Islanders' Bo Horvat moves to the wing, and he's just fine with that
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad brings the puck up the ice as Islanders center Bo Horvat defends during the first period of an NHL game Thursday in Sunrise, Fla. Credit: AP/Jim Rassol
TAMPA, Fla. — It was Bo Horvat’s turn.
Natural centers Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Casey Cizikas and rookie Kyle MacLean have all spent time on wing under coach Patrick Roy. Horvat started the Islanders’ crucial match against the Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena on Pageau’s right wing along with Pierre Engvall.
“It’s mostly just, ‘Yeah, this is what’s going to happen,’” said Horvat, who has centered the top line virtually the entire season. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win. Wing, center, put me in on D, throw me in net, I don’t care, as long as we get wins.”
The bigger picture is Roy, 28 games into his tenure behind the bench, is still testing to find the best combinations to produce offense and maximize puck possession. And he was willing to do it coming off a 3-2 win over the playoff-bound Panthers on Thursday night to open this three-game road trip.
The Islanders entered Saturday’s play five points behind the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division — the Islanders are in Philadelphia on Monday night — and four points back of the Capitals for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
Nelson spent the previous 15 games on Horvat’s left wing but was back in the middle against the Lightning with Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri. With Barzal centering Anders Lee and Hudson Fasching, it marked the first time this season some combination of Barzal, Nelson and Horvat — the Islanders’ top three scoring forwards — didn’t start on a line together.
Presuming all return next season, Roy is also building long-term flexibility. MacLean is a pending restricted free agent while the other five remain under contract.
“It was more of a gut feeling on this one,” Roy said when asked how much analytics went into his line construction. “And that’s what I said to Bo. So sometimes it’s just embrace this, it’s a challenge. Our objective is just winning hockey games and try to generate a little more offense.
“We’ve been trying a lot of things. That’s doesn’t mean it’s going to last five minutes in a game.”
Horvat said the last time he was regularly used as a wing was his first season of junior hockey.
“If we’re going to win, we need to have four lines going,” said Barzal, who moved to right wing on the top line to accommodate Horvat when he was acquired from the Canucks midway through last season.
“Wherever we can add more depth and more scoring to make us really balanced, I think it’s going to help. It’s a blessing having as many centermen as we do, and high-class centermen. We have six really good guys down the middle and any one of us can play there. We’ve got a lot of guys that are all about the team. It doesn’t matter if Nellie is on the wing, I’m on the wing, Casey is on the wing, we’re doing everything to help the team.”
Beyond Horvat, moving Cizikas, who has spent the bulk of his Islanders’ career as the fourth-line center, into a top-six role on wing also represented outside-the-box thinking from Roy.
Nelson described Cizikas, a tenacious forechecker, as bringing a “dog-on-the-bone mentality” to any line.
Cizikas said his style of play can’t change regardless of his role.
“I try to be quick out there,” Cizikas said. “I’m going to try to be in on the forecheck and get those guys the puck and get to the front of the net. Those guys have elite talent and I’ve just got to work hard getting them the puck.”
Notes & quotes: The Lightning entered the match with the NHL’s top-ranked power play, heightening the Islanders’ need to stay out of the penalty box. Roy was asked if he has stressed discipline after the Islanders allowed just one power play to the Panthers. “It’s funny because every time I talk about discipline before a game, we take four penalties in the first period,” Roy said. “That’s a subject I try to avoid. I’d rather be, ‘Let’s focus on what we need to do…’” Forwards Simon Holmstrom and Oliver Wahlstrom and defensemen Samuel Bolduc and Sebastian Aho remained healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
