PITTSBURGH — Adam Pelech was back in the lineup for the Islanders, but Tuesday was not the long-awaited day they could play their six opening-night defenseman for the first time since Oct. 25.
The rotating carousel of ailments landed this time on Alexander Romanov, who missed the 4-2 comeback win over the Penguins due to illness.
Adam Boqvist was also sick, though it’s unclear whether the Swede would have been ready to play either way after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
“It’s a weird season, I won’t lie,” coach Patrick Roy said pregame. “The number of injuries, guys being sick and so on, seems to me like it never ends. Hopefully that’s the last one and we can play with a healthy lineup.”
The issue with Pelech’s foot after blocking a shot late in Friday night’s loss to Edmonton, at least, turned out to be short term — a relief given he missed extended time earlier this season with a broken jaw.
“I’m feeling great,” Pelech said. “Unfortunately I wasn’t quite ready to go against Florida [on Sunday]. I would’ve loved to be out there, just wasn’t quite ready, but now I’m feeling good. Close to 100 percent and ready to go.”
Pelech skated a season-high 26:00 on the top pair with Tony DeAngelo — a first this season as DeAngelo has partnered Romanov every game since being signed in late January.
The other two pairs — Ryan Pulock with Noah Dobson and Mike Reilly with Scott Mayfield — were the same as Sunday night’s win over Florida.
His 12 shot attempts were also a season high, including five that went on net, with the defenseman noticeably more aggressive shooting the puck than usual.
“I think that a big part of the comebacks the last two games have just kind of been sticking with the process,” Pelech told The Post after the game. “You can’t force it and try to start making individual plays. You need to have discipline, have belief in your system and know that eventually we’ll start getting the bounces and the puck will go in the net.”
Roy said he thought Rickard Rakell’s stick hit Ilya Sorokin’s stick on Sidney Crosby’s first-period goal, leading him to challenge the play for goaltender interference.
The Islanders lost the challenge, though they killed off the ensuing penalty.
Roy is now 6-4 this season on challenges.
“They thought it was an incidental contact with Bo Horvat. That I had a hard time to understand,” Roy said. “It’s behind us. Let’s focus on the win and the next game.”
