Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Banged-up Isles rule out Bailey for Game 1

New York Islanders v Florida Panthers - Game Five

SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 22: Josh Bailey #12 of the New York Islanders attempts to gain control of th epic as he skates next to Goaltender Roberto Luongo #1 of the Florida Panthers during third period action in Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the BB&T Center on April 22, 2016 in Sunrise, Florida. The Islanders defeated the Panthers 2-1 in double overtime. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

Getty Images

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.