So this Drum of Depth that Islanders coach Jack Capuano has been pounding all season is now in the forefront. So much so, it might make Keith Moon smile.
In Tuesday night's 4-1 rout of the Rangers at the Coliseum, once again it sounded loud.
This was the first game the Islanders had to play this season without their second-best player, as winger Kyle Okposo set to miss six-to-eight weeks with what is being held by the team — like it is a state secret — as just an "upper-body injury." Taking his place next to John Tavares was Mikhail Grabovski, and with 18:05 gone by in the first, it was Grabovski tapping in a great tic-tac-toe passing play to take an important 1-0 lead.
It was Grabovski's first game back after missing the previous five leading into the All-Star break, and it was just his third goal since Nov. 21 — a span of 23 games.
"When you're out for a while and playing against a team like that, I thought he did real well," Capuano said. "His minutes were up there. I thought his conditioning was real good. And got a big goal for us."
Grabovski signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the Isles this summer, but had been able to produce just six goals and 14 points through his first 38 games. With Capuano not wanting to break up his bottom two lines — and with Okposo having played all of the first 46 games on a line with Tavares — the timing of Grabovski's return seemed to work out perfectly.
He played 15:59 on a line with Tavares and Josh Bailey, and had a team-high four shots on net.
"He's a puck-possession kind of guy," Capuano said. "He's got some good speed. He's a guy that plays on the interior, which we like. He's not a perimeter guy.
"I think he's excited. He was out there a little while, so I think he's excited to get back."
It seems as if the All-Star break brought Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to the realization that Lee Stempniak might not be entirely deserving of his seemingly permanent spot in the lineup.
Vigneault made Stempniak a healthy scratch for the first time since Dec. 23 against the Capitals, having played the 12 games heading into the break. Taking his place, in theory, was Tanner Glass, returning from his upper-body injury that had kept him from the previous two games. Glass had snapped his own six-game scratch streak on Jan. 15, the first of two strong games he played before getting hurt.
That left J.T. Miller on the fourth line, with Glass on the left and Dominic Moore in the middle.
The Islanders were still without the service of defenseman and power-play specialist Lubomir Visnovsky.
The 38-year-old practiced fully on Monday, but missed his eighth straight game with an upper-body injury.
That left the third pair as Thomas Hickey and Brian Strait, who were surprisingly steady.
Rangers winger Chris Kreider didn't practice on Monday or Tuesday morning because he was feeling ill, but took his regular place on a line next to Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis.
Vigneault was also feeling ill Tuesday morning, but was behind the Rangers' bench.
Matt Hunwick stayed in on the Rangers' defense, making John Moore a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game.
The Islanders placed enforcer Eric Boulton on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 17. Boulton has played in four games this season.
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