NY Islanders offense on pace to accomplish feat for first time since 1993
These aren't your NY Islanders of old - these NY Islanders are filling up the scoresheet, something they haven't been consistent in doing for some years. It's not just the top line contributing each night - the Isles are being supplied with points up and down the lineup and the blue line.
The big guns Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Noah Dobson have led the way. Each is over a point-per-game pace this season, with Barzal leading the way, racking up 35 through 32 games. His chemistry with Horvat (33 points in 32 games) has become one of the top duos in the league over the last month - add in Dobson (34 points in 33 games), and you have a deadly offensive threat every night.
All three are on pace to finish with a point per game, which would be the first time the Islanders have finished a season with three players above that mark since the 1992-93 season.
In that season's magical run to the Eastern Conference Finals, Pierre Turgeon (132 points in 82 games), Steve Thomas (87 points in 79 games), and Benoit Hogue (75 points in 70 games) all finished above the point-per-game threshold. Derek King nearly made it a fourth, missing the mark by one point, finishing with 76 in 77 games. Similarly, Brock Nelson nearly makes a fourth Islander on pace for a point per game this season, as he has 30 through 33 games.
Turgeon's 132 points that season was one of the greatest individual seasons in team history - third most for a single season, trailing Mike Bossy (147 in 1981-82) and Bryan Trottier (134 in 1978-79).
Barzal, currently on pace for 88 points, would be the most for an Islander in a single season since Ziggy Palffy finished with 90 (48 G, 42 A) in 1996-97.