Connect with us

New York Islanders

Barry Trotz Calls Out Islanders Second Line; ‘The Line Hasn’t Been Good Enough’

Published

on

New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz

Through four games the New York Islanders have already a lot of ups and downs. At 1-2-1, there have been more downs than ups and for the second line, in particular, the season has been off to a rough start.

When the buzzer sounded on the Islanders 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday night it was the third consecutive game that Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson have gone without a single point. With one goal — the Islanders only in Saturday’s loss to the Florida Panthers — Beauvillier has been the line’s most productive player.

That hasn’t been good enough for Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. Not by a long shot and it could mean the shuffling of his lines for the Isles’ next game.

“Their line hasn’t been good the last couple of games,” Trotz said. “The last game, I didn’t think they had a real strong game. Their analytics were terrible, but I give them credit for battling through all of that when they’re not having a great night. We’re going to have to do something with that.

“That’s unfortunate, but I’m going to have to move some people around on that line for sure.”

It was the strongest message Trotz has sent yet during the young season. The trio of Bailey, Nelson and Beauvillier — dubbed the “Killer Bs” — has been anything but that through the start of the year, where Nelson has particularly found a lot of success.

Where the New York Islanders head coach goes from here means that there would most likely be a swap between the second and third lines. With Oliver Wahlstrom playing well over the start of the year, would that warrant a promotion up to the second line while dropping Josh Bailey down to the third?

Wahlstrom has three goals over the first four games and was one of the more noticeable players on the ice for New York in their OT loss.

The Islanders will practice in Arizona on Friday afternoon and that should paint the first picture of what changes could be coming for Saturday.

GET NYIHN IN YOUR INBOX!

Enter your email address to get all of our articles delivered directly to your inbox.

NYI Team & Cap Info