Offseason Signings Produce A More Balanced Islanders Power Play

The New York Islanders power play units are much deeper, all because of two off-season signings.

ELMONT, NY -- When the New York Islanders signed forwards Anthony Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov this summer, they hoped they would be strong fits at 5-on-5 with their respective linemates. 

But it's what the two have allowed assistant coach John MacLean to do with the power play that has been a significant standout.

Last season, the team's power play came through 20.4 percent of the time (19th best), with the top unit of Noah Dobson, Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, and Kyle Palmieri getting most, if not all, of the two minutes to find a goal.

Playing the top unit for most of the power play wasn't the wrong game plan, as the second unit was a significant downgrade from the first unit.

The second unit often consisted of Mike Reilly, Pierre Engvall, Ryan Pulock, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Anders Lee. 

Now, things look a little bit different. 

PP #: QB-Left-Right-Bumper-Net:

PP 1: Dobson - Barzal - Duclair - Horvat - Tsyplakov

PP 2:  Reilly - Nelson - Palmieri - Pageau - Lee

"I don't want to have a 1A and a 1B," Roy said postgame. "I want to have two A's. That's what we did in Colorado with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene. They were split up.

"Sometimes, you are not going to score, but if your guys are fresh, you could keep the momentum by throwing them out there again, and that's what I'm looking to do."

That's not what Roy got last year, as when the top unit failed, momentum and confidence took hits, which undoubtedly contributed to some of the third-period blown leads and lack of consistency.

But, as Roy said, having two balanced attacks allows momentum to continue, and players like Barzal and Horvat aren't getting gassed while having the man advantage. 

Depth is everything in today's NHL, and that's not different up a man.

Having two units capable of scoring changes everything for the opposition. There's no longer a "weak unit" to which we've become accustomed. 

That's not to say the two groups are completely interchangeable, but it's fair to say that Reilly could replace Dobson at the point, Nelson could replace Duclair, and Lee could replace Tsyplakov if need be. 

Both units scored in the Islanders' second-to-lat preseason game.

First, Mathew Barzal's wrist shot through a Tsyplakov screen got the Islanders on the board later in the first.

Then, the second group left its mark at 11:04 of the second frame when Reilly sent a booming slap shot toward the goal before Lee deflected it home to give the team a 3-1 lead. 

Although both groups struggled with their entries, basic wrist shots and a strong net-front play allowed for success. 

"That’s going to be key for us when things get stagnant on the power play," Dobson said about having a strong net-front presence. "When that happens, we really just need to funnel pucks to the front of the net with a screen because that’s dangerous. It was a good play by Barzy to recognize that.”

Both power-play units need more work, especially with Monday being the first time both units had a chance to mingle outside of practice. 

But adding Duclair and Tsyplakov to the roster made both power plays much stronger and deeper, which should allow the Islanders' power play to be a threat this season rather than the team's Achilles heel.