The New York Islanders are coming off a win at home against the Anaheim Ducks and have been able to move to 5-3-1 on the season. However, with injuries starting to mount, the team will need some players to step up to sustain their level of play.
Coming into the season, expectations for the Islanders were a bit mixed. This was a team that missed the playoffs last year, but didn’t do much in terms of upgrading this summer.
The cap situation for the Islanders was far from ideal this summer, but they could have been avenues to improve if they wanted to. However, with a lot of young talent, the hope is that some of these players will take a step forward for the team as well.
Unfortunately, with Mathew Barzal still sidelined and yet to play this season, New York also saw Matias Maccelli and Cal Ritchie go down with injuries. As two key players for the team early on, this is a big blow.
However, the Islanders were able to survive in their first game without them, and offensively, looked pretty good in doing so. One of the key contributors for the team was rookie Victor Eklund.
Eklund Will Be Key
With things looking a bit different for the Islanders in terms of their roster and the lines with the two injuries, Eklund was joined by Brayden Schenn and Emil Heineman on Tuesday night.
This group was very impressive for the team at even strength for the Islanders and had the second-highest xGF% behind the first line for the team. Overall, this group was expected to score 1.09 goals and allow just 0.34.
In terms of actual production at five-on-five, the group was able to score a goal and didn’t allow one when at even strength. While there were a number of players who performed well, Eklund was one of the best for the team. Not only did he score his second goal of the season, but he also led the team with an ixG of 1.07.
Even though he is a young player on the team, the islanders are going to be asking a lot of him with some injuries. It’s easy to see why he made the team coming out of camp and the preseason, and he has looked the part so far. As a key part of the future for New York, the early success is encouraging to see.
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