Islanders Legends Share Their Thoughts on State of Team

At the grand opening of The Park outside of UBS Arena, New York Islanders legends Denis Potvin and Billy Smith shared their thoughts on the state of the team.

ELMONT, NY -- Through 34 games, the New York Islanders (16-9-9) find themselves in the playoff picture, currently holding down the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The power play, a weakness during the 2022-23 season, has been a bright spot, operating at 24.2 percent, which ranks ninth in the NHL. Their penalty kill, which had been a strength, has faltered, tied with the San Jose Sharks for the worst in the league, at 71.8 percent.

The offense under second year under coach Lane Lambert has come alive, averaging 3.03 goals per game. However, the defensive structure that had been the franchise's bread and butter since Barry Trotz came aboard ahead of the 2018-19 season has struggled, allowing 3.29 goals per game.

The Islanders entered the Christmas break with points in 17 of their last 19 games, but upon returning from the three-day break, they had no answer for the Pittsburgh Penguins, falling 7-0 at UBS Arena on Wednesday.

Ahead of their matchup with the Washington Capitals on Friday, four-time Stanley Cup champions with the Islanders (1979-1983) and two Hockey Hall of Fame members shared their thoughts on the state of the Islanders.

"They have not done very well as far as I'm concerned," Potvin said. "Because I always look at the goals against versus the goals for the differential. And when you're on the negative side, it's never good. But this is a team that can score a lot more."

The Islanders have a goal differential of negative 11, scoring 103 goals but allowing 112.

"We got a lot of time to get things worked out," Potvin said. "And I think defensively, they're better than what they've shown. So what I'm saying is that everything to me seems positive going forward as long as everybody stays healthy."

The Islanders are currently without defensemen Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield, and veteran netminder Semyon Varlamov.

Billy Smith, who backstopped the Islanders to their four straight Stanley Cups, looked toward the standings.

"Hey, look at where they are in the division right now. It's a tight division. Everybody's close," Smith said. "So every game is important. And like you saw in the game the other night, they lose 7-0. Well, if I'm going to lose, I'd rather lose 7-0 than 1-0. At least you can say okay, I had a really bad game. Let's go back and straighten it out tonight."

Smith, who played 679 regular season games in the NHL, 674 coming with the Islanders, is a fan of Islanders starting netminder Ilya Sorokin.

"A lot of times, he's the one that keeps them in the game and wins the game. I've watched him. He's very fast, very quick, agile, and he does a lot of things well. He's just got to learn how to score."

Sorokin and the Islanders host Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on Friday at 7:30 PM ET at UBS Arena.