Islanders are creating a winning system with actions, not just words
Islanders center Mathew Barzal celebrates his goal with defenseman Matthew Schaefer against the Golden Knights in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/Candice Ward
DALLAS – The words are spoken so often in interviews with hockey players and coaches that it’s easy to get numb to them.
Systems. Structure.
They are broad terms that are often hard to visually define for the layperson hockey observer.
But the Islanders’ evolution both offensively and defensively in their first season under general manager Mathieu Darche and, not to be overlooked, with assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner now working with Patrick Roy, are fairly plain to see.
It’s made them an exciting team to watch. And how long has it been since that was said about the Islanders?
The Islanders enter Tuesday night’s match against the Stars at American Airlines Center 4-1-0 on their seven-game road trip, facing a second straight strong Western Conference Stanley Cup contender after Sunday night’s 4-1 loss to the NHL-leading Avalanche.
But it was in that loss with a deceptive score — the Avalanche scored twice in the last minute of an otherwise even match — that the Islanders’ changes for the better clearly stood out.
Their offensive system has become a hybrid of their developing rush offense with the forecheck-and-cycle style that got them to back-to-back NHL semifinals in 2020 and 2021. The players had struggled earlier in the season with the changes to more of a rush-off-the-transition attack advocated by Darche and the coaching staff. It’s become more comfortable to them now, especially with the transcendent skating and playmaking of No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer. It helps to have Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, in particular, so dangerous off the rush.
But with rookie Max Shabanov returning to the lineup in a new, fourth-line role after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury, it gave Roy a trio with rookie center Cal Ritchie and Casey Cizikas that could establish a strong forecheck and cycle that then bled onto the other three lines.
“I thought they had good buzz when they were out there,” Roy said. “They possessed the puck.”
The Islanders lost the game because Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood was spectacular in making 28 saves. But they won the battle for puck possession and offensive-zone time.
And when the Islanders were in the offensive zone, their quick rotations in supporting each other helped keep the puck up ice. When a defenseman worked down low, a forward instantly got back to the blue line. It’s a simple concept but something the Islanders, who have not won a playoff round since 2021 and have missed the postseason in two of the last four years, have struggled with prior to this season.
It should be noted that the Avalanche (13-1-5) have a goal differential of plus-31, which just should not be possible only a quarter of the way into the season. For comparison’s sake, the Hurricanes entered Monday as the next best team at plus-14.
“Even our power play had really good looks,” said Horvat, who had his eight-game point streak snapped after he was robbed repeatedly by Wedgewood while Barzal had a six-game point streak end. “It’s just a matter of us bearing down, including myself. We’ll take the positives from this and take them into Dallas.”
Defensively, the Islanders’ structure has been sound through their current 6-2-1 stretch, minus an outlier 5-2 loss to the Wild at UBS Arena on Nov. 7.
They are keeping a good portion of the opponents’ chances to the outside by defending the crease area well. They are putting pressure on attackers along the walls and near the blue line. And the forwards have been strong in their defensive support. For instance, Barzal turned a good stick backcheck into a rush chance in transition against the Avalanche.
It helps that No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin has regained his confidence and added a healthy dose of aggressiveness with his stickwork and positioning working with new goalie coach Sergei Naumovs.
“I think we did a good job in the neutral zone (against the Avalanche),” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “They like to create a lot of speed on the outside. Even in our defensive zone, they’re going to get some looks, but we did a pretty good job most of the night limiting those.”
Said Roy, “The commitment of our guys, we’re putting quick pressure and we’ve got great sticks and that helps a lot.”
Systems. Structure.
Those aren’t just generic broad concepts when it comes to the Islanders anymore.
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.
