The Islanders’ troubles with the injury bug this season continue.
New York placed defenseman Ryan Pulock and goalie Marcus Hogberg on injured reserve with upper-body injuries on Monday.
The moves are retroactive to Jan. 25, so both players are eligible to return as early as this weekend's game against the defending champion Florida Panthers, but it’s still unknown if either will be medically cleared by then.
Pulock suffered his injury just seconds into his first shift Saturday against the Hurricanes when forward Jackson Blake appeared to have slew-footed him behind the net, and he landed hard in his left shoulder.
He immediately went to the locker room and was quickly ruled out, leaving the Islanders to play with just five defensemen the rest of the way.
Losing Pulock for any amount of time is a big blow to the Islanders' defense, as he has been a centerpiece for them this season, and they are already working without Noah Dobson, who is on long-term IR with a lower-body injury.
Hogberg’s injury occurred late in regulation on Saturday, and he attempted to play through it, but the Isles were forced to turn to Ilya Sorokin in overtime with things getting “worse and worse,” head coach Patrick Roy said postgame.
The veteran has been tremendous since taking over for the injured Semyon Varlamov as the backup, posting a 1.45 GAA and .947 save percentage over his seven appearances.
Jakub Skarek has been recalled to take his place for the time being.