Ryan Pulock chose his words carefully on Thursday night when asked, after a 4-0 loss to the Blues in St. Louis, if the Islanders are where they need to be mentally.
Just when the Islanders thought they were out, the injuries pulled them back in.
The Islanders usually are a hard team to predict at the trade deadline because of general manager Lou Lamoriellos secrecy. Right now, they are a hard team to predict at the deadline because it is unclear what their biggest needs will be. That will depend on exactly how long Ryan Pulock and Semyon Varlamov remain out with lower-body injuries.
As for this year, the cumulative results for Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, over 206 minutes 27 seconds this season heading into Tuesdays game, were not just good, but the best of any Isles pair this year: 56.94 percent of expected goals, 73.33 percent of the actual goals, 55.56 percent of high-danger chances.
Here was a game that looked straightforward, except to this years Islanders there is no such thing.
The Islanders have acquired another body to fill the ever-expanding hole on the blue line, trading for Robert Bortuzzo from the Blues.