Islanders Only Have Nelson Line Rolling -- And That's A Problem

ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders second line did everything they could on Wednesday night to get their team a point and possibly a win.

Brock Nelson earned the primary assist on Maxim Tsyplakov's goal to cut their early deficit to 2-1 at 12:50 of the first to slow Boston's roll:

Then it was the Nelson show, scoring two goals in the third period, his first tying the game at 2-2, sniping Bruins netminder Joonas Korpisalo off the rush:

His second, a goal Korpisalo sure wants back, tied the game at 3-3 with just 6.5 seconds to play in the second period after Nelson snuck one in short-side under the blocker from the lower edge of the left circle:

Unfortunately for the Islanders, the other three lines struggled mightily in what became a 6-3 loss.

After the game, The Hockey News asked Islanders head coach Patrick Roy about Nelson's play, who has three goals and four assists over his last three games, and about the line, which has carried the offense for the entirety of the season. 

"I mean, come on. Nelson's been...every night that line is dangerous," Roy said. "Every night, that line does really good things and gives us a chance to win.

"If we didn't have that line, we'd probably be in a lot bigger [hole] than we're in right now, isn't it?"

Out of the Islanders' 57 goals this season, the three players on that line have combined for 23 of them. 

That's 40.35 percent of the Islanders' offense. 

Per MoneyPuck.com, that trio at 5-on-5 has been on the ice for 16 goals, which is tied for the league lead. 

With Anthony Duclair and Mathew Barzal, two-thirds of the top line, out, we knew that Bo Horvat would struggle to provide offense.

While Horvat is doing the little things right, something he's always shown to do when the goals didn't come, he's struggled to finish off grade-A chances. 

Despite earning a secondary assist in Wednesday's loss, Horvat has now gone nine games without a goal. 

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who joined Horvat's line on Nov. 1 in Buffalo, doesn't have a goal in six games. 

Simon Holmstrom, who is playing much better in a third-line role and getting an opportunity on the second power-play unit, only has two goals over his last eight games. 

Although Pierre Engvall had a stretch of goals in three straight games, he's scoreless over his last four games. 

Defenseman Noah Dobson, who had 10 goals and 60 assists for 70 points last season, only has one goal in 23 games this season.

"I love these guys. They work hard for me. Every night, they're pushing," Roy said. "This is the team that Lou gave me, and I'm going to work extremely hard for these guys. I owe this to the players and to our fans."

Roy is running out of things to say and do as his team tries to get healthy. 

There is positive news on the injury front, with Duclair and Adam Pelech skating on their own. 

And given the climate of the Eastern Conference wild-card race, the Islanders may be earning points at a "good" enough rate to stay in the mix, but they're also very close to nose-diving.

The Islanders' second line needs more support, or the team risks burning them out with 59 games to go in the regular season.