![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/celebrates-goal-second-period-toronto-118221073_850bd4.jpg\")
Adam Pelech (3) celebrates his goal during the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Elmont, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\nVANCOUVER, British Columbia \u2014 Half-accusingly and half-jokingly, Patrick Roy said to go find some wood to knock on. Good health this late into a season is always a risky topic to bring up, after all.<\/p>\n
Particularly so for Adam Pelech, who last got through a season without missing serious time in 2021-22. Not coincidentally, that year was also the only time in his career Pelech was voted to the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight games in, though, with Game 49 on Monday against the Canucks, Pelech has avoided injury. Not coincidentally, he\u2019s quietly putting together what\u2019s on pace to be his best season since he was last fully healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes a big difference,\u201d Pelech told The Post after the Islanders practiced at Rogers Arena on Sunday. \u201cIt\u2019s tough missing time, right? You\u2019re on the shelf, rehabbing, whatever. Meanwhile, everyone else, all your teammates, are getting better every day. It\u2019s tough missing time to injury.<\/p>\n
Adam Pelech (3) celebrates his goal during the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Elmont, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I\u2019ve had some bad luck the past few seasons. Knock on wood, I\u2019ve been healthy this season. It makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pelech has never put up many points, and this season is no exception. He has just seven. Defensively, though, he\u2019s been as good as ever. <\/p>\n
His 52.79 expected goals percentage leads Islanders defensemen, and he\u2019s second only to Ryan Pulock in on-ice goals against per 60 minutes, according to Evolving Hockey.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also been central to the penalty kill\u2019s transformation into a top 10 unit after years of languishing near the bottom of the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re coached extremely well, for sure,\u201d Pelech said of the PK. \u201cGood plan every night. The coaches put a lot of work in to make sure we have the best opportunity to succeed and then just getting the reps in, sticking to the system and getting great goaltending.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a little ironic that Pelech and Pulock are both having renaissance seasons when they\u2019ve barely been partnered with each other. The two formed a stalwart top pair for the Islanders during the club\u2019s deep playoff runs under Barry Trotz, and know each other\u2019s games inside and out.<\/p>\n
Pulock, though, has been cemented as Matthew Schaefer\u2019s partner since November, as has Pelech with Tony DeAngelo. That seems to work well for all four of the players, as it creates two pairs with a primary offensive defenseman (Schaefer and DeAngelo) and one who\u2019s comfortable sitting back in the play (Pelech and Pulock).<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Tony have been getting better and better, developing chemistry together,\u201d Pelech said. \u201cWhat I love about playing with him, really smart player. Makes the game easy for his D-partner. I think we\u2019ve been going well. And then [I\u2019ve been] doing things that have always made me successful. Defensively, being a guy who\u2019s dependable and the penalty kill\u2019s been great too.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/moves-puck-ice-tampa-bay-117282273.jpg\")
New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech (3) moves the puck down ice as Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (22) defends during the first period at UBS Arena, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Elmont, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Throughout their current road trip, of which Monday marks the sixth game, the Islanders have leaned heavily on their defense, spending significant time in their own zone as they struggle to sustain possession and offensive zone time with star center Bo Horvat injured. For the most part, they\u2019ve survived by doing that, though Saturday\u2019s 4-2 loss to the Flames was their worst game of the trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say that our D corps, the three of them: Pully and Schaef and Pelly\u2019s been playing really well for us,\u201d Roy said. \u201cTony D\u2019s been a good addition with Pelly. I understand Pelly\u2019s playing the big role and helps Tony D to be more free in the offense a bit.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 I feel like whoever plays with Pelly will have success because of the way he handles it and the way he comes to play. He\u2019s a real pro. He\u2019s fun to have around us and we\u2019re very blessed to have him on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER, British Columbia \u2014 Half-accusingly and half-jokingly, Patrick Roy said to go find some wood to knock on.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5550,5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,43],"class_list":["post-415485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-islanders","tag-adam-pelech","tag-hockey","tag-islanders","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkislanders","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115920152177063468","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}