If the Islanders lose in the first round to Carolina for the second straight season, the likely culprit will be special teams.
There was a major hint of encouragement in that department for the Islanders on Monday night, when the penalty kill was 3-for-3 against a Devils power play that had its number in the first three meetings between the teams this season.
The power play got off an 0-for-12 hump thanks to Kyle Palmieri’s first-period tip-in.
But the season-long picture paints a stark issue for the Islanders outside of five-on-five.
If you add up penalty-kill and power-play success rate into one number, the Islanders are 30th in the NHL in overall special teams success at 45.945 percent.
The next-worst team to have clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth going into Tuesday — so not counting Washington, Detroit or Philadelphia — was the Maple Leafs at 50.335 percent.
And the Hurricanes, who rank second on the power play and first on the penalty kill, just happen to lead the league with a 56.69 success rate across both units.
The Islanders’ penalty kill — their biggest problem for much of the year — has become less overt of an issue lately, but that’s mostly because they’ve taken fewer penalties.
Even over the 7-0-1 stretch that got them into the playoffs, they’ve gone 11-for-14, which translates to a below-average 78.57 conversion rate.
And the power play, which is currently missing Noah Dobson with an upper-body injury, has gone just 3-for-33 dating back to March 23.
“Our power play got one, our PK was really good,” coach Patrick Roy said after the 4-1 win over New Jersey. “So maybe we’re gonna talk about something else.”
Until there’s more sustained success on both units, that is unlikely to happen.
Defenseman Marshall Warren signed a two-year, entry-level deal with the Islanders starting in 2024-25, the team announced. A native of Laurel Hollow, N.Y., Warren played four seasons at Boston College and was the team’s captain before transferring to Michigan for a fifth year.
The Islanders have lost both playoff series in which they’ve faced Carolina, suffering a second-round sweep in 2019 before losing in six games in the first round last season.
The Islanders did not practice Tuesday after clinching a playoff berth Monday night. Roy declined to say Monday if they would rest some of their regulars against Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“I’ll talk with my boss and we’ll discuss what’s our plan,” he said.
