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New York Islanders: Top 3 Surprises So Far In 2019

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 14: Jaden Schwartz #17 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the New York Islanders 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)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 14: Jaden Schwartz #17 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the New York Islanders 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) /
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DENVER, COLORADO – DECEMBER 17: Thomas Greiss #1 of the New York Islanders tends goal against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on December 17, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

No Letdown In Goalkeeping

The story of the 2018-19 season for the New York Islanders was goaltending. Both Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss were just coming off terrible results the previous year and ended up winning the Jennings Trophy and Lehner was a Vezina finalist

With a combined 0.925SV% for the Islanders in 2018-19, we were all sure that there was going to be a drop off in goaltending this year. Even if the Islanders had re-signed Robin Lehner.

Of course, the Islanders didn’t re-sign Lehner and brought in Semyon Varlamov on a four-year deal. How big was the drop off going to be now with a different goalie tandem? Could the Islanders repeat what they did with Lehner and Greiss?

So far through eight games, the Islanders tandem has looked just as good. Semyon Varlamov holds a 2-2-0 record with a 2.54GAA and a 0.925SV%. After a rough 2018-19 season, Varlamov is showing that the Islanders defensive system can help a goalie be the best they can be.

Thomas Greiss for his part is performing just as well. With a 3-1-0 record, Greiss is averaging a 2.21GAA and a 0.930SV%. Numbers that are similar to his averages from that incredible 2018-19 season where he finished with a 2.28GAA and 0.927SV%. Yeah, so far, Greiss is even better than he was last season.

The surprise here isn’t that the New York Islanders goalies are good, it’s that we aren’t seeing a drop off in the slightest.

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With a four-day break in the season, it was the right time to look at some surprises. Thankfully, the New York Islanders are back in action in a few days.

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