However the Islanders are pulling off comeback after comeback, it is time to take the hockey axiom of rolling four lines out of their vocabulary.

Much as it’s true that the Islanders have 12 forwards who are important to their success, coach Lane Lambert has culled the bench into a top nine late in games during the Islanders’ come-from-behind victories against the Rangers and Flames, a byproduct of his aggressive mixing of the lines.

For the record, this is not a criticism of Lambert. What he’s doing is obviously working. The Islanders are 9-5-0, and they have a plus-14 goals differential in the third period. It is, though, an acknowledgement of how that is happening — and may hint at why the Islanders are struggling to put together strong first and second periods (as well as why they must add a forward at the March 3 trade deadline in order to take the next step).

Tracking the forward lines during Islanders games has quickly become an exhausting activity. Against the Rangers, nine different combinations played at least 0:57 at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Though that is in part due to Cal Clutterbuck’s absence, it’s also a trend dating back to the second game of the season, when Lambert juggled the lines with success against San Jose.