Islanders' Blueline Providing a Boost in Offense

A catalyst for the New York Islanders' success transpires when they receive contributions from the entirety of their lineup and are able to benefit from their defensemen attentively joining the attack.
The Islanders got big goals from their back end at key moments in back-to-back home games and executed a disciplined 4-1 'Islander win' in Game 4 on Saturday afternoon. With a win in Game 4, the team tied up the First Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins to 2-2 with a crucial Game 5 on deck on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

"That's our team, we win by committee," Jordan Eberle said. "Whether it's the defensemen stepping up to score a big goal one night, or whoever - [Cal] Clutterbuck had a couple [in Game 3], [Jean-Gabriel Pageau's] line had a couple in the first game - we just win by committee. Playoffs is about whoever in that moment steps up. We're a team that we roll four lines and everyone has a role. That's why we're such a tight-knit group and that's why we're a good hockey team."
Scott Mayfield was the first of the blueliners to light the lamp this postseason with his three-point outing (1G, 2A) on Thursday. Mayfield put the Islanders on the board with a second-period equalizer and the first of three game-tying goals that the team scored in an eventual and emotional 5-4 Game 3 loss.

The play itself was impressive and well deserved as Mayfield had been curating threatening looks for the Islanders in both previous games, including his game-high seven shots in Game 2.
The scoring finally broke as Mayfield collected a pass from atop the right circle, toe dragged past Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese and sniped his shot to the high short side and over the glove of Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry.
"We haven't got a whole lot off the rush, but what he's doing is he's getting his shot through," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said after Game 3. "We're getting some traffic and that's what you need to do. You look at the goals [in Game 3], those were playoff-type goals. Those are what you see night-in and night-out when you turn on the TV and see the highlights. Those are the goals you see for the most part. We've got to continue that."
The Islanders followed suit in their commanding effort in Game 4 and put more pucks and subsequent traffic on net. The strategy worked as Ryan Pulock provided the Islanders with their two-goal lead of the series in the second period of their eventual 4-1 win.
Ryan Pulock's second-period tally didn't unfold in his signature fashion of unleashing a sizzling slapper - that checks in over 100 miles an hour at top speed - but it was clutch in deflating the frustrated Penguins. Oliver Wahlstrom initiated the play as the rookie winger fired off a wrist shot off the rush from the right circle which forced Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry to make the kick save. With the rebound jolting out to the top of the left circle, Pulock got his one-timer off. The shot, which was headed wide, took a fortuitous redirection off the skate of Pittsburgh defenseman Cody Ceci and snuck through the pads of Jarry.

"Usually, it's an absolute cannon from the point and goes through the goalie, that one, he sort of fumbled," Trotz said. "But [he] got rewarded. He's had a lot of really good shots that haven't gone in. It was good for him to have one of those that maybe didn't get all of it and sort of found its way in the net."
Pulock's strike was his first goal of the postseason and a nice reward given the heavy minutes he and his d-partner Adam Pelech have logged after going head-to-head against the Sidney Crosby line in this series.
Through four games, Pulock and Pelech have had their work cut out for them as they've been tasked with the Penguins top line of Jake Guentzel, Crosby and Bryan Rust, while also seeing shifts against Evgeni Malkin, who made his postseason debut in Game 3. So far, Pulock and Pelech have been effective and have held the Pens' top line - who each hit the 20-goal mark in the regular season - to only three points (2G, 1A) in total throughout the series.
Perhaps most impressively has been the ability to keep Crosby without so much as a point for three-straight games. "Just good awareness when they're on the ice," Pulock said of facing Crosby and Malkin.
"Obviously, they're both good players so just taking their time and space away, being hard on them when you get a chance and not letting them have any free ice. That's the biggest thing." Pulock, who stands 6-foot-2, 215-pounds, has noticeably been using his sturdy frame more assertively against Crosby's smaller, but brawny, 5-foot-11, 200-pound stature, making for some arduous battles up and down the ice.

Collectively, he and the Islanders put forth a disciplined, detailed and commanding performance in Game 4 to shut down the Pens and turn the series into a best-of-three moving forward. "We did a pretty good job of staying together, not giving them much space - especially down the middle - keeping them to the outside when they were in our zone," Pulock said. "We did a good job of getting pucks out. We rely on that simple game and forechecking. I thought that early, we were able to do that."
As the Islanders look to regain the series lead as they travel to Pittsburgh for Game 5, they established a strong foundation from Games 3 and 4 to carry over. With future games likely to be as tightly fought and with as few inches as there were in Game 4, its plays like Mayfield's and Pulock's that become the difference makers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
" Keep shooting the puck and keep going there [to the net]," Trotz said. "Hopefully, we'll have some success."