Isles Day to Day: Barzal and Pelech Activated

Mathew Barzal (upper body) and Adam Pelech (upper body) were both activated ahead of Sunday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Barzal had missed 21 games, while Pelech had missed 20, respectively.

Both players detailed their journey to return to the lineup ahead of Sunday's game. For Pelech, who took a puck to the jaw in Buffalo on Nov. 1, that meant a few weeks off of not being able to eat solid food, but feeling physically good otherwise. For both Pelech and Barzal, who suffered his injury on Oct. 30, the biggest challenge was a mental one.

"It's a long time," Pelech said. "Six weeks is long time to be away from the team and away from the game. The team was on the road a lot, so it's skating by yourself and it's fine, you can get in good shape and stuff, but it's not really the same to replicate, those game like situations or even a hard practice."

While injury rehab can often be a lonely experience, Barzal said having fellow injured Isles in Pelech, Anthony Duclair and Mike Reilly allowed for some camaraderie.

"That was one thing that kind of kept us all going," Barzal said.

The Isles forward said he picked up some new hobbies during his time off.

"My mom flew down, so I spent a little time with her and just finding little things to do, playing some chess and a little bit of reading mostly, but there's really nothing I could do," Barzal said. "So it was long days at the rink, long workouts, and not a lot I could do."

Both Barzal and Pelech praised their teammates play over the past six weeks. The Islanders have been 8-7-5 since both players have been out of the lineup (9-7-5 since Barzal has been out).

"The boys did a heck of a job," Barzal said. "They really threw their rally caps on. And every single game you saw them competing, and there wasn't a single game that we weren't in we could have won. So credit to them. It was inspiring being out watching them compete like that. But I think with us coming back here shortly, hopefully the boys can just, you know, get excited about that. We're just coming in and trying to tag along with that compete and that energy that they were bringing the last six weeks."