The New York Islanders are still working through the early-season mess that comes with a new coach, a missing star, and a roster that hasn’t found its finish.
Peter DeBoer’s system is still settling in, and the Islanders have had to absorb more than a few hits along the way. Mathew Barzal has not played a game yet, and Alexander Romanov is done for the year after sustaining a knee injury against the New York Rangers.
Even so, the team has managed to stay competitive. The bigger issue is that the scoring has not followed.
That problem was on display again after Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. J.G.
Pageau was credited with the goal, replacing Matthew Schaefer’s earlier credit for his first of the season. With that change, only newcomer Mattias Maccelli and Kyle Palmieri remain without a goal.
Palmieri still has not posted a point after injuring his knee.
Through five games, the list of multi-goal scorers is short. Captain Bo Horvat, Emil Heineman, and Brayden Schenn are the only Islanders who have done it more than once.
Horvat leads the club with four goals, and three of those have come on the power play. Schenn has the team’s only other man-advantage goal.
The defense hasn’t offered much help in the scoring column, either. Schaefer’s goal was taken away over the weekend, and if it had stood, he would have joined Tony DeAngelo as the only defenseman to score this season.
No one was expecting the Islanders to sit atop the league in goals, but they do need more from the top of the lineup. Until that happens, the offense is going to stay stuck in neutral. The power play has been an issue for years, and Barzal’s return would not fix everything by itself - though it would help.
In Other News...
Mathew Barzal Found Unexpected Inspiration During His Injury Comeback
Mathew Barzals road back from a knee injury has been a long one, but an unexpected moment on live television gave the Islanders forward a boost he probably did not see coming. During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Barzal was surprised by Tommy Ryan, a fan whose connection to the team and to Barzal goes back to Ryans hospitalization, when he credited the Islanders for helping him get through leukemia treatment.
The relationship has grown from there, including a previous meeting at UBS Arena, and Ryans presence clearly hit home for Barzal as he continues working his way through recovery. For a player trying to navigate the patience and grind of coming back, finding motivation in the story of a fan who drew strength from him in the first place is a reminder that these ties can run both ways. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Is Giving Islanders Fans A Massive Reason To Believe
At 19, Matthew Schaefer is already logging a workload that would be notable for a veteran, let alone a rookie defenseman. The Islanders are trusting him with 25:26 of ice time per game, and even in a role that still leaves him with limited shorthanded duty, his influence has been obvious every night hes on the ice.
The numbers back up what the eye test suggests. Schaefers underlying profile includes a 54.9% expected goals share and 3.52 expected goals for per 60 minutes, markers of a player driving play rather than just surviving it. With that kind of start, it is easy to see why the conversation around him is already stretching far beyond this season and into the kind of upside that can reshape a blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Got The Exact Boost They Needed In A Tight Win
Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders exactly the kind of lift they had been waiting for in a 3-2 win over the Canucks, scoring twice and finishing the night with the deciding goal. It was the sort of timely contribution New York needed in a tight game, and it came with the added significance of Palmieri continuing to work his way back after ACL surgery, a process the team has been watching closely.
Matias Maccelli also fit neatly into the picture, scoring his first goal as an Islander and helping create the winner after getting moved up to the top line. Head coach Pete DeBoer praised both players afterward, pointing to Palmieris return and Maccellis motivation and performance as encouraging signs for a team looking for more reliable offense when the margins are thin. [Read more 🡒]