NY Islanders announce crushing injury news for a pair of key players

The worst was confirmed on Saturday as the New York Islanders placed All-Star forward Mathew Barzal on long-term injured Reserve (LTIR) and defenseman Adam Pelech on Injured Reserve (IR). Defensemen Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov are both considered day-to-day after leaving Friday night's 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Romanov did return in the third period. In corresponding moves, GM Lou Lamoriello announced the team had recalled defensemen Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc from Bridgeport with the blueline depleted in a similar way it was last November.

The most significant blow is losing Barzal. The Islanders have been shutout in four of their 11 games to start the season and now will be without their best playmaker for an extended period. The anticipation of having a dangerous first line was already stalled after Anthony Duclair was injured in a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena. The 29-year-old, also on LTIR, avoided the worst prognosis with his lower-body injury and is expected to return in a similar 4-6 week timeline.

Barzal was off to a slow start this season with only five points (2G, 3A) in 10 games after averaging better than a point-per-game last season. He had yet to score an even strength goal.

The injury to Pelech feels like an annual occurrence. Last year, the team was able to claim Reilly off waivers from the Florida Panthers and later trade for Robert Bortuzzo in a trade with the St. Louis Blues to address the lack of depth until his return. This time around, it appears the team will first attempt to address the loss internally by calling up Hutton and Bolduc. It likely also means extended shift time for Dennis Cholowski, who made the team out of training camp as the seventh defenseman.

The Islanders will now have to tread water for the next 1-2 months without key pieces. The Eastern Conference is forgiving, but an already slow start had them already in a disappointing position after emphasizing a strong start of the season throughout camp. They'll have to rely on their goaltending even more and have the healthy part of their veteran core step up in Barzal's absence.