The New York Islanders are sitting with the elite.
Since firing coach Jack Capuano on Jan. 17 and handing the reins to assistant Doug Weight, the Islanders have won 15 of 23 games.
It's a stark contrast from New York's 17-17-8 showing under Capauno, whose club sat last in the East at the time of his dismissal.
Now with 73 points on the season, the Islanders hold down the East's second wild-card seed. In fact, no club has picked up more points than the Islanders since the change behind the bench:
| Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Islanders | 14-6-3 | 31 |
| Rangers | 15-7-1 | 31 |
| Capitals | 15-5-1 | 31 |
| Sharks | 13-3-5 | 31 |
| Blackhawks | 15-4-0 | 30 |
| Senators | 14-7-2 | 30 |
| Wild | 14-7-1 | 29 |
| Penguins | 13-5-3 | 29 |
Despite his success, Weight credits Capuano for how he's performed in his first shot as a head coach.
"I learned a lot from our previous coach. Jack's a great friend. Preparation is a key for me and I learned that from him," Weight told Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail. "There is a certain way I handle each guy and the way I handle the bench that I believe can be beneficial to us over the course of a season."
New York is in the midst of a nine-game road trip, where they are 4-2-1, with two games remaining against the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues before returning to Brooklyn.
With 17 games left on the campaign, the Islanders have the chance to lock down their third straight playoff appearance, a feat the franchise has accomplished just once since 1988.
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