The New York Islanders lost forward Mikhail Grabovski to injury in Monday’s win over the Arizona Coyotes.
Grabovski started the game as the team’s third line center and left about half way through the second period with what was later termed an upper body injury. The team announced during the game that Grabovski would not return.
The 31-year-old forward has three goals and five assists through 18 games with the Isles this season. With a career-high of 29 goals and 58 points, Grabovski put up just nine goals and 10 assists through 51 games with the Islanders last season.
The team currently has a 10-6-3 record, but should probably have a better record. They’ve had a tough time closing out what should be easy wins, faltering late in the game. The loss of Grabovski for any significant amount of time, though he’s not the player he was in his early to mid-20s, could hurt quite a bit.
Their inability to close teams out showed Monday evening when the team helped Jaroslav Halak spoil a shutout bid, allowing Arizona to score two goals in the game’s final five minutes. One of those two Coyotes goals came on the power play, a surprising hiccup from the league’s fifth best penalty kill against the league’s worst power play.
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