Islanders Point Blank: Isles to Play Better & Play "Their Game"?

[The Underboss]

http://islanderspointblank.com/islanders/isles-look-towards-playing-better-playing-their-game/


UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Islanders had a rough weekend and they know it.
“This weekend was a little bit of a wakeup call for us,†Matt Martin said following Monday’s practice at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders fell 3-2 to both the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, and the Nashville Predators on Saturday. “We have to play our best hockey all the time. We can’t take nights off and Chicago and Nashville are two pretty good teams that took it to us a little bit.â€

Neither game was the Isles best performance. In Chicago they fell behind early and battled back, but ultimately lost. In Nashville the Islanders’ struggles continued. Despite leading in the second period, the team could not hold the momentum and allowed two unanswered goals that sunk their hopes of a win.

“I don’t think we played our game there in either of the games,†Matt Moulson said. “We had spurts where we played well, but obviously two good teams that have had success over their last few years. They know how to win and if you don’t play your best games against them you’re not going to come out with two points. I think that was the case his past weekend.â€

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[SI90]

They say all the right things....I just hope they game out stronger...

TBH I really don't want to hear what Moulson has to say...If hes not Scroring then hes not helping....

 

[scott99]

They say all the right things....I just hope they game out stronger...

TBH I really don't want to hear what Moulson has to say...If hes not Scroring then hes not helping....

This year reminds me of every other year, start out relatively hot, 2-0-1, and then go on a losing string 0-2. Hopefully they nip it in the bud tomorrow.

 

[SI90]

This year reminds me of every other year, start out relatively hot, 2-0-1, and then go on a losing string 0-2. Hopefully they nip it in the bud tomorrow.

I really hope so scott....Its not the losing that bothers me as much as how "lazy" they are losing...

 

[seafoam]

Wasn't sure where to put this but wanted to share it.

@Schultz88: After the Sabres game tn, the #Isles are last in the league in Corsi%. Even if you hate advanced stats, you gotta admit that's a problem.

 

[19NYSports91]

Wasn't sure where to put this but wanted to share it.

What does this mean?

 

[It Was 4 to 1*]

What does this mean?

basically means they're getting outshot every game

 

[A Pointed Stick]

"So what could you have done to win these past two games?"

"Well, we should have played better than the other teams."

Herr durr, gentlemen. Hurr durr.

 

[Renbarg]

Wasn't sure where to put this but wanted to share it.

Makes sense given the small sample and the ridiculous effect that Chicago game must have on the Corsi figures.

 

[The Underboss]

I think they're playing soft. They need to be aggressive and finish every check. We must be physical to win. We lose that and you get the results of the last two games.

 

[Macch]

I think they're playing soft. They need to be aggressive and finish every check. We must be physical to win. We lose that and you get the results of the last two games.

Its true, but this is an annual occurrence. They came into the season with their confidence high, so they thought they could simply win because they had more skill than their opponents.

That was never the case and won't be the case any time soon. To be successful, the Isles have to outwork their opponents every single night. Once they realize that, which I think is they realized on their playoff run last season, we should be OK.

 

[13th Floor]

What does this mean?

Not only are we last in Corsi, we are also last in Fenwick.

Corsi is the count of shots directed towards the net. Instead of just shot differential, it counts everything -- saves, goals, posts, shots wide, shots blocked, shots tipped, etc. Corsi % is your Corsi For / (Corsi For + Corsi Against) -- all per 60 minutes to even the playing field. So, essentially, what share of the shots directed towards the net was for your team. The Corsi % helps even the playing field for teams that play more defensive styles and don't take a lot of shots but don't give up a lot of shots as well (i.e. a team that shoots 30 times per game and gives up 25 shots per game vs. a team that shoots 80 times per game and gives up 70 shots per game).

Fenwick is the same as Corsi except it removes blocked shots from the equation. The idea here is that some consider blocking shots as a skill. So if a team blocks a lot of shots, it could be their style and it is causing low scoring opportunities. Think the Rangers under Tortorella. The difference between Fenwick and Corsi can draw analysis for how much a team blocks shots in relation to their opponents.

Both Fenwick and Corsi are usually looked at 5 on 5, but you can dig deeper to different man power combinations.

The Islanders are currently dead last in both. 40.3% Corsi % and 39.6 % Fenwick. That means that in general, the Islanders attempt 40% of the total shots toward the net in the games they play. They let their opponents attempt 60%. It is a directional stat to indicate that the ice is titled against us at about 40/60. It's like possession stats on steroids.

For comparison, this year Minnesota is first in Corsi % at 60.7 and San Jose is first in Fenwick % at 62.7% (so the reciprocal of us -- which makes sense). San Jose is 5-0-0 and Minnesota is 3-1-2.

For further comparison, last year the Islanders had a Fenwick % of 50.8% (11th place in the league - 6th in the East, which is more accurate since the two conferences didn't play each other) and had a Corsi % of 50.0% (14th in the league - 7th in the East). As you can tell, pretty close to where we fell in terms of league standings.