In a sardonic way, it’s fitting that Ilya Sorokin would get hurt with five games left in the Islanders’ season.
Health-wise, Sorokin staying intact after offseason back surgery was one of the few positive notes for the Islanders all year. So why not pull the rug out from under them right at the end, when the games are, for all intents and purposes, academic? The Islanders have suffered plenty, so why not add one more for the road?
“We’ve grinded this one out,” Anders Lee told The Post on Thursday, right before coach Patrick Roy said Sorokin was dealing with a lower-body injury unrelated to his back, a change in diagnosis from immediately after Tuesday’s game when it was called an upper-body issue. “There’s no doubt about it. Guys have been in tough spots with injuries, doing their best to come back and feeling good. Every team goes through it. That’s not rolling off our tongue around here. It’s something you have to overcome as a team.
“I think for periods when we were lighter, we kept the boat afloat. Earlier in the season, we lost some guys on the back end, gave ourselves an opportunity to stay in it. This thing could’ve gone south a lot sooner or maybe worse than where we’re at.”
It’s not an excuse for where the Islanders sit, on the cusp of elimination prior to Thursday’s home match against the Rangers.
It is, however, a matter of fact that this Islanders season has been badly affected by injuries, including but not limited to Mat Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Semyon Varlamov and all six of their opening-night defenseman, each of whom has missed time at one point or another.
According to data compiled by NHL Injury Viz, the Islanders lost 288 man games due to injury through April 4, with the combined cap hit of their injured players leading the Eastern Conference.
The defensive injuries, which mostly came prior to the 4 Nations break in February, proved relatively navigable, with the Islanders staying on the edge of the playoff chase throughout.
They also prompted the Islanders to grab Tony DeAngelo, Adam Boqvist and Scott Perunovich off the scrap heap.
DeAngelo, who’s turned into an every-night defenseman on the top pair, has turned the chance into a solid audition to stay with the Islanders next season.
The Islanders are 10-12-4 since Barzal blocked a shot off his kneecap against the Lightning on Feb. 1 and have been nowhere near the same offensive team without No. 13.
The dream of Barzal and Duclair forming the wings on either side of Bo Horvat has been dead since the fifth game of the season, when Duclair badly hurt his groin, missing two months and never looking the same upon return.
Roy couldn’t say whether Sorokin will play any of the remaining five games. Technically, the team hasn’t ruled out Varlamov, Barzal or Duclair for those games either, though it would be a shock to see any of them at this point.
Duclair remains out on personal leave after Roy blew up at him over poor performance in a postgame press conference.
At this point, taking extreme caution with Sorokin, who already has played in 59 games, is the logical thing to do, even if the Islanders’ elimination from the playoff race isn’t yet official.
The 29-year-old has been used more than anyone expected this season thanks to Varlamov’s injury, which prompted the Islanders to start Sorokin in 44 of the next 53 games.
If Marcus Högberg, who started Thursday, and Tristan Lennox, who was called up on an emergency basis, end up getting their own audition over these last five games, that might not be the worst thing.
After all, Varlamov’s status is murky enough that there’s no guarantees he’ll be ready for training camp next season.
