It has been a roller coaster of a season for the New York Islanders. At some points, they’ve looked unstoppable, and at others, it looked like they were finding different ways to lose games. The first four months are over, and now we will discuss what we expect to see in the month of February after a ten-day break.
A Rebound from the Defense
The Islanders’ defensive core hasn’t been nearly as lethal since losing Adam Pelech early in January. However, Noah Dobson has stepped into the lineup, and has played with a lot of confidence and has shown that he deserves to be in the NHL this year.
Over the past few weeks, the defense just hasn’t looked as good as it usually does. With a coach with the mindset and personality of Barry Trotz, Islanders fans can expect this to turn around quickly. Even without Pelech, the Islanders still have a top-five defense in the league, but they just need to re-find themselves.

Lou to Make a Move
Lou Lamoriello started his tenure as Islanders General Manager with a “five-year plan”, but nobody, probably not even Lou himself, expected the Islanders to be Cup contenders this quickly. The Islanders desperately need a goal scorer. That can be the difference between being eliminated in the first or second round or making the Stanley Cup finals.
Despite “standing pat” at the trade deadline last season, it is evident that the Islanders truly need a goal scorer, and there are some assets that could potentially be part of a trade. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Islanders need an all-star, just someone who can put the puck in the back of the net. Mathew Barzal doesn’t have a true finisher on his line and it is reducing his numbers significantly.

The Islanders to Hop Back into Second Place
This one is very difficult as recently, the Pittsburgh Penguins have looked like the Penguins of old. The Islanders, however, have had a share of second place for the majority of this season and are more than capable of getting it back if they stick to their game.
The Penguins, as great as they are, can not keep up this pace of winning for the rest of the season. Hockey is cyclical, and as a result, the standings are far from set. With a couple bad games, the Islanders can drop as low as sixth, but with the Penguins losing a couple, it can be as high as fourth in the NHL.

In conclusion, February might be the most important month of hockey we have ever seen in the Trotz era. It could potentially result in a spiraling downward like January did, or the Islanders continuing to define themselves as a top team. The latter is quite realistic.

John Smark