While the Islanders juggle forwards, one relentless trio dominates, setting the tone and fueling their success. It's impacted others.
ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders have altered their forward group quite a bit as of late. But there's one line that's been constant, and that's the fourth line.
The trio of Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas, and Marc Gatcomb will play together for the 10th time when the Islanders battle the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
In 78:01 minutes at 5-on-5, the Islanders have outshot their opponents 28-10 when those three have been on the ice, outscoring their opponents 2-1. Not to mention, they've been Roy's most consistent line in terms of forechecking and setting the tone.
The Islanders have gone 5-3-1 over that span.
Because of how well they've played, it's impacted others in the lineup. Maxim Shabanov took a seat against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, with Maxim Tsyplakov getting a look for the first time in six days.
Shabanov will be back in against the Devils, while Tsyplakov heads back to the scratch house.
"There's nothing behind this," Roy said when asked about the message to Shabanov. "Sometimes, it's good to try different things. I'm looking forward to tonight's game, to see how he's going to play."
Roy understood why the question was being asked.
"What I want to try and say is that we're really happy with our guys. We don't want to break the Cizikas line up because they're playing so well. They have that energy. They're on the puck. They defend well. I'm not saying the Ritchie line is not playing well. I'm just saying, sometimes, you try different things. Speaking with Mathieu [Darche], we said, 'Hey, let's give this guy a break and bring in another guy.' That doesn't mean he's out because he's playing badly, but because we have a lot of good bodies and guys are playing well."
Having too many options is a very good problem for Roy and Darche to have.
With Bo Horvat potentially back against the New York Rangers on Saturday evening, that should allow the Islanders to stick with specific line combinations for a bit, something they haven't really been able to do given the battery of injuries, especially in the forward group.
That also means the Islanders will have a difficult decision to make because if they aren't separating the fourth line, who will be joining Tsyplakov in the press box?