Christian Arnold
The New York Islanders were laser-focused on the task in front of them on Saturday when they met for the team’s final practice before Game 1 of their First Round matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
However, plenty of questions remain for the Islanders, who stumbled to the finish line during the regular season. The Islanders team that started the year did not look like the same one that finished it. There were flashes of that team from time to time, but now we will see just which Islanders club shows up for Game 1.
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Here are three questions facing the New York Islanders ahead of the opening game of their series with Pittsburgh.
Power Play or Power-less Play
There’s been no bigger point of contention for those following the Islanders than the team’s ability to capitalize on the man advantage. The power play was ranked 21st in the league with an 18.8 percent success rate, far from what the Islanders needed out of them this season. The Islanders were able to put up a power-play goal here or there, but in games against playoff-bound teams like Washington and Boston, and at the time a Philadelphia team that was still battling for a spot, the power play couldn’t come up when it was needed most.
What could change that is the fact that the New York Islanders had just under a week of time off before the start of the playoffs. When that happened earlier in the year during the COVID break in February, the Islanders spent time working on their power play during practice.
The team was seen working on it on Saturday in practice on Long Island and Jordan Eberle felt that just getting the time to work on it outside of game situations made a difference last time.
“I think it’s just nice to get out and practice and get some reps and some touches,” Eberle said. “I know it’s not 100 percent game-like. A lot of times you don’t want to rip a one-timer and hit a guy killing the penalty, but it’s just comfortable and you get some feel out there. I think a lot of times that just translates to the game. With the way that the season was this year, we were pretty much playing every second day,
“There wasn’t a lot of practice time, so I mean really the only reps that you were getting were in the game.”
Which Kyle Palmieri shows up?
On paper, Kyle Palmieri hasn’t exactly been the player that the Islanders were expecting he would be. In 17 games with the Islanders over the regular season, Palmieri has two goals and two assists which is a far cry from the goal scorer the Islanders needed with Anders Lee sidelined from an ACL injury.
However, in the final few games of the regular season, Palmieri had started to turn his play around and become a more noticeable presence on the ice alongside Oliver Wahlstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Palmieri even had one of his strongest games as a member of the Islanders in their final home game against the New Jersey Devils, and that’s the Palmieri the Islanders will need in the postseason.
New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz has said repeatedly that he expects Palmieri to turn it on once the playoffs began since he hasn’t seen postseason action in three years. Palmieri has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 38 career playoff games.
“I think the series is going to be won in a lot of the hard areas around the net,” Trotz said. “In those one-on-one battles. All those types of things. That’s where the game is actually won for me and that’s where Kyle has made a reputation. I think it’s a good reboot for him if you will and I think he’s been playing quite well lately. Not getting much in terms of results, but actually playing pretty well and because he’s playing well I know he’ll score.”
Leddy-Mayfield Pairing
Scott Mayfield and Nick Leddy have had their good moments and bad moments during the course of the regular season. The Islanders defense as a whole looked a little bit off during their rough patch at the end of the regular season. But Mayfield and Leddy remain the biggest question marks on the blue line.
Both had had untimely giveaways or missed assignments — par for the course during the year — but have played important roles on the special teams units. They won’t make or break the series, but having the Nick Leddy and Scott Mayfield of years past will go a long way to helping the New York Islanders win.
