The New York Islanders Look to Finish Opportunities Better

As the NHL season heads into mid-October, the New York Islanders have gone through some growing pains while becoming acclimated to new head coach Peter DeBoer's system. Top forward Mathew Barzal has yet to play a game, and defender Alexander Romanov will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury against the New York Rangers.

The team has been able to compete despite the struggles, but scoring has been, and will continue to be, a problem until Barzal returns. Normally, depth scoring is a positive for a team, but despite only two forwards not registering a goal, the team remains at the bottom of the league in goals scored.

J.G. Pageau was credited with the goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday after Matthew Schaefer had been credited with his first goal of the season. Because of the scoring change, only newcomer Mattias Maccelli and Kyle Palmieri have yet to light the lamp. Palmieri has not registered a single point to start the season after injuring his knee.

In five games, the only players with multiple goals are captain Bo Horvat, Emil Heineman, and Brayden Schenn. Horvat has 4 goals to lead the team, with 3 of those goals being on the man advantage. The only other power-play goal is from Schenn.

The defense has been just as bad in the goal department. Schaefer had his goal taken away over the weekend, but if he had scored, he would have joined Tony DeAngelo as the only defenseman to register a goal this season.

No one expected the Islanders to be leading the league in goals this season, but without better finishing from the top talent on this team, the Islanders will remain average at best. The power play has been a struggle for many years. The current production will not be solved by the return of Barzal, but it certainly won't hurt.

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