NEW YORK _ For Doug Weight's first game as Islanders coach, his players put forth a familiar effort. Their 3-0 win over the Stars in Barclays Center on Thursday night looked an awful lot like Jack Capuano's last game behind the bench on Monday in Boston.
Thomas Greiss pitched his second straight shutout and John Tavares scored twice on as the Isles finally put together two straight command performances.
The irony, of course, being that GM Garth Snow fired his longtime coach in Capuano and installed longtime assistant coach Weight between two very similar, effective performances.
"It felt a lot like a repeat," said Thomas Hickey, who had his first NHL fight with Radek Faksa in the second period that brought the Isles one of their seven power plays on the night. "You can talk about change and obviously there was a big one, but this was very much the same way we played on Monday. And we needed it."
Greiss recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his NHL career but he wasn't peppered on Thursday, making 23 saves _ tying a season low in shots against for the Islanders.
Tavares staked the Isles to a 1-0 lead with a terrific individual effort at 13:31 of the first and the Islanders spent most of the second period on the power play, which didn't produce a goal but generated lots of offense and high ice times for the Isles offense-minded forwards.
Perhaps a one-goal game with so many chances to grab a bigger lead would have led to a disappointing finish under Capuano earlier this season. But on Thursday the Islanders did not sit back and wait for the crash.
"Those are games when you're vulnerable," Weight said. "We had all those chances and we don't score, you're waiting for the ball to drop in the third. But it didn't happen."
The Islanders needed Greiss to make a few strong stops, but they were stronger on the puck and in their own end than perhaps all season long. Tavares' deal-sealer, a short-handed breakaway at 16:54 of the third _ Tavares' seventh goal in four games and his first career short-handed _ was still a huge relief, but the Islanders possessed the puck and charged around the Stars zone much of the night.
"It's one of our best all-around games this year," Greiss said. "Maybe (Tuesday's firing of Capuano) was a little wakeup call for the boys. Everybody chipped in today. It was a great effort."
Weight said he hasn't changed much, perhaps tweaking the defensive-zone structure a bit and speaking more directly to struggling players.
"Some guys heard it on the bench and some heard it between periods," he said. "And they've got to react in a good way or they're going to sit a while."
Calvin de Haan hit an empty net with four seconds to go to put the Islanders above .500 in points percentage (18-17-8) for the first time since Dec. 8 and just the second time all season. They will need more of the same to break back into the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.
"Everybody, from 1-20 (players), battled," Weight said. "Everyone we put over the boards in the third battled. That's what we need. It was a tough couple days and Jack's a popular coach. I want some swagger and some confidence from these guys. It was a great win."
