No Reason to Panic...Yet

No Reason to Panic...Yet

By Ryan Maher

Hamden, CT- After a disappointing road trip for the Islanders they find themselves in the middle of a three-game losing streak. An ugly loss at home against the Devils turned into a downward spiral as the Isles dropped both games in Florida in regulation. But it is not time to panic...yet.

Through the first handful of games the last bunch of seasons the Islanders have never come red hot out of the gate. For example, this has been their records through six games over the last five seasons.

2018-19: (3-3-0)

2019-20: (3-3-0)

2020-21: (3-3-0

2021-22: (3-2-1)

2022-23: (2-4-0)

Obviously, the Islanders had some rather good seasons in 2018-21 and struggled early. Those teams had Barry Trotz; this team has Lane Lambert. Is there a reason to think this Islanders team cannot get their stuff together?

The Islanders completely outplayed Tampa and should have won the game if not for bad bounces and some crucial errors. If the Islanders split their Floridan road trip, there would not be too much uprise in Isles country.

The main issue for the Islanders right now is they are allowing too many goals five-on-five. The Isles have allowed 16 goals against in five-on-five time, which is 7th worst in the league. With not a stunning, high-flying offense this can and has shown disastrous for the team.

The Isles penalty kill has been perfect. Five-on-five D needs to be better.

A second issue for the Islanders is they are struggling to get production from their “top” guys during five-on-five play. Mat Barzal, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri have zero goals through six games. That is not a recipe for success. Brock Nelson, whom a year ago had 37 goals, has one shot on goal on five-on-five play.

Excluding 13, 29, and 21, offensively the Islanders are weirdly generating plenty of goals from their other players at five on five with help from their blue line. They are seventh in the league in goals per 60 minutes. That is encouraging.

If the Islanders can keep the puck out of their net a bit more five-on-five and generate a bit more offense from their lead guys, the Isles could have a good season. The recipes for success are there. It is up to the team to decide their fate. It is too early to panic... yet.