Islanders aiming to get second line of Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall going at full speed again
Islanders center Kyle Palmieri skates with the puck against Coyotes center Nick Bjugstad during the first period of an NHL game Thursday in Tempe, Ariz. Credit: Ross D. Franklin
LAS VEGAS — The season is too long for everything to always go right. Or wrong.
So the Islanders’ second line knows things will turn toward the positive at some point. The trio was hoping it would be in Saturday night’s finale to a four-game road trip against Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
“Concerning isn’t the right word to describe it,” center Brock Nelson said. “But we definitely want to get back to the level we know we’re capable of and we’re confident we can do so.”
“Sometimes you have chances that could find a way to bounce in,” right wing Kyle Palmieri said. “The chances have been there. When those start drying up and it feels like, ‘Holy crap, we haven’t had a scoring chance in a couple of games,’ that’s when you’ve got to maybe take a harder look at it.”
Palmieri entered Saturday’s game without a point in his last five games and without a goal in his last 10. Nelson brought in a two-game point streak with a goal and two assists, but although he led the Islanders with 17 goals, he had only two in his last eight games.
Pierre Engvall started the trip as a healthy scratch for the second time this season in a 3-1 loss to the Penguins on New Year’s Eve. He re-entered the lineup for Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Avalanche and snapped a 10-game point drought with his fifth goal.
“I think I felt pretty good in Colorado,” the left wing said. “We were working hard in Arizona but we didn’t get too many chances. There’s always going to be some games, and some games you get a lot of chances.”
Nelson did have four shots in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Coyotes, including a couple of wraparounds. Palmieri had two shots and Engvall had one.
Nelson entered Saturday with 16 assists to go with his 17 goals in 38 games. Palmieri, who also had played 38 games, had nine goals and 12 assists. Engvall had five goals and nine assists in 36 games.
“Sometimes you don’t get a bounce here, a bounce there,” coach Lane Lambert said. “When Brock is moving, the line is going. I thought Pierre played better in Arizona, using his speed. It’s a long season and with every line, you have moments in the season where maybe things aren’t quite going and you just have to find a way out of it.
“The bottom line is, is when something isn’t going right, you have to realize that you have to do the proper things away from the puck consistently and make a contribution that way.”
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the line entered Saturday with 19 goals scored and 14 scored against and had created 237 scoring chances and allowed 226 scoring chances. The line had created 97 high-danger chances and allowed 89.
Yet, in a more simplistic statistic, Palmieri entered Saturday as a minus-10, Nelson was a minus-6 and Engvall was even.
So there’s evidence — including the eye test — that the trio has been good together for much of this season. Which means the players know the standard they must reach.
“Me, Pierre, Brock, we’ve all been playing long enough that you know that’s kind of part of it,” Palmieri said of the season’s ups and downs. “Really, it can go either way really fast.”
“I think the success of both go hand-in-hand,” Nelson said when asked about his responsibility as the center to help his linemates produce. “As a unit, I think we bring a combination where we can generate chances and possession.”
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.
