New York Islanders: December Team Breakdown and Prediction

As we inch closer to the halfway mark through the season, the Islanders are off to a season start that many of us hoped would be a thing of the past. No longer occupying last place, the Islanders have a long road ahead to make it to the playoffs, but at least it's no longer unachievable, as many fans were starting to lose hope already.

We will take a look at some of the issues and positives surrounding the team as they work towards a postseason appearance.

Offensive Breakdown

Depth was becoming a severe issue for the team in the first 15 or so games of the season. We saw the first line almost exclusively being the only point-producing players on the team. Even those who switched onto the first line (Michael Grabner) saw his numbers increase, as he gained the support needed to make big plays and score goals.

The past road trip has shown the rest of the team make the effort of scoring as well, and the need for this was desperate. If this trend continues, the Isles will find their success as of late to continue, perhaps not huge six-game points streaks, but being consistent througout the team is a massive plus. Having four players score almost all the goals for a team isn't going to make for a successful playoff run.  

The Isles really have to stop effortlessly dumping the puck in on the power play and even during 5-on-5. If they aren't going to go in hard on the dump-in, they are basically handing away the puck to the other team. Yes, we've seen some more numbers out of the power play, but in the second half of the game vs. Pittsburgh they didn't take advantage of being man up.

Also, offensive zone entry sometimes is rather inconsistent. They hit the blue line with little speed, and when a defensemen steps up, they simply dump the puck in and lose the battles.

This team is bursting with young talent; they simply need to put it together. It's getting around that time where they need to stop talking about how good they'll be in years to come and start playing for now. The fans are well aware of the talent pool, but they need results.

Defensive Breakdown

Remains a sore spot on the team, it seems as defensive play has picked up and become less inconsistent, but the age of the older defensemen is now becoming an issue. Speed is a huge problem, as the more seasoned players have trouble keeping pace and transitioning with the speed of younger and faster offensive lines on their own team, as well as the opponents.

The game has changed since some of these guys started playing, and the only older player seemingly able to have kept with it is Streit. With Hamonic and Reese having been called up, the defensive play has definitely stepped up a bit. At times, Reese has actually been seen giving instructions to some of the older players, albeit the young defense has made some mistakes, and seasoned guidance is definitely needed and has its place.

It remains an issue, but as younger players are moved up into the system, it should become less of one. Although the team still needs a top-tier defenseman, a postseason acquisition or trade needs to be made desperately for the benefit of the future.

Goaltending Roller Coaster Ride

The end of the ridiculous goalie ride seems to be over for now. In the last few weeks, we've seen the Islanders return to a conventional two-goalie system, as Nabakov was hurt and the time being split between Montoya and DiPietro. Well, Rick DiPietro is hurt again, and with Nabakov taken off of injured reserve, they will remain in the two-goalie system.

Al Montoya has pretty much cemented his spot as No. 1 for now, and with Nabakov returning, we should see two very strong performances from each player, as net time during practices will no longer be split. Nabakov is a top-tier goaltender, and though a lot of fans seem to think that he should be traded for a defenseman, Garth Snow has publicily stated he will not be trading any of his goaltenders. 

In reality, this is a smart move, RDP is frequently injured, and relying on AHL call-ups too frequently can hinder the career performance of that said call up as well as the team. Nabakov has a chance to prove his worth for this coming offseason and is capable of producing some very solid numbers.

Team Attitude

If one thing has become overly apparent, the Islanders' worst enemy can be themselves sometimes. Nothing evidences this more than their last game against Pittsburgh. They failed to build on a two-goal lead and put the Pens on their back.

The team for the first half of the game was upbeat, scoring, moving well and playing overall pretty decently. Than one bad call and a goal that took the lead for the Pens completely turned everything around. 

The Isles no longer were getting to the puck first, had some defensive miscues and weren't winning important battles. They essentially did a 180 switch and returned to some very bad habits they had during their losing streak just weeks before.

The attitude, in short, is fragile.

This team must learn to brush off things like bad calls and being scored on off their shoulders. While this is not the easiest task, good things happen when the effort is made for the entire 60 minutes instead of when they are scored on, get down on themselves and decide to stop playing.

This last few weeks, the Islanders have shown they can win, score, defend and play with some of the best, but they have to make that effort and maintain an attitude that they can win, because it's the only path to victory.

December Outlook

This month's schedule is very well balanced between home and away games. There are no real back-to-back away games in other states or countries, so a post-flight/game hangover should not be an excuse for the team losing. 

They have a very solid unit right now, two excellent goaltenders, some extra scoring depth starting to show up here and there, as well as a positive attitude they can build off of. They must maintain aquiring points on the road and at home. 

There's little reason to have blow out games like we saw in the beginning of the season. The game against Pittsburgh was theirs to win, and they defeated themselves, Hopefully, Capuano has addressed this issue and tweaked the systems they're using a bit.

In the next nine games, four of the teams they will be facing have fallen to the Isles. We should see that same success and be able to gain at least eight points, but as always, more is better.