When the Islanders return to action Friday in Pittsburgh, they will have a significantly different look.
Ryan Strome is out indefinitely with a broken wrist suffered in Wednesday’s win over the Rangers, according to a source. He is unlikely to return unless the Isles advance deep into the playoffs.
Of course, they’ll have to get to the postseason first. Wednesday’s victory got them to within two points of Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
With back-to-back games coming up Friday against the Penguins and then in Brooklyn on Saturday versus the Bruins, the Isles recalled goalie Jaroslav Halak from Bridgeport of the AHL.
Halak was sent down on Dec. 31 because of subpar play amid a logjam of three goalies on the Isles roster.
Since then, interim coach Doug Weight has ridden starting goalie Thomas Greiss hard out of necessity as Jean-Francois Berube has struggled in a limited role.
Halak was 6-8-5 with a 3.23 goals against average and a .904 save percentage before his demotion. The 31-year-old performed better in the minors, going 17-7-3 with a 2.15 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
He figures to play either Friday in Pittsburgh or at home Saturday as the Isles look to make a late push to a third straight postseason appearance. They’ve got 10 games to get there.
And now they will also have to figure out how to replace Strome.
The 23-year-old exited Wednesday’s game in the second period after his arm became wedged at an awkward angle when Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei moved in to hit him.
Almost immediately, Strome dropped his stick and skated to the bench. Shortly thereafter, he headed to the locker room and didn’t return.
Strome, who has 13 goals and 17 assists this season in 69 games, did not scored a goal in his last four games, but had played better since Weight took over and had seen time at center.
“This is playoff hockey for us,” Anders Lee said after Wednesday’s win at the Garden. “There’s no looking back. We can’t take any game for granted and we have to get two points almost every night. You look around the league, the teams in front of us are winning as well, and that’s what makes a game like [this] so important.”