Philadelphia – What appeared to have added misery on an already terrible day to the islanders has ultimately become a false alarm.
Pierre Enval finished Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss, leaving the regulations at 3:04 after his left knee was buckled with a clearly non-contact injury, but manager Patrick Roy said there was nothing to worry about after the game.
Certainly, Engvall returned to the bench for overtime (though he didn't take part in the game), and then he was in the dressing room.
So for now, the islanders can breathe easily after initially appearing to be a catastrophic injury.
In fact, Engvall was one of their outstanding players on Saturday, tying a team high six shot in goal, continuing what was a solid month since lining up with Casey Cizikas and Hudson Fasching.
Engvall is one of the players who still have something to prove in the final three games of the season, as his future as an islander was at issue and did not drive the team out of training camp.
Islanders will need to decide whether to purchase a winger with a five-year contract left for this contract.
If the islanders buy Engvall, they will become hooks for a million-dollar cap hits from next season until 2034-35, generating $2 million in savings in the first five seasons of those seasons.
The Swedes have scored 15 points in 58 matches this season, with eight goals and seven assists.
Goaltender Marcus Hegberg recovered well from his horror show performance two nights ago against the Rangers, stopping 19 of his 22 shots in restrictions and overtime, then halting four of the five in a shootout.
“Marcus gave us the opportunity to win overtime,” Roy said. “And we couldn't set a goal to win the game for us.”
Roy refused to look back on the season after the islanders were eliminated on Saturday and said they would do so after it was over.
