TAMPA — The place to start with Noah Dobson’s last four games, over which his plus-minus has been a shocking minus-7, is with a level head.
Everyone knows that plus-minus is a flawed metric, and everyone knows that four games is a minuscule sample.
Per Evolving Hockey, the Islanders have a collective save percentage of .743 with Dobson on the ice over the last week.
Quite a lot of that can be chalked up to poor luck and randomness.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for Dobson to mine at from those games.
“Look back at one of the games. One goes off my shin pad. The other, maybe I could have a better gap,” Dobson told The Post after the Islanders practiced Friday. “Little things like that. One’s an empty net here or there, you know what I mean. I try not to put too much stock [in] whether it’s happening or not. Just try to find ways to be better at my game, get ready for the next one.”
Gap control was brought up by Patrick Roy after the loss to Columbus on Tuesday, which Dobson was referring to as well.
Both times, Dobson was on the ice for a goal, he was between the goal-scorer and the net but didn’t close down, and the puck went off him — Adam Fantilli’s goal hitting his stick and Boone Jenner’s going off his ankle.
“There’s times I can close my gaps a little bit, which will probably deter a couple shots coming in,” Dobson said. “Not putting yourself in a situation where it can go off you and try to close it before it can get in the zone. Definitely something I can look at and trying to keep improving and be better at.”
Jean-Gabriel Pageau was wearing a full bubble helmet in Friday’s practice after breaking his nose two nights prior against the Blue Jackets.
Pageau told The Post he’s unsure how long he’ll need the bubble, but expects it to be at least a couple weeks.
“It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s fine,” he said. “Hard to see pucks when they’re close to your feet. Little different. You get used to the visor, you see everything. Definitely more protective for my nose right now.”
Adam Boqvist will come back into the lineup on Saturday, with Mike Reilly being made a healthy scratch.
Coach Patrick Roy said the decision was solely related to Boqvist’s ability to play on the power play.
Ilya Sorokin will start against the Lightning on Saturday with Marcus Hogberg in line for the start on Sunday in Carolina, Roy said.
