Islanders not communicating enough amidst defensive struggles: ‘They’re the ones that have to do it’

EAST MEADOW — Looking to eliminate recent defensive breakdowns in front of the net that allows opposing forwards to shield the vision of their goaltenders, the Islanders had spent much of the lead-up to Tuesday night’s meeting with the Ottawa Senators on rectifying that situation.

Ryan Pulock spoke about “kill[ing] the will]” of players trying to get to the front. Adam Pelech added that the Islanders’ defense needs to “work a lot smarter,” to stabilize things. But on Tuesday morning before puck drop, head coach Lane Lambert admitted that his blue liners simply aren’t talking enough.

“Communication is critical,” he said. “And I think there are times when we could talk more.”

Clear lines of communication ensure that every one of the opposing players is properly covered, increasing the chances for a forward to get cleared away from the netminder’s crease or even eliminating paths to the net altogether.

“It is a balance,” Lambert continued. ‘If there’s a situation where you can’t box out, perhaps you front the puck. It starts out early and it’s about battling. If you do it early and you battle, they don’t get to the front.”

The mystifying part of these recent developments is that the majority of the Islanders’ defense has been together for at least three seasons — and during that stretch, they’ve been one of the stingier units in the NHL.

“It’s going to happen at times, breakdowns,” Pulock told amNewYork. “I think it’s just a mindset, a focus of just putting more priority over some things than others. And I think when you think about it, you’re more capable of doing it.”

The way Pulock and Lambert addressed it, this seems like an issue that coaching can only take so far. In fact, Lambert continued to put the onus on each individual defenseman to rectify the situation.

“We talk about it and encourage it but they’re the ones that have to do it,” Lambert said. “They’re out on the ice, they’re the guys who are playing the game, they’re the guys that have to be the other guys’ eyes and ears for them in certain situations. It’s something that we’re striving to get better at and we need to get better at.”