If you thought it was ominous when the Islanders announced, just before game time Thursday night, that Adam Pelech was out with a lower body injury, your radar was well-tuned: Today the team announced the defenseman is done for the season with an achilles tendon injury.
General manager Lou Lamoriello wouldn’t go into details but called it a “freak accident” during warmups — but not on the ice — so perhaps it occurred during one of the circle activities every team does.
Regardless, this is big and unwelcome news, as Pelech was a key half of the Islanders’ most responsible and minutes-heavy defensive pairing with Ryan Pulock, and he shouldered a significant penalty kill load, averaging 2:47 per game.