ELMONT, NY– The New York Islanders have six players out injured as we sit here on this Thursday night. But the Islanders may be getting some injury relief as head coach Lane Lambert gave an update prior to puck drop between the Columbus Blue Jackets.
When the New York Islanders hit the road for a four-game road trip starting with a game in Seattle against the Kraken on Jan. 1, forwards Cal Clutterbuck (IR) and Kyle Palmieri (IR) will travel, along wth netminder Semyon Varlamov (IR).
Clutterbuck and Palmieri will have missed the last six games, with Palmieri missing 16 of the previous 17 games for New York.
Varlamov will miss his fifth straight contest.
That doesn’t mean those three players will be available to play anytime during the road trip, but they have been skating on their own and seem closer than the other injured players, who will not be making the trip.
Lambert would not share if netminder Cory Schneider would be traveling as well, as that decision wil be made following the game.
Despite that positive news, three players are not traveling in Simon Holmstrom, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Adam Pelech.
Holmstrom and Wahlstrom are considered day-to-day and were injured in back-to-back games Friday against the Florida Panthers and Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively.
Pelech was injured on Dec. 6 against the St. Louis Blues and will miss his 10th straight game.
All three of these players have not skated.
The Islanders are currently playing a winger out of position in Casey Cizikas, who is handling the third-liner winger role alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Zach Parise.
Hudson Fasching, who had been filling in for Cal Clutterbuck on the fourth line, is now playing alongside Mathew Barzal in the absence of Wahlstrom.
Over the last two games, Parker Wotherspoon has been playing alongside Ryan Pulock, and given his solid play, that will likely remain the pair until Pelech can return.
The New York Islanders are fortunate that their call-ups have produced, which is a significant reason why they are treading water in a tight Metropolitan Divison.
