Report: Islanders’ Bo Horvat week-to-week with lower-body injury

The New York Islanders will be without their leading goal-scorer for a few weeks, as Bo Horvat was confirmed to be out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury, as reported by NHL.com and Hockey News reporter Stefen Rosner.

Horvat sustained the injury early in the second period of the Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. He was skating into the offensive zone with the puck when a poke-check from Drew Helleson caused Horvat to over-skate the puck. As he was turning around to get the puck again, his left leg awkwardly slipped, causing him to land on it and injure it.

Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said after Thursday’s game that Horvat was believed to be day-to-day, but after further evaluation on Friday, it’s now a slightly longer timeline of one-to-three weeks. According to Rosner, Horvat avoided any structural damage in the injury, which likely helped from making his timeline for return worse than it actually was.

Horvat’s injury is a big blow to the Islanders’ lineup, as he had been off to an excellent start with 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 31 games, with his goal total tied for fourth in the league.

As of right now, there’s no confirmation on what the Islanders lineup will look like in Horvat’s absence. Mathew Barzal replaced him on the top line between Emil Heineman and Maxim Shabanov in Thursday’s game, while Simon Holmstrom moved up to the second line in Barzal’s place alongside Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Marc Gatcomb replaced Holmstrom on the third line with Cal Ritchie and Anthony Duclair.

It’s possible that the Islanders lineup could look something like that, although Jonathan Drouin is also expected to return to the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, so that could also alter the lines a bit. He missed the last five games with a lower-body injury, and has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 26 games this season.

The Islanders currently sit in third in the Metropolitan Division with an 18-11-3 record. They’ll look to build on a stretch of five wins in six games when they host the Lightning at 3:30 p.m. EST.