Islanders Gameday News: Back to Alberta with injury news

Get well soon, Mike Reilly.

After a practice day Monday, the New York Islanders return to action with their last game in the northwest, visiting the Calgary Flames. Calgary has been decent this season, currently sitting in a wild card spot and sporting a better record than the Islanders thanks to some strong goaltending. But the Islanders can win this game.

We got some injury updates yesterday from Lou Lamoriello, the most significant of which involves Mike Reilly. More on that below.

FIGs go here.

Islanders News

Injury updates:

• Lou announced that Reilly has recovered from his concussion—considering how bad it looked, that’s great to hear—but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise of sorts in that the testing revealed he needed heart surgery, which he’ll undergo today. Best wishes to him, that’s scary. Lou says it will keep him out for several months, but it shouldn’t affect his overall quality of life, and he should be able to play hockey again. [Islanders | NHL | Newsday | Post]
• Linking twice, but further Isles injury updates include Alex Romanov being a game-time decision, Mat Barzal and Adam Pelech with their upper-body injuries waiting to be cleared to resume skating, and Anthony Duclair with his lower-body injury not quite ready to skate but the team hopes he can in the near future. [Islanders | NHL | Newsday | Post]
• Romanov participated fully at practice yesterday, lining up with Noah Dobson, and felt optimistic about playing tonight. That would mean Isaiah George plays with Ryan Pulock, and Scott Mayfield with Dennis Cholowski. [THN]

Also:

• A preview of tonight’s game. Looks like Semyon Varlamov will be starting.

• The latest Islanders Anxiety features discussions involving the varied emotions caused by the Islanders’ efforts and Rangers fans making up things to whine about. [LHH]
• Kasperi Kapanen, a “Lou guy” who played for him in Toronto, is on waivers with a cheap contract. With the Islanders’ injury issues but the ability to send one of the depth defensemen down because Romanov is close, might they put in a claim? [THN]
• Brock Nelson hopes that he is named to Team USA for the Four Nations Faceoff to add to his family’s legacy; he has represented the US before, but never in best-on-best, and has a chance to do so now due to his versatility and goal-scoring ability. [Post] This tournament is seen as a preview for the 2026 Olympics after the Islanders host the All-Star Game, so maybe he gets named to both.
• Quinn Finley and Danny Nelson highlight this week’s prospect report. [Islanders] Furthermore, Cole Eiserman was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week with points in back-to-back games and seven shots on goal; he’s killing it at a point-per-game pace with seven goals in his first 11 college games. [THN]

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include the Capitals winning yet again, this time over Utah, and the Islanders’ next opponent, the Red Wings, barely forcing overtime and then losing in overtime on Macklin Celebrini’s first GWG to the Sharks to finish 0-2-1 in California. In Islanders Anxiety, Mike Leboff predicted that the Wings will have a new coach before Thursday’s Islander game in Detroit, and this was before last night’s game.

• Alex Ovechkin scored another two goals against Utah, bringing him to 15 on the season and 27 away from Wayne Gretzky, but then a knee-on-knee collision with Jack McBain sent him to the locker room limping; he did not return, and he’s being further evaluated. [NHL]
• More scary stuff: Referee Mitch Dunning had to be stretchered off the ice after a collision with Josh Manson last night. But he is fully communicative and has movement in all extremities. [Sportsnet]
• Taylor Hall was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks in their loss Saturday night to the Canucks and was pretty surprised; it doesn’t sound like it was communicated to him ahead of time. [Sportsnet]
• The PWHL is going on tour for nine games; they’ll play nine neutral-site games all over North America, including Seattle, Denver, Detroit, and Vancouver. [NHL]