Islanders Show Improvement in Power Play during Season Opener

OTTAWA, Ontario — During training camp, there was a common refrain echoing from the Islanders’ locker room: had their power play been effective last season, they likely would have made the playoffs.

Now, the team wasn’t expecting to have the league’s top power play, but they needed to be somewhat functional. After all, their league-worst 12.56 percent efficiency on 5-on-4 situations was glaring, highlighting severe issues with basic power play execution.

It’s worth noting that their last winning goal from a 5-on-4 power play came on December 8 of the previous season—until Thursday night, that is, when Bo Horvat’s crucial goal from the slot helped secure a 4-2 victory over Edmonton, marking the Islanders’ first points of the season.

This game’s success included three power-play goals—something they achieved only once last season. While a 3-for-16 performance on the power play isn’t exactly award-winning, it was a considerable improvement compared to the previous year.

Gone are the days when the power play seemed to drain the energy from the team. Now, the Islanders appear capable of entering the offensive zone, setting up, and creating opportunities, much like any other team in the league.

“Once we got established, we started moving the puck quickly. We were great,” Horvat remarked during Friday’s practice ahead of their matchup against the Senators. “I won the faceoff initially, [Mat Barzal] helped me out. That really gave us a boost. It’s amusing; I think we were leading the league in zone entries before that game, and then we just sort of fell apart.”

Initially, the Islanders struggled to crack Edmonton’s penalty kill, and their early power play attempts mirrored last year’s performance. However, a turning point came when coach Patrick Roy put Matthew Schaefer on the top unit.

“It’s not only about how he moves the puck,” Roy noted. “It’s also his overall movement. It becomes challenging for their top player to apply pressure, opening up a lot of space for our power play.”

Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo have both been incorporated into the power play, but Roy indicated it’s just a matter of time before Schaefer takes the lead role full-time, as he had during Friday’s practice.

While the Islanders are cautious about pushing their top draft pick too quickly, Schaefer’s skating and speed are invaluable assets for their power play. Notably, he’s proven adaptable to the challenges they’ve presented him in his first few games.

Schaefer averages 7.8 zone exits and 3.0 zone entries per game—ranking him second and fifth among all defensemen, according to data from SportLogiq shared by Mike Kelly.

“He’s a threat when he picks up the puck; opponents have no choice but to respect him,” Horvat commented. “They’ve got to recognize his speed, creating space not just for him, but also for others like Virgie. It enhances our offensive threats.”

While the power play with Schaefer is still a work in progress, it’s certainly not the liability it once was, and that, for now, feels like a pretty solid achievement.