For Islanders, Anthony Duclair's prognosis isn't quite as bad as originally feared

The calendar reads October, not April. The number of games played — six — are but a handful. The news about Anthony Duclair is not as devastating as initially feared.

And so there is not a reason for panic. There is not a reason to deviate from the plan. Because they have time on their side. A lot of time.

That, essentially, was The State of the Islanders’ Address as given by the Islanders following practice Thursday at Northwell Health Ice Center.

“The bigger picture in this moment is that we’re trending in the right direction,” Anders Lee told Newsday. “In terms of how our game needs to be played and when [pucks] start going in, it’ll all come together.”

For now the Islanders will have to do it without Duclair.  The team announced during the 40-minute practice he will miss the next four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury. Duclair suffered the injury in the third period of Saturday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Canadiens.

“He’s a big part of our team,” Noah Dobson said. “We’re definitely going to miss him.”

Without Duclair, coach Patrick Roy reconfigured the forward lines for Tuesday's game against the Red Wings.

Simon Holmstrom skated in Duclair’s place on the top line with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, while Casey Cizikas skated on the third line and Oliver Wahlstrom slotted in as the fourth line right wing against Detroit.

The Islanders generated 29 shots to the Red Wings’ 11, but Patrick Kane’s first goal of the season 8:54 into the game held up for the remaining 51 minutes.

Without a call-up at practice, Roy said he was comfortable with having just 12 forwards — the top two lines remained intact, while Wahlstrom was promoted to the third line right wing and Cizikas was reassigned to the fourth line with Kyle MacLean and Liam Foudy.

“They all have skills,” Roy said of the fourth line triumvirate. “When they are out there I do trust them.”

Ahead of Friday night’s matchup in Newark against the Devils, the Islanders (2-2-2) appear to be a team whose on-ice results have not exactly matched their underlying metrics.

Benefitting a Lou Lamoriello-run team, the Islanders are yielding the fewest shots per game, 25.3. And according to the analytical website NaturalStatTrick.com, they have allowed the fifth-fewest high-danger shots with 49.

To summarize: The Islanders are defending exceptionally well.

“I like the way we’ve been playing defensively,” Roy said. “I [feel] like we’re doing a good job overall.”

That’s the positive.

The negative is that they have struggled to score.

Despite ranking third in the NHL with a 33.0 shots per game average, the Islanders have only scored 13 goals and have been shut out three times (3-0 to Dallas on Oct. 12, 1-0 in overtime to St. Louis five days later, and 1-0 to the Red Wings Tuesday night at UBS Arena). That may have to do with the fact that their 48 high-danger shots is 27th in the league.

“We’re not fully clicking. We feel like we’re pretty close,” Mike Reilly said. “We’re almost there. The effort level is there. Maybe start putting some pucks in the back of the goal a little bit that kind of builds a little confidence.”