The Islanders’ fourth line is again living up to its old hype

Four years after being dubbed the best fourth line in hockey, the Islanders’ unit is at it again.

Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck turned in another strong night in the Islanders’ 5-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday at Barclays Center, showing off some offensive power by combining for two goals and four assists.

“They’re a great illustration of what you can be when the strength is in the group, not necessarily in any individual,” coach Barry Trotz said. “They they give us a lot of identity. They give you energy. They play the right way, they make good decisions. You watch their line changes, their puck management, they give you the physical element. I wish sometimes our other lines would learn from them.”

Cizikas continued to build on a career-high with his 11th goal of the year when he finished off a cross-ice feed from Martin midway through the second period, which gave the Islanders a 4-0 lead.

“I wouldn’t say we’re offensive players, but we play the right way as a group,” Cizikas said.

In the first period, it was Clutterbuck taking a one-timer from Martin, which was set up by a steal from Cizikas in the offensive zone.

“The more we can produce offensively the better, but we know our role and we know we’re out there to provide energy and shut down other teams from scoring,” Martin said. “Some nights we come out on top of the scoring battle as well.”

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Lightning coach Jon Cooper pulled Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker for five of the final 10 minutes of the third period — starting with a short stint with 9:47 left when a tired Islanders line was caught on the ice after an icing — before the goalie came back mid-play on a line change.

But the Islanders held tight in the six-on-five before Josh Bailey converted an empty-netter with 52 seconds to go.

“That’s probably the earliest I’ve had anybody pull a goalie on me in probably 20 years,” Trotz said.

Rookie winger Michael Dal Colle returned to the third line after being a healthy scratch during the home and home with the Rangers for the more physical Ross Johnston.

Defenseman Adam Pelech was also back into the lineup for Luca Sbisa after getting scratched Saturday.

“I just thought Pelly just has another level to his game,” Trotz said. “It started slipping … so to get his attention we sat down and talked and I think he’s going to be fine.”