Islanders’ Cal Ritchie exits with lower-body injury

PHILADELPHIA — Thursday night’s preseason finale was meant to be Cal Ritchie’s last, best chance to state his case for a roster spot, with the prospect skating in the top six to close out his impressive training camp.

Instead, Ritchie didn’t get on the ice for the third period of the 4-3 win over the Flyers, having suffered a lower-body injury on his last shift of the second.

“Day to day,” coach Patrick Roy said afterward. “He’ll see our doctor tomorrow.”

It would be a crying shame if Ritchie, whose push for a roster spot has been the story of training camp, was kept from one by an injury, of all things.

The 20-year-old from Brampton, Ontario used the past three weeks to state his case emphatically, forcing the Islanders to consider finding a way to insert the center into a lineup that already includes four locked-and-loaded NHL centermen.

“There’s gonna be important decisions for us to make, but I’m very happy with him,” Roy had said pregame. “Whatever decision we’re gonna make, he did what he had to do to make an impression. Makes our decision extremely difficult.

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Anders Lee returned to the lineup from an upper-body injury, scoring a goal in the win.

“He didn’t want to miss a game. That’s what I love about him,” Roy said pregame. “But it’s training camp, so we’re not gonna push guys to play. Gonna make sure everybody’s 100 percent.

“Anders could play at 60 percent and he would still want to play. That’s the kind of warrior he is. But today, he’s ready to go.”

In other words, this shouldn’t be too much of a lingering concern for Lee as the Islanders head into the regular season, with their opener a week from Thursday in Pittsburgh.

“Feel good. Working through it,” Lee said. “And then the opportunity to just get timing down, get into some battles. Get that type of game and everything. Happy to be able to get in one for sure. Go out and have a smart game, get ready for the regular season.”

This was the second straight game in which the Islanders dressed a squad that closely resembled what they will roll out in the regular season, with the Flyers doing the same.

Tony DeAngelo, Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri and Jonathan Drouin (illness) were the only projected regulars not to feature at Xfinity Mobile Area.

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Ilya Sorokin played all three periods, getting his second full game of work in the preseason, stopping 18 of 21 shots.

“I was not in as good shape as he was, I needed more [preseason] games,” Roy joked. “I was always beating records for body fat when I’d come to camp.”