Islanders’ Power Play Still Searching for Answers as Crucial Stretch Begins
The New York Islanders are in the thick of a playoff hunt, but their power play is doing them no favors - and head coach Patrick Roy knows it.
Ahead of Monday night’s matchup in Washington, Roy clarified a key detail about newly acquired Ondrej Palat’s role on the man advantage. When asked about Palat’s positioning, Roy cut straight to the point: “He’s not on the wall, he’s on the goal line.
That’s what he did when he was in Tampa with [Nikita] Kucherov and [Brayden] Point. It’s a good role for him.”
That’s a detail worth noting - and it highlights how tough it’s been lately to even identify the Islanders’ setup on the power play. Too often, their structure is breaking down before it can even take shape, with pucks heading the other way before they’ve had a chance to get organized in the offensive zone.
The urgency is real. The Islanders dropped a 4-3 game to the Predators at UBS Arena on Saturday night, and with the Capitals pulling off an overtime win over the Hurricanes, the Metro Division standings just got a lot tighter.
Washington now sits four points behind the third-place Islanders, while the Penguins, who have won six straight and have two games in hand, are just two points back in second. And guess who’s coming to town Tuesday?
Yep - the Penguins.
So yeah, this is a critical stretch. And if the Islanders are going to hold their ground, they’ll need more from a power play that continues to sputter.
Against Nashville, the Isles went 0-for-2 with the man advantage, managing just a single shot. Meanwhile, the Predators cashed in on one of their two opportunities.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Islanders generated zero high-danger chances on the power play. Nashville had four.
That’s not just a bad night - that’s a warning siren.
Even though the Islanders are 3-for-16 (18.8%) over their last five games, that number doesn’t tell the full story. They’re still sitting 27th in the league overall, converting just 16.2% of their power plays (27-for-167). In a league where special teams can swing a game - or a season - that’s a problem.
Mathew Barzal didn’t sugarcoat it postgame. “I don’t know,” he said when asked whether the issue was more about what Nashville was doing or what the Islanders weren’t.
“I think a couple of bad decisions, myself included. We’ve got our units mixed up a little bit right now so we’re still trying to find that chemistry.”
That lack of rhythm showed up again Saturday. Roy, asked about the team generating just one shot on the power play, was candid in his assessment.
“I would agree with that,” he said when asked if the team needs more of a shoot-first mentality. “I thought that we didn’t move the puck quick enough.
They were putting quick pressure on us. You’re right.
We should one pass, two pass, take shots and work for the rebounds or try to score on a tip. Whatever it is.
And we didn’t do a very good job. Also, coming into the zone, we were not as connected as we should be and that gave the result that we have.”
That last point - zone entries - has been a recurring issue. Without clean entries, the Islanders are struggling to get set up, let alone generate scoring chances.
Roy had Palat skating on one unit with defenseman Matthew Schaefer, Bo Horvat, Emil Heineman, and Simon Holmstrom. The other unit featured Tony DeAngelo running the point, with Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Max Shabanov, and Anders Lee up front.
That configuration could shift again if Jonathan Drouin returns Monday after missing Saturday’s game due to illness. If he’s back, he’d likely slot in for Shabanov.
But Drouin, brought in on a two-year, $8 million deal to add playmaking punch, hasn’t scored in 31 games. He’s always been more of a setup guy - he has 17 assists in 48 games this season - but that kind of goal drought is hard to ignore.
Horvat’s dry spell is also looming large. He hasn’t scored since December 30.
Since returning from a nine-game absence due to a lower-body injury, he’s gone five straight without finding the net. He also missed five games earlier in the season with a separate lower-body issue.
Still, he leads the team with 21 goals and is tied with Schaefer for the team lead in power-play goals (six).
Roy isn’t worried about Horvat’s overall game. “He brings so much to the team,” he said.
“Offensively, defensively. Solid defensively, I could not ask any better than this.”
But make no mistake: if the Islanders are going to turn their power play around, Horvat will need to be at the center of it. Palat’s arrival could help - he already made an impact in his debut, scoring a power-play goal from the bumper spot in a 5-2 win over the Rangers. That’s exactly the kind of presence the Islanders hoped to add, and it’s a glimpse of what could be if things start to click.
For now, though, the power play remains a work in progress - and with the standings tightening and the Penguins looming, time is running out to figure it out.