Islanders Accountability: Worth The Weight

 A day after a 4-0 win in Boston, Jack Capuano was relieved of his coaching duties by the New York Islanders. Assistant to the GM and assistant coach, Doug Weight was named interim coach. Weight is a storied American player who has respect throughout the NHL as as a competitor and a person by many. But all of that doesn’t mean he would be able to pull the nose up on an Isles season that has, at times, looked like a rudderless plane trying to make an emergency landing.

Sometimes, things click, guys fill their roles and the team rallies to overcome adversity. At other times, complaints of passengers, roster changes, uninspired or erratic play adds to the frustrations of slow starts or blown leads late in the game - resulting in ugly losses and looking up from the bottom of the league standings. When speaking to the press, Weight promised to make some changes. Changes with the current team that would add a much needed accountability, and eventually, result in some consistency. Especially in their transition and checking game. Those would be the things the team could rally behind, rekindle their confidence in themselves, each other, and their purpose. Earlier this season, that must have been an uphill battle, even to the most relentless competitor on the roster.

Five games into Doug Weight’s revised program, The Islanders have gone 4-0-1 and been climbing in the power rankings. The teams best start ever following a mid-season coaching change according to team statistician, Eric Hornick. The Islanders have even started to climb the eastern conference and currently sit just 5 points out (21-17-9 with 51pts.) of a playoff spot behind the 8th place Boston Bruins heading into the All-Star break. Their 6-2-2 run in their last 10 games has enabled them to capitalize on some of the slumping teams in front of them. It’s also important to note they still have up to 3 games at hand on the teams (except Ottawa & Toronto) they are chasing. The Islanders have been able to shutout Boston and Dallas behind the play of Thomas Greiss (14-7-3, 2.25gaa, .928Sv%), beat league leading Columbus (2nd in NHL) Sergei Bobrovsky and Montreal (4th in NHL) Carey Price with sustained offensive pressure and an impressive balanced scoring attack.

New York is now even at 136 goals for and against and are climbing the offensive charts and now have 5-10+ goal scorers. John Tavares (13 points [8-5-13] in the last 8 games) and Anders Lee lead the team with 19 & 17, while an improving Brock Nelson, Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd (2 goals last night vs. Montreal) have 10. Josh Bailey (PP goal vs Montreal) has risen to his critics this season with 32 points, second only to John Tavares with 40. D, Nick Leddy is third on the team with 27 points.  The squads game has quickened and their transition game has improved. While defensively, they have been joining the rush all season, their checking game has improved in both ends and has really helped steal the puck away from the opposition and help with neutral zone turn overs and add to their scoring potential. The isles are now 9th in the league in goals per game (2.87) and 5th best on the PP at 14.6%. They have also started games well offensively and are 16-4-7 when they score the first goal (Hornick).

Defensively, the Islanders have been steady and are improving with the rest of the team. Having fought through injury this season, the call-ups of Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield have helped the team not miss a beat when guys like Travis Hamonic and Johnny Boychuk have been injured. Calvin deHaan continues to play big minutes for the Isles and “is tied with Erik Karlsson (127 blocks) for 2nd place in the NHL, two behind Kris Russell.” On Thomas Greiss, “In the last 11 games that he started he has allowed only 22 goals, and 7 of those came in one game.  He has allowed two goals or less in 11 of his last 13 games” Per Eric Hornick. Greiss has risen to the challenge and gives New York a chance to win every night. The Isles are 6-9-4 away from the Barclays and that will have to change, especially in the 2nd half of the season with 22 out of the last 35 games on the road. This will be the next challenge for Weight’s Islanders and determine the chances for a post season run.

"We looked like a confident team that has something to prove and somewhere to go." 

Lead on Coach.

Isles Notes:


Team Captain, John Tavares will represent the New York Islanders in the NHL All-Star Game this weekend.

Montreal had won 7 straight against the Islanders with Carey Price winning 5 straight against them on the road prior to last night’s 3-1 Isles win. 42 shots against the Canadiens by New York was the 2nd most allowed this season.

Thomas Hickey is out with a lower body injury.

Cal Clutterbuck left the game against Montreal in the 2nd period and did not return.

Sound Tigers Notes:

The BST are 23-15-1-1 so far this season. Jaroslav Halak (4-1-2 in AHL so far this season) had a shutout against Providence on Wednesday. They face the Rangers AHL affiliate, Hartford Wolfpack tonight.

Josh Ho-Sang has 5 & 3 for 18 pts and a -9 ratring in 34 games this season.

“Bracken Kearns leads the Sound Tigers in both goals and points (16-19-35).  Rookie Devon Toews leads the team with 21 assists and is tied for second on the team in points (4-21-25).  Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 6 goals (6-9-15 in only 19 games).” - Hornick