Running five defensemen consistently is not a recipe for success.
Against the elite NHL teams, mistakes will cost you. Over the last four games, the New York Islanders suffered losses to three strong teams, falling 6-3 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday, 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night, before a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Other than the struggles in the second period in all three games, there was another common theme: The Islanders elected to use five defenders for most of the game.
In their loss to the Panthers, Dennis Cholowski, who was back in the lineup after Scott Mayfield went down with an injury the night prior, played 9:50.
He didn't play the final 5:37 of the first and the final 10:00 of the second before getting shifts late into the third, given the score.
On what was a second night of a back-to-back, Alexander Romanov played 23:27, Tony DeAngelo played 22:52, Adam Pelech played 22:36, with Scott Perunovich tallying 21:00. Adam Boqvist, who was partners with Cholowski, played 17:45.
Shortening the blue-line bench against an elite team, especially on a back-to-back, is a tall task, and it undoubtedly contributed to their loss.
Flash-forward to Friday night, and we saw more of the same from the defense.
DeAngelo played 27:10, Pelech played 24:35, Romanov played 24:09, Perunovich played 20:46, and Boqvist played 17:24.
Cholowski skated a total of nine shifts, not seeing the ice for the final 5:15 of the first, 7:58 of the second, and 9:33 of the third.
Then came Saturday.
On Saturday night, Cholowski played four shifts. He did not see the ice for the final 36:34 minutes of the game, being stapled to the bench.
Romanov played 27:06, Perunovich played 24:09, Pelech played 23:42, DeAngelo played 21:42, and Boqvist played 18:32.
This was one of those games, another second of a back-to-back, where the defense struggled mightily. DeAngelo had a tough game, scoring two own goals and shooting one accidentally into his net on a clearing attempt from the crease.
Romanov was asked post-game about the blue line and if fatigue played a part:
"Maybe, yes," Romanov said. "A back-to-back is a back-to-back. That's not easy, and I don't like to use this excuse back-to-back. But it's hard to play. But as a team, we got to play better."
Here's what Roy had to say about limiting Cholowski's minutes.
"We just play to win," Roy said. "And sometimes you have to make the decisions that you think are the right ones, and then we just kind of continue to do that. That's it."
As for the defense being tasked with a ton of minutes:
"It's a lot of minutes," Roy said. "They've been so good and it's unfortunate. We put two in our own net. And those games happen. I mean, you don't like when they happen, but they're part of it."
Quotes are courtesy of MSGSN's postgame show.
The Islanders have been able to have tremendous success as of late because of the strong play from their defense. But tasking the defense, especially the top dogs, with major minutes is not a recipe for success against dynamic, heavy offenses like the Panthers and Jets.
Also, especially with the new defensemen trying to get acclimated, running five defensemen doesn't allow the "pairs" to play with one another. It limits comfortably.
You may ask, "Well, didn't Cholowski play limited minutes in their 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights?"
The answer is yes, with Cholowski only playing 7:25, not playing a single shift in the final 23:43 of action. That doesn't mean the win was any easier for the Islanders, who were outshot 29-10 over the final two periods.
Vegas had also been struggling mightily, losers of three straight entering Tuesday's game.
Also, the Islanders do have more of an advantage on home ice, as they get second change, which allows them to win the matchup game.
The Islanders elected to only bring six defensemen on their mini road trip with Mayfield not traveling with the team.
Their options were Isaiah George, who doesn't sound like he'll be asked to play NHL minutes against this seaosn despite being trusted at a critical time during the season. The other option is Grant Hutton, a staple veteran defenseman whose weakness is the speed of the NHL game.
The Islanders' decisions show that they trust Cholowski more now and aren't interested in risking losing him on waivers.
But if he's going to suit up for the Islanders in an NHL game, the coaching staff needs to show more faith in him or dress someone else because it's putting immense pressure on the other defensemen and lately, is playing a part in their losses.
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