The New York Islanders had a chance -- they really did -- to pull off the upset and beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The New York Islanders had a chance -- they really did -- to pull off the upset and beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That ultimately didn't happen for a few reasons, but the biggest reasons were special teams.
The Islanders outscored the Hurricanes 7-5 at 5-on-5 but only came through three times on 11 tries with the man advantage, while the penalty kill allowed five goals on 15 chances.
It turns out that special teams are what plagued the other seven teams who were eliminated after Round One:
As the graphic shows, the Islanders' 27 percent power-play and 67 percent penalty kill placed them 11th of 16 teams to make the playoffs.
Special teams were New York's biggest concern heading into the playoffs, given that the Hurricanes had the second-best power play in the league (26.9%) and the top penalty-kill unit (86.4%).
On the other hand, the Islanders' penalty kill finished the regular season last in the NHL (71.5%), with their power play ranked 19th (20.4%).
Power-play coach John MacLean, who could be fired, didn't make too many adjustments to the power play despite its struggles after a strong start.
When top power-play quarterback Noah Dobson got hurt at the end of the season, Mike Reilly took his spot, something the Islanders kept during the playoffs.
Outside of that and a few tweaks here and there, the top unit remained with Mathew Barzal on the left, Brock Nelson on the right, Bo Horvat as the bumper, and Kyle Palmieri as the net-front presence, while the second power-play unit had Ryan Pulock on the left, Pierre Engvall on the right, Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the bumper and Anders Lee at the net front.
The Islander's three power-play goals in the playoffs, courtesy of Reilly, Pageau, and Anders Lee, were not due to some incredible passing players or anything complicated.
Reilly's goal was a one-timer from the point.
Pageau's goal came off a rebound after Dobson took a basic wrist shot from the right dot.
Lee's power-play goal came off a puck coming to the front of the net, in which he was left wide-open for a quick backhand tuck move.
The penalty kill wasn't egregious in the playoffs, but during the season, they allowed the weak-side forward to be left wide-open so often, resulting in easy power-play goals for the opposition:
Out of the five power-play goals they allowed, courtesy of Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, Stefan Noesen, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, four of them came after the Islanders failed to pick up their man due to late reactions.
Kuznetsov's power-play goal, which came off an Adam Pelech turnover, opened the series' scoring. Clearing the zone failures has been the biggest issue for the Islanders' short-handed units this season.
It's clear that a failure to make changes during the season, especially on the penalty kill, killed the Islanders.
Heading into next season, regardless of who coaches which units, the roster players need to tighten up. Their goaltending needs to stand much taller when they go down a man.
But they also need to be less lackadaisical with their sticks and stop taking as many penalties as they did, especially in the third period.
That starts with taking better routes to pucks, not getting caught flat-footed, and making the plays, especially zone exits when the ice is given to them.
If the Islanders want to stop waiting until the last few games of the regular season to clinch playoff spots, their special teams must propel them forward, not pull them backward.
While regular-season success doesn't always translate into the playoffs, confidence plays a vital role, and the Islanders special teams didn't give them much to be confident about heading to Raleigh.