The New York Islanders are slowly getting back to health {knock on wood}. Josh Bailey is coming off of injured reserve after recovering from a broken hand. As the team lands in Florida for a back-to-back Friday and Saturday, Eric Boulton will take Bailey's place on IR, according to Newsday's Arthur Staple.
Boulton reportedly suffered a lower body injury in practice earlier this week -- must be overuse, having played three consecutive games after being a healthy scratch since the beginning of the season. He was scratched again for the 6-0 home win over Colorado.
Which means...with Bailey returning, someone else will come out of the lineup from last game. The betting here is that Cory Conacher sits out again after a one-game reprieve from his scratch in Arizona.
Note the lines at practice Thursday morning before the Isles left Long Island:
Kulemin-Tavares-Okposo
Bailey-Nielsen-Grabovski
Nelson-Conacher-Strome-Lee
Martin-Boulton-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
However it shakes out, it's nice to have depth.