The Islanders (36-29-12) are four points behind the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with five games remaining. Tavares leads New York with 66 points (28 goals, 38 assists) in 77 games. It is unlikely he'll play against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, MSG+, NHL.TV).
"It's a big blow," Weight said. "Anytime you see your best player go down, and obviously he was in some distress, but these guys have been around. Injuries happen. It's not fun, but it gives somebody a chance, right? It's going to give some more minutes to throw around, some big challenges at a good time of the year. We've got to win a game on Sunday.
"The morale will be fine. It's nothing you want to deal with, but it happens in a game."
Tavares had an assist in the first period when Anders Lee scored his 29th goal of the season. Lee has played on the top line with Tavares most of the season.
"He got his foot caught up a little behind the net," Lee said. "I don't know if he hit the net or what, but it just looked like he knew it right away and he went down. That's all I know. I saw him when I came in after the game, he was getting taken [into the trainers room]. We'll see what happens, hopefully it's nothing too serious."