The New York Islanders announced on March 21 several lineup changes ahead of their Saturday game against the Montreal Canadiens, with Ilya Sorokin set to start in goal. The team held a morning skate at Centre Bell, where Head Coach Patrick Roy adjusted all four forward lines following Thursday’s loss to Ottawa.
The adjustments come as the Islanders seek to improve their playoff position in a tightly contested Eastern Conference race. The team currently has 83 points, just one behind the Canadiens’ 84 points, with six teams separated by a single point competing for five playoff spots.
Anders Lee will join Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal on the top line, breaking up the previous pairing of Horvat and Emil Heineman. Roy said Lee’s past play with Horvat and Barzal influenced this decision. “We’ll let him go to work down low and hopefully he can fish some pucks out for us,” Barzal said of Lee. “He’s been great in the forecheck all year, so hopefully he can create a few turnovers for us tonight. He’s good around the net, so it’ll force us to put pucks there.”
Heineman is expected to play alongside Brayden Schenn and Anthony Duclair on a newly formed line. Simon Holmstrom was reunited with JG Pageau, his longtime linemate and penalty kill partner, along with Ondrej Palat. Roy said that reuniting Holmstrom and Pageau was “important.” Marc Gatcomb returns to the lineup after sitting out three games as a healthy scratch; Kyle MacLean will not play.
“We feel like it gives us four very good lines,” Roy said about the new combinations.
Sorokin enters Saturday’s matchup with an undefeated record against Montreal (6-0-2), posting a 1.83 goals-against average, .939 save percentage, and three shutouts in those games.
Horvat described Thursday’s defeat as “a little bit of a wake-up call” after dropping out of playoff position due to a last-second goal by Ottawa. “It’s a crazy, crazy league, you go from being third in your division to out of the playoffs in one game,” Horvat said. “For us to maybe have a little bit of a wake up call and have a great response tonight.”
Barzal emphasized the importance of rebounding quickly: “We weren’t all smiles after that one,” he said about Thursday’s loss. “We knew what it meant, and we woke up yesterday and had a great day, took care of the bodies, and we’ll be ready to go tonight.” He added: “It’s a privilege to be playing at this time of year, playing these games and being right in the fight… You grind all year to be in a position like this… it’s so fun being a part of big games.”
