Islanders still looking to spark struggling power play

DETROIT — The Islanders essentially have set up their power-play units as a mirror of their top two lines, with Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau together on one and Max Tsyplakov, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri together on the other.

Both lines have played well at five-on-five.

But this power-play composition has been no better than anything else tried by coach Patrick Roy, with the Islanders sitting 31st in the league on the power play at an abysmal 12.28 percent headed into Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Red Wings.

Anders Lee (left) and Tyler Motte battle for position during the Islanders 2-1 loss to the Red Wings on Nov. 21, 2024. AP

“Obviously, when things aren’t going well, you want to get pucks at the net,” Palmieri told The Post before Thursday’s loss, with the Islanders having scored just one power-play goal in the past two weeks. “But I think if we can do better at timing, guys getting to the net at the same time, I think some of those second chances are there. We’re just maybe a little too spread out or flat-footed when those opportunities come.”

Timing and getting to the net, though, do not seem to be major issues for Palmieri’s unit at five-on-five, where the trio has scored 11 goals and accounted for a 58.3 percent expected goals share, per Natural Stat Trick.

In theory, it should be easier with the man advantage. So what gives?

“I think when you’re recovering pucks and supporting each other, you can definitely take a page out of the way you play at five-on-five,” Palmieri said. “I think we read off each other well. Obviously, on the power play, you want to take advantage of a) the extra man; and b) a lot of the time, the extra space you have. …

“But like I said, it goes back to just not over-complicating things. They don’t have to be the prettiest plays. You just gotta make sure you execute and meet the puck at the net when we’re getting there.”

Brock Nelson looks to take the puck away from Dylan Larkin during the Islanders’ loss. NHLI via Getty Images

Roy concurred, noting that in two power-play chances during Tuesday night’s loss, Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson blocked a number of their best opportunities.

“I think both [units] need to do the same, which means they should put pucks in the net,” Roy said. “There’s a couple things: Sometimes it’s [not] just throwing pucks at the net, but it’s how fast you bring that next shot back. That’s what we need to do.

“Have a little bit better job. If we take a shot, we need to be better on our puck recovery, and from our puck recovery, we need to recreate something out of this. Not give them a chance to be set and create some offense off that.”

The Red Wings honored Pavel Datsyuk for his election to the Hockey Hall of Fame before Thursday’s game.

Datsyuk’s former agent, Dan Milstein — who represents Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov of the Islanders — was in attendance.