ELMONT, NY — The last time the New York Islanders scored a power play goal, Juan Soto was still a free agent, just a few hours away from reaching an agreement with the Mets. Since their last power play goal on Dec. 8, the hapless Giants have won more games (one), than head coach Patrick Roy’s men have found the back of the net while on the man advantage.
It has been 14 games since the Islanders have scored on the power play, an 0-for-25 stretch punctuating the riddling inconsistencies that have befuddled this organization this season.
“If I’m telling you our power play was good, I’d be lying to you,” Roy said. “We haven’t had a lot of power plays. I know it’s been 14 games since we scored our last one… It’s no excuse.”
New York’s power play went 0-for-1 without recording a single shot on goal in a tight 2-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Its conclusion was met with boos from the home crowd.
“Obviously we know it has to be better,” defenseman and power-play quarterback Noah Dobson said. “We put a lot of work onto it in practices and stuff, we just have to go out in the game and execute. There are times where it looks good dandy there are times where it doesn’t. We have to find that consistency to be good each time we out there.”
The Islanders’ power play ranks dead-last in the league this season, converting at a measly 10.58%. As it stands, they will have the fifth-worst power play in a single season in NHL history.
Roy speculated that the source of his team’s struggles came from “trying to be a little too perfect” rather than simplifying their game to increase the volume of pucks that make their way on net.
It is how the Senators scored their game-winner in the second period — Adam Gaudette deflecting puck past goalie Marcus Hogberg off a point shot through traffic.
“Sometimes it doesn’t have to be that way [of trying to be perfect],” Roy said. “That’s how they scored their goal: a shot from the point, a tip in front. That’s the hard way. Maybe we needed to generate our offense by doing things the hard way. We should have been more around the net, more at the net. We talk about this every day.”
The Islanders’ effort as a whole was concerning for Roy considering Tuesday night was their first game of a seven-game home stand at UBS Arena with a chance to extend their season-high winning streak to four games.
Instead, they were flat, and they continue to sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
“The position we were in, winning three-in-a-row, had a chance to go for four-in-a-row, we should’ve been more hungry,” Roy said. “We should’ve had more urgency than what we did. Sometimes you have to dig down for those ones and for some reason, we did not.”
