New York Islanders are dominating the Western Conference
The New York Islanders are playing virtually flawless hockey this season so far. A big reason why they find themselves top-10 in the league is the way they play against the Western Conference.
The meaning of “dominant” varies from person to person.
Dominating an entire league is different from dominating individual teams because of the standards those leagues set.
So, have the New York Islanders “dominated” their Western Conference opposition so far?
The Isles currently sit at 15-7-2. They have played 24 total games.
Although the recent stretch of their schedule has been in-conference heavy, Tuesday’s win over the Vancouver Canucks brings me to this realization:
The New York Islanders play really well against the Western Conference.
Their record vs the West this year is 8-4-2. That is 14 games which is over half their total.
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The Islanders have 32 points, 18 of which are against the West.
Yes, the Islanders have most of their points against the West because that is who they have mostly played, but they still need to earn points to be where they are now.
To put into perspective how successful they have been, let’s negate the best game and worst game they have played against the other conference, essentially taking out the “outliers”.
This is done to take away the best and worst days, or any fluke games, to see how they fare for a “normal” game.
If we take out the 5-0 shutout loss in Dallas and the 6-2 victory at the Predators, here is what we are left with:
- Just three other regulation losses (in the other 12 games)
- Just two OT losses (only ones on the year)
- No loss by more than two goals
- Four wins by three goals or more
- Six games where they scored five or more goals
- Seven wins
Numbers are just numbers but that is a lot of goals and wins.
The four total losses aren’t ideal. Most people say it’s hard to “dominate” when you have that many losses. But factor in all the games played with all the above numbers.
Have the New York Islanders dominated the Western Conference so far?
Arguably, they have.
Next: What beating the Flyers twice in a row truly means
They still have games to play against the West, with most on the road.
But if they keep the current pace they are setting for the rest of the year and then some, we might have to call the Isles the “Kings of The West.”