The Islanders lack of discipline isn't just putting pressure on the penalty killers. It's doing damage even if the kill is successful.
The Islanders lack of discipline isn't just putting pressure on the penalty killers. It's doing damage even if the kill is successful.
In Lane Lambert's first year as head coach of the New York Islanders, his players were a disciplined bunch.
The Islanders found themselves shorthanded the third-fewest times during the 2022-23 season (219), spending an average of 4:31 per game down a man.
They also owned the sixth-best penalty kill in the league at 82.2 percent, which played a vital role in their 2023 Stanley Cup playoff berth.
But this season, their discipline went right out the window, and the penalty kill has failed to bail them out. It's also led to injuries to key players:
Through 44 games, the Islanders have found themselves shorthanded 135 times -- middle of the pack -- but own a penalty kill of 72.7 percent, which is the third-worst in the NHL.
They've allowed 37 power-play goals, after allowing only 39 the entire 2022-23 season.
And as of late, their undisciplined behavior has them sinking in the standings, losers of three straight games owning a 2-5-1 record in January.
Over these last eight games, the Islanders have taken 26 penalties -- an average of 5:42 minutes shorthanded per game -- killing off eight of them for a 69.2 penalty-kill percentage.
However, things have been especially bad on this three-game slide.
The Islanders have taken 13 penalties, killing off nine of them, but spending 7:50 minutes per game shorthanded.
Against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri took an undisciplined penalty in the third, leading to the tying dagger before the Predators scored with 7.9 seconds left to win the game.
On Monday night, in a 5-0 shellacking by the Minnesota Wild, the Islanders allowed a Mats Zuccarello power-play goal just 2:11 into the game after Anders Lee was called for slashing opposing netminder Marc-Andre Fleury.
That was all the Wild would need, even though the Islanders gave Minnesota two more power plays in the first period before another two in the second.
At 13:36 of the second, with the Islanders trailing 2-0 and Bo Horvat in the box for a delay-of-game penalty, Joel Eriksson Ek scored to extend their lead to 3-0, erasing any chance of an Islanders comeback.
The Islanders would take two more penalties before the final buzzer, a total of five in the game.
On Tuesday night, a quick turnaround, the Islanders knew that taking penalties against the elite Winnipeg Jets was not a solid game plan.
Despite a strong start, the Islanders fell victim to their own undisciplined yet again.
Surviving a Lee penalty in the first, a Scott Mayfield tripping penalty in the final five minutes of the second allowed the Jets to take a 2-1 lead after netminder Ilya Sorokin lost his skate blade, leading to an empty net for Neal Pionk.
That would be the only power-play goal the Jets would score on five opportunities, but Noah Dobson's tripping penalty with 4:20 to play with the Islanders down 3-2 made the failed comeback much harder in a 4-2 loss.
"No fault to Dobson. it's a fast game," Palmieri said postgame. "He was just trying to have a good stick and keep the puck in the zone. Shits happen. So it is what it is. We killed it off and had a couple of looks 6-on-5, and they got the empty net."
Three games. 13 penalties. Four power-play goals against.
"The penalties that are happening, some of the tripping penalties and some of the crosschecked behind the net project and against the board, we just have to be smarter," Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said. "That's it. We have to be smarter."
It's been a trend.
Yes, the penalty kill against Winnipeg was better, going 4-for-5. While killing penalties is great, being on the penalty kill as often as the Islanders have disallowed them to establish their game, get into a rhythm, and run four lines.
It also puts a tremendous amount of stress and added minutes on certain players' plates.
"The penalties just sometimes get in the way of the flow of that, and I thought even though we did take a few tonight, our penalty kill was good," Lee said. "And we got right back at it after the kill, so yeah, a little bit untimely, some of them, but at the end of the day, I think we responded well to them and had good kills and overcame them as much as we could."
A loss is a loss.
"That second period got us into trouble," Kyle Palmieri said. "That was kind of a bad break with Sorokin's blade there. Not a whole lot you could do but it is what it is. We definitely have to do a better job of staying on the box."
Over these last three games, the Islanders have scored a total of three goals, and there's no question that discipline has played a critical role in the lack of offense.
While Dobson may be the Islanders MVP this season, Mathew Barzal is the key to their offense. When he's going, the team is going, and he failed to record a point over the last three games.
Barzal is a player who, if he doesn't get into a rhythm early, it's hard to get to his game, as we saw against the Jets.
When the Islanders are shorthanded, Barzal isn't playing. Brock Nelson isn't really playing. Lee isn't playing. Despite his struggles as of late and now an injury, transitioner Pierre Engvall isn't playing.
Dobson, a clear-cut Norris option this season, has played on the penalty kill this season due to injuries, but with Adam Pelech back, is someone who isn't usually out there.
So, while a strong penalty kill is important, it's still time coming off the board when most of the Islander's best offensive players are watching rather than skating, and if your best players aren't on the ice, scoring and winning becomes difficult.
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 on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook.