Zach Parise Islanders
Tom Horak-USA TODAY Sports

The veteran’s solid play made him the team’s best last week.

Leen Amin

After nearly two weeks off, the New York Islanders resumed play in Week 13 with games against two of their rivals, the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals.

It wasn’t easy, but they were able to emerge victorious against the Devils. Unfortunately, their effort was lackluster against the Capitals, when they were shutout 2-0.

Zach Parise was the team’s best player this week, which also happened to be the best week of his Islanders career, so far.

You can check out the Islanders’ Week 11 player of the week and honorable mentions here.

Player of the Week: W Zach Parise

@ NJD: 2 A
Average Game Score: 1.00
Average defensive impact: 0.05

For the first time this season, Parise has made it onto our list.

Although he didn’t score a goal this week, the veteran forward looked good offensively, notching two key assists that allowed the Islanders to earn a win against the Devils. He also held his own defensively in that one.

Parise showed off his versatility this week, playing as a RW against the Devils and then as a LW against the Capitals.

Parise has definitely been disappointing with the Devils and isn’t scoring at the rate we’ve grown used to, but his ability to play all three forward positions has certainly come in handy, as we saw this week.

Parise was the team’s best player against the Devils and it wasn’t very close.

Parise did struggle both offensively and defensively against the Capitals, but so did all of his teammates and he was less bad than most.

Was Parise spectacular in Week 13? No. But he did look better than he has since joining the team and much of the Islanders’ struggles this season are related to his own struggles.

If the Islanders hope to turn things around before it’s too late, Parise is going to have to step up and keep performing as he did against the Devils.

Honorable Mention: LW Kieffer Bellows

@ NJD: 1 A
Average Game Score: 0.32
Average defensive impact: -0.09

We’re welcoming another new face here. The young Kieffer Bellows has been asked to step up big time in the absence of so many players. COVID has taken its toll on the Islanders all season long and the organization has had to turn to Bellows quite a bit.

This has been a crucial opportunity for Bellows, however, and the Islanders are lucky to have him. The kid is NHL-ready and would be a mainstay on most NHL rosters by now. He showed why this week.

Bellows wasn’t exceptional, but stepped up and was the team’s second-best player. His assist against the Devils was his fifth point in four-straight games and he was one of the team’s best players, both offensively and defensively.

Like Parise, he wasn’t good against the Capitals, but played better than most of his teammates.

Bellows has been playing so well that he might earn a spot in the lineup even when the team returns to full-strength. What have guys like Kyle Palmieri done to warrant starts over Bellows?

Bellows just keeps getting better and better and really has been impressive when called upon this season.

Leen has written about the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and international soccer. She is currently the primary NHL writer for ESNY. Leen's work has been featured on Bleacher Report and she was formerly a contributor for FanSided's New York Mets blog, Rising Apple. She is a co-host of the Yankees-Mets Express podcast.