SALT LAKE CITY — Lou Lamoriello had just admitted Thursday morning that his team was still searching for an identity when reporters entered the Islanders' locker room and discovered a toy rubber chicken in Anders Lee's booth.
The captain found her inside T-Mobile Arena unclaimed.
“She comes with us,” he said.
After the Islanders beat the Golden Knights 4-0, a few hours later, the Chicken was 1-0 and was ceremoniously presented to Brock Nelson after the game.
Maybe if the Islanders can keep their two-game winning streak going on Saturday in their first trip to Utah, the Hens will become part of the identity they're searching for. Or at least a good amulet.
As far as identity on the ice goes, what the Islanders showed on Thursday could be a very good starting point, chickens or no chickens.
“We're a team that goes out and plays simple, tough hockey,” Lee said before the game, explaining something the Islanders have turned into a trademark in years past but have rarely gotten to during the first half of the season. “This is who we are. This is who we have been for a long time. We are not going to be flashy. We will have our moments with some players, but we are not a flashy team. We are not going to put five or six in the net. We are an organized team that works hard every night and has the ability to “Winning difficult matches is our identity for a long time.”
For a long time, yes. It rarely happens this season, although you can see it peak during Thursday.
In Lamoriello's opinion, that's a result of injuries and the disintegration of the Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck fourth line, through which the Islanders have channeled much of that identity in the past.
“I think we searched a little bit for that,” Lamoriello said. “We haven't had the team together to really see what it is now. I think the identity has always been focused on our fourth line, noting the way our fourth line played. I think we're a combination of that and a little more skilled. Our identity will be when you play consistently every night and deliver.” “Success. We looked for it a little bit.”
Ask the players and it doesn't seem like a question about not knowing what kind of team they want to be. Given how similar the makeup of this roster is to past seasons, that's not too surprising. Rather, it's a question of whether they can still be that team on a nightly basis.
“Maybe at this point, you look back and say it didn't happen enough,” Nelson said. “I don't know if it's difficult [to establish]But the game is different every night. Different things happen. … At the end of the day, you've got to go out and win games, so it didn't happen enough. “It's not something we can't do.”
If Thursday proved anything, it's that there's still a lot of confidence in the locker room.
As pathetic as the Islanders have been at times during the first half of the 16-18-7 season, there is still time to turn the ship around.
One of the organizational talking points before the game was that while the scores weren't quite there, the Islanders felt better in their play since Christmas.
Coach Patrick Roy said afterwards that the win felt like the icing on the cake.
“All you want as a coach is to see some consistency, and that's exactly what we have tonight,” Roy said. “This was a great team effort. Everyone played really well. I thought D was moving the puck fast, jumping fast, making great decisions.”
Holding Vegas scoreless in his own building looked a lot like the Islanders of old. Maybe there is some magic in chicken.
“We talked about this this morning,” he told me after the match. “We know who we are and how we achieved success.” “I thought we went out and executed this amazing thing tonight.”
