1 week Ago By Russ Macias, NYI Hockey Now
The Anaheim Ducks (4-4-1) defeated the New York Islanders (3-4-2) 3-1 on Tuesday night in UBS Arena. The Ducks entered losers in four of their last five games, going 1-3-1 over that stretch. On average, they allowed a hair over three goals per game in those defeats.
The Islanders scored once, and it took 81 seconds of a 5-on-3. The last Islanders’ goal before Mat Barzal’s power play marker came over 90 minutes of hockey ago. Lukas Dostal denied 40/41 shots.
Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano scored the Anaheim goals. The Islanders’ locker room refused to admit frustration, except for Mat Barzal . He made it pretty clear his play hasn’t been anywhere near acceptable, especially at 5v5.
Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat preached patience and that they’re getting the looks. Horvat specifically said this team believes in itself and has shown the ability to fight through adversity since he’s been here. The damning part of this game is just how familiar it’s been.
Before tonight, the Islanders had been shut out in three of their first six games. They’d outplayed teams only to spit up goals against and hand free points away. The Islanders’ special teams have been a significant problem since the 2023 Carolina series .
The power play failed while the penalty kill stumbled and almost single-handedly eliminated the Islanders that year. The focus of that off-season seemed to be fixing the units. Instead, the Islanders returned and had an embarrassment on the penalty kill last season while the power play stayed mediocre.
The Un-Special Teams: This year, both units have killed the Islanders. Take tonight’s game, where the Islanders outshot the Ducks 41-22. The power play received two opportunities in the first 40 minutes.
They did not score on either, nor did they ever even pretend to look threatening. Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy has changed the units every game, and nothing has worked. Eventually, the Ducks gift-wrapped the Islanders a 5-on-3 with two blatant penalties by Frank Vatrano and Robert Fabbri.
The Islanders had 81 seconds of 5-on-3, and it took 84 seconds for them to finally score a power play goal. Barzal one-timed a Horvat pass to spring the Islanders to life. It didn’t end up mattering.
They wouldn’t score again. Meanwhile, Pierre Engvall played all of 9 minutes and 16 seconds tonight but managed to take not one but two penalties in the first 40 minutes. Yes, the calls might’ve been weak.
But the referees only whistled him, and they both came when the Ducks attackers had him beaten. The Ducks scored on both opportunities. The first came after Casey Cizikas failed to clear, followed by Noah Dobson turning the puck over behind his net.
On the second, Mason McTavish dangled Dobson so hard he stumbled over while McTavish slipped the puck backdoor to a wide-open Troy Terry. The penalty kill got one kill in the third period. The Ducks led 2-0 and intentionally weren’t overly aggressive on the power play.
They didn’t need to be. They could afford a sloppier power play after they opened up 2/2. Postgame, Roy sidestepped answering what he thought of Engvall , citing his limited ice time.
Moments later, Roy praised Hudson Fasching’s game. Fasching played almost two minutes less than Engvall did. That right there tells you everything you need to know about what Roy saw from Engvall.
Roy already alluded to Matt Martin getting in against Columbus. Don’t be shocked if it’s for Engvall. Evaluation of Tsyplakov: The Islanders entered this season with five players locked into the top six: Barzal, Horvat, Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, and Anthony Duclair.
Duclair got hurt, which opened a second spot, which went to Simon Holmstrom. Maxim Tsyplakov won the sixth spot. He’s been good.
Tsyplakov makes pretty passes and continues to grow. There are issues, though. He undoubtedly slows the play down almost every time the puck is on his stick.
Sometimes, that’s the perfect play, and it looks amazing. Other times, the Islanders could really use speed in transition and on the rush. Tsyplakov almost looks afraid to rush down the ice, preferring to be off the puck until he can shoot it.
Tsyplakov also misses a lot of shots. Tonight, he took seven shots. One made it on goal.
Three were blocked, and three missed the net entirely. In his last six games (including tonight), Tsyplakov has one shot on goal per game. He’s largely gotten a pass thanks to Palmieri and Nelson leading the team in goals with four each, but Tsyplakov needs to start to get better with the puck in the offensive zone.
Evaluation of Holmstrom: Holmstrom , however, can’t seem to get out of his own way. Holmstrom likely wins the prize for the most frustrating Islander on the roster this season. You can see his hockey IQ is off the charts.
He’s always positioned in the right spots. That positioning is a gigantic part of why he’s so good defensively and why he gets looks in the top six. However, to succeed in this league as a top-line winger, you must find a way to gel your play style to those around you.
On line three, Holmstrom circling around the tops of the circle and opening up for a pass worked perfectly. Anders Lee would be net front, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Holmstrom handled the puck. With Barzal and Horvat, Holmstrom needs to get to the net-front more.
Too often, he and Barzal find themselves on top of each other and turn pucks over as a result. Tonight, I actually thought the two had their best game. The pinnacle came in the first period when Holmstrom made a fantastic play and slipped it cross-ice to Barzal on the doorstep.
Barzal whiffed and sent the puck feebly over the top of the net. The main issue with Holmstrom is hitting the net. Like Tsyplakov, he’s got a great shot.
Also like Tsyplakov, Holmstrom has to hit the net. Holmstrom sent seven pucks to the net, just like Tsyplakov. One made it through.
Five missed entirely, and one got blocked. One Big Issue: The Islanders ‘ issues become pretty clear when laid out in black and white. They have four players who are consistently goal-scoring threats.
All the opponents must do is step up on them and dare the rest of the Islanders to beat them. As a whole, the Islanders just haven’t been difficult to play against. That’s been the case since the spring of 2021.
Three coaches, key trades, and injuries. It’s all led to the same bleak issues with one root cause. Nobody in the NHL is afraid of the Islanders.
That is, there’s not much respect for the Islanders goal-scoring threat. Teams had a healthy respect for the Islanders’ defense and penalty killing. That’s gone, too.
There are teams that earn a sort of respect when they enter the building. When the New York Rangers walk into a building, there’s respect for their team. Offense, defense, special teams, you name it.
When teams take on the Islanders, there’s none of that. The way it manifests itself is pretty simple. Teams are forced into challenging the Rangers, leading to mistakes that cripple the opponent.
When teams play the Islanders, they can dare the Islanders to beat them and sit back. Therefore, the Islanders can play however they want. The Ducks will let them outshoot them 41-22, especially when the bread-and-butter (so far) of the Islanders’ attack is flinging pucks from the blue line without much of a screen.
It’s a recipe for the Islanders to outplay opponents and outshoot them by wide margins but fail to score and lose. Final Takeaway: Through nine games, the Islanders have three wins. One against the Colorado Avalanche , who, at that point, had a traffic cone in the net.
Another came against the Montreal Canadiens , where the Islanders blew a third-period lead but won in a shootout. The final win came against the New Jersey Devils , with another blown third-period lead, but this time an overtime win. The losses? Blown leads and inability to score.
Shutout three times. 1-3-1 at home against only one playoff team from last season. Rinse and repeat from last season.
The New York Islanders have not been a good hockey team through nine games. They’ve lost four of their last five. They go 1-3-1 at home in the month of October in front of increasingly frustrated and smaller crowds.
Since leading the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the first period, the Islanders have been outscored 9-1. They get a chance to stop the bleeding tomorrow night in Columbus, a team that just beat the Edmonton Oilers like a drum. The puck drops at 7 o’clock in the evening.
This article first appeared on NYI Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission..
