Patrick Roy's shifting of Isles' lines a matter of necessity

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Few things draw fan derision via social media as much as constantly changing forward lines. Often, there are anonymous snide — or worse — comments about “Coach McBlender,” or something to that effect.

So yes, this is directed at Islanders fans impatient with how coach Patrick Roy has constructed his trios. Trust that if he could settle on four lines, he would, despite his desire to keep all on his roster involved and his willingness to consistently try different things. Injuries to top-six forwards Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri have altered the equation.

At Sunday’s practice at Rogers Arena in advance of the Islanders’ penultimate match of their seven-game road trip against the Canucks on Monday night, Roy substituted Max Tsyplakov on Cal Ritchie’s line with Emil Heineman and said Max Shabanov will be a healthy scratch for the second time in his rookie season and for the first time in 13 games. Tsyplakov was a healthy scratch the last three games and in five of the last six.

“Nothing personal,” Roy said. “Sometimes you’ve got to try different things.”

He has. And he’ll continue to do so. He’s used the same four lines in back-to-back games only once on this road trip that has started 2-2-1. In Saturday’s 4-2 loss in Calgary, the Islanders out-attempted the Flames 75-52 but got little traffic in front of goalie Dustin Wolf and had 29 missed shots.

“Injuries have changed the course of what we’re trying to do,” Roy said. “The Palmieri injury hurt us a lot. The Horvat injury has been hurting us a lot. The [Alexander] Romanov injury has been hurting us a lot. Palmieri and Romanov [a defenseman], it’s season-ending, so that changes a lot of things. When you’re losing two guys in the top six, there’s a good chance you’re going to try things just until you find what you feel like. So we’re going to continue to try things.”

Palmieri (left knee) last played on Nov. 28. Horvat (lower body), who is not on this trip, will miss his eighth game, though general manager Mathieu Darche said in Calgary that Horvat might play when the Islanders face the Sabres at UBS Arena on Saturday.

So Roy will continue to have to figure out how to squeeze consistent offense out of his Islanders. They’ve scored 12 goals in the first five games of the road trip, recording a 1-0 win in Edmonton on Thursday after Tuesday’s 5-4 loss in Winnipeg. Hockey, go figure.

“Sometimes you do get an explanation, sometimes you don’t,” left wing Jonathan Drouin said of the shifting lines. “But I think we’re a team that whoever kind of winds up together, we’re going to find a way to just play. As I’m older in my career, it doesn’t really matter who you play with, you try to be your best for that line and bring something.”

Drouin, on a two-year, $8 million deal to be a top-six scoring wing, has three goals and 17 assists in 42 games and notched only an assist in his last six games. His last goal came on Nov. 14, a stretch of 25 games for him. He’ll again skate with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom after starting with Ritchie and Heineman against the Oilers.

Anthony Duclair, who has five goals in his last six games, again will skate with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee, though against the Flames, Roy switched during the game to Barzal and Duclair with Heineman and Lee with Ritchie and Shabanov.

“When the lines are changing, you’re looking for a little more jump when things aren’t going too well or you want a little spark offensively,” said Duclair, who has skated the majority of the season in the bottom six and started the trip on a line with Casey Cizikas and Shabanov before being elevated to Barzal’s line for a 4-3 win in Minnesota on Jan. 10.

“I don’t think your game should change at all. When the lines are changing, you want to make sure you do your best.”

Cizikas will be between Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb for a fifth straight game, as Roy has seemed to settle on an effective fourth line that he can start shifts with in the offensive zone.

“As players, you can’t read into the lines or figure out what the coaches are doing,” MacLean said. “They worry about that and you just try to stay focused on just playing regardless of who you’re with.”

So Roy will see how it goes on Monday. Odds are, more changes will be forthcoming.

Notes & quotes: Roy confirmed that goalie Ilya Sorokin will start against the Canucks after David Rittich made 15 saves against the Flames.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.