The New York Islanders are making another adjustment to the puzzle as they try to find the right mix in a lineup that’s been battered by injuries.
Peter DeBoer is still without three key forwards - Mathew Barzal, Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli - and defenseman Alexander Romanov, who went down with an ACL injury in the third game of the season. With so much of the roster unavailable, DeBoer has been forced to keep reshuffling, and the changes have been constant from night to night.
That was especially true against the Nashville Predators, when he went with an unusual 11 forwards and seven defensemen. The Islanders came away with a shootout win after a 3-3 game, but that setup won’t carry over. According to Andrew Gross of Newsday on X, the Islanders are returning to a more standard 12 forwards and six defensemen against the Minnesota Wild.
DeBoer said Kyle MacLean is back in as the 12th forward and Scott Mayfield is in as the sixth defenseman. Matthew Kessel, who had dressed in seven straight games, will come out as a healthy scratch.
MacLean is expected to slide back onto the fourth line as the left wing with Casey Cizikas in the middle and Mitchell Chaffee on the right side. DeBoer has not been using his lines in a classic, fixed way, instead mixing and matching depending on who is skating well on a given night, but that trio is set to open the game together.
The forward groups otherwise stay intact. Simon Holmstrom remains on the top line with Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri. Emil Heineman, Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund form the second line, while Ondrej Palat, JG Pageau and Anthony Duclair make up the third.
On the blue line, Matthew Schaefer is still carrying a massive load. He made history by becoming the first known player to stay on the ice for an entire five-minute overtime, and that was also the longest shift in franchise history.
Logan Stanley continues to skate with him on the first pairing. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are together on the second pair, with Mayfield expected to join Tony DeAngelo on the third.
DeBoer needs the second and third pairings to give him more than they have lately, because Schaefer and Stanley can’t keep soaking up that kind of ice time every night. Schaefer logged a career-high 32:16 against the Predators, while Stanley was over 20 minutes again.
In goal, Ilya Sorokin gets the start. He’ll be looking to respond after a rough outing against the Dallas Stars, when the Islanders lost 6-3 following a disastrous third period.
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