Islanders Powerplay Surprisingly Clutch
by Mark D on Jun 24, 2010 7:01 AM EDT
in Bits o' Islanders News
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PrintThis season the Islanders finished tied for 23rd in the league in Power Play. Numbers wise they were 49 for 306 which was good enough for 16%. Their PP Goals were 22% of their total goals on the season. John Tavares (11), Mark Streit (9) and Matt Moulson (8) combined for 28 power play goals, nearly half of the Islanders 49 PP goals. Kyle Okpos (18), Tavares (14) and Streit (13) combined for 45 power play assists, nearly half of the Isles PP Assists. After those four, Rob Schremp and Josh Bailey managed 10 power play points each and Doug Weight had 6 PP assists in 36 games.
Given the Islanders Power Play struggles, they had a 2 for 27 total in February, it wouldn't be surprising to discover that the times the PP did score the game was out of hand. But the opposite was true, a breakdown of what the score was at the time of the goal shows that they scored when it was most necessary.
Ahead
By Three or More: 3
Two Goal Lead: 3
One Goal Lead: 6
Tied: 16
Behind
One Goal Behind: 10
Two Goals Behind: 4
By Three or More: 7
Of the Islanders 49 PP Goals, 26 of them either tied the game or broke a tie. 53% of Islanders PP goals could be considered game changers. It should be noted that 2 of the 7 Islanders goals when trailing by 3 or more were in the final game of the season against the Penguins and put them back into the game. This is promising for a young team that struggled on the power play for most of the season. When they needed goals to get back into the game they got them. If there was any problem, its that when the Islanders seemed to struggle scoring PP goals while in the lead to close out games.
There's a lot of reasons the Islanders power play needs to improve next year. Quite simply to improve the Islanders are going to need to score more goals with the mad advantage. That's without considering teams will make runs at younger players until the Islanders can score on the following penalty. Although the Islanders had 19 wins in one goal games last year, they lost a total of 24 games by one goal (13 Regulation, 11 OT/SO). When you combine all of the Islanders losses and OTLs last year the total is 48. That means half of all the Islanders losses last year were in games in which they were within one goal. During the season the Islanders averaged 3.7 PP opportunities a game. An addition of ten power play goals at the right moments last year could have easily put the Isles within one or two points of a playoff spot.
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I did not realize that there were so many close games last year. Now it looks like we will have to defend against Buff Daddy more than once a year. :( Freaking Atlanta.
Sending the Isles to China was Wang's vision of making Strange Brew 2: Stranger Brew.
Bufuglien is so overrated it isnt even funny. So we have to play against a tough yet minus player a few times a year? IMO it really isnt a big deal. Im just glad we arent the team who gave up anything substantive for him. Not that he is a bad guy, but the hype is just too much.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Jun 24, 2010 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions
agreed, I read a quote from the Blackhawks blog which pretty much ripped him for putting up his best numbers when facing questionable defenses, and then disappearing in the first four games against the Flyers.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
While yes, he has been a playoff “killer”, keep in mind he did that killing against very inferior defensive corps in Vancouver and San Jose. The instant someone with as equal skill wants it more than Buff, he disappears, as evidenced by Games 1-4 of the Finals, and pretty much every regular season game. I’ll be thankful for his contributions, but I’m not going to lose sleep over it.
That’s From Second City Hockey via Broad Street Hockey.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
One can argue that he may have found his way and may continue to get better from this point forward. For the Isles sake I hope that he does not show up when we play ATL. We already have a hard enough time with Philly and the main reasoning has been size. It just seems that ATL may be that much more difficult to play with bigger players.
Sending the Isles to China was Wang's vision of making Strange Brew 2: Stranger Brew.
by metalcoconut on Jun 24, 2010 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions
But its not like the Thrashers were small last year. between Nik Antropov, Bogosian, Hainsey and Kane they already had some pretty good size. Remember with Byfuglein too is you still don’t know where he will play long-term, defense or wing. For someone who is 25 and has played professionally for six seasons, I don’t care what playoff heroics he’s had that scares me.
R.I.P. Hans und Franz... this is the price of professionalism.
by David Hanssen on Jun 24, 2010 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions
disagree
buff’s size and touch around the net are so rare in todays nhl. he is young and raw an could still develop a game similar to but meaner than Holmstrom. i would love to have him on the isles under the right coaching staff
by Lakewood Islander on Jun 24, 2010 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
All that tells me...
is that they were in a lot of close games. I think the relative PP% speaks more to “clutch” than just the tallies.
I’d be more impressed if they were 12% when ahead, 20% when tied and 32% when behind.
But what does all this mean to Jeff Tambellini?
Want an Islander Cover for NHL11?
Just move to Switzerland, as EA has localized the Swiss (Streit) and Swedish (Sedin Twins) NHL11 covers.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
So does that mean they’ll actually add the Swiss league to the game? I’ve been waiting to play as Bern or Zug in Dynasty mode for years.
R.I.P. Hans und Franz... this is the price of professionalism.
by David Hanssen on Jun 24, 2010 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, Streit’s been their cover boy for a few years now. But if I’m correct they indeed added the Swiss league to the game last year. Not sure if you could buy that edition outside of Switzerland, though – I didn’t buy NHL10 at all, still using NHL09…
NHL 09 stateside only has Davos as a custom team but no one else from the NLA. The leagues they had were NHL, SEL, DEL, SM-Liiga, the Czech league, the AHL and KHL/Russian Super League.
R.I.P. Hans und Franz... this is the price of professionalism.
by David Hanssen on Jun 24, 2010 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions
If you like Managing teams and not playing the games yourself, EHM 07 has the Swedish Elitserien, and Finnish SM-liiga. among a ton of others. I’d have to check if they have the Swiss league.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
Yeah, I’ve heard of EHM but have never gotten around to trying it out. But I enjoy playing the games in NHL.
R.I.P. Hans und Franz... this is the price of professionalism.
by David Hanssen on Jun 24, 2010 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions
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Islanders Schedule
Next 5 Games
Los Angeles
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Sat 02/11 | 1:00 PM EST |
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Florida
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Sun 02/12 | 3:00 PM EST |
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@
Winnipeg
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Tue 02/14 | 8:30 PM EST |
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@
St. Louis
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Thu 02/16 | 8:00 PM EST |
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Carolina
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Sat 02/18 | 7:00 PM EST |
Last 5 Games
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Montreal
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Thu 02/09 | L 2 - 4 |
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@
Philadelphia
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Tue 02/07 | SO - W 1 - 0 |
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Buffalo
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Sat 02/04 | SO - L 3 - 4 |
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@
Ottawa
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Fri 02/03 | OT - W 2 - 1 |
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@
Carolina
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Tue 01/31 | W 5 - 2 |
Atlantic Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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New York Rangers
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52 | 34 | 13 | 5 | 73 |
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Philadelphia
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54 | 31 | 16 | 7 | 69 |
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New Jersey
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54 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 66 |
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Pittsburgh
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54 | 30 | 19 | 5 | 65 |
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New York Islanders
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53 | 22 | 23 | 8 | 52 |
(updated 2.10.2012 at 9:27 AM EST)
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