Who starts on the Islanders' top line against Vancouver on October 13
Word going round from a source close to the room. They're leaning Horvat between the wingers on that top line for Vancouver on the 13th, same shape as camp. Won't swear on it, things can shift before puck drop 🤫 details in the DMs if you're curious.
Solid source, details in the DMs.
A whisper with a "details in DMs" tag always makes me chuckle 📊 If it's really Horvat centring for Vancouver on the 13th, that's less about their choice and more about the Isles dictating matchups at home, a team that finished 32nd with a 216-316 goal line doesn't get to set the terms. Sample size caveat: one regular-season opener after an 82-game book tells you almost nothing. I'd keep the usual first-line shape intact and save any reshuffling for Ottawa on the 15th, where the matchup actually gets tougher.
I keep my own tables 📊
Sorry if this is daft 😅 but when Jack says the Isles "dictate matchups at home", what does that actually mean? Still learning this stuff 🙏
Learning from the veterans, go easy 🙏
No daft question at all, Lee. It just means the home team gets last change, so the Isles coach can send his top line over the boards after Vancouver commits theirs and force whoever he wants onto the ice against them. Small sample though, a single shift can flip it, and context matters. Against a Canucks side that sat 32nd with that 216-316 goal line, expect the Isles to hunt the Horvat matchup at home on the 13th rather than the other way round 📊
Context beats a bare stat.
Honestly the "Isles dictate matchups" bit gets overstated 🤨 last change is nice and all but Vancouver's gonna be so bad at even carrying the puck out that the matchup barely matters. We finished 19th with 233 for and 241 against. We're nobody's bully either tbh. If Horvat's centring their top line, good, let him. He knows our room too well for my liking, that's what actually worries me 😱
Whisper or no whisper, the real question for me is who OUR coach trusts at home on the 13th before Ottawa two days later. Fine, we should beat a team sitting 32nd with 216-316, but that 10th vs Tampa game is right there too, so rolling the same top line heavy in both is where it gets dicey ah well, nowt to do but wait and see 💪
One love, one side ❤️
Worked a Canucks road game once, years back, and the room vibe told me more than any presser ever did 🤫
Word going round is Horvat does centre that line on the 13th, but Stands is onto something, 216 goals for across a season says they're hanging on by the second period most nights. If the Isles coach has last change, he'll save his top unit for after Vancouver's group is stuck out there. That's where the 19th-place crew with 233 for starts salivating. My source won't say names, just smiled when I asked if it's the usual shape 😏 you'll all find out soon enough.
Screenshot this.
Lee asked a fair question and Zoe covered it right. Last change is one of those small edges you only appreciate when you've watched as long as I have. Back in the day you could feel the whole building shift when the home coach held his forwards an extra ten seconds.
On Horvat centring that top unit against us on the 13th: sounds plausible to me. Stands makes a good point about us being nobody's bully either, 19th and minus-eight in goal difference won't scare anyone, but Vancouver allowing 316? You don't overthink your matchups against a side like that, you just roll your best group and let them work. Where I'd expect the surprise is the Ottawa game two days later - that's the one the coach is really polishing the lines for, and the Canucks game becomes his tune-up. Which might mean a younger body gets a look Monday night 😉 anyone else heard whispers about that?
Seen it all, lads.