Islanders’ Tony DeAngelo leaves key Blackhawks tilt with injury

If the New York Islanders are serious about making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they need to win games like Tuesday night’s battle with the Chicago Blackhawks. Not only did the Islanders go down 4-1 after two periods to risk falling out of a playoff spot at the conclusion of the night, but they also lost Tony DeAngelo for the remainder of the game with a lower-body injury that could prove costly for the team long-term.

The Islanders are already playing without Ryan Pulock and Alexander Romanov. Pulock’s issue seems more of a day-to-day injury, but Romanov is out for the remainder of the season, which has put more pressure on players like DeAngelo and Matthew Schaefer.

DeAngelo plays an important role for Patrick Roy’s team, anchoring the team’s second defense pairing and also quarterbacking the second powerplay unit. If the defenseman is going to miss an extended period of time, it’s the type of absence that will be hard to come back from.

The Islanders looked like a team that wasn’t ready for a good effort from the Blackhawks on Tuesday night. It’d be easy to underestimate the team that is near the bottom of the standings, but the debut of one of their top prospects, Anton Frondell, looks like it inspired the club to have one of their best efforts of the season.

New York needs a comeback in the third to avoid a catastrophic night in the standings, and it won’t get any easier without Tony DeAngelo.