Islanders' Scott Mayfield uses 4 Nations Face-Off break to heal
Scott Mayfield believes he’s ready to play and will be available when the Islanders resume their season on Sunday night against the Stars at UBS Arena.
“All good,” Mayfield said after the Islanders reconvened for practice on Tuesday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow following nine days off during the NHL break for the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament. “Able to go full go.”
Team USA member Brock Nelson, preparing for Thursday night’s championship game against Team Canada in Boston, was the only healthy Islander who did not participate in Tuesday’s practice.
Mayfield has missed four games since being driven into the end wall by the Lightning’s Luke Glendening in the Islanders’ 3-2 overtime road win on Feb. 1. He came off the ice in the second period of that match favoring his right leg.
The NHL hiatus came at the perfect time for Mayfield, who has two goals and five assists in 50 games. Dennis Cholowski will likely come out of the lineup to make room for Mayfield.
“I started skating early last week,” Mayfield said. “Monday I was on the ice and just throughout the week it started feeling better. It just slowly got to the point where it feels all good now.
“I just went into the boards hard,” Mayfield said. “Anything from my lower leg up to my hip just all kind of tightened up. It was pretty sore for a couple of days. I really needed the time of this break to really get it going and make sure it feels 100%.”
Mayfield, who was born in St. Louis, said he has been paying attention to the 4 Nations tournament even though “I didn’t know how much I’d watch every day. But it’s good hockey.”
He said he has not been in touch with Nelson.
Bo Horvat, from London, Ontario, also has been paying close attention to the tournament and is looking forward to Thursday’s rematch of Team USA’s 3-1 win over Team Canada on Saturday night in Montreal.
“They’re not taking it easy on each other,” Horvat said. “The Canada-U.S. game was pretty electric. I think it’s great for hockey. It’s great for the game.”
Notes & quotes: Defenseman Ryan Pulock (upper body/injured reserve) participated in practice wearing an orange, non-contact jersey. Forward Hudson Fasching (upper body), activated off IR before the NHL break, also practiced. But coach Patrick Roy said he had no updates on their status or for the Islanders’ other injured players: forward Mathew Barzal (lower body/IR), defenseman Noah Dobson (lower body/long-term injured reserve), defenseman Mike Reilly (heart condition/LTIR) and goalies Marcus Hogberg (upper body/IR) and Semyon Varlamov (lower body/LTIR) . . . Roy said he did not want to structure this week’s practices like Training Camp 2.0. He stayed off the ice on Tuesday while the defensemen and forwards were split into their own groups for skills work. “I just wanted them to feel the puck,” Roy said. “[Wednesday], we’ll go back to five-on-five and more compete.” Including Wednesday, the Islanders are expected to have three more practices before Sunday’s match.
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.
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