Islanders great Billy Smith drops the ceremonial first puck with John Tavares and Sidney Crosby at center ice.
AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

On a night they honored one of their all-time greats, the Islanders delivered an impressive 4-1 win before an energized Nassau Coliseum to sweep a home-and-home series from the Penguins. They followed up a 5-4 shootout triumph by scoring four unanswered to move into first place.

”The atmosphere was incredible,” coach Jack Capuano said after seeing his team improve to 14-6-0- the franchise’s best start since 1987-88. ”We played the Islander way.”

”We made high percentage plays and did a good job of matching their speed. We managed the puck well, and we played a smart game.”

With four-time Stanley Cup winning netminder Billy Smith on hand, they didn’t disappoint. Smith loved what he saw even joining MSG’s broadcast late in the second with Howie Rose and former teammate Butch Goring. As luck would have it, the Islanders tied the game when Matt Martin rebounded home a Cal Clutterbuck shot with 1:59 left. Casey Cizikas got the other helper. That it came from the fourth line felt appropriate. It was that trio that provided a spark with physical play that got the crowd into it.

On one shift, Clutterbuck, Martin and defenseman Travis Hamonic delivered big hits. Hamonic also dropped the gloves going with Pens antagonist Steve Downie earlier. After falling behind on a Evgeni Malkin goal from Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling, the Islanders rallied with a strong second. Upping the ante, they were more aggressive outshooting the Pens 13-7. For nearly two periods, Pittsburgh backup Thomas Greiss held them off. He was strong finishing with 31 saves in a losing effort. Eventually, the Islander pressure allowed them to seize control.

”We’re a group that really pulls for each other,” Martin said after tallying in his 300th career NHL game. ”To hear the crowd behind us like that adds a lot to our confidence.”

It was all Islanders in the third. Off some heady play from Ryan Strome, Anders Lee deflected home a Lubomir Visnovsky point shot at 2:38 to give them the lead. Thomas Hickey drew the other assist. A few minutes later, they killed a Hickey penalty after he held Malkin. With Jaroslav Halak doing the job in net with 27 saves for his sixth consecutive win, they put the game out of reach thanks to some foolishness from Downie. He took down Hickey sending them on the power play. He also earned a misconduct for the shenanigans. The Isles made him pay with textbook passing from John Tavares to Kyle Okposo to Brock Nelson for an easy finish.

Nelson’s team-leading 10th led to chants of “First Place,” “First Place,” from the crowd. The chants grew when Tavares padded the lead. His eighth off came from Johnny Boychuk and Nikolay Kulemin increasing to 4-1 with 4:14 remaining. On the play, Kulemin fed Boychuk for a shot that caromed off Greiss right to Tavares for a tap in. Afterwards, the Islanders captain alluded to the close rivalry they have with the Pens since a closely fought first round series in 2013.

”Certainly the rivalry is right up there with the Rangers,” he stated. ”It’s exciting for us and for our fans.”

”We didn’t have a good third period, and they raised their game,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said after being held off the score sheet for a second consecutive game. ”They were more intense than we were in the back-to-back.”

At 14-6-0 with 28 points, the Islanders are tied with the Pens for first in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh has one game in hand. What matters is that the Islanders are not only competitive but look like the most improved team in the conference. They’ve now won three in a row and eight of their last nine. Ever since they took the last three on that five game road trip, they’ve been a different team. Given the depth up front along with improvement on the blueline and in goal, they have to be taken seriously. In their final year on Long Island, pride has been restored.

Billy Smith leads the Islanders out on his special night.
AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Travis Hamonic, NYI (2 hits, 2 blocked shots, fight in 17:31)

2nd Star-John Tavares, NYI (8th of season, assist, 8-and-6 on draws in 19:03)

1st Star-Matt Martin, NYI (2nd of season, 4 hits, +1 in 18 shifts-11:44)