Doug Weight isn’t going to ride Thomas Greiss into the ground. Two days after his shutout of the Stars at Barclays Center, the Islanders interim coach went with Jean-Francois Berube Saturday night against the Kings.
His reasoning was simple. The Isles need both sharp the rest of the way to get hot.
“We got [38] games [left], but we have a lot in hand. What’s that mean? We’ll be catching up to a lot of teams,” Weight said on Saturday before the team’s 4-2 win over the Kings in Brooklyn.
“We’re going to be playing a lot of hockey. We’ll need [Berube] in net [playing] stellar. We’ll need him plenty down the stretch. He’s a big piece of this team.”
Weight will go back to Greiss on Sunday against the Flyers at Barclays Center. After that, it’s about production.
“Play dictates [it],” Weight said.
Berube made a case for more playing time, making 34 saves in a win against his former team, his first win of the season.
“He was outstanding,” Weight said. “He kept us in the game.”
Defenseman Johnny Boychuk and left wing Andrew Ladd both took part in Saturday’s morning skate, but remained out with upper-body injuries. Right wing Cal Clutterbuck (lower body injury) was also out. Ladd has now missed the last three games, while the other two weren’t available in the win over the Stars on Thursday, and have missed two games apiece.
Weight made it seem unlikely Ladd will be available Sunday against the Flyers, but is hopeful Clutterbuck and Boychuk will be back.
“Real good chance you’ll see Cal Clutterbuck. Pretty good chance you’ll see Johnny Boychuk,” Weight said. “Nothing’s for sure. I’ll find out in the morning.”
Veteran left wing Jason Chimera, 37, produced one of his best games as an Islander, scoring once and setting up Anders Lee’s go-ahead goal, by drawing a holding penalty on Derek Forbort of the Kings on a breakaway attempt. Chimera has now scored four times in five games, and is third on the Isles with nine goals.
“He’s a great skater at his age still, he was effective all night tonight,” Weight said. “He pushed the pace.”He is a great guy in the room, and he’s been one of our best players the last three weeks.”
The Islanders three power play goals were a season high. … Lee has a points streak of four games. … The Islanders are now 20-2-3 all time against Western Conference opponents at Barclays Center.