Friedman: Special Teams Misfires At The Root Of Islanders' Current Problems
By Daniel Friedman
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After jumping out to their best start in franchise history, the New York Islanders have hit a bit of a snag.
This was to be expected. The Isles were going to lose a hockey game or two eventually, and with an injury-depleted lineup, they were going to struggle – as would any team in New York's predicament.
I think you can definitely attribute part of their current three-game losing streak to those injuries, but there have also been lingering issues which predate said injuries. The Islanders have been horrendous on special teams and, while productive, their offense hasn't quite been at the level we've come to expect.
Fortunately, all of these problems can be solved rather easily, and all can be fixed via in-house options.
Take the first line, for example. John Tavares and Kyle Okposo appeared to snap out of their respective funks during Thursday night's loss in St. Louis, but that line as a whole is clearly missing an element. For all of the good things that Nikolay Kulemin does (and there are plenty), he just doesn't mesh with that dynamic duo.
As good as the kid line has been, you have to think it's just a matter of time before they're broken up. You can't have one line play well at the expense of the other three, and the reality is, Tavares and Okposo could really use a Brock Nelson (preferably) or Anders Lee on that opposite wing.
Garth Snow doesn't need to trade for someone to fill that void. There are players who are already on the roster that can do the job.
I'd also say that if you put someone like Michael Grabner or Josh Bailey on a line with Lee and Ryan Strome, that'll work out nicely. As for Kulemin, you reunite him with his BFF, Mikhail Grabovski, and have Frans Nielsen center that unit. I don't think you're sacrificing anything in terms of production with those types of alterations.
The Islanders are still scoring goals despite the overall lack of chemistry, which should tell you everything you need to know about their offensive capability. That having been said, a more efficient offense would help them show more of a 60-minute effort, which is the opposite of what we've seen recently.
Obviously, this is all contingent on getting Bailey and Casey Cizikas back in the lineup, both of whom are currently battling injuries. As soon as he's able to do so, head coach Jack Capuano might want to think about mixing his lines up a bit. It could go a long way.
Surprisingly, the Islanders' biggest issues have been on special teams.
I say "surprisingly," because when you consider the talent group the Isles have to work with, the results have been striking, and not in a good way.
Ever since Johnny Boychuk went down, the Isles have resorted to other means to try and convert on the power play. It hasn't worked out for them.
And even when Boychuk was in the lineup, he was seeing more time on the second unit, despite the fact that the Isles' power play was at its best this season when he was on the first unit with Tavares, Nelson and Co.
There's a reason for that. Having Boychuk at the point allows the Islanders to simplify their attack strategy with the man-advantage. They're able to cycle more efficiently, because Boychuk is a dual threat to shoot or pass, which throws the opposing team off, and opens up passing and shooting lanes.
Without that, their power play becomes predictable. When a power play becomes predictable, it tries to rectify the issue by getting too cute in the offensive zone. When you get too cute in the offensive zone, you generally end up turning the puck over or, at best, you wind up with a couple of shots – none of which end up being any measurable quality.
Having Boychuk back in any capacity will help out the power play, but putting him back on the first unit would have the biggest impact.
As we've seen lately, the Islanders have also been guilty of trying to do too much with the puck in five-on-five situations.
"We tried to be too individualistic," Capuano said after Thursday night's loss in St. Louis. "When you do that, bad things happen."
It's that simple, really.
Things have gone even worse for the Isles' penalty kill, and it's not because of a lack of personnel. The reason why they're struggling so much in shorthanded situations is because their PK is systematically flawed.
There are plenty of capable defensive forwards on this team, like Nielsen, Grabner, Kulemin and Cizikas. There are defensive zone-savvy rearguards like Travis Hamonic, Boychuk and Nick Leddy, among others. Jaroslav Halak has, for the most part, been stellar in goal.
Taking those factors into account, there's no reason why the Islanders should have the NHL's worst penalty kill with that kind of talent and depth, and there certainly shouldn't be 2.9 percent gap between them and the 29th-ranked team.
I wouldn't say it's because of injuries either. Even when Boychuk and Hamonic were in the lineup, the PK was still atrocious.
One need not look too hard to find the problem here. Just watch the Islanders on the penalty kill, and the first thing you'll notice is how their four skaters tend to collapse down low, with a lone forward "pressuring" just above one of the faceoff circles.
The logic here is that, by doing so, the Isles will have a better chance of preventing the opposition from working the puck towards the crease. It's a nice theory, until you realize that teams are taking full advantage of the massive real estate that's being handed to them up top.
As it turns out, leaving guys like Alex Ovechkin and Kevin Shattenkirk wide-open is a bad idea. The Isles' penalty killers have allowed those players (and others) to get clear looks at the net, which have either gone into the net unimpeded or deflected off a player and in. You don't have to work the puck down low if you have the ability to launch rockets at will.
How do the Islanders fix this? Spreading out into more of a box would probably do the trick. The key is to force players to the perimeter, which makes it more difficult for them to work the puck down low, but also takes away potential shooting lanes and quality scoring chances.
The logic remains the same; it's the means by which the Isles follow it that changes.
At the end of the day, the Islanders are sitting pretty with 38 points. They're in a good spot, even despite their recent setbacks. The odds that they'll come out of this and get back to their winning ways are pretty good.
It's now up to the coaching staff to make the necessary adjustments. They have the pieces to work with, so it's just a mater of figuring out how to put the puzzle together correctly.
When that happens, look out.
Follow Daniel Friedman on Twitter at @DFriedmanOnNYI
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