Islanders: Winning Game 3 boils down to these 3 keys

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Scott Mayfield #24 of the New York Islanders smiles as the New York Islanders. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Game 3 between the New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins goes down tonight at the Nassau Coliseum, what do the Isles need to do to win?

The New York Islanders opening-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins shifts from the PPG Paints Arena to the Nassau Coliseum. With the series tied 1-1, this could be a huge opportunity for the Islanders to come out ahead before going back to Pittsburgh.

I know a number of fans weren’t too pleased with the Isles effort in Game 2, but truthfully, there was a lot to like in that loss. If they can apply most of what they did on Tuesday they could find themselves up 2-1 in this series with another home game to play.

So what do they need to do today in order to get a W?

Play to Your Strengths

In Game 2, the Penguins came out of the gates flying and pushed the Islanders around for the opening minutes. It totally pushed the Islanders off their game plan and into an area that favored the Penguins.

Playing a run-and-gun game isn’t how the Islanders win hockey games. They play a slower more punishing style of containment hockey. When Pittsburgh pushed the pace on Tuesday, the Islanders couldn’t compete.

Tonight, the Islanders have to come out hard, keep the Penguins in their end thanks to some relentless forechecking and force them to play a long game. From there, the Isles should have an easier time containing the Penguins’ speed and pick off some of their risker plays.

Fans arrive for the game between the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils at the Nassau Coliseum. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Harness the Power of the Crowd

I know that “Harness the Power of the Crowd” sounds like some sort of MMORPG skill where you sap energy from the players around you to power up your own player, but that’s exactly what the New York Islanders need to do today.

With 6,200 or so fans in attendance today the Islanders will have the biggest group of supporters cheering them on since March of 2020. The Coliseum crowd has always been a source of energy for the Islanders in the past and it should very well be one today (and Saturday).

There’s no question that the Pittsburgh Penguins tapped into a 50% capacity crowd and the PPG Paints arena early in the game on Tuesday. That boisterous crowd fueled the Penguins as they ran circles around the Islanders in the game’s opening minutes.

While you can’t directly credit the crowd for scoring a goal, it’s clear they helped the Penguins race to a 2-0 lead in the opening 13 minutes of the contest.

Now that the series heads to 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, the site of many playoff games, the current Islanders need to feed off of the history and vigor from that crowd of thousands tonight.

Say what you will about the outcome of Game 2, but the Islanders weren’t bad. The periods where the Islanders were totally outmatched, was more about the Penguins being at the peak of the powers thanks to the crowd than the Isles being truly poor.

The reverse has to happen today.

Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New York Islanders. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Power From the Power Play

It’s kind of insane that the New York Islander power play has been consistently terrible for three years now. Since Barry Trotz arrived the only thing he hasn’t been able to improve is the power play.

To be fair, the Islanders held a 23.2% power play in 2017-18 so when they lost Tavares it seemed that the only place for the PP to go was down. But it shouldn’t have fallen that much, and certainly, it should have been able to bounce back up by now.

Since 2018-19 the Isles hold a 16.5% efficiency on the power play. That ranks them 26th in the NHL.

To have any sort of sustainable success in the postseason they need to improve on that. And that starts today in Game 3.

To start at least one change needs to be made to the configuration of the power-play. Kyle Palmieri has to play in the release position. No more of this bumper/high-slot business. It’s just not his wheelhouse.

Since 2015-16 Palmieri is 15th in the NHL for PPG. And an overwhelming majority of those goals come from the release position, on either wing. It’s like having Alex Ovechkin in the line-up and insisting on using him below the goal line. Why? That’s not where he’s the most effective.

Maybe splitting Wahlstrom and Palmieri might help achieve that. Their unit at the moment (Nelson, Bailey, Leddy, Wahlstrom, Palmieri) isn’t doing enough to warrant having two shooters out there.

It’s true, they haven’t seen much PP time in this series but when they get the opportunity they have to make it count, putting Palmieri in a better position is an easy start.

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