Lower than three weeks in the past, Bo Horvat was falling on his sword throughout a goal-less streak that lasted 13 video games.
The cliché goes that scoring is available in bunches, so possibly it’s no shock that since then, Horvat had eight factors — 4 targets and 4 assists — in his previous seven video games coming into play Monday, together with a season-high three factors in a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday evening.
“He’s been shooting the puck free, [like] the goal that he scored there [in Toronto]” coach Patrick Roy stated earlier than the Islanders had been humiliated by Buffalo of their final sport earlier than the vacation break on Monday. “I feel like it’s a good fit for him playing with [Maxim Tsyplakov] and [Simon] Holmstrom right now. It works well.”
Pairing Horvat with Tsyplakov has coincided with No. 14’s breakout, with Roy first making an attempt the mixture on the evening Horvat broke his targets drought by scoring in opposition to the Hurricanes on Dec. 7.
In 104:49 on the ice collectively at five-on-five earlier than Monday, Tsyplakov and Horvat had outscored opposition 8-2 with a 54.34 anticipated targets proportion — and Roy has made no secret of wanting to maintain the 2 of them collectively even because the Islanders ahead group has gotten wholesome.
Doing so is a contributing issue to why Horvat and Mathew Barzal haven’t but performed collectively, a trade-off Roy is glad to make.
“I think Bo loves to get those give-and-gos in the neutral zone [with Tsyplakov],” Roy stated. “I think that’s a good fit for him. He wants a guy that moves the puck quick and I think it’s great for him. And Barzy loves to skate with that puck in the neutral zone, so for him to play with [Jean-Gabriel] Pageau and [Anders] Lee, it’s also a very good match.”
Roy stated there was no message supposed by enjoying Barzal at five-on-six on Saturday, which led to Barzal scoring an empty-net purpose.
“I don’t try to send messages,” Roy stated. “I go with the guys that I trust. And in that game, everybody was playing well. … When your guys are committed to playing solid defensively, I don’t care who’s on the ice at the end of the game.”
Ilya Sorokin began his eleventh straight sport for the Islanders on Monday. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen performed in purpose for the Sabres.
Rasmus Dahlin (again spasms) was again in Buffalo’s lineup after lacking Saturday’s loss to the Bruins.
