ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ryan Pulock was a full go at Wednesday morning’s skate, only for Patrick Roy to announce shortly afterward that Pulock would not play against the Ducks later that evening.
While there is optimism that Pulock’s injury, officially designated as upper body, will be very much short-term — as in, playing Thursday against the Kings appears to be on the table — the defenseman evidently didn’t feel right during the morning skate.
“It was based on the morning skate,” Roy said. “Game-time decision, but he didn’t feel ready to play. We’ll wait for tomorrow.”
Pulock briefly left Sunday’s win over the Panthers with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, but quickly returned to the game.
Jonathan Drouin, who missed Sunday’s game, was back in the lineup Wednesday, with Anthony Duclair coming out as a healthy scratch.
As a result of Pulock’s absence, Adam Boqvist came back into the lineup, starting on the third pair with Carson Soucy as Scott Mayfield moved up to the top pair with Matthew Schaefer.
It was Boqvist’s first game since a 4-0 win over the Flyers on Jan. 26.
“You’re always going to feel [it] when one of your better guys is out,” Tony DeAngelo told The Post after the 5-1 loss in which Pulock’s absence was heavily felt. “Boqy played a real good game, filled in nicely. It’s always next man up, we can’t think too much of that.”
The configuration the Islanders started with did not make it through the first period, as Schaefer and Mayfield — who started the year together — struggled to click. By the first intermission, all three pairs seemed to be rotating, which continued throughout.
The situation served to underscore Pulock’s importance to these Islanders, which has largely been underrated with Schaefer drawing so much attention.
Pulock’s 24 points already have surpassed his total from last year, and at 21:03 per night, he’s second only to Schaefer in time on ice.
Roy called Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson “a special player” after the Swedish center finished with an assist and was noticeable on nearly every shift alongside Cutter Gauthier, who scored twice for the Ducks.
David Rittich stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Islanders, while Ville Husso turned aside 42 shots for Anaheim.
Only two scouts were in attendance at Wednesday’s match just 48 hours before the deadline, and both were from the St. Louis Blues, as rumors connecting the Islanders to some of the Blues’ high-end assets such as Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas continued to swirl.
