Islanders in playoff spot 2 months after sitting last in East

The date was Dec. 23, and in their final game before the NHL's holiday break, the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1, bringing them level with the defeated at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings at 32 points.

Exactly two months later, the Islanders awake to find themselves occupying the second wild-card spot, courtesy of regulation losses suffered Wednesday by the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins.

Here's two reasons why the drastic turn of events may have occurred:

Coaching change

A lot has happened in Brooklyn over the past two months, not the least of which being the decision to fire head coach Jack Capuano and hand the reins to assistant Doug Weight on Jan. 17.

Including the Dec. 23 win over Buffalo, the Islanders have a 16-7-4 record, tying two teams (San Jose and Toronto) for the third-highest point total over that span (36).

Capuano was behind the bench for 10 of those games, guiding the club to a 5-3-2 record. Under Weight, however, the wins have been more regular; in 17 games, the Islanders have a 11-4-2 record, accumulating a league-high 24 points since he took over as head coach.

Players stepping up

On top of the coaching change, goaltender Jaroslav Halak was placed on waivers and sent down to the AHL on Dec. 31, giving Thomas Greiss the opportunity to secure the starting job once and for all. In 19 starts in 2017, Greiss' record stands at 10-6-3 with a .915 save percentage.

It also helps that certain veteran forwards have picked up their games of late. High-priced free-agent signing Andrew Ladd has eight goals in 14 games to lead the Islanders since Weight took over, the same amount he had in 41 games prior.

And Jason Chimera, also signed last summer, has scored seven goals in 17 games after managing eight in 42 games to start the season.

John Tavares, of course, remains the straw that stirs the Islanders offensive drink, and he's been averaging a point per game over the past two months after an uncharacteristically slow start to the season.

Weight's team will play the second game of an eight-date road trip Thursday in Montreal, and the Islanders will return home March 13 with a much better idea of where they stand after this tough stretch in the schedule.

There's still plenty of hockey to be played, but the Islanders' turnaround should not go unnoticed.