After a lousy showing in his first game back from injury, New York Islanders Pierre Engvall shouldn't be sat, and here's why.
MONTREAL -- It wasn't that Pierre Engvall was scapegoated by former New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert, but he was made an example of on multiple occasions while other players made similar mistakes and faced no consequences.
Engvall, who signed a seven-year extension worth $21 million this summer after dominating alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri in the second half of last season, struggled to play that consistent brand of hockey as this 2023-24 season progressed.
A player who thrives off his speed and North-South game was going South too often, and a combination of that and turning the puck over led to benching and two healthy scratches.
Engvall was one of those players who seemed to need a motivational sit every once in a while to wake up.
The 27-year-old Swede fell victim to an upper-body injury in the Islanders 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 15, missing the remainder of the road trip and the remainder of Lambert's tenure behind the Islanders bench.
When the Islanders hit the ice for their first practice under Roy, Engvall was back on the ice in a non-contact jersey, as he was not ready to go Sunday against the Dallas Stars.
Then, after an off-day on Monday, Engvall skated in a regular jersey ahead of the Islanders' game against the Vegas Golden Knights but still wasn't ready.
Before flying to Montreal, the Islanders practiced, and again, Engvall was a full participant, with Roy stating that he expected Engvall to return Thursday night.
And that he did, skating in his usual second-line role alongside Nelson and Palmieri.
But, in Engvall's first game under Roy, he struggled in critical moments.
After being able to go North with the play, Engvall elected to go South before sending a backhand saucer across the ice to Sebastian Aho.
Aho failed to catch the pass cleanly, and Cole Caufield made the Islanders play as they went down 2-0.
The Islanders rebounded down 3-1 in the third, working all the way back late in the final frame to tie the game at 3-3 before Engvall committed what Lambert would call a "cardinal sin."
Just like Matt Martin had a chance in the dying seconds to get the puck out in a heartbreaking loss to the Nashville Predators last week, Engvall had the same opportunity.
Instead, Engvall took an extra half-second in transition -- trying to chip the puck off the boards to himself or out -- but failed miserably as the Canadiens kept the puck in the zone before Sean Monahan rifled home his second of the game for the game-winner:
"It's unfortunate what happened there," Roy said postgame. "Okay, I got it. Caufield made a great play there, but if the puck goes through, it's a 2-on-1 for us, and we might be having a different conversation here."
Rightfully so, fans were calling for Engvall's head, thinking he should be benched, scratched, sent to Bridgeport, bought out, and traded after his underwhelming late-game decision -- all things that likely won't happen.
But pump the brakes on the Engvall explicitly.
He and the rest of the Islanders will need time for Roy to break these old habits that the group had under Lambert.
Engvall may have been bad in the game, but other things went wrong on all of these plays that allowed the puck to enter the back of the net.
Yes, Engvall's contract -- due to speed always being an asset -- is certainly moveable, but the speedy second liner is a puck possessor, and that's something Roy needs in his lineup to operate the system he wants played.
The Hockey News caught up with Engvall before his return to the lineup, and he was excited that Roy was preaching puck possession.
"I'm excited," Engvall said. "[He wants us to hold on and make plays. That's fun hockey,"
There's a difference between holding onto the puck too long and just enough, and that's something that Roy will have to get Engvall to learn.
Thursday night's failures had a lot to do with decision-making, but if anyone is going to break Engvall's habit, it's Roy.
By sitting Engvall, especially with Hudson Fasching now hurt and likely day-to-day, who else is coming into the lineup that can do what Engvall does for the second line?
Oliver Wahlstrom was a name people were begging to have come into the lineup, but if you are paying attention, the struggling forward doesn't have the foot speed to keep up with Nelson and what seems like a rejuvenated Kyle Palmieri.
The fact that Wahlstrom was rotating in with Kyle MacLean as the No. 4 centerman ahead of the game against Chicago tells you all you need to know.
Maybe Roy wants to give Wahlstrom a look, but swapping him for Engvall doesn't make strategic sense unless Julien Gauthier is being elevated to the second line.
Yes, Gauthier is a speedster -- probably the fastest straight-line skater on the roster -- but he is a dump-and-chase kind of player, and that line doesn't need that.
Going back to Engvall being a healthy scratch in two games, not only did it impact the second line, but it impacted the entire lineup.
With a 1-2-0 with Roy behind the bench, sitting four points out of the second wild-card spot in the East, the Islanders aren't in a position to weaken what has been an offense that has put over 40 shots on goal in each of the last two games, given the defensive shakiness, which is likely now missing Adam Pelech again.
Roy is analytically driven, and while goals for and goals against are the most important stat of them all when Engvall was on the ice Thursday, the Islanders owned a Corsi For percentage of 68.42 percent, outshooting their opponents 6-4.
Even when he isn't at his best, Engvall is the quarterback of the second line. When he's going, that line is going. When he's out of the lineup -- like we saw when he was sat twice in a 5-2 loss to Boston after a mistake at home against the Wild and a 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh after making a mistake against Washington -- the second line doesn't have that play driver.
Given the Islanders depth players struggling -- they need to have the ability to run a top six.
According to NaturalStatrick.com, when the second line has been on the ice this season (426:04), the Islanders have outshot their opponents 257-237, outscoring them 20-15.
When Engvall isn't out there with Nelson and Palmieri, the Islanders have been outshot 75-49 and outscored 9-4.
Over time, if Engvall doesn't prove to be able to learn from his mistakes under Roy -- disregarding his play under Lambert because it's a new slate for everyone that includes Engvall -- then the sitting conversation should gain more traction.
But after just a few practices and only one game, it would be a grave mistake if Roy benches Engvall with one game left before the All-Star break, which the Islanders need to win.