ST. LOUIS — Being on the road so early in the season means we will have to wait to learn how Patrick Roy would like to match up against opposing top lines.
But it answers the arguably more important question of whether the Islanders can be boxed into unfavorable matchups when deprived of last change.
The early returns say no.
That is at least based on the first two games of this road trip, particularly Monday’s 6-2 win in Colorado — when Jared Bednar threw his best players at Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson and the pair handled it with aplomb.
Colorado’s top line, with Nate MacKinnon skating between Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton, is one of the more high-powered in the league.
So too is its top defensive pair of Cale Makar and Oliver Kylington (with Devon Toews missing Monday’s game).
The Romanov-Dobson pair saw nearly nine minutes against the MacKinnon line and the Makar pair — essentially three minutes more than any other Islanders defensive pair.
And the Islanders ended up winning those minutes, both on the scoresheet and, until the Avalanche were chasing the game down three in the third period, via the eye test.
“Obviously Rommy had a great game, he played great, he was physical,” Dobson told The Post after the Islanders practiced at the Enterprise Center on Wednesday. “It’s just important when playing against those guys, good gaps. Take away their time and space, and the best way to defend them as well is make clean breakouts and have the puck and not have to chase them around.
“So I thought we did a decent job of that. It’s just important, knowing when they’re on the ice, make sure you’re managing the puck well. Don’t want to give them any free pucks, they usually make you pay on those.”
Dobson has spoken before about wanting to be a well-rounded player.
This is a good way to show instead of tell.
Two nights prior, Dallas split its top line’s minutes between the Romanov-Dobson pair and the Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock pair.
And the trio of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Logan Stankoven ended the night with just one high-danger chance, per Natural Stat Trick.
There are still moments when Dobson in particular looks like someone with room to grow in his own zone — a couple crucial mistakes in the season opener against Utah being the operative example so far.
But going on the road and handling the likes of Robertson and MacKinnon speaks for itself.
“I feel really comfortable [in those matchups],” Dobson said. “I think from where I started to where I am now, I think it was always a goal of mine to be that all-around defenseman that plays in all situations. Still lots of areas where I can continue to grow in, but as a D-man, I enjoy those nights where you have those tough matchups.”
The Islanders, right now, look like a team that can be comfortable with either of its top two pairs going against another team’s top line.
That is quite a luxury, and one they didn’t always have last season, when the blue line spent much of the season dealing with injuries.
Romanov and Dobson often had no choice but to take the toughest matchups as a result then, though it probably wasn’t what Lane Lambert would have preferred.
Being in that crucible then is paying dividends now.
“When you’re gapping up against MacKinnon, you gotta be a confident person, because he’s got so much power, so much speed,” coach Patrick Roy said. “So it’s not every day — most of the D, when they see him coming, they back up and they are afraid to get burned. But I love the fact that they were not afraid to get burned and I thought they responded really well in that area.”