Bo Horvat is on the first unit, while Mathew Barzal is on the second unit.
Bo Horvat is on the first unit, while Mathew Barzal is on the second unit.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- When New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy separated Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat on the power play, everyone was up in arms.
How could Roy do such a thing?
Yes, it wasn't like the power play was clicking prior to Tuesday's changes, now a mere 2-for-19 with the man advantage.
But it seemed like an odd choice.
With Roy, there's a reason for everything and he has no problem explaining exactly why he makes his changes.
And why he is separating his top duo makes complete sense.
"Now, Bo has one-time options from three of the four guys," Roy said. "He could go to Pageau, or he could go across to Palmeri; he is a great shooter. Or he could go on top [to Dobson]. On the other side, you have Barzy, who can go to the pocket (bumper spot) to Simon [Holmstrom], or going on top to Reilly, or go across to Nelson.
"So we have one-timers in three of those spots, and I think that was the idea behind what we were trying to do. But at the end of the day, you could put everybody at whatever place. But we need to execute, and we need to do a good job around the net to pick up those loose pucks. Sometimes, they might be ugly goals.
As for the power play as a whole, Roy liked what he saw the other night against the Red Wings and thinks everyone is on the same page.
"Everybody I spoke to, they said the same thing. I thought both units were moving fast," Roy said. "And we had a couple of tips in front of the net, even the Nelly and Barzy group. I mean, they also had good looks. We didn't do a good job on the third one, especially on our breakouts. But we didn't have a chance to work at it [much before that game], so it was good today to take the time to work at it and see how it goes tomorrow."
Noah Dobson said that the personnel doesn't really matter since everyone has played with everyone at one time or another.
"I think we're comfortable. A lot of the guys have all played together at some point here and there. So it doesn't matter the personnel. We gotta have the same mindset," Dobson told The Hockey News. "We gotta go and execute. We gotta move the puck quick, and we gotta put pucks in the net and attack. But yeah, got a couple of power plays last game, had a couple good looks and a couple good practices, so we should be pretty comfortable."