Islanders Film Room: What Went Wrong On Opening Night Penalty Kill?

After being the worst in the NHL in 2023-24, the Islanders penalty kill went 0-for-2 on opening night. Let's head to the film room.

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Islanders Film Room: What Went Wrong On Opening Night Penalty Kill?

The Islanders penalty kill was a league-worst 71.5 percent during the 2023-24 season, but with Doug Houda out and Tommy Albelin in, the belief was that the short-handed units would be significantly better in 2024-25.

They fell on their faces in their first chance to show off the new structure, the flush method, via a wedge, allowing two power-play goals on two shots in their 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club.

Let’s head to the film room.

Utah’s First PPG: Lawson Crouse

The Islanders had the ability to make a few players to break up Utah’s first power-play sequence but ultimately could not:

BREAKDOWN:

After the initial pass from the strong side of the ice to the weak side of the ice got through, the Islanders failed to adjust their structure.

The high forward was late to get back, while the defense stayed deep in the zone, failing to read the play:

Patrick Roy: “The breakdown started before the goal. We had a rush, and we burned probably a lot of gas on it, and then they went for a cross pass, went above the stick of Pageau, and hit the side-board. They just fed the guy in the pocket, and they scored that goal. It was a quick play by them. It was great execution by them, but at the same time, we should have better stick. We should have better positioning.”

Utah’s Second PPG: Dylan Guenther

One of the biggest issues on the penalty kill last season was the Islanders’ inability to protect the weak side of the ice, and that burned them on Utah’s second power-play goal, which tied the game at 3-3 in the third:

BREAKDOWN:

The Islanders had three players on the strong side of the ice: a defenseman and two forwards.

They did a valiant job eliminating Nick Schmaltz as a passing option, but once it was clear that their focus was on Schmaltz, that opened up a lane for Matias Maccelli to fire a cross-zone feed to Guenther.

The Islanders couldn’t recover.

The penalty killers needed to be more cognizant of their positioning, as that’s too easy of a look for an opposing power play:

Patrick Roy: “We had two guys covering the same guy. But again, it was a situation where we got up the ice and then coming back, we got caught. I think Casey [Cizikas] was just a bit late on the cross-pass. So was Pulock. And then Pelech, we were double-checking one guy, so we could have done a better job in that regard, absolutely.”

TAKEAWAYS:

The Islanders have been working hard at practice to tweak their penalty-kill scheme, going from a less aggressive system to one that’s very aggressive.

But on Thursday night, at times, the high forward got caught being too aggressive while the defense did the opposite, and that burned them.

It's one game, so there’s no reason to overreact, but if the Islanders are going to accomplish anything in 2024-25, their penalty kill needs to bail them out, not sink them.

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