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OTTAWA — Pete DeBoer has largely described his approach to making lineup changes on the fly in positive terms — that is, players earning their promotions up the lineup — and did so again Thursday morning.
After the 2-1 shootout loss to the Senators that saw Calum Ritchie and Anthony Duclair both dropped to the fourth line, though, he came as close as he has so far this season to direct criticism of players.
“Well, he wasn’t the only one,” DeBoer said when asked about Ritchie. “There was a group of guys there that fell out.
“The players make those decisions for me. I don’t make those decisions on how they play during the game. You know what, we had some puck management issues at different points. We took some penalties, which you can’t do on the road. Guys make those decisions when we get into those situations.”
Ritchie took just two shifts in the third period, sitting for the game’s final 11:30. Duclair took four and sat for the last 9:25. Both had taken penalties in the second period.
Defenseman Matt Kessel also sat the last 12:30.
Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom, who started the game as Casey Cizikas’ wingers on the fourth line, played up on the second and third lines, respectively.
In-game lineup changes have become an early-season trademark of DeBoer’s, which, he explained pregame, comes in part from his relative lack of familiarity with the Islanders.
So, although he stuck with largely the same forward lines throughout training camp, he’s been fairly aggressive in changing things up in the season’s early goings.
“I’m still getting to know this group,” DeBoer said. “I haven’t been with these guys for two or three years where, a coach that has that experience with a group … that’s had success with certain line combinations over a long period of time, maybe gives a little more runway. That’s not the case here. I’m still getting to know this group, everybody’s trying to show me where they fit and what they’re capable of doing.”
The Islanders won all 10 of their games that ended in overtime last season, but were far less efficient in shootouts.
The latter trend continued Thursday. Brayden Schenn, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom all failed to convert their shootout chances.
Mat Barzal (left kneecap inflammation) didn’t travel with the Islanders north of the border.