On Saturday, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy swapped Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall, moving No. 18 to the top line alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. That remained Monday morning.
On Saturday, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy swapped Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall, moving No. 18 to the top line alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. That remained Monday morning.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- On Saturday, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy swapped Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall, moving No. 18 to the top line alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal.
After the 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, Roy said that he made the move because he wanted more speed.
"There's things that I'm wanting to try at times," Roy said postgame. "I thought that adding Engvall with Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal added a little more speed to that line. I thought that'd be a good thing. And I think Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson have been clicking very well, so it doesn't really matter. I mean, Anders is a good fit for them as well."
As for what he saw from his new-look top line: "In the moments they had, I thought they had some good buzz. I mean, they were holding the puck in the offensive zone. Maybe it's something that we might give a shot at. We'll see how it goes."
At Monday's practice, Engvall remained on the top line, but there's no concrete plan just yet.
"We tried things on the third line. We tried things on the fourth line. MacLean played really well on that line," Roy said following practice. "I want to see different avenues and see how things will go. It could just be short term, could be long term. I don't have a timeline on this. Could be two shifts in the first period I go back, but right now, I'm curious to see."
Engvall is a fast skater but also a transitioner, which is something that Barzal does for that line. That means he's going to have to find more open ice and crash the net more than he had been doing with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.
"He's gonna have to do [more of that]. And he's capable of doing so. I don't see it as a problem," Roy said. "It will add a bit of speed on that line. Not that Anders is a lot slower. They're both very reliable players. I mean, they're both very good defensively, so I feel like it's got to be a good thing for Anders and a good thing for Pierre."
We caught up with Engvall after practice to get his thoughts on playing with a few new linemates after primarily being stapled to the second line shortly after his arrival last season.
"I think I'm gonna bring my speed and my work ethic," Engvall said. "I'm gonna work. They're two great players, so I know if I'm in the right position and I play the right way, I think we're gonna do good."
We asked Engvall the same question we did to Roy, about him having to change his style a bit, given Barzal's skillsets.
"If I can use my speed to bring some more speed off the puck when he has it, I think it opens up a lot for me too. I can break out without the puck, and when I get up [the ice], hopefully, I can attack more that way."
Barzal has always enjoyed playing with Lee but had fun with Engvall on Saturday.
"We definitely had some good shifts at the end of last game," Barzal said. "He's a big puck possession guy, moves his feet. I hope we go out and score a couple goals. I really enjoy playing with Lee and Bo. I feel like we've had great games recently, and I felt the last game was one of those games where things just weren't going well. So we had to shake some things upand that's what Patty wanted to do.
"I thought both lines kind of took a bit of a jump, and I it's just a wake-up call for the group. I'm excited to play with Pierre."
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