Islanders might be close to activating defenseman Adam Pelech off injured reserve
Adam Pelech during Islanders training camp at their practice facility in East Meadow on Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
LAS VEGAS — Saturday may or may not be the day Adam Pelech is activated off long-term injured reserve and returns to the Islanders’ lineup for the first time since Nov. 24. But the core defenseman has taken another significant step in his recovery.
The Islanders will conclude their four-game road trip against Vegas on Saturday night, and coach Lane Lambert for the first time listed Pelech as day-to-day after Friday’s practice at T-Mobile Arena. It marked Pelech’s first practice with the team since he got hurt, though he has participated in the last three morning skates.
But there is a difference.
“[Thursday] we did our defensive zone, but it was more or less a walk-through,” Lambert said of the morning skate before a 5-1 win over the Coyotes. “Today there was more physicality to it. So that definitely helps from that standpoint. He’s closing in.”
Pelech and rookie Samuel Bolduc stayed on the ice for extra work after practice ended, a strong indication that one of those two will be in and the other one out against Vegas.
If it’s Bolduc, a lefthanded shot like Pelech, who is out, it won’t be because of subpar play. He has been in the lineup for 17 straight games as the Islanders have had a spate of injuries among their defensemen.
Bolduc logged 16:02 against the Coyotes and made perhaps the game’s best defensive play by lifting Liam O’Brien’s stick with his backcheck and preventing a shot from below the circles with the Islanders nursing a 2-1 lead at 13:58 of the second period.
“I just came off the bench and they turned the puck real quick,” Bolduc said. “He got a breakaway and I just skated as hard as I can. When I saw he was a lefty, I just tried to take his forehand away and leave him the backhand. I just had a chance to lift his stick and take it.’’
And how did that make him feel? “It’s great,” Bolduc said. “The goalie was pretty happy about it as well.”
Lambert acknowledged after the game that it might not have been a play Bolduc would have made earlier this season. He played in only 11 of the Islanders’ first 21 games and logged less than 10 minutes of ice time in six of those games.
He’s now averaging 12:49 in 28 games and has a goal and two assists.
“Had there been no injuries, I don’t think he would have played as much,” Lambert said. “I think he’s finding his game and finding his way in the NHL.”
Notes & quotes: Goalie Semyon Varlamov (day-to-day, lower body) did not practice. AHL call-up Ken Appleby again will be the backup as Ilya Sorokin makes his seventh straight appearance Saturday and seventh start in the last nine games . . . Lambert said defenseman Ryan Pulock (long-term injured reserve, lower body) has not resumed skating. He will miss his 13th game since Dec. 9.
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.
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