NEW YORK — Islanders forward Anders Lee stands 6 foot 3 and weighs 231 pounds. When he plants himself in front of opposing goaltenders, which he often does, Lee actually seems bigger.

When Lee serves as a screen for his Islanders teammates, a goaltender can expect one of two things to happen: either Lee scoops up the rebound of a shot the goalie barely sees or he deflects the shot in the net or off the netminder. It's how Lee scored each of his five goals, so far, this season and it was in evidence when the Islanders played the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 9.

Lee scored in the dying minute of that game and allowed the Islanders to steal a point against the visiting Blues. Due to Lee's screening, Blues goaltender Jake Allen couldn't recall a moment where he saw the puck on the play.

"He was sort of right on top of me," Allen said. "I felt it hit me, then I had no clue where it was. He was almost so close to me that I couldn’t see anything with my eyes and next thing I know I heard a thud in the back of the net."

The 27-year-old serves as a catalyst for the Islander offense. Lee's 'crash the net' style of play is something he's abided by for each team that he's suited up for.

In college, as a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Lee led the team in power play goals during his freshman and junior years. He was a focal point of Notre Dame's power play and it translated over to his professional career. During the 2017 IIHF World Championships, Team USA called upon Lee to fufill a similar role on its top-line as well. Paired with Jack Eichel and Clayton Keller, Lee registered 8 points thoughout the tournament. Each one of his goals came on the man advantage.

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Lee feels being the guy in front of the net is a key aspect of how he plays, whether on the power play or ate even strength.

"Yeah, I think so," Lee said. "It’s my responsibility to get in front of the goalie there and create havoc and tie guys up."

Last season, Lee found his place on the Islanders first line with John Tavares and Josh Bailey. The trio led the Islanders in points as Lee set a career high in both goals (34), assists (18) and power play goals (9).

Despite their success, Bailey was bumped from the team's top-line this season when the Islanders acquired forward Jordan Eberle during the summer.

"Johnny and I tried to pick up where we left off last year," Lee said. "Jordan’s come in and obviously brought in a ton of skill. Johnny and I and [Bailey] had a great year last year and had a ton of chemistry, Ebs has continued to fill that role."

However with 16 points split between the three through eight games, Lee expected that the Islanders top line "to be a little bit more productive than we've been."

Tavares is pointless in six of eight games while Eberle continues to search for his first goal with the Islanders. Lee, though, has been productive with a team-high five goals and the club's only (!) power play goal through eight contests, even though he tries to make things easier for his linemates.

"I mean at the same time, I try to take away a guy in front and let them roam around in the zone," Lee said. "That’s what lines are built to have chemistry and everyone looks out for each other."

As the line continues to battle through whatever growing pains that may exist, Lee's ability to play well in the 'dirty areas' provides solace to Islanders head coach Doug Weight.

"It’s really nice," Weight said. "The great thing about it is — not just his fearlessness and he’s just a big beast of a man and is hard to move — but his eye-hand coordination, his ability to tip pucks, he’s just really special at it. [Andrew Ladd] does a heck of a job too, we’ve got two guys that are net front guys that really get their sticks on everything and create a lot for us so it’s going to be important moving forward."