The NY Islanders unveiled a new look penalty kill early in training camp

The New York Islanders did something on Friday you don't ordinarily see on day two of training camp. That was practice special teams. When asked why the team was taking reps on the power play and penalty kill early into camp, head coach Patrick Roy explained that it came down to a matter of time or, more so, the lack thereof.

The Isles will be into game action soon enough, with five pre-season games in nine days before they gear up for the season opener on Oct. 10 vs. Utah at UBS Arena. For that reason, Roy wanted his players, especially those who work on the penalty kill, to get a feel for how they intend to kill off penalties throughout the season.

"We watched clips from a couple of years ago. The team was doing really well on the flush, so we're going back to that," Roy said. "It was part of what Tommy wanted to do. He wanted us to be a flush team; that's the structure he wanted to use. That's what this team was doing a couple of years ago when they had one of the better penalty kills in the league."

What is "the flush," you ask? The "flush" is a trap-down penalty kill tactic that requires teams to be aggressive to avoid flank attacks. You'll see the Isles forwards take more indirect routes to potential shooters on the flank, often forcing them to use their backhand while preventing a quick pass back to the defenseman on the blueline.

A change in penalty kill philosophy was a must heading into the season after the Isles finished dead last in the league, stopping only 71.5% of the opposition's power play opportunities. Ironically, Roy said he watched a film from two years ago when the Islanders finished fourth in the league in penalty killing at 84.2%; that season, they missed the playoffs, while last year, they found their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite the PK being a major liability.

The personnel will likely be the same, with Casey Cizikas and JG Pageau seeing a lot of ice time down a man, while Kyle MacLean will get an opportunity on the PK with Cal Clutterbuck not returning. Defenseman Scott Mayfield will also be one to watch. The team signed him to a long-term contract in part due to his penalty kill prowess. It'll be a big boost to the unit if Mayfield has a strong defensive season.