sense, to play to being forced to sit when they want nothing more than to be on the ice every day. 

They started the New Year with a victory when Noah Dobson scored 3:52 into overtime for a 3-2 win over the Oilers on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena. The Islanders’ first OT win of the season brought their point streak to four games. 

They finally are playing with the air of a team starting to click, albeit about two months late. The victory moved their record to 10-12-6, and .500 would be well within their sights if they had any games scheduled for the next 12 days. 

But thanks to the cancellation of a road trip meant to take them to Seattle, then through Western Canada, the Islanders do not have any games scheduled until Jan. 13. In the meantime, they will sit on their momentum. 

“Not gonna lie,” Anthony Beauvillier said, “it’s never easy, really. You want to get the momentum going and have games and play.” 

The victory Saturday was made all the more impressive by the absence of head coach Barry Trotz, who missed the game due to personal reasons, according to the team. Associate coach Lane Lambert ran things behind the bench because assistant coach John Gruden and goaltender coach Piero Greco were out due to COVID-19 protocol. 

“Our guys were completely committed to getting the job done,” Lambert said. “Very proud of them.” 

The Islanders trailed 2-1 going into the third period, but it took less than three minutes for them to tie it, when Beauvillier put home a rebound from Austin Czarnik with 17:37 to go in regulation. 

That set the stage for an onslaught. The Islanders recorded 11 shots in the period before the Oilers got their first. In overtime, Dobson finally put one past Mikko Koskinen, with a wrist shot from the slot with 1:08 to go after Mat Barzal created a chance. 

“Try and get open,” said Dobson, who has points in six of seven games. “Find a spot for him to hit me.” 

The Islanders’ power play, once a source of discontent, continued to hum. In their first opportunity, they moved the puck around, got chances and Anders Lee bullied his way around the net. The only thing missing was a goal, which Lee remedied by backhanding a rebound off the opening face-off of the Islanders’ second power play, at 16:40 in the first period. 

Edmonton fought back in the second, with Leon Draisaitl scoring 31 seconds into the period and Connor McDavid’s buzzing presence helping create a Darnell Nurse goal at 17:31. The Islanders could have tripped on that stumbling block. Instead, they found their footing. 

If not for the schedule, it could be said the Islanders are primed to start making up for lost ground. Lee has a five-game point streak. Barzal looks like a difference-maker again. The Identity Line has shaken off some early season rust. They played slow, boring, grinding hockey Saturday — which is a sign that things are working in Islanders-land. 

There is, though, that pesky matter of unwanted days off. 

“It is what it is,” Lee said, echoing his teammates. “We can take this time to work on quite a few things. Get some guys back, get healthy and really take on the rest of the year without any interruptions.” 

The Islanders have suffered through a season of stops and starts, and this coming break means they will play just twice in 23 days, in the midst of their best hockey of the season. 

The situation is what it is, but it sure would help the Islanders if it were a little different.