ELMONT, NY — Patrick Roy was more concerned about sending the right message rather than showing urgency with his New York Islanders trailing 2-0 after two periods against the Buffalo Sabres.
The head coach benched his second line of captain Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, and Anthony Duclair for the entire third period after a failure to backcheck on Tage Thompson’s goal with 11.4 seconds remaining in the second period, meaning the Islanders rolled with just three lines over the final 20 minutes of their 5-0 loss on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena.
“It’s pretty simple: Back-checking is an important part of our game and our concept. We talked about it on the road, and it’s my job to make guys accountable… Back-checking doesn’t require talent; it requires will, and this is what this team is about.”
After a turnover in the Sabres’ zone, Barzal and Duclair listed back, with Lee the only forward attempting to help the defense. It allowed Thompson, who was uncontested, to receive a nifty pass from Zach Benson from behind the net and quickly send it past backup netminder David Rittich.
“Barzy is a leader on this team, and unfortunately, for Anders, he was on that line, and sometimes, you have to take it for the team,” Roy said. “I have nothing to say about him…He’s part of that line. Anders has been playing hard; he works hard, and he back-checks hard. He does everything well, but that’s the line. You play with your linemate, you stick with your linemate, and you back your linemate.”
This has become a trend of this line in particular, which failed to properly back-check during their 4-1 loss in Seattle against the Kraken, providing a disappointing end to a seven-game road trip in which they went 3-3-1.
Saturday’s late-second-period effort was the final straw.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Barzal said of the benching. “Our line in Seattle gave up a few odd-man rushes, and in the last minute of the period [Saturday], we gave one up, and they scored. Patrick’s just doing what he thinks needs to be done to make us a winning team.”
The Islanders (27-19-5, 59 points) have now lost five of their last eight games and lost their stronghold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. They are tied for third with the Philadelphia Flyers, who they play on Monday in the City of Brotherly Love.
“This shows that nobody gets special treatment here,” forward Bo Horvat, who made his return after a nine-game injury absence, said. “No matter who you are, you’re going to be held accountable. When you see certain guys like that not play, it makes you want to work that much harder to not be in that position.”
Jason Zucker scored twice on the day, and put the Sabres in front 33 seconds into the second period when a Jack Quinn shot squirted out of Rittich’s grasp and right into the forward’s path for an easy tap-in.
Sabres netminder Alex Lyon made 26 saves to shut the Islanders out for the first time this season. He was unflappable, even as the Islanders uncorked three separate shorthanded breakaways throughout the second period. He denied Horvat twice and flashed a quick glove to deny Simon Holmstrom on a wrister.
Thompson bookended Buffalo’s two-goal period with the goal that ultimately benched New York’s second line. Zucker nabbed his second of the afternoon 25 seconds into the third period after a loose puck from the right boards slid right to him in front of Rittich, and he was able to stuff it between the netminder’s legs.
Rasmus Dahlin added an empty-netter with 5:58 left before Alex Tuch’s redirect beat Rittich 36 seconds later.
