Last night on Hockey Night in NY, The Isles are running short on time to salvage the season after another rough week. Sean and Stefen broke down what happened after hanging on to another blown lead vs the Pens before dropping two straight in regulation to the Blues and Bolts. Colby Cohen also joined in to talk state of the Isles and more from around the league.
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It's always been a tantalizing thought amongst the fanbase.
What if the team paired their best playmaker, Mathew Barzal, with their top goal scorer, Brock Nelson? Well, we don't have to wait any longer, and head coach Patrick Roy is doing one better, elevating Nelson to the top line with Barzal and Bo Horvat, three natural centers, making the Isles lines as top-heavy as ever.
Roy put the line together down 3-0 in the third on Saturday and liked what he saw so much he wanted to see it again. “They bring speed," said Roy after practice. "I really liked the energy they brought in that third period, so it's very tempting to continue the experience."
Per Natural Stat Trick via NewYorkIslanders.com, the trio has played 150:49 together on the power play, so there’s a familiarity there. However, playing at even strength will pose a new challenge, especially for Nelson, who will now have to move to wing the same way Barzal did to start the season.
In 4:57 of TOI on Saturday, the line created two high-danger chances and a 62.5 CF%. “A center can play wing,” Roy said. "A winger can not play center. So it an advantage [to have center depth]."
The Islanders are experimenting at a crucial juncture of the season. Last year, 92 points made the playoffs. There’s no guarantee that’s the cutoff this year, but to get there, the Islanders would need 32 points in 25 games. For example, that would be a record of 13-6-6 or 14-7-4 or something like that.
That sounds not impossible, right? But it sounds out of reach when you realize the Islanders only have five regulation wins (8-12-5) over their last 25 games.
They haven’t gotten the shot in the arm they expected by hiring Roy, so they might as well take a shot and see if putting their best together brings out the best in the team the rest of the way.
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