New York Islanders: Three Reasons They’ll Beat Columbus Blue Jackets

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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: The New York Islanders celebrate the game winning goal by Devon Toews #25 against the St. Louis Blues at 1:13 of overtime at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on October 14, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Blues 3-2 in overtime.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Better

Simply put, the New York Islanders are a better team than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sorry to any Columbus Blue Jackets fan that might be reading this. But it’s true. The Islanders are better.

Not only are the Islanders ahead of the Blue Jackets by two points in the standings, but the Islanders are better than the Jackets on the offense, defense, and on the man advantage.

Offensively the Islanders have scored an average of 2.43 goals per game. The Columbus Blue Jackets – who haven’t yet played Chicago at the time of writing – have scored 2.33 goals per game. The Islanders offense is better than the Blue Jackets.

So is their defense. The Islanders have the eighth-ranked defense with an average 2.57 goals against while the Blue Jackets have the 20th ranked defense with 3.33 goals against.

(All data from NHL.com‘s team stat page.)

Again, the Islanders are just a better team on both sides of the puck.

The Islanders also hold the advantage when it comes to the power play. The Isles new-look power play is averaging a 33.3 percent efficiency. Columbus is sitting with a 16.7 percent efficiency. Jim Hiller has been worth his weight in gold so far in this young season.

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Those three factors: a fresh Islanders team versus a tired Blue Jackets team, Barzal being his dominant self, and just being a better team in three different but important areas of the game mean that the New York Islanders can make it four wins in a row.