Casey Cizikas becomes latest injured player for Islanders
Islanders center Casey Cizikas goes to the bench after an injury in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The injuries are really starting to mount for the Islanders.
Fourth-line center Casey Cizikas became the latest to be sidelined. He exited at 13:46 of the second period with an undisclosed issue in the Islanders’ 5-3 loss to the Rangers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Coach Lane Lambert said there was no update on Cizikas, leaving his status for Friday night’s game against the Panthers at UBS Arena very much in doubt.
There is some extended recovery time after that as the NHL holiday break runs Saturday through Monday.
Right wing Kyle Palmieri (upper body) missed his third straight game and his 13th out of the last 14, though he has resumed skating on his own.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov (lower body) was unavailable for a second straight game. Right wing Cal Clutterbuck (injured reserve/upper body) missed his third game and defenseman Adam Pelech (injured reserve/suspected head injury) missed his seventh game. None of those three has resumed skating.
Back-to-back?
Goalie Ilya Sorokin might get a fourth chance to start back-to-back games on Friday after looking sharp in stopping 29 shots against the Rangers.
Cory Schneider, with the Islanders on emergency recall from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, is serving as the backup with Varlamov unavailable.
Sorokin has split the six games he’s played in back-to-back situations — all coming last season and all coming on the road — but with three shutouts.
Isles files
C Jean-Gabriel Pageau logged 18:56 with two shots in his 600th career game . . . LW Ross Johnston remained a healthy scratch.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
