The Islanders' long injury nightmare is almost over.
Not one or two, but all three of Matt Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech joined the team for Thursday morning's skate ahead of the game against the Blackhawks, with the latter two not wearing any. He took off his orange non-contact jersey. .
This is the best sign yet that the Islanders are (almost) close to being fully healthy for the first time since Game 5 of the season, when Duclair suffered an apparent groin injury against Montreal.
“It's funny. Sometimes when an injury like that happens, it feels like you're never coming back,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Everyone feels good now to see them getting closer to coming back.”
Roy did not specify when any of the three would return, but said it was a daily occurrence for all three.
Pelech suffered an apparent jaw injury on Nov. 1 when Jordan Greenway's shot hit a defenseman in the face, and he skated Thursday wearing a full bubble helmet.
Barzal suffered an upper-body injury in last night's loss to the Blue Jackets, but the nature of the injury was unknown.
As for other injured players, defenseman Mike Riley is out for an extended period after undergoing heart surgery after a problem was discovered during routine post-concussion testing.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov has not yet started skating due to a lower body injury.
