EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — New York Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho returned to the ice for the first time in three weeks during his side’s 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night at UBS Arena.
The 27-year-old blueliner had missed the previous eight games due to an upper-body injury, which landed him on injured reserve. Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said that he would be a game-time decision, but his participation in line rushes on a pairing with Mike Reilly earlier on Wednesday morning indicated that he would draw in.
Reilly was one of the new acquisitions necessary for the Islanders to keep their defense afloat. Adam Pelech is on long-term IR and Ryan Pulock was placed on IR on Friday. Shortly after Pulock’s IR designation, New York acquired veteran blueliner Robert Bortuzzo from the St. Louis Blues.
Because Aho wasn’t officially activated from IR on Wednesday morning, he was unavailable to speak after the team’s morning skate.
“It’s nice to have him back out there,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “He brings an element to our back end. He’s been playing really well this year… it will give us a big boost.”
Aho’s return brings one more defenseman from the opening-night lineup back into the fold, but it’s an even swap. As the Swede took part in rushes with Reilly, the Islanders announced that fellow veteran defenseman Scott Mayfield was day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
“Ever since I think the first game [of the season] we played we had everyone. Ever since that, we haven’t had the full D-corps,” Dobson said. “It’s frustrating at times seeing guys in and out but at the same time, guys have done a good job coming in. We’ve had two really good pickups (Bortuzzo and Reilly). They’re picking up the slack and we have to continue to do that.”
