New York Islanders Goaltending Stopping Pucks Getting Better

Jaroslav Halak

Last Five Games: (From NHL.com)

Jaroslav Halak was absolutely MIA at the start of the season. The team in front of him was playing so well. They were scoring and they were limiting shots against.

Remember back in October and November when the Islanders were scoring four goals night and allowing less than 40 shots against. Only once did the Isles allow more than 40 shots against between October and November, and that was in a 4-3 shootout win against the Rangers.

Through the first two months of the season, Halak sported a .903SV% with a 2.769GAA while facing an average of 28.76 shots a night.

To put that workload into perspective, 28.76 would rank as the lowest shots against rate in the NHL at the moment. Currently, Carolina holds the honor with a 28.9 shots against per game average.

Fast forward a few more months, and the issues continued, until just recently. In his last three starts Halak has a .950 SV% and a 2.33 GAA. Keep in mind that this season’s average is a .913SV% and 2.74GAA.

Halak is finally giving the Islanders a chance to win! And he’s facing the most activity by far. Over the last two months (January-February) Halak is averaging 38.4 shots against per night.

So again. This isn’t an issue of the system getting better in front of Halak. It’s that Halak is doing his fair share (and more) to drag the Islanders out of this mess.