LOS ANGELES — For an illustration of how fleeting “when they get healthy” is as a concept in the NHL, look no further than Thursday here in Downtown LA.
The Islanders had reason to celebrate, as Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock returned to the lineup for a 5-2 win against the Kings.
But the air was let out of their balloon slightly when Jean-Gabriel Pageau left morning skate just a few minutes in and was declared out with a lower-body injury.
“Kind of a depleted lineup,” Bo Horvat told The Post afterward, before finding the juxtaposition of it all. “We get Pully and ‘Chelly back, both played great.”
The forward lines coach Pete DeBoer had planned needed to be tossed out when Pageau left the ice, and the Islanders ultimately went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with Casey Cizikas centering the third line.
Maccelli and Mitchell Chaffee were the fourth line, and Matt Kessel was the extra defenseman.
“I think we wanted to give Pulock some protection,” DeBoer said. “He hadn’t played in a while, and really that was probably the main thing.”
All things considered, you could call the news a win for the Islanders, at least assuming that Pageau’s injury is indeed short-term.
Pulock’s return gave the defense some much-needed breathing space — it’s little coincidence the Islanders’ structure looked so much worse without him — and Maccelli had six points in the eight games he played before suffering a lower-body injury.
“Obviously it could have been a lot worse,” said Pulock, who confirmed the issue was a reaggravation of a shoulder injury that required surgery during the offseason. “It’s just something to deal with for four games. Originally, when it happened, I thought maybe it’d be worse. Just been trying to rehab, get strong, get myself to the position where I can get back.”
While Pulock said he doesn’t want to think of the injury as something he’ll need to manage for the rest of his career, he admitted it’ll require some extra work to keep his shoulder from barking.
“It’s not just gonna feel good every day,” he said.
As for Maccelli, he was slotted to play on the fourth line in a move intended to ease him back into the lineup before Pageau’s injury jumbled everything back up again.
“Kinda just keep playing the way I was before I got hurt,” he said of his expectations. “I think I was personally playing well, so I gotta bounce back to the same level. But also, I haven’t played in 3 ½ weeks. Trying to get my legs going early, try to help the team.”
Thursday was Matthew Schaefer’s 100th NHL game and Tony DeAngelo’s 500th NHL game.
