DALLAS — The Islanders’ last goal at five-on-five came all the way back at 10:42 of the third period three games ago, when Mike Reilly struck against the Penguins last Tuesday.
Patrick Roy’s solution to that problem was to implement drastic changes to the forward lines ahead of a two-game trip to Dallas and Detroit in which the Islanders need to generate a couple of wins in order to keep their playoff hopes from slipping close to zero.
The most dramatic of those came on the top line, where Brock Nelson skated alongside Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal, putting the Islanders’ top three scorers together.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau centered Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri on the second line, while Casey Cizikas was between Pierre Engvall and Simon Holmstrom on the third line.
Kyle MacLean appears set to draw back in on the fourth line, with Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck on either side.
Roy tried this configuration, minus MacLean, in the third period on Saturday against Tampa Bay and liked what he saw, with the Isles twice scoring at six-on-five.
It is top heavy — the first line has accounted for nearly as many goals this season (64) as the other three combined (69) — and Nelson has barely played on the wing since, he said, his sophomore year at North Dakota.
But the Islanders’ recent play, and their position in the standings, demands something change. So here you are.
“Peter Forsberg and [Joe] Sakic played together,” Roy said, throwing back to his Cup-winning Avalanche teams as a player. “No one thought that would be possible and they played together and had success. Three [centers] maybe not, but Barzy has mostly been a right-winger [this season].
“But they really bring speed. I really liked the energy they brought in that third period. It’s really tempting to continue the experience. And I think Anders with Pageau and Palmieri, I think that’ll be a really good line as well. And then good speed with Engvall and Holmstrom and Cizikas. So I like our lines, how they shape up.”
Outside of injury-related reasons, the Islanders have not changed up their forward lines much this season, with the rare attempts at doing so usually being abandoned within a game, if not sooner.
Roy tried Pierre Engvall to Horvat’s left against Seattle a couple weeks ago and went away from it by the first intermission.
Whether this lasts or not, though, the goal remains to spark some life back into the group.
Playing their best three offensive forwards together is one way to do that.
Nelson, Horvat and Barzal already see substantial ice time together on the top power-play unit.
In 4:57 together at five-on-five against Tampa Bay before Ilya Sorokin was pulled, they accounted for two high-danger looks and an 81.34 percent expected goals share.
There is innate chemistry here.
“We were joking, Bo’s the center of all centermen,” Barzal said. “I think it’ll work well. Generally centermen, the transition to wing is a bit easier. I think it’ll be nice having three centermen on the ice. I’ve never had that situation before but any one of us can play low, any one of us can play high. Might present different things for the team we’re playing against.”
The question, though, is in the rest of the lineup.
Without last change on the road, opposing teams will have an easier time matching up against the Islanders now as opposed to when Nelson was on a separate line than Horvat and Barzal.
Secondary scoring has been an issue for the Islanders all year.
The Lee-Pageau-Palmieri line, at least, needs to score if this configuration is going to last.
“Hard-nosed isn’t it,” Roy said of that trio. “Guys that are gonna play hard and compete and be tough to play against and physical. Show some physicality. So I think it’s a good mix. I wanted to take my time, but looking at this, the three lines will bring something different. And I think that’s the fun part of the four lines that we have right now.”