The New York Islanders have been hot to start the season, currently riding a six-game winning streak, but things may take an ugly turn for the Isles in short order as the team is currently dealing with a pretty sizable list of injuries to key players.
Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has provided an update on several injured players following the Isles skate on Sunday morning.
It appears as though Tom Kuhnhackl and Matt Martin are both set to miss 4-6 weeks, each with leg injuries. These are two impact players for the Isles, who both play an energy role for the club and enjoy laying the body.
Kuhnhackl was forced to leave Thursday's game against Arizona in the first period after falling awkwardly into the boards. Kuhnhackl required help to make it to the Isles dressing room and would not return.
Martin was run into an open door on the Ottawa bench on Friday and also could not leave the ice under his own power. These are two huge losses for the Isles in the grit department.
On top of Kuhnackl and Martin being out of the lineup, another feisty winger, Leo Komarov, has been out of the lineup with an illness since October 18th and is still listed as day-to-day.
Andrew Ladd is still sidelined until late-November. Ladd has been out since September with a torn ACL, but has recently been cleared for contact. "There's still some limitations to what he can do, but not many," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "He's advancing to the next stage. It's probably a relief for him. You start to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel."
One encouraging note is that winger Jordan Eberle has been skating on his own and making progress towards an eventual return, but there is still no official timetable as to exactly when Eberle will rejoin the club.
The Isles will play host to the Flyers on Sunday. The Flyers are coming off of 3 straight wins where they have managed to score a combined 17 goals and limit the opposition to only 7 against. This will be a tough test for the Islanders at home.
