nypost
When the New York Islanders opened training camp, two pressing questions loomed: could Matias Maccelli step into a top-six role and replace Anders Lee's production, and could the team's power play find new life? In their second preseason contest against a Rangers lineup featuring numerous NHL regulars, both questions began to show promising answers. Maccelli, who also skated on the left wing of the Islanders' second line, netted two of the team's three power-play goals in a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden.
Last season, Maccelli began on the Toronto Maple Leafs' top line with Auston Matthews, but he also found himself a healthy scratch at times and finished with 14 goals and 39 points. "Obviously, that's the goal, to play in that role," Maccelli said of securing a top-six spot and making the most of it. "It was a good start for that [Tuesday], and try not to think about it too much and just come to the rink and do my job and play as good as I can."
His first goal involved a fortunate bounce, as he threw the puck toward the net and it deflected off Rangers defenseman Sean Durzi and went in. His second, however, was a more deliberate effort: he pounced on a generous rebound left by Spencer Martin after a shot from Matthew Schaefer and deposited it into the net. Maccelli acknowledged it was only preseason, but the two goals offered an encouraging sign that his one-year flier with the Islanders could prove worthwhile.
"You need a certain amount of goals in this league in order to get in the playoffs, regardless of how well you defend," Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer said. "You still have to put the puck in the net at a certain level in order to give yourself a chance to get in the playoffs. So I think our conversations were around how do we add some goals to the lineup, and that included adding guys that could help our power play – and I think he checked both those boxes. He did what he's supposed to do [Tuesday] in order to make a statement about where he fits on this team."
Maccelli's performance coincided with the possible emergence of a power-play unit that finished last season with the third-worst success rate in the NHL (16.5 percent). DeBoer noted that the unit looked dangerous during its opportunities – Schaefer scored the other power-play goal – but he cautioned against reading too much into one game. "It's one game," DeBoer said. "We're working on some things. If we go 0-for-4 tomorrow, the sky's not falling, either."
Key Analysis
DeBoer also had high praise for Schaefer, calling the second-year star a future captain of the team. "He's one of those players at the end of my coaching career, I'm gonna sit on a deck somewhere and think about that I got a front-row seat to watch that guy play hockey, which is pretty special," DeBoer said. In roster moves, defenseman Ethan Bear and goaltender Henrik Tikkanen were waived Tuesday for the purpose of assignment to AHL Hamilton. Additionally, Cameron Berg, Cam Thiesing, Jesse Pulkkinen, Hunter Drew, Ryan Healey, Luke Rowe, Ryan Fanti, Brandon Scanlon, Jesse Nurmi, Joey Larson, Gleb Veremyev and Calle Odelius were all assigned to the Hammers, according to the team. Kyle MacLean scored the first Islanders goal.
Originally reported by nypost.