The New York Islanders made some tweaks to their defensive structure at Monday's practice, in an effort to limit opponent's chances.
The New York Islanders made some tweaks to their defensive structure at Monday's practice, in an effort to limit opponent's chances.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- What's held the New York Islanders back from hanging near the New York Rangers at the top of the Metropolitan Division has been their defensive struggles.
It's unlike an Islanders team to have consistent issues in their own zone, but it's the reality. This season, they've allowed the second most shots per game in the NHL, 35.1, and have allowed the 11th most goals per game, at 3.26.
What's allowed the Islanders to stay in the playoff race has been their offense, but at some point, the Islanders need to fix what's broken, especially after a road trip (1-2-1) where they were allowed 14 goals in four games.
Although there isn't going to be a complete teardown of the system that Islanders Lane Lambert has tried to implement since taking over behind the bench in 2022-2023, he made some tweaks to the defensive structure at Monday's practice.
It was never part of their game plan to have two players, especially two defensemen, chase behind the net, but it's become a common theme this season.
What Lambert is asking now is that the forwards provide more support, whether it be in corners or behind the net, allowing a defenseman to stay stationed in the slot. In theory, this will not allow the weak-side forward to sneak in and have wide-open looks. With more support along the wall, the Islanders should also be able to win more puck battles and break out of the zone.
The weak-side forward is the forward who is on the opposite side of where the puck is.
If puck battles aren't won, the added pressure on the puck handlers should limit opposing shots or, at the very least, keep the shots to the perimeter to allow for high-danger looks.
"They want our forwards working in the corners and helping out," Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov told The Hockey News. "Then, if the puck goes to the other corner, the forward down low should run to the other corner. At the same time, he should help in the slot, so it's really hard work."
It's clear that Lambert wants to see the forwards chasing over his two defensemen.
"One defenseman stays home. The second one goes to work in the corner," Romanov said.
An issue we have seen this season, and one that came to the forefront in the Islanders' 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, was the forwards getting caught puck-watching too much.
With how banged up the backend is and new faces in the lineup, getting more support from the forwards is critical in limiting chances.
"As the low forward, Lane wants that guy working a little more side to side as opposed to a defenseman chasing behind the net," Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri told THN. "Communication helps a lot. Especially in the defensive zone. I think it helps you break out, helps you make sure you're not kind of in the wrong spot or thinking the wrong thing. The more you communicate, the easier it is.
"At the same time, you got to make your own decision. And obviously, at all costs, you want to protect the front of your net."
Now, there will be times when mistakes are made, and players have to do some damage control. But, at the same time, a player doesn't want to leave their position on the ice because then another hole might open up that the opponent can exploit.
"I think it's working from a position of defense on out. I think it's one of those things that you are, at some point, gonna have to leave your guy, whether it's to help with the battle or with that guy gets tied up to try and break the puck out," Palmeiri said. "So if you're leaving from a position of good defensive positioning, it's, I guess, maybe a little more of a deterrent than a guy being wide open, and all of a sudden, that guy wins that puck, gets his eyes up and sees the open guy and if you're in between those two, it's a little harder to play,"
Islanders forward Bo Horvat is a player who is usually deep in the Islanders zone as a center. He thinks this little tweak should do exactly what Lambert intends for it to do.
"I think it's just a little tweak that we're making in the defensive zone just to be able to eliminate our chances against, especially the grade-A chances from scoring areas and stuff like that," Horvat told THN. "So, I think this can be a good thing for us and having that low forward be the guy to go out for further on the point so the defense can stay home and make sure we don't get a lot of shots against.
"It's about protecting the middle of the ice. That weak side forward, to be able to pick out their strong side or that high forward and not give up as many scoring opportunities. And the other guy is just kind of cutting off the points and stuff, so everybody's got their own job, but I think to have at least the forward and the defense going in the corner and have a defensive guy in front of them, that is definitely gonna help us out a lot."
At the end of the day, communication, as Palmieri said earlier, is the most critical piece of any structure. It's something Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson also spoke to.
"I think the main thing is just making sure everyone's on the same page and know where they need to be when they need to go, times to be aggressive, and times to hold," Dobson told THN. "Just hammering in the details. We've played a lot of hockey. We haven't had a lot of practice time.
"I think it's good on the days where we get a chance to get on the ice practice to really emphasize those details as they're big parts of the game."
The Islanders battle the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night, a team that put up five goals on the Islanders earlier this season in Vancouver and currently leads the NHL, scoring 3.82 goals per game."
You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season at twitch.tv/hockeynightny.