Islanders Without 2 Players in Boston, Birthday Boy Likely Slots In

BOSTON, MA — The New York Islanders are in New England for an evening showdown with the Boston Bruins but are without two forwards.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who had missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, did not make the trip. The 30-year-old forward was placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to Feb. 11, making him eligible, if ready, to play against the Bruins.

But clearly, he was not healthy enough to be activated.

Pageau played the entirety of the game against the Montreal Canadiens last weekend but had missed a skate a few days prior.

On Monday, Pageau was upended by a teammate at practice and was slow to get up, so we are not sure if that added to his injury.

After injuring himself in the second period of the 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Josh Bailey did not make the trip to Boston.

Bailey has not been placed on IR and is being considered day-to-day.

NYI Hockey Now asked Lane Lambert on Friday evening if he considered going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Pageau out. He said that going that route was tough with the schedule and having a back-to-back.

Now with two players out, Lambert was again asked if he had considered that option.

“We consider all options,” Lambert said.

It would make sense, but it’s rather unlikely.

The New York Islanders have not made any call-ups, but they do have an open roster spot.

The expectation is that the birthday boy Ross Johnston gets back into the lineup for the first time since Jan. 21. He turned 29 today.

Andy Andreoff, who played just 5:47 in the win on Friday, is expected to remain in for a third straight game.

Here’s our projected lineup:

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Mathew Barzal
Zach Parise-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching
Ross Johnston–Andy Andreoff-Simon Holmstrom

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

As we have seen over the last two games, Lambert will rely heavily on his top-six forwards against the Bruins.

Brock Nelson had a three-point night on Friday and now has points in 12 straight games with nine goals and seven assists, his final point of the night to new linemate Zach Parise for the go-ahead goal with under three minutes to play in regulation.

Anders Lee, after having no goals in five games, recorded a pair on Friday, while Mathew Barzal had a two-assist night as that duo was back together with Lambert’s latest line changes.

Tonight’s game is a 5 PM start, with warmups around 4:30, so that’s when we will know the official lineup.