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Islanders Waste Domination vs. Bruins; Power Play Flat, Again
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- Islanders Waste Domination vs. Bruins; Power Play Flat, Again
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
BELMONT, N.Y —The New York Islanders played a good chunk of the game in the Boston Bruins ' zone, but a combination of good Boston defense and a lack of Islanders power play contributions froze the Islanders out of much-needed offense Wednesday night as they fell 3-1 to Boston at UBS Arena.
The Islanders continue to struggle on the man-advantage. Actually, struggle might be a generous term. They've stunk.
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The Islanders were dead last in the NHL, scoring on just 13.3% of their chances prior to Wednesday. Following another 0-for-4 performance, their conversion rate plummeted even more to 12.7% (remarkably, the Calgary Flames fell even further to 12.6%).
The Islanders have not scored on their last 27 man-advantage chances. Their last PPG was Nov 13.
"Today our power play was not our sharpest as it was (in other games)", head coach Patrick Roy said after the loss. "Our entries were a little too cute, we tried to force plays instead of putting the puck in deep, and when we did, we had our looks, we had our chances … we need to be better around the net."
To make matters worse, Alex Steeves scored on a two-on-one break by Boston on the Islanders' 4th PP opportunity of the night, his second goal of the game, and third on the campaign to double Boston's lead to 3-1 shortly after the midway mark of the third period. This was Steeves' first multi-goal NHL game.
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Matthew Schaefer , along the blue line, tried to throw the puck deeper into Boston's zone, but Fraser Minten blocked it, which sprung him and Steeves on the break. Schaefer tried to dive to prevent the cross-ice pass, but Minten deked around the sprawling 18-year-old and threw the puck right to Steeves' tape for the goal.
"Just one of those nights. It was frustrating…I don't think we deviated from our game. We continued to push, just couldn't get one past [ Swayman ]", Anders Lee said in the locker room.
"As long as we're moving around and creating threats, we're always dangerous," Mat Barzal said postgame."
Bo Horvat had a Grade-A one-timer opportunity in the slot on the power play, but he fanned on the shot.
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"We get one look [like that] over four average ones, I'll take that all day. We're getting good looks. Just gotta find a way," Barzal added.
Boston swept the three-game season series against the Islanders, outscoring them, 12-6.
The Islanders are in the midst of a seven-game home stand. They've played three games, scoring just three total goals (one vs STL, one in a SO win vs SEA, and one vs BOS).
"I like the way we've been playing [at 5v5]," Patrick Roy said. "I like the fact that we have chances. We had what, 19 chances tonight? I like our game. Would I like to see us score 4-5 goals a game? I would. We're playing against some goaltenders, we have to find ways to score in different ways," Roy added.
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Next game is Friday at 4 p.m. against the Philadelphia Flyers , who are 6-2-2 in their last ten games and are one point behind the Islanders with two games in hand.
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