Islanders coach benches two forwards late in game as he rips team’s poor play

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Cite

Sears, E. (2026, October 16). Islanders coach benches two forwards late in game as he rips team’s poor play. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/16/sports/islanders-coach-benches-wingers-during-game-as-he-rips-teams-poor-play/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-16 · by Ethan Sears

Quick Summary

Pete DeBoer benched forwards Calum Ritchie and Anthony Duclair late in a game against the Senators due to poor play, including penalties taken by both players during the second period. Ritchie played just two shifts in the third period before being benched for 11:30, while Duclair took four shifts before sitting out for 9:25. DeBoer also removed defenseman Matt Kessel from the ice for the final 12:30 of the game. The coach explained that he is still assessing player performance and making in-game adjustments as part of his approach to learning about the team early in the season.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-16, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

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Written for “Islanders Coach Bench Players For Poor Performance” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Islanders Coach Bench Players For Poor Performance
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

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Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 10759 article(s) · 30 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 30 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ethan Sears
49 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “I haven’t been with these guys for two or three years where, a coach that has that experience with a group … that’s had success with certain line combinations over a long period of time, maybe gives a little more runway.
🔮 OTTAWA — It looked for a while on Thursday night like the Islanders’ structure might overcome their sloppiness.
🔮 Of course, it doesn’t change that there will be days his knee is acting up.
🔮 Which, if DeBoer can turn it into a hallmark, will be critical to keeping the Islanders in the playoff race.
🔮 Jeff Schenn, their father, made the trip down to Long Island for the game, though the boys’ mother, Rita, is still recovering from eye surgery and couldn’t travel.
🔮 That resulted in Tony DeAngelo’s goal that made it 2-1, while Matthew Schaefer’s that made it 3-2 at 11:41 of the period may have been more about the 19-year-old’s supreme skill.
🔮 “They’ve been maybe our most consistent line,” DeBoer said of the trio that currently includes Matias Maccelli and Casey Cizikas in addition to Palat.
🔮 If the Islanders want to take up the maxim of never letting a crisis go to waste, there is an opportunity to parlay Alexander Romanov’s ACL tear into a star defenseman, should general manager Mathieu Darche be willing to take considerable risk to get there.
🔮 The revamped pairs, with Logan Stanley to Matthew Schaefer’s left, Scott Mayfield inserted into the lineup on Tony DeAngelo’s right and the Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock duo reunited for the first time since last November, put in a good night of work against a Chicago side that is now 1-4-0 as its long rebuild trudges on.
🔮 Coach Pete DeBoer kept Matthew Schaefer on the right and inserted Scott Mayfield into the lineup for Thursday’s match against the Blackhawks at UBS, moving Logan Stanley to the top pair alongside Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo to his off side on Mayfield’s left.
Also by Ethan Sears
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 49 articles by Ethan Sears →

Topics

Islanders OTTAWA Senators

Subjects

DeBoer PERSON · 3× Islanders ORG · 3× Ritchie PERSON · 2× Simon Holmstrom PERSON · 2× Anthony Duclair PERSON · 1× Calum Ritchie PERSON · 1× Duclair PERSON · 1× OTTAWA GPE · 1× Pete DeBoer PERSON · 1× Senators ORG · 1×

Narrative

“I haven’t been with these guys for two or three years where, a coach that has that experience with a group … that’s had success with certain line combinations over a long period of time, maybe gives a little more runway.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 “I haven’t been with these guys for two or three years where, a coach that has that experience with a group … that’s had success with certain line combinations over a long period of time, maybe gives a little more runway.

Claims (24 extracted, 0 hedged)

Pete DeBoer has largely described his approach to making lineup changes on the fly in positive terms — that is, players earning their promotions up the lineup — and did so again Thursday morning. asserted
that → describe → lineup
After the 2-1 shootout loss to the Senators that saw Calum Ritchie and Anthony Duclair both dropped to the fourth line, though, he came as close as he has so far this season to direct criticism of players. asserted
he → see → players
“Well, he wasn’t the only one,” DeBoer said when asked about Ritchie. asserted
DeBoer → say → Ritchie
“There was a group of guys there that fell out. asserted
that → be → guys
“The players make those decisions for me. asserted
players → make → me
I don’t make those decisions on how they play during the game. asserted
they → make → game
You know what, we had some puck management issues at different points. asserted
we → know → points
We took some penalties, which you can’t do on the road. asserted
you → take → road
Guys make those decisions when we get into those situations.” asserted
we → make → situations
Ritchie took just two shifts in the third period, sitting for the game’s final 11:30. asserted
Ritchie → take → 11:30
Duclair took four and sat for the last 9:25. asserted
Duclair → take → 9:25
Both had taken penalties in the second period. asserted
Both → take → period
Defenseman Matt Kessel also sat the last 12:30. asserted
Kessel → sit → 12:30
Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom, who started the game as Casey Cizikas’ wingers on the fourth line, played up on the second and third lines, respectively. asserted
who → start → lines
In-game lineup changes have become an early-season trademark of DeBoer’s, which, he explained pregame, comes in part from his relative lack of familiarity with the Islanders. asserted
he → become → Islanders
So, although he stuck with largely the same forward lines throughout training camp, he’s been fairly aggressive in changing things up in the season’s early goings. asserted
he → stick → goings
“I’m still getting to know this group,” DeBoer said. asserted
DeBoer → get → group
“I haven’t been with these guys for two or three years where, a coach that has that experience with a group … that’s had success with certain line combinations over a long period of time, maybe gives a little more runway. asserted
that → have → runway
That’s not the case here. asserted
That → ’ → ?
I’m still getting to know this group, everybody’s trying to show me where they fit and what they’re capable of doing.” asserted
they → get → what
The Islanders won all 10 of their games that ended in overtime last season, but were far less efficient in shootouts. asserted
that → win → shootouts
The latter trend continued Thursday. asserted
trend → continue → ?
Brayden Schenn, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom all failed to convert their shootout chances. asserted
Schenn → fail → chances
Mat Barzal (left kneecap inflammation) didn’t travel with the Islanders north of the border. asserted
Barzal → travel → border
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