Islanders’ Bo Horvat leaves game with lower-body injury

The New York Islanders have announced that center Bo Horvat will not be returning to Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Horvat sustained the injury early in the second period of the game. He was skating into the offensive zone with the puck when a poke-check from Drew Helleson caused Horvat to overskate 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.

Horvat left the game with two shots in 10:01 of ice time, with the Islanders going on to win the game 5-2 in his absence.

The Islanders confirmed that Horvat would miss the rest of the game before the start of the third period. It’s possible that we may get an update on Horvat after the conclusion of the game, but with New York in the middle of a three-game homestand, he may receive further evaluation during practice on Friday, with an update then coming sometime before Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

With Horvat out of the game, Mathew Barzal has replaced him on the top line between Emil Heineman and Maxim Shabanov. Meanwhile, Simon Holmstrom has moved up to the second line in Barzal’s place alongside Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, while Marc Gatcomb has replaced Holmstrom on the third line with Cal Ritchie and Anthony Duclair.

Should Horvat miss any significant time with the injury, Maxim Tsyplakov will likely replace him in the lineup, as he was the Islanders’ lone healthy scratch among their forwards. Jonathan Drouin, who’s now missed five games with a lower-body injury, may also be a possible replacement as it was reported that he has a chance to return on Saturday.

It will be a big blow to the Islanders’ lineup if Horvat misses any time, 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 third in the league going into Thursday’s action.