Will the Islanders sit players against Pittsburgh with a playoff spot already clinched?
Will the Islanders sit players against Pittsburgh with a playoff spot already clinched?
The New York Islanders clinched the third seed in the Metropolitan Division on Monday night after a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, making their season-finale on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins meaningless.
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Well, meaningless for New York as of now, given that the Penguins could be in a "win-and-in" situation if the Washington Capitals, who play the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Detroit Red Wings, who face the Montreal Canadiens, both lose, either in regulation or overtime.
Pittsburgh holds the tie-breaker over both those teams.
So, with that game a meaningless one for the Islanders, will head coach Patrick Roy elect to sit certain players?
"I'll talk with my boss and we'll discuss what our plan is," Roy said after Monday's game.
There's two ways to look at sitting players.
The first one is the injury risk, and with the Islanders already without their top offensive defenseman, Noah Dobson (day-to-day, upper body), they can ill-afford to see Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, or really anyone go down right before the playoffs.
Health played a huge role in last year's first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, who New York will play yet again in the first round when the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
Alexander Romanov, who suffered a shoulder injury on Apr. 1, 2023, wasn't as effective in the playoffs before undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason.
Barzal, who suffered a regular season-ending injury on Feb. 18, 202, against the Boston Bruins, returned for Game 1 of the playoffs, but it was clear he was anything but 100 percent.
To back up the sitting-player brigade, the Hurricanes have decided to do just that against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night:
Given their current roster, the Islanders can rest three players, not including Semyon Varlamov. Forwards Simon Holmstrom, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Samuel Bolduc are the team's healthy scratches.
The Islanders, given their cap hit of $1.53 million, can recall two players from Bridgeport if they wanted to rest a total of five skaters.
They cannot create more room by adding Dobson to Long-Term Injured Reserve, as you must be able to miss a minimum of 10 games.
Listing him on LTIR retroactively to Apr. 11 would only have him out for three.
Despite the positives of sitting players, there are a few negatives.
The Islanders are one of the hottest teams in the NHL as the regular season comes to a close, going 7-0-1 over their last eight games.
But that doesn't mean their game has been perfect.
Their special teams, especially their power play, need work, scoring their first power-play goal on Monday night since Apr. 4.
Especially with Dobson out, the Islanders have to work on their game plan.
So, while sitting Barzal and Horvat may make sense, there's only, potentially, three days of practice time to get ready for Game 1, so a meaningless game may be the last chance to practice against another team's special teams.
We will let you know when we hear of lineup decisions before Wednesday's 7:30 PM puck drop against Pittsburgh.