Patrick Roy tried to send a message to Pierre Engvall on Tuesday by making the winger a healthy scratch for the third time this season.
Hudson Fassing replaced the Swede and played 12 minutes, 21 seconds in the 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes at UBS Arena, while Roy said Engvall Rikley will be back in action Thursday in Detroit. Told.
It appeared to be a product of Engvall’s timid physical play, which was evident in Sunday’s loss to Rangers, and not for the first time this season.
“I wasn’t too happy with his play lately,” Roy said. “Sometimes that’s what someone needs. I’ve seen it with other teams. [Sean] Couturier was sidelined and injured in Philadelphia. He is the team captain.
“Pierre seems to understand, we need him. We need him to play a certain way, although we know he’s not an overly physical player. , he’s going to bring us more than what he’s done thus far.”
Roy dwelled on average shift times as a reason for the Islanders’ recent struggles after Tuesday’s game, bringing it up in answers to five separate questions during the press conference, only one of which was this one. It was about the subject matter.
The Islanders’ forwards and defensemen averaged 0:47 per shift in the 5-on-5 game against Carolina, while the Hurricanes’ forwards played 0:44 and their defensemen played 0:48.
“I could be wrong here,” Roy said. “But I believe that if we shorten shift lengths, we will definitely see a change.”
Tuesday marked the second time all season that Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal started a game on different lines without injuries, and Roy continued to stick to his starting lineup from Sunday’s loss to the Rangers. However, Fasshing at Engvar’s spot.
He then moved Barzal to play center alongside Anders Lee and Simon Holmström, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau played on the left side of Casey Cizikas.
Despite Robert Bortuzzo’s recent return from long-term injured reserve, Roy appeared to have no intention of returning him to action when asked.
“He needs to be able to maintain his pace in practice and we’ll go from there,” Roy said. “Once he’s had a good practice, he’ll talk to Lou and see if he feels ready to play.”
The Islanders held a moment of silence before the game in honor of Chris Simon, who died by suicide on Tuesday. Simon played with the team from 2006 to 2008.
