New York Islanders Have Two Top 5 Goal Scorers

The New York Islanders are in a bit of a slump, but this statistic with goal scoring is rather impressive to say the least.

After a bit of a slump, the New York Islanders have fallen from second place in the Metro with a chance to be in first place on Thursday night to fifth place in the span of two days. This division is insanely competitive which makes it a fun/gutwrenching season night in and night out.

The biggest reason for the Islanders slump is their lack of goaltending. Both Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss have been severely underperforming and are putting up far below league average numbers.

The pure reason the Islanders have 37 points this year is because of their offense, more specifically their top six.

Once the underrated and underappreciated top line reunited earlier this year the Isles offense took off. The Lee – Tavares – Bailey and Ladd – Barzal – Eberle lines are two of the most productive lines in the entire league.

In fact, the Islanders top line is unique in this sense: They have two of the top-five leading goal scorers in the entire league on the line.

Anders Lee is third in the league with 19 goals, while Tavares is fourth in the league with 18 goals. Both are having impressive years, and the Islanders are the only team with two players in the top five for goals.

In fact, they’re the only team in the entire league that has two players who are in the top-10 of goals as well. They are in a very unique position, yet are just a fringe playoff team at the moment.

The reason why they are a fringe playoff team is because of the number of goals they let in. They’re tied for second in the league in goals allowed with the Buffalo Sabres.

The night team with the highest goals allowed in the East who is currently in a playoff spot is the Washington Capitals. They’ve let in 96 goals which is 14th in the league.

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See how the Islanders are in a unique spot? They score a ton of goals, the second most in the league, but they also let in the second most goals. A recipe for a season of ups and downs and a lot of high scoring hockey games.