Islanders' special teams concerning despite win over Flyers

The New York Islanders got a big preseason win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Isles got a third-period goal from Emil Heineman to lock down a 4-3 victory.

With the win, the Islanders are now 2-2 in their preseason schedule. But beyond the positives in the game, such as Maxim Tsyplakov’s two assists or Maxim Shabanov’s goal, the Islanders’ special teams were particularly concerning.

All told, the Isles were 0-for-1 on the penalty kill, while going 1-for-3 with the man advantage. The Islanders, interestingly, scored a shorthanded goal during their only penalty kill of the night. JG Pageau and Adam Pelech teamed up for a 2-on-0 that led the shorthanded tally.

Here’s a look at the goal:

But moments later, the Flyers scored on the same power play opportunity. Here’s a look at that goal:

Noah Cates casually walked in all alone and netted the puck, unimpeded, past a sprawling Ilya Sorokin. When looking at the replay, there was a complete breakdown in coverage, allowing the Flyers to move the puck around. Two Islanders players got tied up at the blueline. That mix-up prevented anyone from picking Cates up, as he tapped the cross-ice feed from Tyson Foerster.

The Islanders will need to tighten up their penalty kill moving forward. A playoff team cannot afford to have seemingly innocuous miscues cost them goals.

Islanders’ power play also suspect against Flyers

Despite the Islanders scoring a nifty power play goal, there was a short-handed goal by the Flyers that has to put the club on notice.

Let’s look at the Flyers’ shorthanded marker:

Christian Dvorak’s quick reaction allowed him to pick off a weak pass to Anders Lee on the boards. Lee barely stretched out the reach to the pass, allowing Dvorak to race down the other way.

Dvorak fought off Heineman as Lee and Matthew Schaefer gave way. Now, Schaefer, perhaps a typical rookie reaction, slowed up as Dvorak stared Sorokin down. Dvorak then dropped the puck back to Travis Sanheim, who buried the shot for the shortie.

All the while, Schaefer didn’t realize that Sanheim was trailing behind him. Had Schaefer realized that Sanheim was charging into the play, he could have broken up the drop pass. Instead, Sanheim popped a quick shot past Sorokin for the opening tally.

The replay showed Schaefer reacting far too late as Dvorak’s drop pass hit Sanheim’s stick right on the tape.

Moving forward, the Islanders will need to be careful with Matthew Schaefer’s power play time. Patrick Roy will need to choose his spots carefully, as plays such as Sanheim’s goal expose the fact that Schaefer is still young and needs more time to grow into the NHL game.