Stefen Rosner on Morning Cuppa Hockey Talking Islanders After a flurry of roster moves and a few line changes, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-semyon-varlamov-new-york-islanders-panthers-interference] were buzzing to start their game against the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/]: Let's do a quick recap on the moves. The big but not shocking news was that Anthony Duclair (lower body) was placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve retroactively to Oct. 19. That freed up $3.5 million in cap space, allowing for a few other roster moves. Longtime Islanders forward Matt Martin [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/matt-martin-lou-lamoriello-new-york-islanders-nhl-contract-pto], who was with the team on a PTO, inked a one-year, league-minimum deal and played on the fourth line with Kyle MacLean. Pierre Engvall, who didn't make the team out of training camp in season two of a seven-year deal worth $3 million, was also recalled, skating with those two: Hudson Fasching was also recalled, but he and Oliver Wahlstrom did not play. Ok, now back to the game. The strong start lasted about seven minutes before the game completely flipped on its side, with the Islanders blowing a 3-0 lead, falling 6-3. Islanders head coach Patrick Roy didn’t play the two forward insertions much through the opening 40 minutes. Martin played 2:26 in the first period, with one shift in the final 7:21. Then, in the second, he played 4:33, with no shifts in the final 5:43: Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEwMjgwNDQ3NDkyNDk5MDIy/img_7538.jpg] Engvall got one extra shift in the first compared to Martin, playing the final 14 seconds for 2:40 minutes. In the second, Engvall played 4:21, not playing the final 5:39: Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEwMjgwNDQ3NDkyNDk4NjM2/img_7539.jpg] Those two got minutes in the third, but a large majority came after it was clear the Islanders weren’t coming back. Martin ended the game with one shot on four attempts with two hits in a team-low 9:45. Engvall ended the game with no shots on two attempts, a hit, and a giveaway in 10:37, the second-lowest time of ice on the team. MacLean played 11:11, the third lowest on the team, as his linemates clearly affected his playing time. Here's what Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said postgame: Roy on Martin signing: “I mean having Marty back in the lineup leadership experience. I mean, he brings that physicality that we feel. You know, I think Lou thinks it's important for us.” Roy on Engvall call-up: “We know what he did for this team the past two years, and I guess Lou thought it was a good moment for him to be back and play." We will see what the lineup looks like on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
