The New York Islanders are being tested right now.
There’s no debate about the Islanders’ MVP so far. Ilya Sorokin has been a backbone, a safety net, and on some nights, the thing holding everything together. But Bo Horvat’s injury has quickly reminded everyone how fragile the rest of the operation can look without him in the middle.
Without Horvat, the Islanders haven’t just lost a goal scorer. They’ve lost their offensive engine, their most reliable power-play trigger, and a leader on the ice and in the dressing room. Now the mission is simple, if not easy: tread water.