The Bridgeport Islanders are one of the worst offenses in the American Hockey League (AHL), averaging only 2.63 goals per game. Yet, the recent games have stood out. They were shut out on Jan. 15 against the Springfield Thunderbirds and scored only one goal in a Jan. 17 loss against the Syracuse Crunch.
Related: Ranking the Bridgeport Islanders’ 15 Home Losses
The Islanders went 116 minutes without scoring a goal until Cam Thiesing found the back of the net late in the game against the Crunch. The offense struggling isn’t a new thing but they’ve gone from bad to worse in recent games and it’s not by accident. Some of the causes started when the season began but they have been front and center in the last two games.
Bridgeport’s Style Sets Them Up for Failure
The style the Islanders play is different and contrasts from how the rest of the AHL plays. The league, which is just one step below the NHL, is built on puck movement, puck-handling to set up the offense, and cross-ice passes to set up scoring chances. The Islanders don’t do any of that. In some ways, that’s appropriate since the New York Islanders don’t possess those skills, either.
The Islanders only have three skaters with 10 assists or more. The only other team in the AHL with three or fewer skaters that have eclipsed the 10-assist mark is the Manitoba Moose, another team with a hapless offense. It’s telling for the Islanders, as they aren’t a team that will create a lot of goals off the pass or make an impact with puck movement. This has resulted in a stagnant and bottom-of-the-league offense.
The Islanders forecheck and have a forward unit built on delivering hard hits in the offensive zone but they don’t make the passes needed to set up open shots on the net, even when they create a turnover off of the forecheck. They chip and chase when controlling the puck in the neutral zone and rarely carry the puck into the offensive zone. It’s allowed them to find open looks but in this league, teams must create offense off the pass. Matt Tomkins made 29 saves for the Crunch but most of them came on direct shots where he saw the puck the whole way. This is a style of play that works when a team has a suffocating defense and wins games 2-1, the way the Barry Trotz-led team did in the NHL, but when the Islanders are allowing 3.91 goals per game, it’s a recipe for a disaster.
Some of these issues are by design. The Islanders are coached to play a physical brand of hockey where they forecheck and make it difficult for the opposition to move the puck up the ice. Some of these issues, however, can’t be blamed on the system when the forward unit itself has a surplus of checking line skaters and not many players who can generate offense.
Islanders Lack Depth
Chris Terry, Alex Jefferies, and Brian Pinho have led the top line for the Islanders. They’ve combined for 32 goals and 46 assists with Pinho’s 17 goals allowing him to become an All-Star. There’s a significant drop-off after that, with the rest of the offense struggling.
When opponents need to eliminate this offense, they clamp down against the top line to make sure it doesn’t beat them. The top line is the one that will set up scoring chances with quick passes or create on the rush while the other lines will play the chip-and-chase game and hope for the best. It’s why the Islanders are an easy team to stop. Teams see who is on the ice and prepare accordingly.
Last season, the Islanders became predictable when they were in the offensive zone. Their plan was to get the puck to the point and fire it on goal while hoping for the best. This season, the Islanders are not predictable in how they play but with who is on the ice. If the top line is on the bench, there’s a good chance they won’t have a lot of puck movement, either.
The Defensive Unit Doesn’t Help
The strategy the Islanders had last season, where the defensemen shot the puck on the net from the point and hoped for the best, wouldn’t even work this season. Why? Because the Islanders lack playmakers from the point. Robin Salo and Sebastian Aho are no longer on the team while Dennis Cholowki and Isaiah George are on the NHL roster. It leaves the AHL team without a two-way presence at the blue line.
Even worse, the Islanders don’t have defensemen who can move the puck up the ice. There are plenty of times when the opposition will find a quick scoring chance after losing the puck because the defensemen will cough it back up like it’s flu season (which could be an explanation for the surplus of turnovers lately). The defensive unit can create turnovers but not much after doing so. It’s left the Islanders often playing in their own end and without the puck in the offensive zone. The forward unit is the primary reason the offense has struggled but they aren’t getting any help from the defense, which gave them a small spark last season.
Can the Islanders’ Offense Improve?
The offense will get a bump when William Dufour returns to the lineup. He last played in the Jan. 10 loss to the Providence Bruins, missing the past three games due to injury. The offense could use his shot. Improvement will start there, but the Islanders need more from Dufour when he returns.
Dufour and Matthew Maggio were the Islanders’ top two prospects entering this season. They’ve combined for only eight goals and 14 assists this season. Jefferies has eight goals and 14 assists by himself and this is his first season in the AHL, one where he was supposed to experience growing pains and adjust to the league. Dufour and Maggio were in the league last season but haven’t taken a step forward.
The improvements won’t fall solely on the two prospects. The depth starting to create scoring chances off of effective puck movement will also help out the offense, and so will disciplined outlet passes from the defense. The problem is that both those things are unlikely and it’s why the offense might remain one of the worst in the league.
This is the point in the AHL season known as the dog days, and the Islanders are going through them. It’s a tough time and the offense has let them down. The question is if it can improve. With how they played last season, this season, and in recent games, the odds are stacked against them.
