There was a glimmer of good news on the Islanders’ injury front Tuesday for the first time in a while. Josh Bailey will skate Wednesday at practice and could make his return from a lower-body injury as soon as Thursday against the Bruins.
“Bails is feeling pretty good,” coach Doug Weight said before his team’s 4-1 loss to the Devils at Barclays Center. “We’ll get him on the ice [Wednesday] and see how he feels.”
A first-time All-Star, Bailey missed a fourth straight game, but still entered action 11th in the league with 50 points.
Weight said Bailey is the only injured player who has a shot at returning this week, but others have made improvement.
“Johnny [Boychuk, out since Dec. 27] is feeling pretty good, but he hasn’t skated yet so he’s going to have to get some grease on his bones and [Andrew Ladd, out since Jan. 5] the same,” Weight said. “But I think all of them are starting to turn a corner feeling a little better.So it’s a little bit of good news.”
With an apparent hand injury, center Casey Cizikas “is going to be a little bit,” Weight said.
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The new second line of Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle was held scoreless, cooling off a unit that had been on fire since Beauvillier was recalled from AHL Bridgeport to fill in for Ladd.
In the Islanders’ previous three games, Barzal had three goals and seven assists, Beauvillier had four goals and one assist, and Eberle had seven assists.
“The look in [Beauvillier’s] eye coming back has just been different and obviously the performance on the ice has been different,” Weight said. “He’s had as much of a hand in that line being successful as Mat or Jordan.”
The confidence Beauvillier found in the AHL has stuck in his return to the NHL, and though he is still on emergency recall, his play likely has warranted a longer stay, even when the Islanders get their injured players back.
Barzal’s recent play has drawn rave reviews from his opponents, including Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, who called Barzal “by far the best skater in the league,” and Montreal’s Paul Byron, who said Barzal’s skill and speed were “as close as I’ve seen to [Connor] McDavid.”
Defenseman Scott Mayfield remained in the lineup after leaving Monday’s game early when he took a puck to his neck area.