New York Islanders Legitimate Wins and 100 points

The New York Islanders had their second 100 point season in a row in 2015-16. But does their legitimate point count say they’re they bound to regress in 2016-17?

As fans, we always want to know that our team is going to be successful, year-after-year. Unless, you’re one of those pro-tanking individuals. The New York Islanders have had two great regular seasons in a row recently but is their success firmly rooted, or is it bound to change.

In football, there’s a term that some use called “legitimate wins”. It’s a measure of how many wins in a season that a particular team convincingly won.

If the point spread is wide enough a win is deemed to be legitimate. Bill Simmons used it in a football column, and essentially termed any win that was over seven points as a legit win. Any win by more than a touchdown and a one-point conversion counted.

So I used the same evaluation for the New York Islanders. How many games did they win by at least two goals or more? How many games did they legitimately win? It works out to 24 of their 45 wins last season.

Legitimate Wins Count

Twenty-one of the New York Islanders wins were won by a single goal, almost half. That’s not great going into next season.

The legitimate victory count reveals that the Isles have a difficult time really closing out games. A win is a win, don’t get me wrong. But closing out a game is the sign of a true champion.

Being able to control a winning position and see out the game takes out the element of luck and affirms the element of skill.

But what do legitimate wins tell us about the possibility of another 100 point season in 2016-17?

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It tells us that, while we might think two years of 100 points is a trend, the legitimate win counts says something else. The Isles are a few bounces removed from dropping a few contests. One-hundred points are far from assured.