Having Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat on two different lines certainly wasn’t the Islanders’ biggest problem through 10 games.
If anything, moving Barzal back to center was working reasonably well, and Horvat’s line with Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman was the Islanders’ best.
And still, there is something different — something extra — that gets unlocked when the Islanders’ best two forwards are playing alongside each other. And if Cal Ritchie, the top prospect who made his Islanders debut in Friday’s win over the Capitals, is at his best playing center, then there is suddenly an opening to rejoin the two stars.
That was just what coach Patrick Roy did in the third period against the Capitals, switching his lines to play Barzal and Horvat alongside Heineman, with Ritchie centering Drouin and Kyle Palmieri — and it produced the Islanders’ best 20 minutes of the night, as they broke a 1-1 deadlock to win 3-1.
“It was nice to put [Barzal] back with Bo and having Heineman with them,” Roy said. “I thought Ritchie played really well with Drouin and Palmsy in the third.”
Roy said he was unsure whether the Islanders would keep the configuration intact for Sunday’s home game against the Blue Jackets, but it would make sense to do so.
Throughout training camp, Barzal made clear to anyone and everyone who asked how much he wants to play with Horvat.
On Friday night, Ritchie told The Post he was “more comfortable at center,” though he’s more than willing to play on the wing if that’s what the Islanders ask of him.
Whether it’s feasible to keep things the way they were in that third period Friday depends mostly on whether Ritchie can handle the NHL, and the matchups that come with being a de facto second-line center. That remains to be seen, and Ritchie’s first game with the Islanders offered a mixed bag.
“I think at the start, it was tough to get my legs under me and then as the game adjusted, got my legs,” Ritchie said. “I thought I played pretty good in the third, there. I thought I was playing good defensively, didn’t give as much. That was good.”
If Ritchie can handle the workload, though, it would go a long way for the Islanders.
Matthew Schaefer was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after recording eight points in his first 11 games.
Schaefer leads all rookies in average time on ice, and leads rookie defensemen in goals and power-play points.
He was the fourth 18-year-old defenseman since 1984-85 to record three goals in a calendar month.
The Islanders did not practice Saturday following a back-to-back in Carolina and Washington.
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