The Islanders have seen some brutal streaks on the power play over the past few seasons, so it’s hard to blame them for not panicking over their current 0-for-23 stretch.
They know that the current situation is not tenable, and nor is their season-long conversion rate of 13.33 percent on the man advantage, which ranks dead last in the league.
Unlike a lot of those horror stretches in the past, though, the Islanders do not look like a nonentity at five-on-four — they are getting chances.
“What I love about our power play right now is our entries,” coach Patrick Roy said Tuesday. “We’re doing a really good job getting the puck in. What I also like about our power play is the possession time. We possess that puck. We have good looks. Example, the game against Detroit [a 5-0 win last Thursday], I thought we had a lot of shots, quality chances. Now it’s just a matter of bearing down on those chances because we’re doing a lot of really good things.”
The eye test doesn’t show anything to the contrary.
The Islanders have gotten zone entries and chances easily — a stark contrast from the last few years, when they were so poor at getting over the blue line that getting a power play often sucked away their momentum. Neither do the advanced stats.
According to Evolving Hockey, the Islanders are averaging the sixth-most shots per 60 minutes in the league on the power play and the fifth-most shot attempts.
They are a little further behind in expected goals for, ranking ninth, and Natural Stat Trick has them ranked 11th in high-danger chances. In other words, nothing in the advanced numbers indicates they should be struggling the way they are on the power play.
If anything, the numbers would support the Islanders’ assessment of the situation: the power play has been plenty dangerous and nothing needs fixing. They just need to score.
“We gotta get one to break through,” Mat Barzal said. “Feels like we haven’t really had a game where we had three or four, it’s been one, zero. I feel confident in our power play. I really like our power play to be honest with you.
“I don’t know, numbers-wise, what it is, but I think when you’re watching, it feels dangerous. We’re too good of shooters on that power play to not bury a few here soon. I like it a lot.”
Casey Cizikas missed practice due to maintenance. Roy said Cizikas should be available to play against the Bruins Wednesday.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper-body injury) is not skating on his own, per Roy.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
