Tavares likely out for season
Even the most ardent hater couldn’t have wanted this to happen, not like this.
Yet what seemed like an inevitability because of the awful ice surface at Barclays Center turned into the worst-case scenario, with Islanders captain John Tavares suffering a hamstring injury during his team’s 2-1 win over the Devils on Friday night.
Tavares’ status was described as “week-to-week,” meaning he is essentially done for the remaining five games of the regular season, with his team barely on the periphery of the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders are six points behind the Bruins, who beat the Panthers 5-2 on Saturday afternoon, for the second wild card position. They are two points behind the Lightning (86 points, lost to the Canadiens in OT on Saturday) and tied with the Hurricanes (84 points, lost to the Stars) and the Flyers (84 points, beat the Devils).
So when the Islanders take the ice in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, they will be further away from playoffs, and in a depression because of Tavares’ absence.
And speaking of depressions, that’s exactly what might have caused Tavares’ injury. According to alternate captain Cal Clutterbuck, who has been the most outspoken detractor of the poor playing conditions in Brooklyn, Tavares caught his skate in a rut as he was coming around the net, which caused him to extend his leg and seemingly hurt his left hamstring.
“You see a guy’s heel dig in like that, it doesn’t happen other places,” Clutterbuck told Newsday after the game. “It’s something that doesn’t get addressed ... It had been a little better the last few games, but not [Friday] night.”