The Islanders brought a wholly different set of forward lines with them to Philadelphia.
After getting beat 5-0 by the Sabres on home ice Saturday, all four lines were switched up Monday against the Flyers, and Cal Ritchie was out due to a lower-body injury.
Ritchie was called day-to-day by the team, while Simon Holmstrom also missed the game due to illness.
Marc Gatcomb drew back in for Ritchie, with coach Patrick Roy reuniting the fourth line of Gatcomb, Casey Cizikas and Kyle MacLean that had considerable success before being broken up.
Anders Lee and Maxim Tsyplakov — originally intended to be a healthy scratch before Holmstrom came down ill — played on the third line on either side of Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Jonathan Drouin skated with Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair, while Max Shabanov jumped up to the top line with Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman.
The new-look lines did produce some much-needed results, helping spur the Islanders to a 4-0 win.
“We try a bit of a mix of everything,” Roy told reporters in Philadelphia before the game. “Mostly Bo’s been playing really well with, let’s say, Heiny. So, feel comfortable to put a guy like Shabby there. Barzy’s been playing well with Anthony Duclair [but] lately with Anders, the line was not performing as well as we wish.”
The configuration did come down to the final minutes before the game, as Holmstrom had skated in the morning on Barzal’s line, prompting more changes when he was made a scratch.
“A lot of talk, a lot of communication on the ice, makes it way easier when you’re on the ice and you know where your teammates are,” Pageau said after scoring twice, the second off Tsyplakov’s backhand feed. “When one guy was in trouble, we supported him quick in the corners. Same on the forecheck.”
Saturday’s loss marked the first time in over a month the Islanders had dropped back-to-back games, and put them at risk of losing three in a row for just the third time all season.
The line shuffling, though, has been going on for much longer than that, as the Islanders have struggled to find any combinations that can bring them some needed consistency.
One game, of course, doesn’t tell you much about whether they’ll achieve that here. But it’s a good sign at least.
Ilya Sorokin’s 21 saves were his fewest in a shutout since Oct. 17, 2023, when he had a 14-save shutout against the Arizona Coyotes.
