Perhaps the only mistake Casey Cizikas made in his return to the lineup resulted in him scoring.
“Oh yeah,” he said, laughing, after the Islanders put away the Lightning 6-2 on Thursday night at UBS Arena in perhaps their best win all season. “No, I fanned on that.”
Whether it was in the exact way he meant to or not, Cizikas ended up putting the puck in the net to put an exclamation mark on his return and the night, with the Islanders’ sixth goal at the 15:22 mark of the second.
After Cizikas was activated off long-term injured reserve Thursday morning, the win over Tampa marked the first time since Nov. 24 that the Islanders played without anyone who otherwise would have been in the lineup due to injury.
And Cizikas, driving the engine on the fourth line as usual, quickly made the Islanders remember what they’d missed without him.
“He brings so much depth, energy to our lineup,” coach Patrick Roy said. “He’s, for some reason, these three are clicking so well. [Matt] Martin and [Cal] Clutterbuck are clicking so well. Even at one shift they were playing against [Nikita] Kucherov and I was very comfortable. He’s playing PK, he scored a nice goal. I was very impressed with him.”
Casey Cizikas accepts congratulations from teammates after scoring a second-period goal in the Islanders’ 6-2 win. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Cizikas, who suffered a lower-body injury blocking Filip Hronek’s shot on Jan. 9, had missed the past 10 games with Kyle MacLean filling in.
But after scoring his first NHL goal in Toronto on Monday night, MacLean was sent down to AHL Bridgeport on Thursday to keep the Islanders cap compliant.
Thursday was the first game Cizikas played under Roy. It couldn’t have gone better.
“It’s huge. It’s never fun being out, it’s never fun skating by yourself,” Cizikas said. “But watching the way the guys competed in practice, watching the way they competed in games it pushes you to get back, it pushes you to be harder. Get yourself in shape when it is your turn to get back on the ice, you’re ready to go. Today, it was a great night for the guys.”
MacLean earned some praise from Roy after his six-game stint centering the fourth line in Cizikas’ absence.
“I think he has a future with us,” Roy said. “No doubt in my mind. That’ll be up to the organization to decide whether he’s ready or not, but I think he does have a future with our team. Played really well, I felt he was very reliable. He played well defensively.
“I guess there’s no better feeling than leaving with a goal in your back pocket. For any player, it brings a lot of confidence in your game. I’m sure he’s going to Bridgeport with a lot of good things on his mind.”
