TEMPE, Ariz. — Jared Bednar was asked Tuesday morning about the Islanders' reputation as disciplined, defensive and organized.
It's a brand they've built over the years, and it's not one you can throw away half a season, at least among casual watchers.
But the Avalanche coach isn't like that.
“Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case this year,” Bednar said. “I mean, they're a good defensive hockey team, but they've improved things a lot. They're a very dangerous offensive team now. They put the puck in the back of the net.
“The expected goal numbers are high. Defensively it's a little high as well, but their goaltending was outstanding as well.”
With all the polite trappings that opposing coaches need, the 2023-24 Islanders' identity will bear no resemblance to the Islanders' recent identity.
Bednar's team then produced more evidence on the ice, winning 5-4 in overtime.
By the way, it was the sixth time in 37 games that the Isles allowed five or more runs.
At the peak of the Barry Trotz era, he accomplished that just four times in 54 games in 2021.
Different era, different team.
But islanders would be wise to rely on some of those old features.
Locking things up defensively isn't easy when the Isles have spent most of the season taking down multiple members of their defensive core.
Robert Bortuzzo was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, joining Adam Pelech and Ryan Purok on long-term injured reserve, bringing the number of missing D-men back to three.
The islanders have no control over it.
But they could have responded more Tuesday night after Bortuzzo was injured when Samuel Girard slammed him into the boards.
This was a legal attack, so no one had to drop the gloves on Girard.
But it reflected a night in which the Avalanche physically controlled the game and had 16 hits to the Isles' 20 despite having significantly more puck possession.
“They worked hard,” Isles coach Lane Lambert said. “I didn't think we did a good enough job in terms of giving the defense some skin and holding people down.”
You also have control over structure and pack management.
He had some of the former on Tuesday, when he did a great job of keeping the outside shots at even strength.
However, this team currently ranks 30th in dangerous chances allowed at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The improved offense will help and will definitely make for even more entertaining hockey than the Isles were playing before.
This team, built around the dynamic Noah Dobson and the dynamic duo of Matt Barzal and Bo Horvat, doesn't need to try to win every game 2-1.
“I think they’ve struggled to generate offense the last few years, but when you look at their personnel, the way they play now, they’re much more dangerous both off the rush and playing in the offensive zone.” said Bednar. “What they do really well is go hard to the net. So their D can shoot the puck, their forwards can pass the puck, and they go to the net and go to the net. He can crash hard. And things like deflections, screens, rebounds and low-slot drives are going to be tough near the paint and late in the game.”
All true, and credit to Lambert for turning the Islanders into a dangerous attacking force.
But there's a reasonable middle ground here that the team has yet to find, as Thursday's game against the Coyotes gave Arizona a minus-10 point differential all season.
It's no coincidence that the Islanders didn't really get back into the playoff race last season until they adopted a defensive system without Barzal and started playing a more cautious, closed-off game.
That's what needs to happen now and in the near future.
