The Edmonton Oilers got a scare Saturday night, but the early read on Isaac Howard is that they may have escaped the worst.
Howard exited just 2:22 into the game against the New York Islanders after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Islanders forward Emil Heineman. Heineman was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct on the play, while Howard needed help getting off the ice and initially had trouble putting weight on his left leg, according to Sportsnet on X.
For a few moments, it looked ugly. But Edmonton’s postgame message pointed in a more optimistic direction.
“We don’t think it’s as serious as it looked,” Babcock said. “We’re hoping for a real good kind of recovery day for him tomorrow, and then if he doesn’t [feel better], then we’ll get on with the medical part of looking into it. But they think it’s favorable.”
That was backed up Sunday by NHL reporter Mark Spector, who said Howard would miss the Rangers game but that the injury still appeared to be minor.
“Ike Howard status unchanged this morning: Will not play v. NYR.
Injury still appears to be relatively minor, but he’ll undergo a full assessment in coming days. Appears to have dodged the bullet,” Spector wrote on X.
Howard’s status still needs to be sorted out, but the absence for Sunday’s game in New York doesn’t point to a long stay out of the lineup.
It does, however, leave Babcock with a hole to fill against the Rangers. Asked by a fan who might step in for Howard, Spector pointed to two possibilities: “ My guess would be [Filip] Halllander. It’s him or [Max] Jones, who deserves a crack as well,” Spector replied.
Hallander looks like the likeliest option based on that read, though Jones is also in the mix.
Howard has one goal and two assists in 13 games this season, and the 22-year-old winger remains part of Edmonton’s plans. The Oilers have opened the year 10-2-2 and sit atop the Pacific Division, so avoiding a major injury here is a welcome break for a team that has been rolling.
Edmonton is back in action against the New York Rangers at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
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