Photo credit: Allen Douglas

By Regan Bartel

Mallette juggles lines late in season

Pushing the right buttons to get everyone going

Feb 13, 2024 | 8:00 AM

When teams need a spark, a head coach often tinkers with the lines to give his hockey club a jolt.

If it happens too often throughout a 68-game regular season schedule, ‘armchair coaches’ who pay a ticket to watch from the stands, and aren’t shy of sharing their opinions will complain that chemistry can’t be created.

Consistent combinations are ideal, but sometimes spreading out those with a higher hockey IQ across a wider range of players makes it harder to defend.

Three games ago, Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall was separated from captain Gabriel Szturc, with the theory being the opposition is now forced to defend against a deeper lineup, as opposed to icing one that can concentrate on shutting down just one unit.

“That pace that they were on, in particular the pace Andrew [Cristall] was on, many can’t keep up that,” coach Kris Mallette said about the 19-year-old forwards 23-game point streak earlier this season. “Any of the top players across the league run through a lull. He sees the best every night, and when on the road it is the top forward and top d-pairing all the time.”

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Over the last week, Cristall has been playing primarily with rookie Hiroki Gojsic, something Tij Iginla did for the majority of the season.

“It is amazing to play with him,” Gojsic told RocketsFAN about skating alongside the marquee forward. “He is so skilled. Everyone knows that, plus he is a great guy as well, so I hope to build more chemistry with him.”

Playing with Cristall can make most players look good. Gojsic should be thanking his lucky stars he is sharing the puck with the second-round NHL draft pick of the Washington Capitals.

“I think Horoki Gojsic is feeling it,” Mallette said about witnessing the 17-year-old taking full advantage of playing with one of the WHL’s elite players. “I think he is skating well. To complement him with Andrew’s [Cristall] brain and ability to find him, those two are creating some good offensive looks and are defending well.”

In the last three games, both Gosjic and Cristall have scored twice, as has defenseman Caden Price. Of the 11 goals scored over that span, seven different players have found the back of the net.

“That has been the real positive that we have seen,” Mallette continued. “If our top players aren’t producing, other guys are picking up the slack. Still, at the end of the day, our best players have to be our best players. It isn’t a demotion; it is more about spreading the wealth and seeing what we can do.”

While Iginla, the team’s leading goal scorer with 35 has only scored once in the last three outings, the draft-eligible forward collected two assists in a road win Friday in Kamloops.

“At times we relied on one line to carry us,” Mallette said honestly. “We put Tij [Iginla] up there at times [with Cristall and Szturc] and that was the only line producing.”

With the post-season quickly approaching, Mallette isn’t saying the new look lines are written in stone and he won’t go back to what originally worked, but sometimes after a few games apart, being reunited again creates a spark.

I like Tij [Iginla] with Gabriel Szturc and Luke Schelter…they create space for one another,” he said. “Don’t sleep on the other lines either, especially Ethan Neutens and Max Graham who are generating some good things.

“Our fourth line can produce some energy for us and kill some valuable minutes for us.”

With three games this week, tonight against Spokane (104.7 The Lizard has the game at 7:05 pm) and two huge road games in Victoria Friday and Saturday, let’s see if a team that scores 3.6 goals per-game can spend more times in the o-zone in the final five weeks of the regular season.