RALEIGH, N.C. — Maybe it was a bit of gamesmanship, as it was during the regular season, but Islanders coach Barry Trotz was not ruling out anything in terms of his lineup for a must-win Game 4 against the Hurricanes here on Friday night — and that includes in goal.
With Trotz’s team down 3-0 in the best-of-seven, second-round series, he did not declare Robin Lehner as his starting goalie, even though Lehner has been solid in the first seven games of this postseason.
It would be a rather big shock if Trotz decided Thomas Greiss would be the one to come in with the season on the line, since Greiss has not played since the next-to-last game of the regular season on April 4.
“Quite frankly, I haven’t told them who’s playing in goal, and I haven’t told them the lines,” Trotz said after an upbeat practice Thursday.
Trotz made it a point during the regular season not to disclose his starting goalie, but it seemed clear Lehner was going to be the No. 1 guy going into the playoffs. He was terrific in a first-round sweep of the Penguins, but the whole team hasn’t been as sharp in the first three games of this series.
Lehner then made an ill-advised pass up the boards midway through the third period of Game 3 that started the sequence ending in Justin Williams’ game-winning goal, and he took ownership of the mistake after the game.
When Trotz was asked what type of reaction he might get from the team if he made a drastic move like starting Greiss, he balked.
“We lost three,” Trotz said. “The reaction is ‘let’s go.’ ”
Asked if he was considering lineup changes, Trotz didn’t hesitate.
“Yup. We haven’t gotten the results we wanted, so yes, we are,” he said. “We spent a lot of time this morning [talking about it]. So yes, absolutely, 100%.”
Asked at what position, Trotz said, “at all positions.”
Four players missed practice, with Trotz citing “maintenance days” for Cal Clutterbuck, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Tom Kuhnhackl. It was unclear if any would be unavailable for Game 4.
The lineup hasn’t changed all postseason, with the two extra forwards being Michael Dal Colle and Ross Johnston. The extra defensemen are Luca Sbisa — who has played one game (Jan. 12) in the calendar year — and Dennis Seidenberg, who didn’t play a game all season.
Former Islander and current Hurricanes defenseman Calvin de Haan had some choice words about the league’s decision to have the Islanders play their first-round home games at the Coliseum and then move them to Barclays Center for the second round.
“It’s great for us,” de Haan told reporters Thursday morning. “It’s good for the away team. It kind of negates the home-ice advantage.”