The NHL All-Star break is winding down, and it's time to check in and see how each team is doing before regular season games resume. The New York Islanders entered the break on a three-game losing streak, and certainly appreciated the time off to regroup with their new coach. The Islanders have a 20-17-12 record, and while that mark is good enough for fourth in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, there's plenty of room for improvement.
OFFENSE: C-
The Islanders have a lot of talent, but the offense primarily runs through two of their players, Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal. The two each have more than 50 points, respectively, on the year. The Islanders are however lacking the one player with offensive fire power that some other teams are currently flexing. The team is spreading their wealth around, as no one player has more than 20 goals this season. There are currently six players on the club with more than 10 goals. While several different guys are scoring, the bottom line is that the Islanders are only averaging 2.90 goals per game. That's good enough for 24th in the NHL, near the bottom of the league. Only eight teams are scoring fewer goals per contest than the Islanders.
There's certainly room for improvement, and it starts with Dobson. Dobson is a valuable asset in the NHL, a defenseman that does an excellent job of setting up the offense. Dobson is tied for fifth in the league for assists this season, with 46. His point total is almost entirely due to that statistic, as he has only netted six goals in the first half of the season. Dobson still leads the team in points despite having only six goals.
He's not the only unselfish player on the ice. Center Mathew Barzal is also doing a great job of moving the puck to his teammates. Barzal is second on the team in points, with 51. Barzal is also proficient in assists, with 38 on the season. That's tied for 11th in the league. Despite the Islanders having one of the worst scoring offenses in the NHL, the team has two players in the top 11 in assists. That's something to build upon moving forward. Barzal also has the respect of the league, as he was selected to represent the team in the NHL All-Star skills competition.
The Islanders simply need to score more for this team to be successful. The team has only 142 goals on the season, despite the hard work of Dobson and Barzal in the offense. The Islanders' goal total is good enough for 23rd in the league, again near the bottom. In comparison, the Colorado Avalanche are leading the NHL in goals scored with 188. That's a great distance away.
The Islanders are doing some things right offensively, despite this statistic. The team is doing a good job on the power play, with a 23 percent power play percentage. That's good enough for 11th in the NHL. The team seems to do well in those opportunities, and needs to find ways to get more of them.
DEFENSE: C-
While the Islanders are struggling on offense, they seem to be struggling even more this season on defense. The team has given up 163 goals this season, which is 10th in the league in goals allowed. The Islanders are giving up 3.33 goals per contest. Only eight teams in the NHL are giving up more goals per game than the Islanders. That's unacceptable and needs to change.
One of the reasons why the team has struggled to stop opposing teams is because neither one of their goalies are playing exceptionally well. The Islanders' primary goaltender Ilya Sorokin has played the most this season for the club. He's got 14 wins in 35 games played in net. He has given up 3.17 goals a game, which is high. Unfortunately for the team, his backup isn't faring much better. Seymon Varlamov is giving up 2.88 goals per game, in 16 games played. The Islanders just haven't been able to find a consistent way to stop opposing offenses, no matter who is minding the net for them.
It's not all the fault of their goal tenders. The Islanders are allowing far too many shots on goal. The team is second in the NHL in shots allowed per game against them, at 34.9. Only the San Jose Sharks are allowing more shots on goal than the Islanders through the first half of the season, per NHL stats. The team's defensemen need to do a much better job of protecting their goalies and giving them breaks.
COACHING: TBA?
The Islanders have one of the more intriguing coaching situations in the NHL, as legendary player Patrick Roy is now leading the franchise. Roy got the job in late January, after the team parted ways with Lane Lambert. Roy has had very little time to work with the club. Since taking over the team, Roy has struggled to find success, winning just one game in four tries. He hasn't been a head coach since he left the Colorado Avalanche in 2016.
Roy has had a track record of success, so there are reasons to be optimistic. In his first season as a head coach, Roy had success in Colorado. He won the Central Division with 112 points, before losing the 2014 Western Conference Wild Card Round to the Minnesota Wild. The Islanders are certainly hoping Roy can recapture that magic, especially since the red-hot Edmonton Oilers also made a coaching change mid-season and it has paid off with a 16 game-winning streak.
Roy may not have a lot of time to prove himself. Lambert was removed after just one full season and change in New York. In 127 games, he finished his time with a 61-46-20 record. He also made the playoffs in 2023 for the Islanders, before losing to Carolina in the Wild Card Round.
Roy and the Islanders' next chance to pick up a victory is on Monday night. The Islanders travel to Toronto to play the Maple Leafs. If the team is going to make a run in the Eastern Conference, this game is a perfect place to start.
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