BUFFALO — One of the only things that went wrong during the Islanders’ six-game winning streak was on the power play.
Monday night, I finally caught up. A 0-for-5 performance in a 5-for-4 game led to a 3-0 loss to the Kings — the Isles’ first loss since Feb. 24 — but the struggles continued. It’s not new.
Over the past 10 games, the Islanders have converted just 5 of 33 opportunities on the power play, or 15.15 percent.
But overall they feel the problems revealed Monday can be easily fixed.
“We want to have a little more net presence. We like to move the puck a little faster,” coach Patrick Roy said after Wednesday’s team practice at KeyBank Arena. “Sometimes I feel like we’re slowing down the play a little too much. If we can attack the net more, and if we’re successful, that’s what we’ve been doing.
“The goals scored are the ones that come from fighting, attacking the pocket and scoring goals. It doesn’t come from tic-tac-toe. It’s coming out of the box, putting the puck in the net and competing for rebounds. The idea is we have to see if we can do it. Most of our power play goals were scored that way.”
In other words, stop looking for the perfect shot and just put the puck in the net. The Sabers, who rank 20th in the league in penalty kills, should have an easier time compared to the Kings, who lead the NHL at 4-on-5.
“I think sometimes we’re just slow,” Noah Dobson told the Post. “[The Kings] They had really good kills and had really good structure. You have to move really quickly and attack the net, and that’s where you get a chance off the rebound. ”
“But I feel like we were slow in our efforts. We weren’t that active. They just pushed us to the outside and we didn’t get much. We definitely know we have to improve a little bit in our games. I’m sure the players will respond.”
Ilya Sorokin is scheduled to start in goal for the Islanders on Thursday night, Roy said. …Matt Martin (lower body) was a full participant in practice and returned to his usual spot on Kyle McClain’s line rush to the left after missing Monday’s loss to the Kings. However, Roy did not say whether he would return to action against the Sabers and continued to call him daily.
Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) did not participate with the team in Buffalo as he missed the California leg of the team’s four-game road trip.
