After essentially alternating wins and losses for the first month of the NHL season, the New York Islanders finally appear to be taking significant, positive steps forward.

Alexei Yashin’s re-emergence and the arrival of Miroslav Satan and Alexei Zhitnik are of course two crucial reasons for the Isles’ recent success, as they have certainly played key roles. Yashin is playing his best hockey since arriving on Long Island in 2001, while Satan has provided the team with the bona fide sniper it’s been lacking since Zigmund Palffy was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Isles’ dramatic improvement, however, can most accurately be tied directly to the dramatic improvement of their penalty killing efforts.

In the “new” NHL, a crackdown on obstruction and interference has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of power play opportunities. Logically, teams that excel in preventing power play goals enjoy a significant advantage, and the Isles’ hard work while playing a man down has proven to be a major tipping point.

The Islanders have killed off 36 consecutive power plays spanning their last six games, a streak that has propelled them from 23rd in the NHL to 10th in that category. An important reason for the Isles’ penalty-killing success is the play of the “Killer Bs,” Shawn Bates and Jason Blake, who have emerged as two of the NHL’s best penalty-killing forwards.

Only three forwards average more shorthanded time per game than does Bates (5:15),whose dogged puck pursuit leaves opposing power play units almost totally unable to set up in the Isles’ zone. Bates has also emerged as a prolific goal scorer. Consistently willing to go to the most heavily trafficked areas on the ice, Bates has scored eight goals in the past two weeks, helping to balance the Isles’ offensive attack.

Unfortunately, Bates’s nose for action resulted in a hard collision with Florida’s Martin Gelinas on Saturday night, and the eighth-year center will miss 4-5 weeks with a hamstring injury. Ever the warrior, Bates was already playing with two sore groin muscles, but will now, at least, have an opportunity to rest up and return at full strength.

To fill Bates’s roster spot, the Islanders recalled 2003 second-round pick Jeremy Colliton from Bridgeport of the AHL. But Bates’s absence will force Blake to take on a much larger in the penality killing effort. Blake’s 16 points in 21 games places him behind only Yashin and Satan among the team’s forwards, and he’s on pace to score 60+ points for the first time in his career.

One of the most grating penalty killers in the NHL, Blake’s in-your-face style can best be compared to that of the Devils’ John Madden, a former Selke Trophy winner. If Blake continues to shoot the puck as aggressively as he has been (his 81 shots lead the Isles by a significant margin) he could very easily top the 40-goal mark for the season, something no Islander has accomplished since Palffy in 1998-99.

Another key component of the Isles’ penalty-killing success is the improved play of their defensemen. With five of their six starting blueliners from the 2003-04 season out of the picture (only Janne Niinimaa remains), there was bound to be a bit of an adjustment period, but it appears to be over now.

Zhitnik has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance with the Islanders as well; with 17 points in 21 games, he’s a good bet to have one of the best statistical seasons of his NHL career. He runs the point on the Isles’ power play, but also logs a considerable number of minutes killing penalties. The most dependable puck-carrier on the Isles’ blue line, Zhitnik has proven to be a direct beneficiary of the elimination of the two-line pass rule.

Newcomer Brad Lukowich was among the NHL’s plus/minus leaders in 2003-04, and he is shaping up to be a real anchor for the Isles. His stable presence has enabled rookie Chris Campoli to take some risks rushing the puck up the ice, and his rock-solid play in the Isles’ zone makes life much easier for goaltender Rick DiPietro. The Isles’ leader in short-handed minutes played, Lukowich is also turning out to be one of GM Mike Milbury’s shrewdest acquisitions.

Niinimaa struggled mightily in the season’s first month, has improved his defensive positioning dramatically over the past two weeks; he has compiled an impressive plus-5 rating over the Isles’ past six games. Unfortunately, Niinimaa is still having great difficulty adjusting to the NHL’s aggressive crackdown on obstruction. He leads the Isles with 48 penalty minutes – none of them for fighting – and he’ll need to be more disciplined if the Isles are to enjoy continued success.

And then, of course, there’s goaltender Rick DiPietro. The Isles’ last line of defense when an unmarked sniper fires the puck at their goal, DiPietro is already one of the NHL’s most athletic backstops, and he’s rapidly emerging as one of the NHL’s best goalies, period.

DiPietro has matured tremendously over the past few years, and is stopping the puck with increasing effectiveness; he has compiled an impressive .920 save percentage during the Isles’ last six games. Needless to say, he’s a crucial reason for the team’s turnaround, particularly when playing a man down.

Of course, any discussion of DiPietro’s effectiveness in killing penalties must also reference his tremendous stick-handling ability. Though the NHL’s new rules were in part designed to restrict goalies’ abilities to handle the puck, they have in fact made skilled puckhandling net-minders even more crucial.

It’s not a stretch to say that DiPietro is one of the best outlet passers on the Isles thanks to his ability to get the puck out of the zone quickly and accurately. As the season progresses, look for DiPietro to launch tape-to-tape passes to Bates and Blake with increasing frequency, enabling the Isles’ penalty-killing snipers to tally some truly spectacular shorthanded goals.

The Isles are a work in progress, but it’s clear they’re on the right track. They lost four defensemen via free agency and one to Europe, yet they still have a solid blue line corps. With Yashin and Satan providing first-line fireworks and DiPietro continuing his rapid upward trajectory, the Isles are well positioned to make a run toward the top of the Atlantic Division standings. They probably won’t have enough firepower to catch the Flyers when all is said and done, but they should engage the Rangers in a compelling battle for second place.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor-in-chief of InsideHockey.com.