Islanders hockey isn’t for the faint of heart right now.
Not only are the stakes massive, with every game essentially a must-win to keep pace in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race, but the Isles seem committed to a style of play that provides very little margin for error.
With a banged-up blueline, the Islanders have shifted focus to shore up their own zone and try to defend as a five-man unit all over the ice.
While mistakes doomed them in recent losses to the Canadiens and Blackhawks, the Isles were stingy in their most recent wins, a 1-0 victory against the Blue Jackets in what essentially was a playoff game, and a 2-1 result against the Stars on Thursday.
The Islanders held the Blue Jackets and Stars to a combined 16 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 in those encounters, signaling that things could be trending in the right direction, at least defensively, for the Isles as they head down the stretch.
This is a notable development because for much of the season, the Isles were leaking oil.
Only the Blackhawks have conceded more high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 this season than the Islanders, who would be much further down the standings if they didn’t have Ilya Sorokin in goal to bail them out.
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The Isles have no choice but to try and carry their current commitment to defense forward, because they just can’t be relied on to score enough to wipe out any defensive shortcomings.
They learned that lesson the hard way against the lowly Blackhawks on Tuesday.
So even though they are chunky favorites to beat the injury-ravaged Panthers on Saturday afternoon, the Isles will still need to commit to the defensive structure that they’ve played with in two of their last three games if they’re going to give themselves the best chance to win.
The Play: Under 5.5 (-105, FanDuel)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
