The Islanders announced that John Tavares is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Tavares got tangled up with Devils defenseman Steve Santini behind the New Jersey net and awkwardly tried to step through. Tavares appeared to catch his skate in a rut and immediately grabbed his left hamstring, he needed help being carried to the locker room.
Week-to-week essentially means that the captain's season is over. He finished with 28 goals and 38 assists.
Cal Clutterbuck clearly blamed the Barclays Center ice for his teammate's injury. “You see a guy’s heel dig in like that, it doesn’t happen other places,… Clutterbuck said. “It’s something that doesn’t get addressed . . . It was a little worse [than it’s been]. It had been a little better the last few games, but not tonight.…
The team has not announced a replacement for Tavares. The Isles are already without Ryan Strome, Casey Cizikas, Nikolay Kulemin and Travis Hamonic.