It’s been a rough go of it for the New York Islanders in their first round playoff series. Aside from one big win at home, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the better team thus far. After Sunday’s blowout loss the Islanders now find themselves on the brink of elimination down 3-1 in the series. Ahead of Tuesday’s win or go home game in Carolina here’s a breakdown of why the Islanders have had so much trouble in this series.
Bo Horvat (and the first line)
The Islanders had a big goal scoring problem and then 31-goal scorer Bo Horvat was supposed to be the answer. And at first he was after finding some great chemistry with Mat Barzal on the wing. But after Barzal’s injury Horvat fell in a massive slump that saw him score only four goals through the rest of the regular season.
That slump has continued into the playoffs as Horvat hasn’t been a factor at all for the Islanders. His one goal came as the team was already down 5-1 in game four. For a player they invested a lot of assets and money into this is a highly concerning regression. Instead of being the solution he just became another very expensive part of the problem.
Though it wouldn’t be fair to blame him entirely as the entire first line has struggled to produce meaningful offense in this series. Anders Lee only has one goal himself and that too came with the game well in hand. Barzal’s game tying goal in game two is really the only difference making goal the first line has provided. Horvat and the first line have failed to be the quality source of offense they’ve been expected to be in this series.
Penalty Trouble
The Hurricanes have had at least four power play chances in every game this series. With that, they’ve also scored a power play goal in all three of their wins. Even with some lousy officiating the Islanders are not without blame for their penalty trouble. None of the six penalties they took in game two lacked legitimacy. And that ten minutes they spent on the kill really hurt their chances in a game they were playing very well in otherwise.
In game four there was a questionable penalty on Zach Parise for goaltender interference. Ryan Pulock then took an untimely boarding penalty less than a minute later that set up a 5-on-3 opportunity that the Hurricanes scored the opening goal on. From there the Hurricanes were able to rip momentum from the Islanders and completely control the game.
It’s hard to win while having to spend a significant amount of time playing on your heels. The lack of discipline on the Islanders end has given the Hurricanes a great advantage in a lot of these games. Especially considering how mediocre they’ve been 5v5, the excess power play chances have played a huge role in giving them the upper hand. The Islanders are going to have to try and play as clean a game as possible as they try to dig themselves out of this hole.
Failed Power Play Chances
While on the topic of power play chances, the Islanders have been a mess on the man advantage. They’re currently 1-for-12 on the power play in this series. Given how the regular season went this is not shocking at all. But it is still a very prevalent factor into how this series has gone for them.
They had four chances in game one which was ultimately decided by just one goal. If the Islanders were competent enough to score on just one of those four chances the entire complexion of this series could’ve changed from the get go.
Then came game three where a power play chance cost them a game tying goal on a two-on-one. Not to mention, the chance where Kyle Palmieri eventually scored the game winner was a second away from being a failed one. Even in game four the Islanders had some chances on the man advantage before things got completely out of hand.
Their complete lack of power play goals in this series has made it hard for them to put additional pressure on the Hurricanes. And, game two notwithstanding, they’ve had potential pivotal chances in every game this series. Any chances the Islanders have of coming back in this series is going to rely on them capitalizing with the extra man.
Credits
Featured image courtesy of ESPN
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