MONTREAL — Since taking a developmental leap at the start of last season, Noah Dobson has been a plug-and-play defenseman for 20-plus minutes a night, every night, in any situation required, for the Islanders.
So it did warrant notice on Saturday when the time came for the Islanders to bear down and protect a two-goal lead against Buffalo and Dobson, suddenly, was out of the rotation in the eventual 3-0 win over the Sabres.
After not seeing the ice for the last 6:47 of game time against Buffalo, Dobson finished the evening with 17:53 TOI, his lowest such mark — not counting a game last season he left early due to injury — since April of 2023, when he was on the third pair, struggling through a developmental season.
It was the first time this season he’s played under 20 minutes, and just the fourth time he’s done so in a complete game over the last two seasons.
It seemed like a message of sorts from the coaching staff after Dobson had been on the ice for a number of third-period goals against, including on Friday in DC, when his failed clearance led to Tom Wilson’s tying goal.
“I hope it’s just a one-game thing,” Roy said. “We need Dobby — and we had that conversation with him. We want him to skate with the puck.
“The goal that we gave up, the tying goal against Washington, I would’ve loved to see him skating with that puck instead of moving the puck. He’s got so much talent and I think he should feel free on the ice and be able to skate with that puck more and make those plays.”
If there was a bigger message being sent, though, Roy was not willing to air that in public.
“In that game, we just felt like the guys in front of him were playing better hockey. That’s all,” Roy said. “There’s nothing behind this. In that game, I think [assistant coach] Tommy [Albelin] thought that the guys were playing better than him.”
Dobson’s star turn in 2023-24 has been followed by something of a fall back to Earth at the start of this season.
He has 10 points through the first 25 games of the season, with an empty-netter being his lone goal, and (like the Islanders as a whole) has struggled to get going on the power play.
While his defense has taken a noticeable step in the right direction, Dobson — whose on-ice stats were particularly excellent a year ago — has a 48.57 on-ice goals for percentage at five-on-five this season.
That is a flawed stat, we all know, and underlying metrics indicate it is particularly harsh on a player who has a 55.58 expected goals percentage and 55.77 high-danger chance percentage, per Natural Stat Trick.
Still, the late-game breakdowns in particular have become noticeable enough to warrant questioning.
“Can keep getting better in all areas,” Dobson told The Post, regarding five-on-six situations. “Situation, games, guys are used for different roles. Five-on-six is important. You gotta be hard in front, good box outs, you gotta focus on that. So if you go out there, you gotta do a job. I’m always trying to improve in all areas. I don’t think that’s really an issue in my game, but for sure I can get better in it.”
It’s hard to believe this will become a trend, in no small part because one of the defensemen who did play late in the game on Saturday — Grant Hutton — could return to being a healthy scratch as soon as Tuesday against the Canadiens.
Still, it bears watching.
“No. I thought I played a pretty good game last game,” Dobson said when asked if he read into his ice time being docked. “Of course there’s areas you can get better in. You try and work on that. I was happy for the most part with my game last game.”
