NY Islanders Make Massive Change To Line Combinations

The New York Islanders played the Ottawa Senators tough in their most recent game, but lost in a shootout, 2-1.

Linus Ullmark was the first star, continuing his hot start to the season. Semyon Varlamov was up for the task going against him, but the team wasn’t able to generate enough offense to get him his first win of the season.

Looking to create an offensive spark, head coach Peter DeBoer is shaking up his line combinations again for the team’s second straight game north of the border against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As shared by Andrew Gross of Newsday on X, the Islanders have made a major change. Simon Holmstrom is moving up from the fourth line to the first line, swapping places with veteran Kyle Palmieri.

Islanders make shocking line chage with Kyle Palmieri

That will certainly raise some eyebrows. Palmieri is first on the team with 1.0 Goals Above Expected and sixth with 1.3 Created xGoals, per MoneyPuck. Holmstrom is ranked seventh with 0.4 and 13th in Created xGoals with 0.2.

DeBoer has mentioned wanting to have offensive balance throughout the lineup, and this could be one way to make that happen. While certainly an unorthodox approach to swap a productive player with one who has not produced, New York doesn’t always traditionally deploy lines.

The head coach has shown a willingness to move players up and down in the middle of the game, rewarding players who are playing well. This is a massive opportunity for Holmstrom, especially with Mathew Barzal getting closer to his return and someone having to be removed from the lineup when that does happen.

The rest of the lineup remains the same. Matias Maccelli and Bo Horvat remain on the first line, with Cal Ritchie sticking as the No. 2 center despite his struggles. He is flanked by Braydenn Schenn and Victor Eklund.

The third line is Emil Heinieman, JG Pagaeu and Anthony Duclair. Joining Palmieri on the fourth line are Ondrej Palat and Casey Cizikas. Kyle MacLean is the extra skater.

Their defensive pairings remain unchanged from the last few games as well. Scott Mayfield remains the extra skater, with Logan Stanley and Matthew Schaefer as the No. 1 pairing. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are the No. 2 pairing, with Matthew Kessel and Tony DeAngelo as the No. 3 pairing.

Starting in net is Ilya Sorokin, looking to help the Islanders avoid their first losing streak of the season and keep their alternating losses and wins alive until they can build a winning streak.