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NY Post
New York Post
5 Oct 2023


NextImg:Islanders working on getting top two power-play units in order

The Islanders have not yet figured out who will occupy Anders Lee’s old stomping grounds in front of the net on the top power-play unit.

But there is a commonality between Hudson Fasching, Oliver Wahlstrom, Kyle Palmieri and Simon Holmstrom — all of whom have received turns there during training camp: they are right-handed shots.

There have been few tweaks to the power play following a disastrous 2022-23 season, but stationing a righty in front of the net so as to better unlock Bo Horvat — a lefty — from the slot is one.

That leaves Lee, a lefty, on the second unit.

But it allows Horvat and Mathew Barzal — a righty stationed at the left circle — to more easily form a passing triangle on their respective forehands.

Bo Horvat likely will be on the Islanders’ top power-play unit.
AP

“I think it just makes me more of a threat especially down low and it just gives Barzy an opportunity to have a release by the net,” Horvat told The Post following Wednesday’s practice. “When it’s a lefty there it’s a little tougher to make plays down low and take it to that side of the ice if that’s primarily where we’re gonna run the power play. It’s been good to have a righty there so far.”

The same lefty/righty dynamic between the slot and net-front positions now exists on the second unit as well between Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Lee, which is no happy accident.

Complicating the matter is that the Islanders do not have a righty on their roster with much net-front experience.

Zach Parise, a lefty, usually played the role on the second unit last year and is not at training camp.

It has also been noticeable — especially when Wahlstrom has been at the net front — that whoever holds the position is roaming around the back of the net more often than was the case last year.

“I think they have a bit more freedom to not stand in front of the net the whole time,” Horvat said. “I think they have a bit more opportunity to stand off to the side of the net and make plays down there. It’s good. It makes everybody, especially the lefties, a threat down there.”

Special teams have been a major emphasis for the last week of training camp, as the Islanders try to shed the label of being ranked 30th in the league on the power play last season.

“When you have a down year in a situation like we did on the power [play] there’s a lot more emphasis that following year that you really gotta dial it in, especially early,” Noah Dobson told The Post. “We gotta make sure we’re hammering out our reps and getting a feel for things, make sure execution’s really high.”