After last nights gutsy win against the Ottawa Senators by the score of 5-3, the Islanders seem to be right back in the Eastern Conference mix. Sitting at 4th place in the Metropolitan Division and just 1 point behind Carolina and Washington for the 2nd and 3rd spots in the division respectively. A win against the Flyers tonight would put the Islanders in 2nd in the Metro only behind the Rangers.
The Islanders had a hard fought win last night, losing defencemen Adam Pelech and Sebastion Aho within the first 5 minutes of the first period, leaving New York with just 4 defencemen. They ended up playing great, all 4 of the remaining defencemen recorded over 3 minutes of TOI. I want to highlight Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, both of which are having breakout seasons thus far, the Islanders would be a much different team without them.
The issues on the Power Play seem to have faded, as the Islanders power play this season. Coming into play on Saturday, the Islanders are tied for the 9th-Best power play unit in the NHL at 23.5%. A huge improvement over the bottom 3 ranked power play just a year ago, it has been a huge contributor to the Islanders success so far this season.
The Islanders are getting a taste of what Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal can do when they are both healthy. Barzal and Horvat have combined for 30 points so far this season, and have brought stability on the Power Play. As well as aiding the breakout of 2nd year forward Simon Holmström, who won the opportunity of playing on that line at the beginning of the season, he’s looked great on that line as he continues to develop.
A week ago, the Islanders were in the midst of a 7 game West Coast losing streak, but after winning 3 games in a row, they are right back in the swing of things in the east. The Islanders will definitely look to make some type of move at the trade deadline, I personally would prefer the team keep their first round pick, as they haven’t had one since 2019.
BS Reports 
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