New York Islanders' Mat Barzal suffers upper-body injury, status unknown

The New York Islanders are holding their breath as star forward Mat Barzal suffered an upper-body injury and has been sent back home to Long Island to be evaluated by team doctors.

#Isles Injury Update: Mat Barzal has returned to Long Island due to an upper body injury. A time frame will be announced after he sees team doctors.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 1, 2024

 The 27-year-old Barzal left the team in the middle of their current road trip and it's expected by the end of the weekend, there should be an update on his availability moving forward. So far, there hasn't been much information on what exactly Barzal is dealing with. He took a hard hit from Columbus Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov on Wednesday, which could have something to do with his condition. 

In 10 games this year, Barzal has scored two goals and three assists for five points, averaging 21:12 of ice time with a -3 rating. Barzal has a history of dealing with the injury bug, as he missed time during the 2022-23 season with various lower-body injuries, limiting him to just 58 games. Barzal bounced back to have a relatively healthy 2023-24 campaign, which saw him register a career-high 23 goals, helping the Islanders finish third in the Metropolitan Division.

The Islanders are 3-5-2 through 10 games this season, and sit last in the Eastern Conference. Losing Barzal for an extended period of time is going to be tough to overcome for a team who already has a hard time scoring goals.

Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images