SAN JOSE, Calif. — Not Monday night for the injured trio of Islanders, but a return could come for Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock and Matias Maccelli at some point this week in California.
And no, an expected reduction in their win probability was not one of the reasons the Islanders waited.
“I think that’s why we brought them,” coach Pete DeBoer said, asked whether any of the three might play on this trip. “There’s a potential. That’s not a guarantee, but there’s a potential.
“We also felt we had a better opportunity to work with them with the group, which is the point they’re at now. They need to start reintegrating with the group.”
While Pulock was a full-contact participant in Monday’s morning skate, Barzal and Maccelli were back to wearing red noncontact jerseys, having not done so ahead of Saturday’s loss to the Devils.
“That tells you that he’s obviously closer,” DeBoer said. “The reason he’s on this trip is because he’s closer. We’ll see. He’ll do some extra work here today.”
DeBoer added that the next step for all three of them was to “get some physical contact and see how they respond,” with the plan being for all three to do so while working with the extras after morning skate on Monday.
Barzal has yet to play this season due to inflammation around a left kneecap injury he suffered two seasons ago. Pulock is dealing with an upper-body injury and Maccelli with a lower-body injury.
The Islanders have two days between Monday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Sharks and Thursday’s game in Los Angeles against the Kings, with one practice scheduled. Thursday would be two weeks from the day Pulock got hurt, and in line with his initial 2-4 week timeline, while it would be closer to the end of Maccelli’s 2-4 weeks after he left the Oct. 17 match in Toronto.
Calum Ritchie, who is not on the trip, was given a 4-6 week timeline after being hurt in the same win over the Maple Leafs.
The Islanders kept the same forward lines intact that they finished Saturday’s game with, meaning Simon Holmstrom was on the top line with Bo Hovat and Kyle Palmieri; Emil Heineman on the second line with Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund; and Ondrej Palat was with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair on the third line.
Adam Pelech moved to the top pair with Matthew Schaefer while Logan Stanley skated on the second pair with Tony DeAngelo. Ben Hutton and Matt Kessel remained as the third pair.
The Islanders came into Monday with five consecutive wins over the Sharks and 12 games in a row against San Jose without a regulation loss.
