New York Islanders Power Play Setup Options

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 16: Ryan Pulock #6 of the New York Islanders (c) celebrates his power-play goal at 3:02 of the second period against the Edmonton Oilers and is joined by Devon Toews #25 (l) and Anthony Beauvillier #18 (r) at the Barclays Center on February 16, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The New York Islanders are having success on the power play for the first time this season. Here’s how they can set up both units to keep that success up.

At the 2:23 mark of the second period against the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Islanders were given a power play for a Darnell Nurse hold on captain Anders Lee. Less than 30 seconds later the puck was in the Oilers net.

With some nice back-and-forth between defensemen Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews they were able to pull Oilers defensemen out of position to open a shooting lane for Pulock. And the howitzer that came off of Pulock’s stick didn’t miss.

That power play goal marked Pulock’s third power play point over the last five games. A five-game stretch that has also coincided with the Islanders power play jumping up in terms of efficiency.

Go back to the return from the All-Star break and the Islanders have four power-play goals over their last seven games. That’s four goals on 23 opportunities. That’s a 17.4 percent efficiency.

That’s still an efficiency in the bottom of the NHL, but it’s clearly trending in the right direction for an Islanders team with a current power play efficiency of 16.2 percent. Good for the

25th ranked power play in the league

The New York Islanders may be trending in the right direction, but to assure they keep that momentum on the power play they should structure their two units in the following way.