Islanders On The Lookout For Left-Side Defenseman, Three Trade

NEW YORK, NY — Everyone was holding their breath when New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly hit the ice and didn’t move on Friday night in Buffalo.

Once Bo Horvat started signaling to the bench, adamantly hurrying over anyone who could help, it was clear Reilly was in trouble.

You could see the concern from his teammates.

After he finally sat up and got off the ice with the help of Anders Lee and the trainer, we knew he wasn’t coming back.

“It was scary,” Kyle MacLean said. “Obviously, when somebody is out on the ice, and it’s a head injury, it’s scary, especially seeing the stretcher come out. So it was good to see that he’s alright. He kind of got off the ice on his own accord there. He skated off. So, really scary.”

It seemed clear, from the replay, that Reilly had been knocked unconscious, likely meaning a concussion.

But we learned before leaving KeyBank Center that Reilly would be able to travel home with the team.

“He was in the locker room afterward, which was nice, MacLean said. He was like, ‘Yeah, I’m alright’. Still a scary situation with the head injury, but yeah, he was in the locker room after.

That was surprising to hear but a sure positive that, outside of being knocked out, which is never a good thing, he avoided getting severely injured.

The way he landed, Reilly is extremely fortunate that he didn’t suffer a neck or a back injury.

There’s no timetable for how long Reilly will be out. As of now, he is day-to-day, per Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello.

With Adam Pelech out 4-6 weeks, too, the Islanders require a left-handed defenseman and are on the lookout.

Related: Islanders Place Barzal On Long-Term Injured Reserve, Pelech On Injured Reserve, Recall Hutton & Bolduc

Lamoriello said you are always looking to improve, especially now with all the injuries.

“I think you’re always doing that. But obviously, when you have a couple of players that go down the way they did, you certainly are paying…