DALLAS — The Islanders’ last 5-on-5 goal was Mike Riley’s goal at 10:42 of the third period three games ago against the Penguins last Tuesday.
Patrick Roy’s solution to this problem was to make some fundamental changes up front ahead of back-to-back games against Dallas and Detroit. The Islanders need a few wins to keep their playoff hopes from falling to zero.
The most dramatic of these was the top line, with Brock Nelson skating alongside Bo Horvat and Matt Barzal, the Islanders’ top three scorers.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau placed Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri on the second row, while Casey Cizikas was placed between Pierre Envall and Simon Holmstrom on the third row.
Kyle MacLean appears to be planning to move back to the fourth line, flanked by Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck.
Roy tried this configuration without McClain in the third period of Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay and liked what he saw, as the Isles went 6-5 and scored two points.
It’s top-heavy, with the front line accounting for nearly as many goals (64 goals) as the other three combined (69 goals) this season, but Nelson hasn’t played since his second year at the University of North Dakota. He said he doesn’t play much on the wing.
But with the Islanders’ recent play and place in the standings, something needs to change. So here we are.
“Peter Forsberg and [Joe] Sakic played with me,” Roy said as he returned to the Avalanche team that won the Cup as a player. “Nobody thought that was possible and they played together and had success. Three. [centers] Maybe not, but Virgie was primarily a right-winger. [this season].
“But they really bring speed. I really liked the energy they brought in the third period. It’s really tempting to want to continue this experience. And Anders and Pageau and Palmieri, this too I think it’s going to be a very good line. And the speed of Engvall, Holmstrom and Cizikas was also good. So I like our line, the shape of it.”
Outside of injury-related reasons, the Islanders haven’t made many changes up front this season, and the rare attempts to do so are usually abandoned mid-game, if not sooner.
Roy tried Pierre Envall to Horvat’s left a few weeks ago against Seattle, but he avoided it by the first intermission.
But whether this lasts or not, the goal remains to reinvigorate the group.
Playing their best three offensive forwards together is one way to do that.
Nelson, Horvat and Barzal have already seen significant ice time on the top power play unit.
In the 4:57 of the 5-on-5 game against Tampa Bay before Ilya Sorokin was ejected, he made two dangerous shots and had an 81.34 percent expected goal share.
There is an innate chemical reaction here.
“It was a joke. Bo is the center of centermen,” Barzal said. “I think it’s going to work out. Centerman in general, but the transition to wing is a little bit easier. I think it’s good to have three centermen on the ice. We’ve never been in a situation like that before. It didn’t happen, but anyone can play low and anyone can play high. It might bring something different to the teams we play.”
However, the problem lies with the rest of the lineup.
Barring any last-minute changes on the road, it will be easier for opposing teams to play against the Islanders now, as opposed to when Nelson was on a separate line from Horvat and Barzal.
Secondary scoring has been an issue for the Islanders all year.
For this configuration to continue, at least the Lee-Pageau-Palmieri line needs to score.
“They’re stubborn,” Roy said of the trio. “The guys play hard, they compete, they’re tough to play against, they’re physical. Show some physicality. So I think it’s a good mix. I wanted to go slow, but when you look at this, three It’s different when it comes to lines. I think that’s what’s interesting about the four lines we have now.”
