Islanders: Three Takeaways from 1-0 Overtime Win in Philly Finale

2. Coburn Inserted into Lineup, Dobson Scratched, Leo Shines

Barry Trotz’s lineup decisions aren’t always met with resounding positivity from this fanbase. Quite often the Islanders bench boss’s decisions lead to frustration from large swaths of the team’s online following.

On Sunday, it was the healthy scratch of Noah Dobson in favor of Braydon Coburn that had fans unhappy. Dobson, like Sorokin, has found peaks and valleys in his first year as a lineup regular and second-year NHL’er. But, since his return from the NHL’s COVID protocol list, it has been mostly tough sledding for the 21-year-old blueliner.

Enter Coburn, whose difficulties with the Ottawa Senators and advanced age led many, myself included, to question the decision. I mean, the Islanders still have Thomas Hickey available. Regardless, the newest Islander paired with Andy Greene for the night, which only added to the pins and needles I sat on every time that pair hit the ice.

The Coburn-Greene pair were not good. Natural Stat Trick’s numbers show they surrendered the second and fourth-highest Corsi Against numbers of any Islanders skaters while on the ice. Coburn surrendered the highest xGA of any Islander defenseman and was out-chanced 6-3.

Greene, meanwhile, led all Islanders defensemen in the standard deviation of shift length during all situations at 0:24. What does that mean? Well, it means his shifts ranged relatively widely in their lengths. Greene’s average 5v5 shift length of 0:39 was second-lowest among Islanders blue liners. The deviation tells us he was likely caught out for longer shifts than he should’ve been.

The eye test corroborated that for me on Sunday night. Far too often were the Islanders soft on the puck in transition as a team, but with Coburn and Greene on the ice particularly the team often had lots of trouble escaping their own zone with Flyers forecheckers in their faces.

Sloppy passes, easy giveaways, and panicked moments of just throwing the puck into open space away from the nearest forechecker were commonplace sights with Coburn and Greene attempting to exit their zone.

On the other hand, Leo Komarov was a pleasant surprise for the Isles forward group. Leo didn’t exactly have a whale of a game per se, but like we often talk about, he played within himself. He played his game.

Komarov was reliable in breaking up passes and reading his defensive assignments well at 5v5, and he was even better at doing so on the penalty kill. He was still offensively pretty ineffective, but Leo drew a penalty, threw the body frequently, and won three of four faceoffs on the night.

He fulfilled the role of the fourth-line player admirably, and that’s where he belongs. Playing him in the top-six is just an easy recipe for stifling your own offense, but when he’s given a role he can play, Leo is effective. A very solid performance from everyone’s favorite uncle.

3. Islanders re-Capture Second; The Week Ahead

It’s been a busy last few days for the NHL East Division’s teams. The Islanders and Bruins played a back-to-back set in Boston just before the weekend began, and then the rest of the division’s teams were in action for the remainder of the weekend, with New York and Boston returning to action on Sunday as well.

The good news for the Islanders is that the Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in regulation during a Sunday matinee, which brings the Isles and Pens to the same number of games played, with New York up in the standings by one point.

The sorta good, sorta bad news is that the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Bruins move to within four points of the Islanders, while also having two games in hand.

The good side of that is the division-leading Caps took a regulation L, which helps the Islanders to potentially catch them for the top seed in the East. If the Isles can play to their potential, which we haven’t seen in some time now, they could still theoretically capture the East’s top seed and secure home ice in the first two rounds of the upcoming playoffs.

The worst outcome for the Isles on Sunday was the Rangers defeating the New Jersey Devils in back-to-back games. In each game New Jersey came back from an early deficit to make for an exciting finish, but also in each game they ended up falling in regulation.

The Rangers now sit just four points back of the Bruins for fourth place in the East. They have the highest goal differential (+33) in the division, and they’ve picked up points in nine of their last ten games.

The Islanders will play the Rangers three times between Tuesday and May 1 to close out the season series between the two teams. Those three games and six points might ultimately prove to be the most crucial of the season.

But not so fast. The Blue and Orange also have three meetings remaining against Washington on the schedule in that same timeframe. In each three-game set remaining the Islanders have home ice twice. They need to collect points in each of those sets, and they need to do so desperately. A playoff spot is still not guaranteed for this team, especially if they continue playing this way.

With only eleven games remaining, there’s also the season finale, another game that could prove to be crucial for New York. They play the Bruins on May 10, in a make-up game that was missed earlier this season. It may not be hyperbole to say when that game rolls around both teams’ playoff hopes could still hang in the balance. Only time will tell, so buckle up.