The damage bug continues to chunk the New York Islanders locker room. With forwards Josh Bailey and Jean-Gabriel Pageau already coping with upper-body accidents, the Islanders introduced on Monday that heart Mathew Barzal will likely be out indefinitely because of a lower-body damage.
Barzal suffered the damage simply 6:01 into Saturday’s recreation in opposition to the Boston Bruins after taking successful from Bruins ahead Craig Smith. The Islanders star skated across the ice throughout a stoppage in play proper after taking the hit, however ended up making his method to the locker room and did not return for the rest of the Islanders’ 6-2 loss.
“He’s a vital participant for us in all completely different facets, in fact,” Islanders head coach Lane Lambert mentioned following Saturday’s recreation. “So as a lot as you attempt to not let it have an effect on you, we had an influence play that did not go very nicely and he is an enormous a part of that. There’s a residual impact all the way in which down the road.”
Prior to leaving Saturday’s recreation, Barzal had missed only one recreation this seaason, which got here on Jan. 6 in opposition to the Calgary Flames.
The lack of Barzal is large for an Islanders group that’s clinging to the ultimate Wild Card spot within the Eastern Conference getting into Monday. Barzal presently is second on the group in factors (51) behind solely Brock Nelson (55) and has a team-high 37 assists on the 12 months.
Without Barzal within the lineup, the Islanders’ already-limited depth takes one other hit.
Pageau was positioned on injured reserve final week retroactive to Feb. 11 and was eligible to return in opposition to the Bruins on Saturday. However, Pageau did not find yourself making the journey.
Meanwhile, Bailey suffered an upper-body damage in Friday’s recreation in opposition to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He logged simply 7:38 of ice time and did not play within the third interval of the 5-4 win.
Without Bailey and Pageau within the lineup on Saturday, Lambert determined to skate Simon Holmstrom and Ross Johnston on a line with latest AHL call-up Andy Andreoff centering them. Andreoff and Johnston have appeared in a mixed 14 video games in the course of the 2022-23 season.
Considering that Barzal could miss a great chunk of the rest of the season, the latest acquisition of Bo Horvat turns into much more paramount as he’ll lead the group’s high line. Horvat has recorded three objectives and an help in seven video games since coming over in a commerce from the Vancouver Canucks previous to the All-Star break.
With the Islanders within the playoff race and a depleted ahead group, it is very doable that the Islanders will discover the commerce market main as much as the NHL commerce deadline on March 3.
