Anders Lee is back. Josh Bailey is back. Adam Pelech is back. Andy Greene is back. Ross Johnston is available.
That’s a lot of regulars! But...Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson (injuries, not COVID) are still out. So are protocolers Casey Cizikas, Zdeno Chara, and Kieffer Bellows, to name a few — though Bellows has cleared protocol and Chara has skated.
Meanwhile, the Islanders reassigned Richard Panik — one of the callups who looked kind of effective, but who is relatively costly cap-wise — Thomas Hickey (also costly), and Paul LaDue to AHL Bridgeport.
All of that makes for a still-odd lineup tonight as the Islanders face the San Jose Sharks in their return from a league-mandated (finally) COVID postponement of their prior two scheduled games.