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Fourth Line Heating Up, What That Means For Ross Johnston

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The New York Islanders celebrating following Casey Cizikas' tying goal late in the third period of the contest against the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan.18

When Friday’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes rolls around, forward Ross Johnston will be available for the New York Islanders following his three-game suspension. But given how the Islanders’ fourth line has played over the last two contests, Johnston may have a harder time getting back into the lineup with Matt Martin back in the mix.

On Friday, Jan. 14, NHL Players Safety deemed Ross Johnston’s hit on New Jersey Devils forward A .J. Greer was deserving of a three-game suspension.

In his absence, Matt Martin was reunited alongside Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck after he was not in the linuep against New Jersey.

In the first of two consecutive meetings against the Philadelphia Flyers, the fourth line produced the second goal of the contest for the Islanders, a Cizikas deflection from the high slot that would go down as the game-winner in a 4-1 victory. 

Matt Martin added an emtpy-net tally to secure the win, as the two fourth-liners picked up their first goals of the 2021-22 campaign.

“We always take a lot of pride in what we do defensively, but it was nice to contribute and get a couple goals offensively as well.”, Martin said Tuesday morning.

When head coach Barry Trotz was asked about his assessment of his fourth line after Monday’s win, he had this to say:

“It hasn’t been as consistent as it has the first couple years and they haven’t had the impact consistently,” Barry Trotz said prior to Tuesday’s contest. “they’ve always had a really big impact on the game and there’d be games far and few between where you’d say they didn’t have much impact.”

“I wouldn’t give them a really high grade for this point, but we’ve got lots of runway left and you know they can be a real big factor for us and last night was a good indication of what they’re capable of.”

After the strong showing Monday, the fourth line built on that performance on Tuesday night.

In the second of the back-to-back against Philadelphia, the Islanders needed a goal late in the third period to tie the contest and force overtime. The fourth line again came through, as Cizikas buried his second of the season, his second in as many nights.

The Islanders went on to win the contest in a nine-round shootout, but they do not get there if it was not for the fourth line living up to their nickname.

“It feels it feels good. We’re working right now,” Cizikas said on his line’s performance following Tuesday’s contest. “It just comes from hard work and keep the pressure and just keep going.”

The Islanders’ fourth line over the last two contests has been out-chanced (17-15). But the fourth line has outshot their opponents 10-7, created more scoring chances (10-8), created more high-danger chances (6-3), and where it matters the most, scored more goals (2-0).

Over the last two games, the threesome has collected eight shots with 12 hits and two blocks. Cizikas has scored on both of his shots, while Martin registered 50% of the hits for the line.

It’s fair to say that Martin had been the weaker player on that line, especially this season. Offseason surgery to repair his ankle forced Martin to miss the start of the season, and it seemed he was a bit shy in certain situations on the ice. And it impacted his ability to play his role.

Martin has one goal and one assist in 24 games, with 3.63 hits per game and 31 PIM. 

Johnston, who played in Martin’s spot from time to time, has zero goals and two assists in nine games this season, having averaged 0.22 shots per game.  However, he stayed out of the box, with just two penalties to his name (same game vs. New Jersey). 

But over the last four games, of which the Islanders have won three, Martin has stayed out of the penalty box. 

There were nights when both played, but there is no real need for two players who do a similar job if that job does not involve offensive output.

We all know the mathematical equation I=MC Squared, where I stands for Identity and MC Squared stands for the players on the identity line. And even though Ross Johnston had shown to be an upgrade over Martin this season, the equation above has led to success over the last two games and should not be adjusted right now. 

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