With the Islanders badly needing a win after losing their lead in the Metropolitan Division, their lineup is completely up in the air thanks to a flu bug that is running through their locker room. The only thing that seems certain for the Isles' home game against Ottawa is that Robin Lehner will start in goal.
"Sickness hit us on Sunday. We had some guys that had to go to the locker room. Quite frankly I don't even know the lineup right now," Barry Trotz said, per the team's Twitter account. "We've got a plethora of things going on. I probably won't know our lineup until game time tonight."
Amid the chaos, the Islanders have called up forwards Josh Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle on an emergency basis from AHL Bridgeport. NHL teams are allowed four non-emergency recalls after the trade deadline, but teams can make emergency recalls if they need player to field a full roster. Ho-Sang and Dal Colle can only play Tuesday if the Islanders don't have 18 healthy skaters.
Matt Martin has missed the last two games and Cal Clutterbuck only played 7:40 in Sunday's loss to Philadelphia. The Athletic reports that Casey Cizikas was also sick.
The good news for the Islanders as they sit two points behind Washington with a game in hand is they have a home-and-home with the basement-dwelling Senators this week, giving them a prime opportunity to rack up points. After Tuesday's game the Isles head to Ottawa on Thursday.