Adam Pelech comfortable playing alongside any teammate as Islanders seek balance on defense
Adam Pelech of the Islanders skates against the Colorado Avalanche at UBS Arena last month. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OTTAWA, Ontario — It used to be the two were almost synonymous with each other. Mention Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock’s name was sure to follow. That was the Islanders’ top defensive duo. A “shutdown pair,” coach Lane Lambert once called them.
That’s ancient Islanders history by now after they were separated last season. Even through the team’s recent defensive struggles after Pelech returned from an upper-body injury, they were not reunited.
“All the guys here, I’m so comfortable playing with,” Pelech said before the Islanders faced the Senators on Friday night at Canadian Tire Centre. “It’s not a big deal to me.”
The Islanders entered Friday’s game with a two-game winning streak and on a 2-0-2 spurt overall. Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Flyers at UBS Arena was an improvement over Saturday’s 5-4, four-round shootout in Calgary to end a 1-1-2 western swing.
Pelech, who missed three of the next four games after a hip-to-hip collision with the Capitals’ Aliaksei Protas on Nov. 2, said any improvement stems from taking fewer penalties.
The Islanders killed off the Flyers’ only power-play chance after the Flames were 0-for-3 on the power play, although two were shortened because of their own penalties. The Islanders’ penalty kill was an abysmal 5-for-13 during the first three games of the trip.
“The main thing was just the penalty kill, kind of fixing that,” Pelech said. “We haven’t really gone through anything like that ever since I’ve been here. That was pretty brutal for a few games for us. It was just fixing that and getting back to fundamentals.”
As always this season except for when he was hurt, the left-shooting Pelech skated with Noah Dobson on what could be considered the Islanders’ top pair. The righthanded Pulock remained paired with Alexander Romanov.
Sebastian Aho and Scott Mayfield form the third pair.
Lambert said Dobson’s strong play this season and the balance he gets with the three pairs supersedes any desire to pair Pelech with Pulock again.
“You look at your personnel,” Lambert said. “Andy Greene, Zdeno Chara is not here anymore. Balance it out a little bit. Also, the progression of Noah Dobson as he went from a rookie to a sophomore to where he’s at today, he has to take on more responsibility and more time.
“When we did it, I don’t think there was ever really a set plan,” Lambert added of last season’s decision to separate Pelech and Pulock. “For me, it’s about balancing out the pairs. We’ve got elements on every pair. Mayfield is a terrific defender and Aho moves the puck well. For the most part, any of our sets of defensemen can play against any other team’s forwards. Everybody has to play against everybody.”
Notes & quotes: Left wing Matt Martin (upper body) did not accompany the team to Ottawa and missed his fourth straight game . . . Goalie Ilya Sorokin is expected to start Saturday night’s rematch with the visiting Flyers after making 34 saves for his second straight win Wednesday night against them.
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.
