Mike Reilly’s recovery from heart surgery has taken the next step forward.
Reilly, who has started to travel and practice with the Islanders recently, has been officially cleared for contact, a key hurdle if he is to play again before the end of the season.
Though the Islanders have not given any kind of timeline for the defenseman’s return — and would have to navigate roster questions to fit Reilly into the mix if he were to be cleared for return — things appear to be going in the right direction.
“From the moment he got hurt in Buffalo to today, he went through a lot,” coach Patrick Roy said earlier this week. “It’s nice to see him, that he wants to continue and he wants to come back. A lot of us, bit of a heart problem, we’d probably think otherwise.
“It’s a beauty of our sport. I’m looking at [Kris] Letang in Pittsburgh [who dealt with heart issues causing two strokes], looking at [Reilly]. They’re passionate about the game and it’s nice to see that.”
Reilly suffered a concussion on Nov. 1, following a hard hit from Buffalo’s Jordan Greenway, and has not played since.
Though he recovered quickly from the concussion, testing found a heart condition that required surgery.
Since mid-December, Reilly has regularly been on the ice — usually before the rest of the team practicing — but without being allowed to take contact, he had not progressed beyond that.
Hudson Fasching will stay in the lineup for Saturday’s match against the Predators on the third line with Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
Pierre Engvall will draw back in on the fourth line while Max Tsyplakov is set to be a healthy scratch.
“Nothing I don’t like about Sippy, I just feel like I want to go back to what he was doing so well,” Roy told reporters. “The compete level around the net and stuff like that.”
Though Marcus Hogberg is skating on his own, Roy said the backup netminder has yet to face shots as he recovers from a presumed hand injury.
Mat Barzal has not yet started skating after undergoing surgery, believed to be on his left kneecap, before the 4 Nations break.
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