Jean-Gabriel Pageau Suffers Injury In Islanders Final Game Before Playoffs

The New York Islanders won their final game of the regular season on Thursday night but lost Jean-Gabriel Pageau during it.

Pageau registered just 2:36 of time on ice before leaving the game at 9:18 of the first period, never to return. After the game, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy did not have an update on Pageau’s status.

Pageau’s final shift of the game ended after taking contact from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Reilly Smith near the goal in the attacking end. The Islanders were already down a forward to begin the game against the Penguins and played the rest of the night with only 10 skaters up front after Pageau left the game.

In Game 82 of the season, Pageau was one of four Islanders who dressed in each game during the 2023-24 regular season, along with Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri and Cal Clutterbuck, who did so for the first time in his career. Islanders captain Anders Lee would have been the fifth player of the bunch but was made a late scratch on Thursday and missed the game due to personal reasons.

With two days off until the Islanders begin their first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, there is still time for Pageau to recover. However, if he is unable to play for any amount of time, it’d be another hole in an Islanders lineup that is already dealing with injuries.

Noah Dobson has missed the last three games and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury that he suffered last week against the Montreal Canadiens. According to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, Dobson skated on his own for the first time since his injury on Thursday morning before the Islanders’ full team practice.

The Islanders defeated the Penguins by a final of 5-4 at UBS Arena, closing out their schedule with 94 points and a record of 39-27-16.

Locked in as the third seed in the Metropolitan Division, the Islanders will begin the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes on the road.

Game 1 between the Islanders and Hurricanes is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday at PNC Arena in Raliegh, N.C. A full schedule for the series will be released at a later date.