The forward lines that Islanders coach Lane Lambert had hoped would last for a good stretch of time lasted less than two weeks.
That is not as much the fault of the coach’s tinkering as it is of Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s injury. But after Pageau was placed on injured reserve Thursday, retroactive to Feb. 11, the Islanders rolled out a new set of lines for their 5-4 victory Friday night over the Penguins.
Most notably, Anders Lee was moved to the top line with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. Zach Parise took Lee’s place on the second line, with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. Josh Bailey was bumped down to the third line with Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom. Andy Andreoff, who was called up from AHL Bridgeport on Thursday, centered the fourth line between Matt Martin and Hudson Fasching.
“He forechecks extremely hard and then he goes to the net, and so does Horvat,” Lambert said Thursday of putting Lee on the first line “Horvat goes to the net as well, there’s a dual-threat net presence there, which gives Barzal an opportunity. But certainly [Lee’s] a guy who can get on the forecheck and get pucks back.”
The hope was that Lee would find his touch alongside the Islanders’ two best offensive players. And that hope quickly came to fruition, as Lee netted two goals — his first goals in February — during the furious comeback win.
Parise scored the game-winner, his 15th goal of the season. The only snag was that after Bailey left the game with an undisclosed injury 16:17 into the second period, Lambert ended up leaning heavily on his top six over the final 20 minutes.
In what might have been the Islanders’ best win of the season, though, that was a sacrifice the coach was happy to make.
Lambert did not have an update on Bailey’s status after the game. He also did not say before the game whether Pageau would travel to Boston with the team for their game Saturday.
Lee, Barzal and Horvat each finished with over 20 minutes of time on ice, with Horvat playing a team-high 24:18.
Parise skated in his 1,200th game, the 13th most among active NHL players, though more than 500 behind Joe Thornton in first. Two other players in the game Friday — Jeff Carter and Sidney Crosby — are in the top 15 among active players.
Nelson, with two goals and an assist, extended his points streak to 12 games, the longest for an Islander since John Tavares in 2011-12.