PHILADELPHIA — Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, not so long ago, were regularly counted among the NHL’s best defensive pairings.
But thanks in part to injuries — Pulock missed a chunk of time in 2021 and Pelech missed multiple stints during the last two seasons — and in part to lineup decisions, the two haven’t been together for long periods of time since the team’s conference final appearance in 2021.
Barring more injuries, the path is clear this season for that to change.
And the duo want to put themselves right back among the league’s upper echelon.
“The last two years it’s maybe been on and off, here and there. Things can always change,” Pulock said before the Islanders’ 2-0 loss to the Flyers in the preseason Thursday. “But I think right now, we have briefly spoken just kinda getting our swagger back.
“Being that pair that people — not talk about, but know about, in terms of shutdown and being hard to play against. We’ve had that discussion of just trying to get back to that and be that force out there.”
Pelech and Pulock started just 23 games on the same pair last season, the first of which didn’t come until after the All-Star break.
The season prior, they were together for the first 27 games of the season, but rarely after that because Pelech was hurt, then Lane Lambert preferred to pair Pulock with Alexander Romanov.
With Romanov and Noah Dobson forming a high-end pair last season, though, that cleared the way for Pelech and Pulock to return to playing with each other, as they’ve done since the two were in the AHL together.
Mike Reilly and Scott Mayfield are expected to make up the third pair.
On paper, that gives the Islanders a formidable back end, provided they can stay healthy.
And provided that Pelech and Pulock can find some of their old magic together.
“It’s great,” Pulock said. “I think we enjoy playing together, we enjoy the challenge of trying to be a shutdown pair. We know that together we need to be good every single night to give our team a chance. I think we’re looking for that challenge this year of getting back to being two reliable guys that the team can count on every single night.”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy could not say whether Ilya Sorokin (back) will play in any of the remaining preseason games.
Sorokin has yet to skate with the team during training camp but has been on the ice by himself.