Adam Pelech Islanders
Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

The Islanders’ best player this season has his most dominant week so far.

Week 14 was a busy one for the New York Islanders. They played four games as they begin to make up ground in the standings.

They won both games against the Philadelphia Flyers and then beat the Arizona Coyotes, but fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Islanders family was greeted with devastating news on Friday, when it was revealed that Islanders legend and Hall of Famer Clark Gillies had passed away.

All in all, this was a successful week for New York. They didn’t go undefeated, but they won the games they were supposed to and moved up in the standings, as result.

During a week in which most of the team played very well, top defenseman Adam Pelech led the way and showed everyone why he’ll be the one representing the team at the 2022 All-Star Game.

You can check out the Islanders’ Week 13 player of the week and honorable mentions here.

Player of the Week: LHD Adam Pelech

vs. PHI: 1 A
@ PHI: 1 A
vs. ARI: 2 A
Average Game Score: 1.63
Average defensive impact: 0.69

The Islanders’ best player, Pelech wasn’t scared to show it off in Week 13. He was very strong in his own zone in each of the four games and was a key reason why the Islanders didn’t give up too many goals.

Pelech has earned a reputation of being one of the best and most underrated defensive-defensemen in the NHL, but he was spectacular offensively this week, much to the surprise and delight of his teammates and the fans.

Pelech notched four assists this week, including two against the Coyotes in his best game of the season. Pelech was New York’s best player in that one, as well as the team’s second-best player against the Maple Leafs.

Climbing up the standings in the toughest division in the NHL is going to be an extremely difficult task and the Islanders simply won’t be able to get it done without Pelech playing some of his best hockey.

The fact that he’s been named to the All-Star game as the team’s representative is evidence that he’s played very well this season and Pelech has definitely stepped up in the absence of his partner, Ryan Pulock.

This being his best week of the season shows that he’s still getting even better and it was exciting to see him play great defense while also getting on the board, something we aren’t used to seeing from him.

Honorable Mention #1: C Brock Nelson

vs. PHI: 1 G, 1 A
vs. ARI: 2 G
Average Game Score: 1.37
Average defensive impact: 0.23

The Islanders’ best forward this season had another strong week. Nelson, who’s been an MVP for the team during this rollercoaster of a season, added three goals and an assist to his resume and held his own in his own zone.

Nelson wasn’t the most consistent player this week: he was the team’s best player when they hosted the Flyers and its second-best agains the Coyotes, his second-best game of the season, but was unremarkable at Philadelphia and subpar against the Maple Leafs.

However, his good performances this week were very good and enough to make up for his two poor games. In all honesty, the Islanders probably don’t win game one against the Flyers without him.

Nelson’s entire line had a strong week and his great play is a reason why. It’s comforting to see Nelson still produce at this point in the season.

Honorable Mention #2: LW Anthony Beauvillier

vs. PHI: 1 G
@ PHI: 1 A
vs. ARI: 1 A
Average Game Score: 1.37
Average defensive impact: 0.21

It’s about time. We mentioned that Nelson’s line played well this week. We saw that in Nelson’s play as well as Beauvillier’s.

Beauvillier has grown to become an important reason why the “Killer B’s” line is so dangerous, but was incredibly disappointing for most of this season. He’s really improved his play as of late, though, and it paid off this week.

This was, by far, the best week of Beauvillier’s season. He was a top-six player for the team in each of the Islanders’ four games and did well defensively.

The game at Philadelphia as well as the Arizona game were his second and third-best games this season, respectively.

Beauvillier is so important to this team and it’s no coincidence that the Islanders have struggled when he’s struggled. This is a huge step in the right direction.

Honorable Mention #3: RHD Scott Mayfield

@ PHI: 1 A
vs. ARI: 1 G, 1 A
vs. TOR: 1 A
Average Game Score: 1.25
Average defensive impact: 0.00

Last but not least is Pelech’s most recent defensive partner, Mayfield. Mayfield is an Islander who isn’t getting as much love as he deserves. He’s been pretty awesome for his team this season and is having his best season in quite some time.

Mayfield doesn’t provide too much offensively, which is likely a reason why he flies under the radar a lot of the time, but he did that better than anything else this week.

He scored a goal and notched three assists and was the team’s best player in game two against the Flyers as well as the team’s third-best player against the Coyotes, his third-best game of the season.

Clearly, playing alongside the team’s best defenseman has done Mayfield some good and the hope is that he can maintain this level of play even after Pulock returns.

-Follow ESNY - Elite Sports NY on Google News to keep up with the latest New York sports news.

Leen Amin
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.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR