When will the inconsistent Islanders fully grasp Pete DeBoer's system?
Islanders coach Pete DeBoer looks on against the Vancouver Canucks at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OTTAWA, Ontario — How to assess the Islanders, who have started the season alternating losses and wins in their first six games? That, right there, suggests an inconsistency that needs to be solved.
And how much do some mitigating factors, such as the team still needing to acclimate fully to coach Pete DeBoer’s system and trying to figure out its best lineup with defenseman Alexander Romanov (right knee) lost for the season and top-six forward Mathew Barzal (left knee) yet to play, impact the inconsistency?
There are no clear-cut answers so early in the season but DeBoer believes he’ll have a much better idea after this two-game Canadian swing with games against the Senators on Thursday night and in Toronto on Saturday night.
“I don’t know if we’re there yet,” DeBoer said after Tuesday night’s see-saw 3-2 win over the struggling Canucks at UBS Arena when asked how he gauged his team’s comfort with the system he’s implemented.
“I saw some glimpses tonight again. I think we’re getting a little bit better at it. I think the answer to that question is to be determined. We’re going on the road in some tough buildings. That’s always the biggest test when you go into these road buildings and you don’t have last change and you’re playing really good teams in their rinks. I’ll probably get a better idea but, definitely, a lot of positive signs in those directions.”
The Islanders have dropped their two road matches so far, the season opener to the Maple Leafs and to the surprisingly strong Rangers. They’ve allowed the first goal in all three of their defeats and scored first in all three of their wins.
But the statistics and analytics are not bad so far.
While the Islanders are 19th in the NHL with 19 goals scored, their plus-four goal differential is a respectable 10th. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, while the Islanders’ expected goals for of 16.96 in all situations is 24th in the league, their expected goals for percentage of 47.75 is 15th.
So, some good, some not so good.
Inconsistent.
It’s shown itself in the last two games. The Islanders started slowly in a 5-3 loss to the visiting Lightning on Saturday, falling behind 2-0 after one period before playing a solid two final periods. Against the Canucks, the Islanders went up 2-0 in the first period, gave the lead back in the second period and then played a very strong third period.
“Everything goes up and down through every team and every season,” left wing Emil Heineman told Newsday. “Over time, we’ve been taking steps for sure. [The Lightning] game we had a slow start and then we kind of grabbed ourselves and pulled back into it. Obviously, you don’t want that but, overall, I think we’ve been putting together more and more solid games. So we’re getting there. I like the direction we’re heading.”
“I see a lot of improvement in our breakouts, in our exits,” center Jean-Gabriel Pageau told Newsday. “I feel like we’re more connected. We keep practicing the same thing over and over again. I feel like we’re all getting on the same page and that helps our consistency. We know where we have to be. We know how we have to work and how we have to play.”
DeBoer, in his sixth NHL stop, has vast experience in how quickly — or not quickly — a team can feel fully comfortable in a new system. He’s seen it take until either Thanksgiving or Christmas with some of his previous teams.
Pageau believes the a-ha bulb will come on sooner than that.
“I think we’re extremely close,” Pageau said. “We can see now when we execute well and when we’re in the right spots how close we are. And when we go away, that’s the part we want to eliminate. Hopefully before Christmas. I feel we’re closer than that.”
“I think, for the most part, we’ve been pretty consistent,” defenseman Adam Pelech told Newsday. “It’s always tough to play well for a whole 60 minutes and do that consistently. It’s hard. Only the best teams do it. I think we’re building towards being a very consistent team but there’s still work to do, obviously.”
How to assess the Islanders? It seems like the players are still trying to figure that out as well.
Perhaps there will be a clearer picture two games from now when they return from Canada.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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