Bo Horvat exits brutal NY Islanders loss versus Utah with injury; status uncertain

If a 7-2 loss wasn’t a brutal enough way for the New York Islanders to ring in 2026, the night took an even darker turn when Bo Horvat exited the game with an apparent lower-body injury.

Barely 24 hours removed from the proudest moment of his season — being named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics — Horvat went up the tunnel midway through the third period of Thursday’s loss to the Utah Mammoth, favoring his left leg after getting tangled with an opponent near the red line. He struggled to put weight on it as he made his way off the ice and did not return.

The timing could hardly have been worse. With the game already decided and the Islanders searching for answers after a lopsided defeat, the sight of their leading scorer limping to the locker room cast a shadow over everything else. Horvat had only recently returned from a five-game absence in December due to a lower-body injury, raising immediate concern about whether this was a recurrence or something new entirely.

There was no immediate update from the team following the game, leaving both the Islanders and Horvat in wait-and-see mode. With just five weeks remaining before NHL players depart for Milan, the injury also introduces uncertainty around Horvat’s availability for Team Canada — an opportunity he worked all season to earn.

For the Islanders, the implications are just as serious. Horvat is the engine of their offense, and even short-term uncertainty looms large for a team that has already struggled to generate consistent scoring. Losing him for any stretch would be a significant setback, particularly as the calendar turns and the playoff race tightens.

What should have been a celebratory stretch for Horvat instead ended with unanswered questions — and for the Islanders, another reminder of how quickly momentum can shift in this season.