New York Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri was down on the ice in pain during the second period on Friday, Nov. 28 after he fell when getting tangled up with Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
It took a while for him to stand and he skated slowly to the bench as the puck went to the other end of the ice. But the puck came back in the Flyers’ zone and Palmieri, still skating slowly, had the wherewithal to strip it from a Flyers player who was skating backward.
Palmieri passed to Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin, who fed Emil Heineman. Heineman scored to cut the Flyers’ lead to 3-1.
Palmieri couldn’t celebrate the goal or his assist. He was busy heading to the dressing room with assistance and stayed there while the Islanders rallied to tie the game.
‘What a gutsy effort for him on that,’ captain Anders Lee said after the game. ‘Going through a lot of pain, he’s one of the toughest teammates that I know. Takes a lot for him to feel pain and get keeled over, but you can also see how strong he is to battle through and make a huge play.’
The Islanders later announced that Palmieri wouldn’t return to the game because of a lower-body injury.
The Flyers won 4-3 in a shootout.
Kyle Palmieri injury update
Islanders coach Patrick Roy had no update on Palmieri after the game, saying the forward would see a doctor on Saturday.
‘I think everybody knows it doesn’t look very good,’ he told reporters.