TORONTO - The Islanders have been sound without the puck. The problem is what happens once they get it.
Through the early stretch of the season, their defensive structure has held up, but the goals simply haven’t followed. Half of their 20 goals entering Saturday night’s game against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena came in just two contests, and that kind of scoring burst is not enough to carry a team for long. Until that changes, the Islanders are going to keep living around the NHL .500 line.
Coach Pete DeBoer is still sorting through the right mix, and on Saturday that meant more line shuffling in search of offense. Kyle Palmieri was moved to Casey Cizikas’ fourth line with Ondrej Palat, while Simon Holmstrom was back on Bo Horvat’s top line.
“Listen, five-on-five, we’re looking for production,” DeBoer said. “And we have to be a team that gets four lines of scoring. I’ve said that since the day I took this job: We don’t have [Connor] McDavid and [Leon] Draisaitl.”
That point landed even harder because the Islanders are still without Mathew Barzal, who has yet to play this season because of a left knee injury. Barzal is the lone forward on the roster who brings that same kind of skating skill.
Palmieri’s situation tells a big part of the story. He’s not a pure speed player, never has been, and after missing most of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee, he’s still working his way through the aftereffects. He had only two goals entering Saturday, both of them coming in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Canucks at UBS Arena.
Now he finds himself in a role that may actually suit him better. Cizikas’ line has been the team’s most dependable group when it comes to getting up ice and driving the forecheck, and Palmieri could wind up with more chances around the net in that kind of setup.
“Top six, bottom six, we don’t have a top six,” DeBoer said. “You could argue on any given night our fourth line has been better than our first or second line.”
Palmieri, from Smithtown, is in the second season of a two-year, $9.5 million deal and could be in his final season with his hometown team. He wants to be part of the answer, but he’s also dealing with the reality that recovery from a major injury rarely follows a clean line.
“It has good days and bad days,” Palmieri told Newsday. “Overall, it’s still a process.
For me, there’s no better way to look at it. I’m right in the midst of it.
It’s really about just taking it a day at a time and doing what you can to improve the health of the knee. At the same time, you’re still playing NHL hockey.
“There’s definitely more forward progress. I wouldn’t say there’s been any days where I’ve felt like I took steps back.
I had an idea in my head of what it was going to feel like coming into this season. Some surprises here and there.
I’m trying my best to make sure it’s physically ready and try and help my team.”
Holmstrom, meanwhile, got the nod on the top line to start Saturday after managing a goal and an assist in the first seven games. He lined up with Matias Maccelli, who has quickly become one of the more useful additions to the roster.
Maccelli, who turned 26 on Wednesday, is coming off a five-game point streak and had the lone goal in Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss in Ottawa. He spent last season with the Maple Leafs, who did not tender him a qualifying offer after he finished with 14 goals and 25 assists in 71 games while battling for ice time.
“It feels good to get the opportunity to play with Bo and those guys on the first unit,” Maccelli told Newsday. “You get puck touches and your five-on-five game is most likely going to be better. You get more touches and you actually feel like you’re doing something out there.”
That’s the bigger issue for the Islanders right now: turning possession into production. The defense has done its part. Now the goals have to catch up.
In Other News...
Islanders Finally Get A Real Read On Quinn Finley
Quinn Finley finally got a real game to show the Islanders what he can do, making his American Hockey League debut with Hamilton after a long road back from shoulder surgery. It was his first taste of pro action in a meaningful setting, and he made it count right away by picking up his first AHL point on an assist in his return to play.
For Finley, the outing was as much about getting back into the flow as it was about the box score. He said he was satisfied to be back on the ice, and Hamilton coach Jay McKee came away impressed with the speed, hockey IQ and shot that had made Finley such an intriguing player in the first place. For a prospect the Islanders have had to monitor carefully, the next step is simply getting more of those looks. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Already Know Who Can Help Romanov Through This Brutal Rehab
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Kyle Palmieri has become a familiar voice in that process. The forward has been down this road himself after an ACL injury, and he has been helping Romanov navigate the grind of rehab while drawing on the support he once received from Anders Lee during his own comeback. For a locker room that has seen what this kind of injury demands, that shared experience could matter just as much as the surgery and the timetable ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Catch A Break As Leafs Lose A Familiar Threat
John Tavares will not be in the Maple Leafs lineup when Toronto meets the Islanders, a notable development for a New York team that has spent plenty of recent years seeing him on the other side. Toronto said Tavares is week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered in a game against Buffalo, and his absence removes one of the more familiar threats the Islanders would normally have to track in a divisional matchup.
Tavares left after a collision in that game, and the Leafs are expected to turn to Bo Groulx to fill the open spot in the lineup. Sergei Bobrovsky is slated to start in goal for Toronto, leaving the Islanders with a clearer look at a Leafs group that still has plenty of skill, just not the veteran center who has long loomed over these meetings. [Read more 🡒]