Gerard Gallant likes results after altering Golden Knights’ top line

Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant has done a lot of mixing and matching of his forward lines because of injuries this season.

On Thursday, he did it just for a spark, and it appears to have worked.

Gallant broke up a top line that has been productive since the start of last season by dropping Reilly Smith to the second line and moving Alex Tuch to the first in the second period.

The Knights rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders at T-Mobile Arena.

“Before the game, I didn’t think about it at all,” Gallant said after Friday’s practice at City National Arena. “The way the game was going, I just thought, ‘Let’s change it up.’ It wasn’t a huge change. It was a right winger for a right winger. You get the feel of the game, and sometimes you want to change up your lines when things aren’t going real well and maybe just not happy with what you’re seeing.”

Gallant was pleased enough with what he saw that he indicated the Knights will start Saturday’s 1 p.m. game against the Montreal Canadiens at T-Mobile Arena with the lines the same way they were to end Thursday’s game.

That means Tuch will slot in on the top line with William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault.

“He’s a gifted player,” Marchessault said of Tuch. “He’s big, he’s super fast. He has a good shot. It’s definitely something we can take advantage of. He’s probably been our most consistent player this year so far. It’s fun to play with a guy like that.”

Gallant’s preference is to set up his best four lines and stick with them, but it’s not realistic with injuries and player movement. Occasionally, the situation calls for a change, and Gallant thought Thursday called for it after the Knights fell behind 2-0 after the first period.

The fact that he doesn’t do it often made the move that much more effective.

“You have coaches that change lines every game,” veteran center Paul Stastny said. “That’s miserable when you change lines like that. I think (Gallant) does it more as a spark. Whether he sticks with it or he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter. I think you’ve still got two good lines.”

Stastny anchors a second line that for now includes Smith and Brandon Pirri, who played together with the Florida Panthers and were on the same youth team in Toronto.

“It’s not like it’s a demotion or anything,” Smith said. “Any line you play on for this team, it’s pretty special. It brought us a lot of momentum and energy to our game.”

Stastny agreed.

“When you make a move like that,” he said, “it gives energy to that top line with (Tuch), and for us I thought our line was playing pretty good anyway, so me and Pirri just kept playing the same way and (Smith) jumped right in and made us even better.”

Tuch’s transition was made easier because he has played with Karlsson and Marchessault on the power play. But Tuch is a different player than Smith, so each line will have to adjust if the players stay together beyond Saturday.

“Tuch is so powerful, so you want to give him the puck as close as you can,” Stastny said. “With Smith, he does a lot of crisscrossing. He brings guys in and tries to set pick-and-rolls. Stuff that you don’t see, that we see. With him, you get more possession. With Tuch, you get that quick strike attack whenever you get into the zone.”

Gallant said Friday that second-line stalwart Max Pacioretty’s absence with a lower-body injury will be “not long” after he was placed on injured reserve this week. It remains to be seen where he will fit in with the revamped lineup, which will be tested against Pacioretty’s former team Saturday.

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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.