It was just five games without Bo Horvat, but for the Islanders it felt like much longer.
“It sucks. It’s not fun being out,” Horvat said Saturday morning before making his return from a lower-body injury against the Rangers. “You want to be in the battle with the guys, you want to be a part of it. They did a heck of a job when I was out.”
Indeed, the Islanders’ 2-2-1 mark without their leading scorer, including a gutsy 2-1 win over the Devils going into the holiday break, counts as a bullet dodged.
So does getting Horvat back quickly, before any serious damage was done in the standings — especially given that at first glance, it appeared to be a much more serious injury than it turned out to be.
“Such a huge boost,” Anders Lee told The Post. “We did our best to fill his shoes while he was gone. Got a big win last game and a couple other ones, but you can’t replace him. Can’t replace Bo. Just a big boost to have him back on the ice, back in the room. Looking forward to seeing him out there tonight.”
Saturday was the healthiest lineup the Islanders have rolled out in some time.
Before Horvat got hurt, they were missing Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Jonathan Drouin; the last time all three of those players were in the lineup together was Nov. 22.
That trio being back without any corresponding injuries crowded Anthony Duclair out of the lineup. No. 11 drew out as a healthy scratch as part of a handful of lineup changes.
Horvat centered the top line between Drouin and Emil Heineman while Pageau — who had been in that spot — moved to Cal Ritchie’s right wing on the third line.
The second line, with Mathew Barzal centering Lee and Simon Holmstrom, stayed the same. So did the fourth line of Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb, which Roy has gone out of his way not to touch lately.
“It was a tough one, I won’t lie,” Roy said of scratching Duclair for the first time this season. “Everybody’s playing so well, it’s heartbreaking to get guys out of the lineup, but we knew we had to make that decision when Bo would be back.
“We took [Max Shabanov] out in Buffalo, tonight it’s [Duclair]. He’s been playing really well. We’re in a situation that we have to make those tough calls and that’s what we want, actually. Making tough decisions. I spoke with him this morning, explained to him the situation. Sometimes you have to make the decisions, but it’s nothing related to, is he playing well or bad. Absolutely not, he’s been playing really well.”
Horvat, who had been skating with the Islanders prior to the break, said he expected no limitations Saturday.
He practiced with both the power-play and penalty-kill units Saturday morning, indicating his usual heavy workload of minutes.
“If I’m gonna play, I’m gonna play in any situation,” he said. “Obviously feeling good about myself and my game. Just go out there and do what I do.”
The injury, he said, hasn’t been bothering him in practices, though he cautioned that is a different thing than a game.
That, he stressed, was not being taken for granted.
“I think I’m gonna have to work for it,” he said. “I can’t think it’s gonna be easy and pick [back] up, everything’s gonna come easy. I gotta work for it. I gotta work as hard as I was working before I got hurt. Just get back to the game, focus on the little things and not get too ahead of myself. Just take it shift by shift.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
