Islanders no 5on5 production again is embarrassing

Embarrassing. That’s all you can say about the New York Islanders right about now. With yet another loss, the Islanders have dropped all three of their games against the Washington Capitals over the week.

Making things worse, the Islanders didn’t score a single goal at 5on5 over the three-game series. That’s right. A team that prides itself on having a strong 5on5 game has not scored at even strength for three games. Three!

Look, usually, after a game I write a post giving you three winners (guys who played very well) and three losers (guys who did not play very well) for the New York Islanders. But I’m not going to do that today for one obvious reason.

New York Islanders lose yet again without scoring at 5on5 (or at all)

Who can be a winner in a performance like this?

Maybe Ilya Sorokin who made 32 stops on the night for a 0.970SV%. But that’s it, that’s all.

There was no puck management from the skaters with turnovers were riff from the start until the end. The offense couldn’t generate anything on the scoresheet. Getting 18 shots on goal over three periods won’t help that.

The power play was anything but powerful. With three power-play opportunities in the game, the Isles managed to get two shots, both coming in the third period.

But I really want to come back on the fact that they haven’t scored at 5on5 for three games now. Teams can get by with a poor power play. We’ve seen the Islanders do that since 2018. They get by because they’re solid at 5on5. They rank eight for 5on5 goals-for% in the NHL since 2018-19.

The Islanders strength comes from their play at 5on5. That strength has been absolutely stifled by the Washington Capitals over this three-game series and that is something to be embarrassed about.