Islanders Need Their Offense to Step up without Palmieri

Coming into this season, no one knew what to expect when it came to the New York Islanders.

No one knew how rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer would play, how goaltender Ilya Sorokin would bounce back from last season's struggles, or if the team would even be competitive enough to stay in the thick of things in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. These were all valid concerns heading into this year's NHL campaign.

Believe it or not, the Islanders have exceeded both hockey fans and pundits expectations thus far. As of this writing (Tuesday, December 2), the team is two points outside a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and three points behind the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Furthermore, Schaefer, 18, has been absolutely tremendous so far. He is currently second on the team in scoring with 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists.

Unfortunately for the Islanders, things are going to get tough for the foreseeable future as they lost one of their best offensive players, Kyle Palmieri, to injury during Thanksgiving weekend. It was reported on the team's website that Palmieri, 34, will miss 6-8 months after undergoing surgery to repair an ACL tear in his left knee.

At the time of his injury, Palmieri was tied for third on the team in scoring with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. That may not seem like a lot of points, but this team has not been known for their offensive production this season.

As of this writing, the Islanders are 21st in the league in goals scored. They have scored 75 goals in 26 games, which means they are averaging just under three goals per game, which is not enough to win consistently in this league.

With Palmieri expected to be out for a long time, the Islanders need to figure out a way to generate more offense. For starters, they need to be better with their shot selection.

The team is currently ninth in the league in shots per game as they are close (29.5) to averaging 30 shots per game. As such, it is clear that they are throwing plenty of pucks at the net.

While that is not a bad thing, the team needs to learn to drive harder to the net, create rebounds, screen the opposing goaltenders, and other tactics that will help them score more goals. Yes, Palmieri only had six goals, but he was someone who could create quality scoring chances, something the Islanders need to do more of.

Speaking of scoring more goals, team captain Anders Lee needs to start doing more of that. He currently has five goals and appears to be gripping the stick tighter these days.

Lee, 35, is a player who can score anywhere between 25-40 goals a season. He needs to get back to being that player if the Islanders have any hope of fighting for a playoff spot this season.

Another forward who needs to start generating more offense is Mathew Barzal. Barzal, 28, is a player who has the ability to put up a lot of points (480 career points in 555 career games) and score over 20 goals.

While he is primarily known as a player who sets up his teammates for goals, the Islanders are going to need Barzal to start putting the puck in the net as well. He is a player who can easily score over 25 goals a season if he was able to finish on the scoring opportunities he creates.

Lastly, the Islanders need to figure out a way to get their power play going. The team is currently 29th in the league with the man advantage, which obviously is not good enough in today's NHL.

For the Islanders, that means putting more traffic in front of the goaltenders, having Schaefer shoot the puck more from the point, and learning how to battle more for loose pucks in front of the net. The team's power play needs to bear down and find ways to score when they are given a chance to do so on the power play.

Simply put, the Islanders need to get their offense going. Whether it is getting into the high-danger areas more, creating more traffic in front of the net, having their scorers start playing the way they are capable of, or scoring with the man advantage, this team needs to find the back of the net more if they do not want their season to slip away from them while Palmieri is out.