Noah Dobson and Hudson Fasching remain out for Islanders until after the break
The Islanders' Noah Dobson remains sidelined with a lower-body injury. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The earliest either defenseman Noah Dobson or right wing Hudson Fasching will return to the Islanders’ lineup will be Feb. 6 in Philadelphia. That’s when they will resume their season after their All-Star break/bye week.
Both injured players missed Friday night’s 2-0 win over the Red Wings at UBS Arena. Coach Lane Lambert also ruled them out for Saturday night’s home game against Vegas. Neither has resumed skating.
Fasching (injured reserve, lower body) missed his fifth game and Dobson (lower body) missed his third. Dobson participated in the morning skate before the Islanders’ 5-2 loss in Toronto on Monday night but left the ice early.
Dobson has 10 goals and 17 assists in 48 games and Fasching, who solidified a bottom-six role and earned some power-play time after being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, has three goals and two assists in 19 games.
Barzal’s new spot
Mathew Barzal worked at times in a new spot on the first power-play unit as he manned the bumper position between the circles. He also took shifts working in his usual spot on the left half-wall.
“We’re looking for solutions to a power play that hasn’t scored for us,” Lambert said.
The Islanders were 0-for-4 on the man advantage with five shots. They are 0-for-24 in their last nine games and 3-for-63 in their last 23.
Isles files
The Islanders continued their legacy series on Friday by honoring four-time Stanley Cup champion John Tonelli . . . C Brock Nelson extended his point streak to five games (four goals, two assists) . . . All-Star goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded a shutout Friday night, and Lambert was noncommittal when asked if Sorokin also could start Saturday with an eight-day break after that game. Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves in Wednesday’s 2-1 road loss to the Senators. “We’ve got two good goalies,” Lambert said. “Varlamov played real well for us in Ottawa.” . . . D Parker Wotherspoon and LW Ross Johnston remained healthy scratches.
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.
