Islanders leave injured Bo Horvat in New York for start of road trip

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Islanders reversed their plan to have Bo Horvat travel on the entire seven-game road trip that started in Nashville on Thursday, instead leaving the centerman behind in New York where it is easier for him to get treatment on his lower-body injury, general manager Mathieu Darche said Thursday before the Islanders’ 2-1 shootout defeat to Predators.

At least in Darche’s telling, it was not made to sound like a setback for Horvat. The door is still open for Horvat to join the two-week trip in progress, or even play by the end of it.

“I definitely expect him [back] way before the Olympic break,” Darche said of Horvat, who will represent Team Canada in Milan. “I’d like to at the end of this trip. If it’s not, it’s not the end of the world. If it is, good for us. We want to make sure we do it right so he doesn’t take a step back.”

If Horvat does meet the Islanders somewhere down the line, Darche said it would presumably be in the second half of the trip.

Horvat’s current injury, which looked to be related to his left side, is “similar without necessarily being linked” to the issue that kept him out for five games in December before he got hurt again on New Year’s Day, Darche said.

“Our doctors think there’s a strong chance it would’ve happened [either way],” Darche said. “He didn’t come back too early. That was his [fourth] game, even the last few days [beforehand] he wasn’t getting treatment on the previous injury. It’s just bad luck that it happened to the same part of the body.”

Defenseman Isaiah George, who has been dealing with a lower-body injury at Bridgeport, is supposed to play this weekend, according to Darche.

Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) has not yet started to skate on his own. Darche said he is “progressing really, really well” and there is a chance Romanov could return for a potential playoff run.

Whether Semyon Varlamov ever returns from a knee injury, and when that might be, remains unclear. Varlamov continues to work on his own and has recently started dropping into a stance more, but Darche said the Russian is not factoring into his planning at the goaltender position.

“His situation won’t affect what I do with David [Rittich] right now because we don’t have an endgame right now with Varly,” Darche said.

Like Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Darche hasn’t yet started discussing an extension with Rittich, who was signed to a one-year deal last offseason.

Rittich got the start in net against the Predators. Coach Patrick Roy said the Islanders decided he would play before Ilya Sorokin returned from injury with a 44-save shutout Tuesday, not wanting to overload Sorokin right away.