A week ago, I wrote about the New York Islanders’ schedule and how helpful it could be for them, starting with three games against Montreal, Ottawa and Carolina. Well, they lost all three and have now dropped 10 of their last 12 games.
A positive? The Eastern Conference playoff race seems more like a battle for a prolonged summer vacation rather than one to play in the postseason. Take a look at the records in the last 10 games for teams battling for a playoff spot right now:
Carolina: 4-4-2
Columbus: 3-4-3
Florida: 4-4-2
NY Rangers: 6-4-0
Even teams in a divisional spot in the East are having a tough time, like the Pittsburgh Penguins who’ve won just two of their last 10 games and both Tampa Bay and Toronto who have matching 4-5-1 records in their last 10. So as frustrating as the last month’s worth of games have been, the good news is the Islanders are still likely in the playoffs a month from now if they turn things around.
But there’s a lot going wrong right now and if things don’t turn around, the Islanders won’t be holding a playoff spot for much longer.
One issue has been goaltending. Thomas Greiss has an .861 SV% in 7 games since the start of February. Semyon Varlamov also has an .861 SV% in his last four games. The Islanders have still allowed the ninth-least shots against per game in the 12-game slump, so it’s not like Greiss and Varlamov have seen a huge increase in shots. Goaltending has been a major asset for the Islanders and an area that sets them apart from other teams– but recently it’s been a weak spot.
But it’s not just goaltending. Since February 13 (the first contest of the 12-game slump), the Islanders are 30th in goals for per game and rank 26th in shots per game. New York’s power play has also been especially brutal, operating at just 12.5% and ranking 28th since Feb. 13.
There are players who aren’t contributing at the levels they normally do. Anthony Beauvillier has just one goal and two points in his last 13 games, while Nick Leddy is pointless in that time with a minus-10 rating to show for. Brock Nelson has also been shooting less. That said, a lot of players have been fine. Key pieces like Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee and Ryan Pulock are all meeting expectations at the very least.
It seems like the effort is there but between scoring goals, getting enough shots to score those goals, the power play, as well as getting reliable goaltending, there are problems that need solutions in New York. We know a lot of the things going wrong but Barry Trotz and co. need to find the answers quickly or this team is in trouble.
For more,
follow @BenShelley_20 on Twitter.
OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM MARCH
Islanders have a favourable schedule to end the regular season 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»