The New York Islanders are already contending with the loss of their No. 1 goalie and now they’ll be without their top defensemen for at least the remainder of the regular season as well. Head coach Jack Capuano announced Friday that Travis Hamonic is done for the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury. He will be reevaluated before the playoffs begin.
The Islanders have six games remaining on the regular-season schedule as they continue jockeying for position in both the Metropolitan Division and wild card races. The Isles are in position to finish anywhere from second place in the division to the second wild card spot. However, losing Hamonic is going to make the road ahead a bit tougher.
No Islanders skater has averaged as much ice time as Hamonic, who was injured early in the Islanders' win over the Columbus Blue Jackets The 25-year-old blueliner has 21 points in 72 games this year, while averaging 23:49 of ice time per game.
The Isles will have to hope this injury is limited to the end of the regular season as the team is sure to be in for a tough postseason matchup no matter where they finish in the standings. That said, New York’s last six games are going to be extremely tough as they play the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers in their next four games. Then they take on the Buffalo Sabres a day before playing the Philadelphia Flyers in a season finale that could have massive postseason implications.
Hamonic’s injury now puts major pressure on Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk to carry the blue line. The Isles may also have to give more responsibility to rookie Ryan Pulock and others as the Isles blue line suffers some depth issues due to various injuries.
It’s going to be a tense finish to the season for the Isles, especially until more is known about Hamonic’s recovery timeline.
