The New York Islanders have survived a number of key injuries this postseason -- which is good, because they’ll need to keep doing it.
On Wednesday, head coach Jack Capuano officially ruled forward Josh Bailey out for Game 1 of the club’s second-round series against Tampa Bay. Bailey, who suffered an upper-body injury in Game 6 of the Florida series, didn’t travel with the Isles and his status remains uncertain.
The loss will sting on two fronts.
One, Bailey was a regular presence in New York’s lineup this season, playing in a career-high 81 games (scoring 32 points, while averaging just under 16 minutes per night). In Round 1, Bailey’s ice time crept up past the 16 minute mark -- thanks in large part to all the OT that was played -- though he only managed to muster one assist.
Two, as mentioned above, the Isles were pretty banged up before this happened.
Jaroslav Halak’s out with a groin problem. Mikhail Grabovski’s still dealing with concussion issues. Anders Lee has a broken leg, and Ryan Pulock suffered a series-ending upper-body injury against the Panthers.
Given all these health issues, it wasn’t surprising to see Capuano pass on announcing his lineup for tonight’s game.