EAST MEADOW — Of the 10 goals allowed by the Islanders in their last two games — both losses — eight of them were directly attributed to the Seattle Kraken and Montreal Canadiens’ ability to get in front of goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov to obstruct their vision with little resistance from the defense.
“The effort’s there but we can work a lot smarter,” Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech told amNewYork on Monday morning. “We’ve always worked hard, I don’t think that’s the question. It’s more, like I said, working smart. We need to box out in front of our net. We can’t let guys get tips, second chances, rebounds.”
That was the main focus of Monday’s practice ahead of their matchup with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at UBS Arena — a normally timid head coach in Lane Lambert boisterously directing the defense to be warier of maintaining clear sightlines for their goaltenders.
“It’s hard because guys are going to the net hard,” Pelech added. “That’s where you score goals, right? We really just have to bear down and take a lot of pride in that.”
But the Islanders’ defense wasn’t so quick to simply label it as a physical issue that was plaguing the team even if it might have been an easier route to take. This has been the blueprint for how to beat them and their top-tier goaltending for years, now — and constant battling in front of the net would lead some to believe that it would take a toll on the body under consistent circumstances.
That’s not the case.
“That’s our job. It’s 50% of what we’re supposed to do,” Ryan Pulock said. “It’s hard work. You’re getting hit with pucks, but it’s just part of the game. It’s that mental focus, that mindset of working on that being your No. 1 priority, and some of it’s just bearing down.
“Anyone can work hard and it’s kind of all it really is. It’s just trying to out-muscle, out-battle, out-work your opponent up front.”
One way…
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