The 24-year-old defenseman is looking like the 70-point player we saw last season.
Something clicked for New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson this weekend.
The 24-year-old, who had a rough start to his 2024-25 season, played this weekend like the player the Islanders saw more often than not last season in what was a 70-point campaign.
Instead of forcing plays like we have seen for much of the early goings, Dobson skated the puck up and made key plays in transition. More importantly, he followed up the rush, which is what his head coach, Patrick Roy, has been asking for.
In the Islanders' 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, Dobson earned a point, a primary assist on Jean-Gabriel Pageau's tying goal:
Later in the game, while Dobson didn't earn an assist, he drove to the net, which allowed Bo Horvat more space to bury a one-timer and snap a 13-game goal drought:
"I was so happy about his game," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. "I mean, that goal that Pager scored...that was a really nice play by him. He was good all around. He was defending when he had to. He was supporting the rush when he had to. I thought his decision-making was really good."
In the Islanders' 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators less than 24 hours later, Dobson kept his strong play going, notching a pair of assists, both coming on the power play, which had been struggling mightily.
It was Dobson's point shot that produced a rebound for Anders Lee to the score at 1-1 at 12:27 of the first period:
Later on in the game, Dobson's confident puck-moving led to a Kyle Palmieri snipe.
Dobson enters Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, riding a four-game point streak with one goal and four assists.
There's no question that when Dobson joins the rush, he can tremendously impact the Islanders' offense.
With Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair out, the Islanders needed to see more of Dobson's offensive approach, and they just didn't, which contributed to the team's struggles.
But, for whatever reason, whether it was because of a conversation Dobson had with Roy or general manager Lou Lamoriello or him trusting Isaiah George more than he has in previous games, No. 8 found some extra confidence.
You can point to a few players as keys to the Islanders making the playoffs this season.
When Dobson is playing a strong two-way game, which we saw this weekend, he can be the difference-maker.