Islanders' Jean-Gabriel Pageau to play with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee in return

Patrick Roy took Option C.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to the lineup on Tuesday night against Vegas at UBS Arena as the Islanders opened a three-game homestand after missing eight matches with an upper-body injury.

But rather than returning Pageau to his usual spot centering the third line, the coach opted to have him skate on Mathew Barzal’s line with Anders Lee.

Roy’s other options included dropping rookie center Cal Ritchie from the third line to the fourth line with Casey Cizikas sliding to wing and either Kyle MacLean or Marc Gatcomb – both playing particularly well – coming out of the lineup. Or Roy could have elevated Ritchie and moved Barzal back to Bo Horvat’s wing, as they started the season.

“We’ve had success in the past together but it’s not something that I saw coming,” Pageau told Newsday of skating with Barzal and Lee. “But I’ll take any opportunity. I thought the team was playing extremely well without me and battling extremely hard. So you’re starting to think, ‘OK where do I fit in the lineup?’ Ritchie’s line has been playing some good hockey together. Sometimes you don’t want to break up some chemistry.”

Roy’s decision could be considered outside-the-box thinking – especially since it surprised Pageau – but there is strong analytical basis for it.

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Lee-Barzal-Pageau trio was together for nine games last season and put together some dominant statistics. They generated 126 chances to 67 against and had a 33-16 edge in high-danger chances. Their expected goal for percentage was a strong 62.39% with an expected goals for of 5.14 and an expected goals against of 3.1.

And putting Pageau with Barzal and Lee allowed Roy to keep Ritchie with Simon Holmstrom and Anthony Duclair and Horvat with Emil Heineman and rookie Max Shabanov in addition to keeping Cizikas’ fourth line intact. Max Tsyplakov became the odd forward out of the lineup.

“Because they played so well together last year,” Roy said when asked why he considered this his best lineup decision. “I really like the way Ritchie’s line is playing and I love how Casey’s line has been playing.

“If you look at analytics, they had a good moment together. So let’s give it a shot.”

Playing on Barzal’s line means trying to anticipate the elite skater’s moves and finding open spots to shoot. But Pageau also can’t lose his natural grittiness.

“I don’t want to change anything,” Pageau said. “When I get away from my game, that’s usually when it starts going the wrong way.”

One interesting aspect of placing Pageau and Barzal on the same line is both are right-handed centers. Typically, if two pivots skate together, one is a righty and the other a lefty to ensure whoever takes the faceoff is doing so on his strong side.

But while Barzal is most effective with the puck on his stick – a natural attribute for a center – there’s no doubt Pageau is better on draws.

Pageau ranked sixth in the NHL entering Tuesday’s play at 59.5% on faceoffs (197 of 331). Barzal was at 34.7% (86 of 248), which ranked 90th.

Barzal even took a moment to poke fun at himself when asked how he and Pageau would figure out who would take faceoffs.

“Well, you know, career wise, I’m obviously a lot better in the circle than Pager,” Barzal said. “I’ll let him take the wing. I’ll be in the dot most of the night because when it comes to me and him, I’m the obvious choice to take faceoffs.”

Seriously, though.

“Aside from Pager being such a versatile player for us on the ice and bringing so much to the penalty kill and bringing so much to five-on-five, he’s also just one of our main characters in the locker room every day,” Barzal said. “He plays inspiring hockey. We’re pumped to have him back.”

Notes & quotes: Lee played in his 872nd game for the Islanders, tying Hall of Famer Clark Gillies for seventh on the franchise’s all-time list… Jonathan Drouin missed his fourth game and did not participate in the team’s morning skate… Defenseman Adam Boqvist remained a healthy scratch.