The Islanders Are For Real

Do not look now, but the New York Islanders mean business this season.

After thumping the New Jersey Devils by a score of 9-0 at the UBS Arena on Tuesday night, January 6, the team is second in the Metropolitan Division, tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference, and tied for seventh in the NHL with a record of 24-15-4 for 52 points. There is no way that Islanders fans, hockey fans, or even hockey pundits had this on their respective bingo cards going into this season.

There are several reasons why the Islanders are playing extremely well this season. For starters, they might have the best rookie in 18-year-old defenseman Matthew Schaefer.

As of this writing (Tuesday night, January 6), Schaefer is third on the team in scoring with 29 points on 12 goals and 17 assists. What is also impressive is that he is currently tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals, is second on the team in shots (113), and is averaging close to 24 minutes (23:50) of ice time per game.

Schaefer is also someone who has helped his team get power play opportunities thanks to his speed, offensive instincts, and his willingness to try and go to the hard areas to create goals. An article written by Eyes on Isles mentioned on Monday, January 5, that Eric Hornick, who is the team's statistician, said that Schaefer has drawn 24 penalties this season, which is the most for any defenseman and second in the league overall.

Another reason why the Islanders are playing so well is because of their strong defensive play. The team is currently sixth in the league in goals allowed, as they have given up 116 goals in 43 games.

Part of the reason why they are playing so well defensively is that they are very committed in every area of the ice. They are hard on pucks, they are structurally sound in their own end, they put themselves in a good position to create turnovers, and when you put all of those things together, you have a team that is currently second in the league in shutouts.

Speaking of keeping the puck out of their net, the team has been getting splendid goaltending from both starting goaltender Ilya Sorokin and backup David Rittich. After struggling with some inconsistencies in his game the last few seasons, it appears that Sorokin, 30, is back to being an elite goaltender.

Sorokin is currently 12-10-0-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and three shutouts. His third shutout was a sterling performance on Tuesday night against the Devils as he made 45 saves in his return from a lower-body injury.

Rittich, 33, has also been solid for the Islanders this season. He is currently 11-5-0-2 with a 2.48 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, and two shutouts. The team is also getting timely offense.

Yes, the team is 22nd in the league in scoring, which obviously is not great. With that said, they are still getting key contributions from the likes of Bo Horvat (Before getting hurt, he had 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists in 36 games) Mathew Barzal (32 points on 10 goals and 22 assists in 41 games), Anders Lee (25 points on 10 goals and 15 assists), and Emil Heineman (20 points on 13 goals and seven assists).

Lastly, this hockey club believes in what head coach Patrick Roy is preaching. Roy wants his team to work hard, to play sound hockey at both ends of the ice, to be smart with the puck, and to always hustle.

So far, the Islanders have done all of those things. Yes, they still need to be better offensively and get their power play going, but other than those things, the Islanders have been an exemplary hockey club this season.

While there is still a lot of hockey left to be played, the Islanders have put themselves in a good position to not only get into the Stanley Cup playoffs but to maybe even do some damage when it matters most.