Islanders 'Adjust' Following Postponement Against Buffalo

Upon returning home from a five-game road trip on Sunday night, the New York Islanders were preparing to host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night in the first leg of a three-game homestand. On Tuesday morning, they were notified by the NHL that the game was postponed until further notice.
The Islanders were aware that Buffalo had faced the New Jersey Devils in a back-to-back set on Saturday and Sunday and as of Monday, several players from the Devils were placed on the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol list, but no members of the Sabres were listed. New Jersey has subsequently postponed all of their games until Feb. 6.

Officially, the league stated Tuesday's game "is being postponed due to the League's COVID Protocol. Due to weather conditions yesterday, the Sabres altered their travel schedule so as to fly today to New York. So that required COVID contact tracing and testing protocols can be completed appropriately, the decision has been made to reschedule the game for a future date."
Originally scheduled for a morning skate, the Islanders held a meeting, acknowledged the news and adjusted on the fly by holding a practice, in what seems to be the mantra of handling this season's unprecedented nuances.

"It was pretty seamless considering the last minute [adjustment]," Head Coach Barry Trotz said via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon. "We were sort of prepared for it. We just practiced. Our guys are a mature group. We've seen it a few times in the league and we're part of it. We just adjusted. There was not a lot of scramble, just readjusting."
Per Trotz, the team is approaching the situation with a flexible mindset. Having just finished a stretch of five road games in eight nights that wrapped up with a 4-3 overtime loss to Philadelphia on Sunday night, the postponement gives the Islanders more time to regroup and prepare for the next challenge.
"We're in a pretty good frame of mind this morning when we came in," Trotz said. "What it does is we'll get one day away from the game. The game can consume you because you're going every second day. If things aren't going really well things can linger, but at the same time, when we get back we've got to be ready to go."
Trotz also provided an update that Anthony Beauvillier, who was placed on IR on Monday, Jan. 25 with a lower-body injury that he sustained against the Devils the previous night, skated on his own.
"He was on the ice, but not necessarily with us," Trotz said. "He's just working through his rehab."

The Islanders have been fortunate to have only had one player named to the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol list and who was subsequently removed the next day. But having Tuesday's game postponed provided a reminder of how fluid the situation with COVID-19 continues to be and how the NHL is ensuring to its players and staff that safety takes priority.
"It just re-emphasizes the importance of being smart about everything when you're away from the rink," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "I'd like to think that our guys are doing that when everyone else is too. That's what makes this all tricky, you could be doing all of the right things and still get it at times. Everyone is doing the best they can. It just emphasizes that a bit more now that we are directly affected."
In the meantime, the Islanders are concentrating their focus on what they can control and taking the situation day-by-day, even hour-by-hour, and ensuring that they'll be prepared for when their next game is.
"We would have loved to have played tonight and get back at it, that's not the case," Lee said. "Take what's in front of you. We might have a day or two, depending on what happens, to get on the ice and practice, work on a few things and rest. [We're going to] take advantage of what's in front of us, that's all you really can do. You can't get bogged down with things you can't control."