ST. PAUL, Minn. — Call it the generation slap shot gap. The blasts, once ubiquitous in the NHL, continue their decline as the speed of the game dictates players fire off quicker wrist shots or hybrid one-timers. And the experiences of Islanders defensemen Ryan Pulock, 31, and rookie Matthew Schaefer, 18, illustrate the changing emphasis. “Time and space has probably shrunk in our game and the slap shot takes a little bit more time,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said before the Islanders opened a seven-game road trip with a 2-1 shootout loss on Thursday night in Nashville. “So it’s hard to get off and once you don’t get them off a few times, you stop taking them.” The Islanders are...
