Ryan Pulock is expected to miss two to four weeks with an upper-body injury, the New York Islanders confirmed, after the defenseman was hurt during Thursday’s win over the Minnesota Wild. The injury adds another name to an already thin Islanders blue line as the team prepares for a Nov. 5 matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Pulock’s injury occurred after he took a hit from Blake Coleman during the Wild game, according to the New York Post. The defenseman underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason, though it remains unclear whether the current injury is connected to that procedure.
Pulock Injury Timeline And Team Response
The Islanders have not laid out a specific recovery plan for Pulock beyond the two-to-four week window. Head coach Peter DeBoer addressed the team’s situation after a stretch that has piled up injuries across the roster.
“We got time here to reset,” DeBoer said. “We haven’t come up with a plan yet but we’ll make sure we use that time properly.”
Pulock joins a lengthy injury list that already includes Matias Maccelli, Calum Ritchie, Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov. Maccelli, hurt just over two weeks ago against the Toronto Maple Leafs on a similar 2-4 week timetable, is considered closest to returning among that group and has been skating on his own, according to Sports Illustrated.
Who Fills In On Defense
The Islanders have already begun shuffling their defensive pairings to cover the losses. In Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Matt Kessel slotted in on the third pair alongside Scott Mayfield, Logan Stanley paired with Tony DeAngelo, and Matthew Schaefer played on the right side of Adam Pelech. That shuffling was complicated further by penalty trouble.
Mayfield picked up a 10-minute misconduct in the second period against Edmonton, while forward Emil Heineman was ejected with a game misconduct in the first period, leaving New York with just 11 forwards for the rest of the night. Isaiah George was called up to the Islanders and then sent back down to AHL Hamilton on Sunday morning, just 24 hours after his promotion, suggesting the club has not settled on a long-term answer for its defensive depth while Pulock is sidelined.
Season Context
The injury comes during a difficult stretch for New York, which fell 4-0 to Edmonton on Saturday. DeBoer said after the Edmonton loss that the team looked fatigued, adding that mental and physical fatigue leads to mistakes the Islanders don’t normally make.
What’s Next
The Islanders had four days off between the Edmonton loss and their next game, a stretch DeBoer and the team hope to use to regroup. New York hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 5 at UBS Arena, the first test of how the reshuffled lineup holds up without Pulock. No timetable update is expected before the two-to-four week window begins to close, though an update could come as Maccelli nears his own return.
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