The New York Islanders beat the high-powered Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in in the Mile High City on Monday night.
Limiting the Avs to just one goal in a game is no easy task considering that their top line of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have already eclipsed the 50-point mark in just 34 games.
Following the morning skate, MacKinnon met with some of the Islanders media and talked about the team, who've traditionally struggled in the defensive zone over the last number of years. But under new head coach Barry Trotz, the Islanders sit tied for third with the Arizona Coyotes for the least amount of goals surrendered with only 89 on the season.
MacKinnon offered a scouting report of the team on how the Isles are playing better defensively and have changed the narrative this season.
Compared to the 2017/18, that's a significant improvement considering the club allowed a league-worst 293 goals, the most any club has allowed in a single season dating to the 2006/07 season.
Brock Nelson acknowledged the team cleaning up their woes in front of their goaltending as well as their head coach for creating more structure in their game.
“It’s a credit to us,” center Brock Nelson said to Andrew Gross of Newsday.com.
“It’s been a big focus for us and it was right from the first time talking to Barry. It was one of the main things he touched on. We’ve done a good job playing with structure, playing hard. Even in our last game against Detroit, outshooting them, we played some pretty good defense and we got good goaltending, too. It’s a good combination. It keeps us in games.”
With their victory, the Islanders now sit third in the Metro Division with a 16-12-4 record.
