Islanders anxious after Anders Lee suffers leg injury
A trainer tends to Islanders left wing Anders Lee, who had collided with a Devils player during the first period of an NHL game March 11 at Nassau Coliseum. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens
The sight of captain Anders Lee trying to crawl off the ice and then being helped limping to the Islanders’ dressing room was disquieting to his teammates.
"You hate to see a guy go down," Brock Nelson said. "Especially Anders, our leader. He goes out, plays hard, battles every night and guys feed off him and look up to him. When you see he’s having a hard time, you hope it’s nothing serious."
Lee, playing in his 295th straight game, the eighth-longest active streak in the NHL and the third-longest in Islanders history, exited Thursday night’s 5-3 win over the Devils at Nassau Coliseum at 12:56 of the first period after Pavel Zacha fell over his extended right leg as he drove toward the Islanders’ net.
Coach Barry Trotz did not have an update after the game. The Islanders are off on Friday.
"I think we’re all anxiously awaiting to hear what the verdict is," Josh Bailey said. "He’s the heartbeat of our team and he’s not a guy to lay on the ice. You knew something was going on and we’re just hoping for the best news possible."
Liking the deal
Mathew Barzal was excited by the NHL’s new, seven-year, $2.8 billion deal to return to ESPN.
"We, as a league and as players, we want to be recognized," Barzal said. "Basketball and football get a ton of coverage, so we can chomp into that a little bit. That would be great for our league. Hockey, it really is the most entertaining sport. It’s the fastest sport. It requires the most skill. It’s physical and the pace is so high."
Isles files
Trotz became the third Islanders coach to reach 100 wins and Lou Lamoriello is the team’s fourth general manager to reach that mark…Nelson extended his goal streak to four games.
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.
