The Islanders are planning for Bo Horvat to be back in the lineup on Saturday against Buffalo, but have a new injury doubt after Ryan Pulock didn’t practice Friday.
Pulock has an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day, per reports.
The team has not officially ruled him out for Saturday, but his lack of practice availability is not a good sign.
There was no roster move to add another defenseman Friday.
The Islanders would need to create a roster spot to do that, likely by either sending down defenseman Cole McWard or adding Pulock to injured reserve, which would require him to miss seven days.
Isaiah George would be an obvious candidate for a call-up.
As for Horvat, it is a major relief for the Islanders to get their leading scorer back, having gone 5-3-1 in his absence.
Horvat was originally supposed to join the Islanders on the seven-game road trip that ended Wednesday night with a loss to the Kraken, but ended up staying on Long Island to skate on his own throughout.
“It felt really good to be back with the guys, back with a regular routine, practice,” Horvat told reporters after centering Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman at practice. “It’s a long road trip they were on. It was lonely back here skating by yourself.”
Coach Patrick Roy told reporters that Horvat won’t be 100 percent certain to play until after warmups on Saturday. Barring something very much unforeseen, though, he should be in against Buffalo.
“Oh my god, it’s nice to have him back,” Roy said. “The guys did a really great job while he wasn’t playing. Listen, he’s our top goalscorer. He’s playing PK and power play, wins big faceoffs. It’s nice to have him back.”
Horvat said that throughout his recovery, Islanders GM Mathieu Darche was communicating with Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong regarding his availability for the Olympics.
Horvat, the Islanders’ lone Olympic representative, should get eight games before leaving for Italy — plenty of time to work back into shape.
“I think we knew it wasn’t too serious, that I’ll be good to go and ready to get back for the Olympics,” Horvat said. “I’m pretty confident in that, too. I’m excited to be back right now. Not only for our team, but gearing up to go to Milan and getting some games in, it’s gonna be huge.”
