When most league-wide hockey fans think of the New York Islanders, they immediately note that Mathew Barzal is the Islanders’ centerpiece, and some consider him the team’s most valuable player. Yet as we have seen these playoffs, that is not the case. Barzal has been hot as of late but was quiet to begin the playoffs. There has been one person who has been the MVP for the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and that man is Adam Pelech.

As the NHL finished the regular season, many aspects of the Islanders have changed since then, but Adam Pelech being the MVP for New York has not changed. He continues to be one of, if not, the best shutdown defensemen in the league. Even when going up against one of the best lines in the leagued, Adam Pelech is still holding his own. Islanders fans already knew the type of player Pelech was to this team, but he is proving it on the biggest stage in hockey

Against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Adam Pelech put Pierre McGuire and the world on notice. During the series, Sidney Crosby was held to two points in six games. Jake Guentzel was held to only two points and Bryan Rust was held to three points. The top line for the Penguins was neutralized and that was partially thanks to the Islanders’ top defensive pair of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. With Pelech limiting the scoring chance of future Hockey Hall-of-Famer and his linemates, he gave the Islanders a strong chance to win that series.

In this Boston Bruins series, you can see the effects Pelech has on the game. In the first game of the series, you could see that Pelech easily had one of his worst games of the playoffs. What resulted was an onslaught of goals from the Bruins. David Pastrňák recorded a hat trick and the first line altogether had six points. In Game 4, the Islanders came out with the win and Boston’s first line only had two points. It is hard to purely stop Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrňák, you can only contain them. That is what Adam Pelech did. He had one of his best games of the series in game four, and they came out with the win.

[sendtonews key=”DIksC0vggq-1350974-9119″ type=”single”]

Adam Pelech is the driving force for the Islanders. He has been on the top of his game and, along with Ryan Pulock, were one of the main reasons the Islanders were able to shut down the top line of the Penguins. They need him to be at his best and drive this team forward. The Islanders have shown they can play well with Mathew Barzal not being at his best, but they can not be without Pelech at his best. And when he is, Adam Pelech is the MVP for the Islanders.

Jack Kobil

Hi, my name is Jack Kobil. I am currently attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington DC. I am a huge Islanders fan and I love to share my passion for this team.