New York Islanders: Goals Per Game Since The Trade Deadline

The New York Islanders have struggled to put the puck in the net this year but it’s been especially bad in the last seven games.

On Monday, February 25, 2019, the New York Islanders had a chance to improve their roster. Lou Lamoriello wasn’t able to pull the trigger on a move, despite exploring numerous big-name targets, and the Isles were left with the same roster post-trade deadline.

The offense, specifically the power play, was arguably their biggest need before the deadline, despite being in first place, but now those flaws are being exposed as they head down the stretch of the season. Post Trade Deadline, the offense has been flat out atrocious.

They’ve played seven games since the trade deadline and have just 20 goals in those games. That’s 2.9 goals per game, roughly what they were at pre-trade deadline. There’s a catch to this stat though.

They have a six and a five-goal outlier in this seven-game sample size. They have scored just one goal three times over this stretch and last night they mustered up just two goals. That’s four out of the last seven games with two goals or less.

On top of that, you can turn to the awful power play. Since the trade deadline, the Islanders are 0-for-17 on the man advantage. This recent stretch has dropped them to 26th in the league with a 15.4 percent efficiency on the power play.

So please, spare me the Columbus Blue Jackets argument when justifying keeping the same roster. It’s an anomaly how bad they’ve been. We’ve watched the Islanders go 3-4 since the deadline and fall out of first place. The Islanders are in a playoff spot by six points.

While I’m still confident that they will be a playoff team in some capacity, their chances at playing a wild card team is slipping away. Something catastrophic would have to happen for the Isles to miss the playoffs but this limp to the finish line looks all too familiar (see 2014-2015).

Barry Trotz has proven to have some tricks up his sleeve over this year, he’s going to need one more in the regular season to get this team on track. Otherwise, it might be an early exit if they reach the playoffs.