Lambert shows character, consistency in 1st playoffs as Islanders coach

RALEIGH, N.C. --Lane Lambert has been through the crucible of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before as a player and an assistant.

So Lambert's first playoffs as an NHL coach don't feel much different to him, even if there's more pressure as the one making the final decisions behind the New York Islanders bench in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"It's just more responsibility," Lambert said. "The pressure part of it, it's fine. That's what we're here for. But there's a little bit more responsibility."
Lambert has his hands full with New York trailing 2-0 in the best-of-7 series heading into Game 3 at UBS Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN1, TVAS2, MSGSN, BSSO). Still, though Lambert undoubtedly would have preferred better results in the first two games at Carolina, in general, he's right where he wants to be.
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"The playoffs are fantastic," Lambert said. "Walking out (to the rink) in buildings, the noise, the noise our crowd is going to make when we get back home, there's nothing better."
Lambert waited a long time for this opportunity, working his way up through the coaching ranks following a professional playing career as a forward from 1983-2001 that included six seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings (1983-86), New York Rangers (1986-87) and Quebec Nordiques (1987-89).
The 58-year-old started in coaching as an assistant with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League in 2002 before taking over as coach of Prince George of the WHL 14 games into the 2003-04 season. That led to assistant jobs in the American Hockey League with Bridgeport (the Islanders' affiliate) in 2005-06 and Milwaukee (Nashville Predators affiliate) in 2006-07 and a promotion to coach in Milwaukee in 2007-08.
Milwaukee was 178-103-39, finished first in its division twice, and qualified for the playoffs in all four seasons under Lambert before he joined the Predators as an assistant in 2011-12, beginning an 11-season journey with coach Barry Trotz. That included three seasons with Nashville (2011-14), four with the Washington Capitals (2014-18), where they won the Stanley Cup together in 2018, and four with the Islanders (2018-22).
"It's hard to find in life a guy that is just extremely loyal for so long and goes with a guy wherever he goes and is right by his side as his support team wherever he goes and paid their dues," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. "He never changed the way he acted. He was himself through and through, competitive beyond all get-out, wanted to win games, and whatever helped the team go, he was willing to put in the work."
When the Islanders let Trotz go after missing the playoffs last season, general manager Lou Lamoriello viewed Lambert as Trotz's natural successor.
"We were going to be a similar group coming back, so the familiarity was a positive," Lamoriello said. "But when Barry had to leave the team for a while (when his mother died in January 2022), I had a great opportunity to observe, sit in the room, talk about different things and I was with pleased with what I saw, and I thought that he (Lambert) could be a good fit."
New York went 42-31-9 this season under Lambert to qualify for the playoffs as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. Though there were some bumps along the way, including a 1-7-3 slide from Jan. 5-25 and losing forward Mathew Barzal to a lower-body injury for the final 23 regular-season games, Lambert was able to steady the ship and get the Islanders back on course each time.
"What he's done is everything I expected him to do," Lamoriello said. "Obviously, he hadn't coached before other than in the American League. There's a difference, but he's handled every situation, the highs, the lows, as best as you could handle them."
The words Islanders players use most often in describing Lambert are "detailed" and "intense." Carried over from his years as an assistant, these traits make him an effective communicator.
Lambert maintained the defensive structure the Islanders played with under Trotz, but put his own stamp on the team with tweaks to make their offensive system more aggressive and get their defensemen more involved. That contributed to New York improving from scoring 2.79 goals per game last season to 2.95 this season.

After losing Barzal, who Lambert called "our most dynamic offensive player," the Islanders increased their goal production to 3.09 per game and went 14-7-2 to surge into the playoffs. That gave Barzal time to recover and be ready for the start of the postseason.
"He's straightforward and honest," New York captain Anders Lee said. "I think as players you know what he wants and expects, and you know what you're going to get from both sides. I think that gives you the opportunity to go out and play and just not be thinking too much and do what you need to do and do your job."
Former NHL defenseman Nolan Yonkman had similar experiences under Lambert as Milwaukee's captain for three seasons (2007-10). Yonkman compares Lambert's intensity to that of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, whose impassioned approach also serves him well in getting the most out of his players.
"He cared," said Yonkman, now an assistant with Iowa of the AHL. "He's a guy that came to the rink to work every day and for us, in turn, there were no days off when it was time to work. … Whether you won or lost, he always made us accountable to each other and I loved playing for him in that respect."
Lambert acknowledged he has learned on the fly this season and leaned on assistants Doug Houda and John MacLean, who also each played in the NHL.
"They've done a great job," Lambert said. "As with anything I've ever done or anything anybody ever does, you just do your best. That's all you can do is do your best and make decisions and go with them."
After Barzal was injured, many outside the Islanders locker room doubted they'd qualify for the playoffs, but forward Zach Parise said there was no wavering in the message from Lambert. That carried over to the players.
"You have to work and if you're not working, he'll let us know," Parise said. "But I think at the same time, he also understands situations."
New York is in a difficult situation now against Carolina, but one Lambert has been through before. He was an assistant with the Capitals in 2018 when they lost the first two games in the opening round, each in overtime, to the Columbus Blue Jackets before a double-overtime win in Game 3 sparked them to four straight victories, the series win and a run to the Stanley Cup.
Lambert called that "ancient history," but the approach to this 2-0 series hole will be the same.
"I think with any series that you're involved in, it's a game-at-a-time mentality," he said. "It doesn't matter whether you're up one, down one, up two, down two. Whatever it might be, you've just got to keep focused, keep an even keel."