The New York Islanders may have won on Thursday, but that victory came with a cost.
They announced this morning that Anders Lee is out indefinitely with a broken left fibula. As previously reported, the 25-year-old forward absorbed a shot from teammate Johnny Boychuk.
Although the team didn’t put any kind of timetable on Lee’s return other than to call him out indefinitely, he isn’t expected to return even if the Islanders go deep into the playoffs, according to Newsday’s Arthur Staple.
Lee has had a decent campaign with 15 goals and 36 points in 80 contests and while he has been used regularly with the man advantage, Lee has seen more modest minutes in all other situations. However, this injury represents a blow to the Islanders’ depth, which was already being tested by injuries. The Islanders have been missing forwards Mikhail Grabovski, Matt Martin, and Cal Clutterbuck, defensemen Travis Hamonic, Brian Strait, and Adam Pelech, and goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and Jean-Francois Berube.