The New York Islanders’ failure to hold leads this season has prevented the team from being much higher in the standings through the first quarter of the 2024-25 season.
When they’ve had their leads, failed clears, untimely penalties, and breakdowns in front have proven catastrophic.
But on Saturday night, the Islanders held a third-period lead, and here’s why they secured a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Related: Palmieri Scores Twice, Islanders Defeat The Blues 3-1 To Snap Three-Game Skid
After the Islanders iced the puck with 1:54 to play in the third, the Blues elected to pull Jordan Binnington for the extra attacker.
The Islanders had allowed three 5-on-6 goals this season.
Here’s what happened next.
Brock Nelson won the defensive zone draw, leading to a clean breakout and time off the clock.
After the Blues made their way back into the Islanders zone, Alexander Romanov had a chance to clear but could not.
A failed clear that has proved fatal in the past led to a shot on goal by Jake Neighbours, the Blues lone goal-scorer. But Jean-Gabriel Pageau came away with a huge block before Anders Lee laid a hit on Pavel Buchenvich, with the puck eventually coming out of their zone.
Then, Kyle Palmieri and Nelson got up the ice, and Nelson fed his linemate for an empty-net tally with 36 seconds left to play.
The game wasn’t over just yet, but Casey Cizikad did his part to ensure the victory, winning the center-ice face-off to disallow Blues possession.
Winning the possession game late in games is beyond critical when a team has the lead, and the Islanders won the final four face-offs of the night, two coming in the defensive zone.
“I thought that we did a good job making sure that we didn’t get rid of pucks and that we protected those spots and got out as a swarm,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “And the last, what, five minutes, I thought we had phenomenal breakouts. We moved the puck out. I was like, ‘Wow’. I mean, that gave us, like, what, three on two. And you know what? Usually, that’s what happens when the team is pressing and wants to come back into the game and try to win. So if we do a good job in that area, we’re going to have those chances because they have to open up, they have to pinch, and they have to take chances.
“So, I thought that in the last five minutes, we did a really nice job moving the puck and moving it out. And I was pretty happy with the way guys did it.”
In the final five minutes, the Islanders allowed just one Blues shot and blocked three shots, two of which were courtesy of Scott Mayfield, who blocked a career-high 10 shots on the night.
The Islanders structure, despite the results, has been lightyears better as the season has progressed. They’ve allowed three or fewer goals in each of the last four games but only have one win because of their late-game failures.
Face-off numbers are great, and the Islanders lead the NHL, winning 57.5 percent of their defensive zone draws.
But, like many states, the timeliness of those wins is important, and the Islanders got those on Saturday night which allowed for the win.
