Islanders need to pick up the pace to assure a playoff spot
Islanders center Brock Nelson sets before a face off against the Canucks in the third period of an NHL game at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
And the Islanders at the midpoint of their season are . . . very much fill in the blank.
Whether these Islanders seem poised for a playoff run or not depends very much on the day. Like many teams in the parity-driven NHL, the Islanders are more than capable of strong performances that bode well for April and beyond. Then there are games like Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Pacific Division-leading Canucks at UBS Arena or the preceding 5-2 loss to defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas to conclude a disappointing 1-2-1 road trip in which the Islanders don’t appear to measure up to the league’s elite.
The Islanders (18-12-10) play the 41st game of their 82-game schedule against the visiting Maple Leafs on Thursday night before embarking on another four-game trip that includes a match against the NHL-leading Jets.
The Islanders’ injury-plagued defense and penalty kill have been sporadic. They’re a much better offensive team than they have been in the past, but second-line wingers Pierre Engvall and Kyle Palmieri are not keeping pace with Brock Nelson, placing an undue burden on Bo Horvat’s top line with All-Star Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin, who has made eight straight appearances, may need a break soon, but there’s none coming as long as Semyon Varlamov (injured reserve/lower body) remains out.
“We’re at the halfway point,” said Nelson, who had both goals against the Canucks to push his team lead to 19. “You look at the Metro [Division] and how tight it’s been. Every team is kind of making a push. We’re right there and we want to string together a few.”
If other teams are pushing, though, the Islanders have been pulling the wrong way of late, just 1-3-1 in the new year and 4-5-3 since Dec. 15.
For all their new emphasis on pushing the puck up ice and being more aggressive in the offensive zone, plus finally having a mostly efficient power play that ranks ninth in the NHL at 23.9%, the Islanders are still 19th in the 32-team league with 123 goals scored. Their goal differential of minus-12 is the worst among teams currently holding a playoff spot — the Islanders entered Wednesday in the first wild-card position — and they are only one of three teams in a postseason position to be in the negative in that category.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Islanders are 30th with a Corsi For % of 45.34, meaning they don’t have the puck nearly enough. Their expected goals for % of 48.60 ranked 22nd. And their high-danger chances for % of 48.69 was 20th (right behind the division-leading Rangers).
But, analytics aside, the Islanders have proved capable of getting at least a point in 17 of 19 games, as they did from Nov. 15-Dec. 23 in going 11-2-6.
They need to start another run.
“We got two great teams coming in this week at home,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “[We're] coming off at a loss where you want to get back at it.”
They can still fill in the blank in a positive way.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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