The Marc Gatcomb effect: Why the Islanders forward should see consistent playing time

When New York Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin was not able to play during the Thursday night contest against the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Patrick Roy slotted in Marc Gatcomb for only his second game of the season. His first coming in the Isles second game of the year, which ironically was another time that Drouin had to come out of the lineup.

The entire fourth line contributed on both sides of the puck.

Gatcomb made quite an impact in Thursday night's matchup, tallying an assist on Kyle MacLean's first goal of the season. The entire fourth line got on the scoresheet that night, with longtime Isles fourth line center Casey Cizikas picking up the empty net goal at the end of the game. This is not much of a surprise to me, the entire line played a fantastic game, and the hockey gods rewarded them for it.

Seriously though, the entire line dominated on the forecheck, and were winning mostly every puck battle they got into. The "eye test" certainly did them a lot of good during this game. It gave me the same exact feeling I used to have seeing the "Best Fourth Line in Hockey" out there, which of course consisted of Cizikas with Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck on his wings.

The chemistry that Gatcomb, MacLean and Cizikas have developed truly feels like a real fourth line. The role being simple, go into the dirty areas and generate opportunities. It is a huge plus for a team to get production from their fourth line. On Saturday night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the line was a positive impact once again.

Gatcomb is a way better option then the previous fourth liners.

Now, the sample size is obviously small but Gatcomb had played well last season while in the same role. The other options that Roy has been using as that third winger on that line with MacLean and Cizikas have not been good.

Anthony Duclair saw some time in that spot earlier this season, but the style of game in which he plays does not fit with those of MacLean and Cizikas at all. Duclair has shown some flashes that he can be efficient offensively but playing under 10 minutes a night on that line will not help him generate chances at all. Duclair has seen an increase in his time on ice lately due to injuries and scored against the Tampa Bay Lightning last Tuesday.

The same goes for Maxim Tsyplakov, who has been very quiet to start the season, while playing most of his minutes up to this point on that fourth line as well. The 27-year old has only 1 goal and is a -7 in 18 games to start his sophomore season. Tsyplakov, like Duclair as well, is another player who could benefit from the unfortunate injuries to guys who play more minutes than them such as Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri. The Russian winger did put up 10 goals and 35 points in his rookie season last year, so the skill is there, he just needs the right tools to find that offensive touch again. It is important to note that due to Drouin's absence from the lineup Thursday, Tsyplakov played with Barzal and Lee, his play with those two was significantly better than what we have seen from him.

So, Marc Gatcomb seems like the right guy for the job when it comes to the Isles fourth line. If he can tap back into that scoring touch he had last season, he may find himself in a full time role once again.