Islanders depth are who we thought they were
The New York Islanders are built not to get contributions from a single player or a single line, but to get contributions from everywhere in the lineup. Death by a thousand cuts if you will.
Obviously, Mathew Barzal leads the line offensively, but the Isles are designed to get scoring from everywhere in the lineup. And for the longest time, that wasn't happening. But of late, that depth is seeing the Isles roll.
New York Islanders doing what they should be
Since February 1, the New York Islanders hold the eighth-best record in the NHL at 10-8-3. And impressively, they hold the fifth-best goal-scoring record in that span with 68 goals scored. Only the Flames, Leafs, Jets, and Oilers (in that order) have scored more goals than the Isles since Feb 1.
That's thanks to the Islanders depth. Guys like Lee, Palmieri, Pageau, Bailey. and even Beauvillier are pulling their weight.
Since Feb 1, their stats read:
Anders Lee: 12G, 15Pts (20GP)
Kyle Palmieri: 10G, 14Pts (18GP)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau: 5G, 15Pts (21GP)
Josh Bailey: 3G, 10Pts (18GP)
Anthony Beauvilllier: 3G, 13Pts (21GP)
Not to mention the transformation that takes place with Noah Dobson since December and Brock Nelson who's been a top player for the Isles all year long.
Lou Lamoriello can rightfully say; they are who I thought they would be.
With the possibility of playoff hockey unlikely what we all wanted to see was if this teams still had it in them. Was there still a good team in there? The answer is clearly yes.
Now that doesn't mean everything is fixed and that they don't need more to push them over the edge. The Islanders depth is playing to their strength right now. They're playing the way they were designed to play, but they still need a top-four LD and one top-end winger.