
Will the speedy fourth line be able to sustain offensive zone pressure?
EAST MEADOW, NY -- After being shut out for the third time through six games on Tuesday, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy has made a few tweaks to his lines.
While the top-six remained the same, with Simon Holmstrom looking like he'll get another game with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal in Anthony Duclair's absense, the bottom six looks different.
After playing a full game with Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Casey Cizikas is back on the fourth line with Kyle MacLean and recent call-up Liam Foudy.
Oliver Wahlstrom has moved up to the third line:
The Islanders bottom line, which has struggled to produce anything offensively through the first six games, is now a rather speedy trio that should have zero issue getting up the ice.
“It’s really nice, especially as a centerman knowing your two wingers are going to be chasing down pucks, hunting everything and beating guys in those races," Kyle MacLean told The Hockey News. "So, yeah, it's nice, wer're ready to go, hoping to generate some offense, a little more than we have been, and, yeah, just keep building.”

The fourth line has always been a North-South game, but they've struggled to keep pucks in the offensive zone.
“I think the shifts where we do have good o-zone time and where we have positive shifts is when we're reloading, we're hounding pucks, and we're not really trying to do anything too complicated," MacLean said. "We're just getting the pucks and creating chances off of simplicity. So, I definitely got to get to that.”
Roy is exciting to see what this line can do with Foudy on it.
"They all have like skills, but I mean they're energy guys, and they're guys that are good when working down low and doing a very great job trying to bring pucks to the net and be able to play against very good lines," Roy said. I mean, when they are out there, I do trust them, so I have no problem playing against, let's say, the top line of the other team."
The Islanders battle the New Jersey Devils on Friday night at 7 PM ET in Jersey.