Roy has opted to remove Engvall from the lineup in favor of Tsyplakov for Tuesday's game against Colorado, choosing to keep Gatcomb active.
At the start of the season, Marc Gatcomb was not projected to play in the NHL, especially during a pivotal midseason stretch for the New York Islanders.
The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $775,000 deal in the offseason to strengthen the forward depth for Bridgeport in the American Hockey League (AHL).
However, injuries began to mount for the Islanders, prompting his emergency recall on Jan. 14 against the Ottawa Senators.
Initially, this was expected to be a one-game stint, as he was promptly sent back to the AHL on Jan. 15.
Yet, Gatcomb returned to the NHL lineup on Jan. 18 and contributed to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks, earning enough trust from head coach Patrick Roy to remain in the lineup as part of the winning formula.
Since his NHL debut against the Senators, he has played five games, with New York winning the last four. The team has recorded 149 hits over its last four games, the most in the NHL.
I asked Islanders forward Mathew Barzal what had led to the increase in physicality as of late.
"Gatcomb's come in and played real physical," Barzal told The Hockey News. "I think Casey's been an absolute monster just hitting everything. And I think, honestly, it's crunch time, so guys are playing a little more in playoff style and banging around."
Gatcomb is second on the team with 23 hits over these last four, with Cizikas leading the pack at 25.
Through his first five career games, Gatcomb has already racked up 27 hits while averaging just 8:33 of ice time per game, bolstering Roy’s confidence in his new fourth line.
Because of his strong play, Patrick Roy has elected to keep him in the lineup even with Maxim Tsyplakov coming back in after he sat the last four games, three of which were due to suspensions and one of which was due to serving as a healthy scratch.
Pierre Engvall is coming out of the lineup.
"Gatcomb finishes his checks. He's more physical," Roy said. "Pierre does other things very well. He's not coming out of the lineup because he's playing bad. We are just taking him out of the lineup because we want Tsyplakov to play. That's all. It's nothing personal with this. I call that a nice problem to have.
"We ask our players to force us to make decisions, and that's exactly what they did. And it's not an easy one to take Pierre out, but sometimes you have to do it and go that way."
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