Pulock Exits Early, and the Blue Line Gets Thin

Ryan Pulock left Thursday's game early, the latest name added to what has become a running injury ledger for the Islanders. The blue line was already carrying some weight — the depth chart behind Matthew Schaefer thins out quickly, with Logan Stanley and Adam Pelech behind him — and Pulock's exit makes that picture a little more uncomfortable.

It was less than two weeks ago that I was writing about the Islanders scraping their forward group down to twelve healthy bodies, with Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli both going down against the Maple Leafs and Mitchell Chaffee getting the call from Hamilton to fill the gap. Then a former Avalanche prospect went down for four to six weeks. Now Pulock. The injuries haven't come in one wave; they've come in a slow, steady drip.

Schaefer has been the one bright spot on the back end — the sophomore defenseman has been excellent, and his record-setting overtime shift earlier this week was a reminder of how much he's carrying. That's fine when everyone else is healthy. It's a different ask when the depth behind him is getting tested this early in the season.

No word yet on the severity of Pulock's injury or a timeline. That's the next thing to watch.