New York Islanders Daily: Steady Improvements Since Slow Start

The New York Islanders have slowly but surely turned their season around after a slow start. Here’s how they’ve done it.

It looked like the sky was falling on the 2016 New York Islanders season just two weeks ago. But, with the current Islanders point streak they’ve got themselves back to the .500 mark.

The big change is the penalty kill. Last year the Islanders were very good on the pk. Even at the start of this year they were very solid, but it fell apart during the Isles tough stretch. Over the past seven games they’ve killed 19 in a row.

“It just sort of creates predictability when you do it right a few times and you just get on a roll,” Thomas Hickey said. “It’s like a well-oiled machine. We’re all in the right positions and efficient with our clears and our faceoffs.”

Then there’s Jaroslav Halak.

Halak has played much better during this Islanders stretch. During the Rangers game in the first period he saved nine shots during their four minute power play.

He’s started the last three and in that time he’s got a shutout against the Capitals, had 30 saves in the loss to Detroit and played very well against the Rangers. The Islanders look like they’ve got this thing turned around.

Isles Tweet Of The Day

Hamonic: “Yeah, we’ve been good for the last couple of weeks, but it’s nothing to write home about yet.” #Isles

— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) December 7, 2016

Our Stuff

John Tavares went on WFAN (Eyes On Isles)

JT talked to Joe and Evan yesterday in a very interesting interview. At the end he was asked if he wanted to stay and you’ll never guess what he said.

Other Stuff

The Islanders are getting their act together (CBS Local)

Jeff Capellini went in depth talking about how the Islanders turned their season around.