Islanders’ Hogberg and Pulock exit game with injuries

New York Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock left in the first period of action versus the Carolina Hurricanes after falling behind the net.

Later in the third period, goaltender Marcus Högberg exited the game and was replaced by Ilya Sorokin.

New York defeated Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime 3-2, with Brock Nelson notching the game-winner.

As per Islanders head coach Patrick Roy, Hogberg’s injury got worse as he played through it, while Pulock also suffered an upper-body injury.

Pulock has tallied three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 48 games while playing on the Islanders’ first defense pairing with Adam Pelech. The Dauphin, Manitoba native sits 10th among Islanders skaters in points.

If Pulock is out for any amount of time, it will be a major blow to the Islanders who just announced Noah Dobson is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Meanwhile, Högberg has appeared in six games this season, putting together a 3-2-0 record, a 1.32 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.

The Örebro, Sweden product was originally selected No. 78 overall in the 2013 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators. the Islanders signed Högberg to a two-year contract last season. Högberg made his first NHL start in 2018-19 with Ottawa and in four appearances was held winless. It turned around for Högberg when he compiled a 21-11-10 record with Belleville and seemed to have found his game. However Högberg’s time with the Senators organization came to an end in 2020-21, he had 14 appearances with Ottawa, going 4-7-0.

The Islanders sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 21-20-7 record. New York is slated to face the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.