Inside The Islanders’ Defensive Tweaks: How Pete DeBoer Is Refining Their Structure
Inside the New York Islanders’ defensive tweaks under Pete DeBoer, as Anders Lee and teammates explain the structural changes aimed at fixing late-season struggles.
EAST MEADOW, NY — New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche hit the nail on the head when explaining his decision to move on from head coach Patrick Roy and hire Pete DeBoer.
“I just felt like the last little bit here, we weren’t as sharp, or we weren’t getting away with as much as we did before because, let’s face it, we got away with some stuff during the year where our goaltender’s been outstanding and all that […] This is not only about this year. Yes, because there are four games left, but if it’s truly only about four games left when you don’t fully control your destiny, it’s not a desperate move about this year. But do I think it increases our odds this year? I do think so for those last four games. We don’t control everything that’s coming, but we do control the way we’re playing. I felt that jolt and maybe a little different tweak to the structure, especially after the last little bit here, those few games, it was needed.”
Over these last four games, the Islanders have allowed the most shots on goal in the league, with Ilya Sorokin facing 122. Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has faced the second-most, at 95.
The Islanders’ defensive-zone structure has been a concern all season long, which is why Sorokin was a Vezina Trophy favorite for much of the year.
But over the last few weeks — and especially during this four-game skid that dropped them out of a playoff spot — that structure hit an all-time low.
In comes a coach where “structure” is his middle name.
“He’s a very structured coach,” Darche said. “I know with Hockey Canada — I’ve got a lot of friends in that group — he was in charge of the D-zone structure, of the defense, and a lot of the systems. So at this time, I think it’s what we need moving forward. It’s like grabbing the No. 1 free agent on the market. Pete’s an outstanding coach. His success speaks for itself.”
So it wasn’t a shock to see DeBoer work heavily on defensive-zone structure during his first practice.
The question is: with four games to go, how much tweaking is he really doing?