It was the Islanders\u2019 third power play goal in as many games, a feat they achieved just once last season, and though their 3-for-16 mark on the man advantage isn\u2019t going to win any medals, there has been a noticeable difference compared to a year ago.<\/p>\n
![\"Islanders](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/14-new-york-islanders-scores-113616176.jpg\")
Islanders reacts after Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders scores a goal during the third period when the New York Islanders played the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, October 16, 2025 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
No longer does the power play feel like it sucks the life out of the Islanders. No longer do you wonder whether they might ask to decline penalties.<\/p>\n
They can enter the zone. They can get set up. They can generate chances. Just like the 31 other teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we got established, started moving the puck around quick, we were great,\u201d Horvat told reporters at Friday\u2019s practice before the Islanders flew to Ottawa for a Saturday matinee against the Senators. \u201cOn our goal, it was just a matter of me winning the faceoff first and [Mat Barzal] helping out. That got us kick-started. It was funny because I think we were first in the league at zone entries before that game, then all of a sudden we were terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took the Islanders some time to figure out Edmonton\u2019s penalty kill Thursday, and their first two attempts on the power play looked more like last season. Once coach Patrick Roy inserted Matthew Schaefer on the top unit, though, things changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just the way he moves with the puck,\u201d Roy said. \u201cIt\u2019s the way he moves [in general], it\u2019s hard for their first guy, the top guy, to put pressure on us, and I think that opens up the ice a lot for our power play.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Bo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/14-new-york-islanders-scores-113616092.jpg\")
Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders scores a goal during the third period when the New York Islanders played the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, October 16, 2025 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo have both gotten time on the top power play unit, but Roy said after the game that it\u2019s only a matter of time before Schaefer takes over full time. Indeed, Schaefer was on the top unit at Friday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As much as the Islanders are trying not to rush the No. 1 pick, Schaefer\u2019s skating and ability to enter the zone at speed are assets they can\u2019t help but use on the power play. It helps, too, that he\u2019s handled everything they\u2019ve thrown at him through four games.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
According to SportLogiq\u2019s tracking data, posted to X by Mike Kelly, Schaefer is averaging 7.8 zone exits and 3.0 zone entries per game, ranking second and fifth among all defensemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s such a threat to pick up the puck and go where they have to respect him,\u201d Horvat said. \u201cThey have to respect his speed before he drops it to Barzy, and obviously they have to respect Barzy\u2019s speed, too. I think it just adds that extra level of being a threat coming down the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so good at it, and he\u2019s so fast, that the forwards have to respect the speed. They back off a little more to make room for the drop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with Schaefer in the fold, the Islanders\u2019 power play is far from perfect. But it is no longer an outright liability, and for the time being, that feels like a hard-fought win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA, Ontario \u2014 All through training camp, the refrain coming from the Islanders\u2019 dressing room was that if…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":312669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,1301,5226,5225,293,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-312668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115393635820105100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}