"On the other side, don't forget he missed a lot of games. It's not easy just to … he couldn't do anything, he couldn't even practice. It's not easy to just jump and start playing again. On the other side, there's a lot of guys that [have] got to be tired, so he might look good."
New York will play without rookie defenseman Ryan Pulock, who sustained an upper-body injury in the third period of Game 4. Veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky will replace Pulock, who had a goal and two assists in four games.
Pulock is expected to miss the remainder of the series.
"[Zidlicky's] an experienced guy, and I think him and [Thomas Hickey] have some experience together," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said of the 39-year-old Zidlicky, who has played 44 career playoff games, including 24 with the New Jersey Devils during their run to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. "It's hard to lose another guy. I thought [Pulock] was playing really well for us. He's a young guy coming into his own and really helped us on the power play. Hopefully he can get better soon."
Here are the projected lineups:
ISLANDERS
Frans Nielsen - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Nikolay Kulemin - Brock Nelson - Josh Bailey
Shane Prince - Alan Quine - Steve Bernier
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy - Travis Hamonic
Calvin de Haan - Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey - Marek Zidlicky
Thomas Greiss
J-F Berube
Injured: Anders Lee (broken fibula), Ryan Pulock (upper body), Mikhail Grabovski (upper body), Brian Strait (upper body), Jaroslav Halak (lower body)
Scratched: Ryan Strome, Adam Pelech, Eric Boulton, Christopher Gibson
PANTHERS
Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen - Nick Bjugstad - Reilly Smith
Jiri Hudler - Vincent Trocheck - Teddy Purcell
Garrett Wilson - Derek MacKenzie - Logan Shaw
Dmitry Kulikov - Aaron Ekblad
Brian Campbell - Erik Gudbranson
Mike Matheson - Alex Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
Al Montoya
Injured: Dave Bolland (lower body), Willie Mitchell (concussion), Steven Kampfer (lower body)
Scratched: Shawn Thornton, Greg McKegg, Quinton Howden, Logan Shaw, Jakub Kindl
Status report: Strome, who has a goal and an assist in the series, was still on the ice with the Islanders' extras after the optional skate and likely will sit for Bernier, who would make his series debut. Bernier, 31, has 23 points in 68 career postseason games. … Kampfer skated Friday morning but is unlikely to play.
Who's hot: Tavares scored New York's only goal in Game 4. He has seven points in the series. … Petrovic scored the game-winner on Wednesday and has three points this series. Smith did not get a point in Game 4 but has four goals, four assists and a plus-7 rating.
