It's about bringing balance to the force.
It's about bringing balance to the force.
The return of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock was a need for the New York Islanders.
With both returning to the lineup Monday night, it changed everything for Patrick Roy and how he could handle his defense pairings.
In the absence of Pelech, who has been in and out of the lineup often this season, and Pulock, who had missed 24 straight games, the pairing of Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson were playing a tremendous amount of minutes.
While they got the bulk of the workload, more minutes were given to Scott Mayfield, Mike Reilly, Sebastian Aho, and Samuel Bolduc, who were thrown into roles that may not have suited their skill sets.
But because of injuries, the Islanders had no choice as it was just a next-up mentality, which ultimately wasn't enough to find consistency.
Pulock showed little to no rust in his 20:15 minutes of action, with two shots, three hits, and two blocks. Pelech was quicker with his decision-making and was dominant, especially 1-on-1, finishing the game with three shots in 20:49, with three hits and three-shot blocks.
While it was a sure positive that the two played well together, it's more about the secondary impact of their return to the lineup.
Dobson, who has averaged the second-most minutes amongst defensemen in the league at 25:55 per game, played 23:15 Monday night. He had not played fewer than 25 minutes since playing 21:15 in a 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 15.
The last time Dobson played under 24 minutes was back on Nov. 22.
With penalty killers back, Dobson doesn't have to be relied upon in every situation, despite having the ability.
Romanov's minutes weren't affected too much, but Dobson playing a tad less certainly makes the pairing much stronger.
The most significant change was with Roy's bottom pairing of Reilly and Mayfield.
They played the third-fewest minutes, as a third-pairing does typically, and thrived not having to play a ton against the Maple Leafs' best, whereas, without Pelech and Pulock, that was happening more than the Islanders would have liked.
When Reilly and Mayfield were on the ice, 12:19, the Islanders outshot the Leafs 8-5, with Reilly earning the primary assists on Mathew Barzal's opening dagger.
Roy put them out for just one defensive zone face-off draw, with their 61.11 Corsi For Percentage ranking first amongst the Islanders defense corps Monday night.
This is the effect of the return of Pelech and Pulock, which allows the Islanders to play the way they need to play as they chase a playoff spot.