Islanders have no chance when shots aren't there
Islanders center Brock Nelson skates wearing a retro fisherman's jersey in the second period of an NHL game against the Hurricanes at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Physically, Anders Lee and Lane Lambert were separated by about 25 yards and 10 minutes.
Mentally, though, the Islanders captain and his coach were on the same wavelength.
“We weren’t able to get to our game,” a visibly irritated Lee said after the Islanders’ 3-0 loss to Metropolitan Division rival Carolina at UBS Arena Saturday night. The loss, their fourth in six games, dropped the Islanders to 17-12-0.
Shortly thereafter, Lambert almost echoed Lee verbatim by saying, “We didn’t get to our game at all.”
That is an understatement as the Islanders finished with only 16 shots on goal and 39 total attempted shots. According to analytics website NaturalStatTrick.com, the Islanders had six scoring chances that were designated as high-danger.
It is also something of a deviation from the norm. Because, even in this mini slide, the Islanders have been able to generate shots on goal and shot attempts. In their five games before Saturday’s loss, the Islanders were credited with 185 shots on goal and 328 total attempts.
“They’ve been underrated,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said about the Islanders during his pregame media availability. “The way they score goals, they don’t need a lot of chances. People talk about other teams [but] you watch these guys [and] it felt like you give them a chance, it goes in the net. Seems like they’re not having a problem with that this year.”
For a team that has been pilloried for not having enough offensively, the Islanders have scored 92 goals in 29 games, an average of 3.17 per game. Brock Nelson leads the Islanders with 14 goals in 29 games. His output becomes more impressive when you factor in that the second-line center went the first seven games of the season without a goal, before ripping off a streak of 14 in 22 games, and that much of his production is occurring at five-on-five, where he has scored 11 times.
“He’s moving his feet,” Lambert said of Nelson during his pregame availability Saturday. “With his size his skating ability is elite and it’s deceptive. When he’s moving he’s getting opportunities, creating opportunities.”
Which ties into the defensive aspect of the 31-year-old’s game. Nelson is tied with Mathew Barzal for the team lead in overall takeaways with 25, and his 2.77 takeaways-per-60 minutes ranks second behind only Simon Holmstrom’s 2.96.
“That’s just a mentality,” Lambert said. “If you don’t have a puck or if you’re chasing a guy and he turns and tries to elude you, you don’t just swing and let him elude you. He’s done a better job of that.”
Notes & quotes: After playing the Devils and Hurricanes back-to-back Friday and Saturday, the Islanders had Sunday off. They will practice Monday before heading to Boston to begin their five-game road trip. The team should have a better idea by the time practice begins whether right wing Kyle Palmieri and top-pair defenseman Adam Pelech will make the trip.
