The Islanders are collecting points on their 7-game trek through the West as they keep pace in the ridiculously tight Eastern Conference standings race. Ilya Sorokin is playing out of this world, Anthony Duclair seems to be rediscovering his scoring touch, and Pelech & Pulock are holding things down on the defensive end. Sean & Arthur chat all about it as the Isles head further West after stops in the Midwest and Alberta!
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Hockey, like all sports, loves numbers. We drown in them now. Percentages, charts, heat maps, and acronyms that belong in corporate America. And don’t get me wrong — they matter. They inform. They explain trends. But they don’t always tell you what actually happened, or what’s about to.
Just ask the New York Islanders.
According to JFresh Hockey, the Islanders sit at +32.1 goals saved above expected, more than double the next closest team, the Washington Capitals. That number screams one thing: elite goaltending. Specifically, Ilya Sorokin is playing at a level that bends games in directions they’re not supposed to go.
And yes, that also suggests the Islanders have won their share of games they “shouldn’t” have won.
Fair enough.
But here’s where the numbers stop being gospel and start needing a footnote. Because we’ve also seen nights — like Saturday afternoon in Calgary — where the Islanders held the expected-goals edge and still walked away with nothing. The spreadsheet said one thing. The scoreboard said another.
That’s where Patrick Roy enters, blunt instrument and all.
“For analytics, I’ll give you an example,” Roy said after that loss. “Tonight, you’re looking at expected goals against. The first one — there’s a tip they gave 20-something that never hit the net. The wraparound they gave 17 that never hit the net.” In other words, danger on paper isn’t danger on ice.
Roy wasn’t dismissing analytics. He was dismissing blind faith. Expected goals can suggest chaos, but they don’t always capture reality — blocked shots, broken plays, bodies in lanes, a goalie who’s square and set. Context matters.
Which makes Roy’s follow-up both hilarious and revealing: “I don’t give a sh*t about analytics, to be honest.”
Of course, he does — he just refuses to let them replace his eyes.
The Islanders are winning games because their goaltender has been extraordinary. They’re also losing some they “should” win. Both things can be true. Numbers can guide you. They just can’t play the game for you.
But thankfully, Sorokin still does, and he’ll be back in net tonight.
