The Anaheim Ducks are hoping to have center Ryan Getzlaf back in the lineup when they play the New York Islanders at Honda Center on Wednesday.
Getzlaf has missed the past four games with a groin injury, but the team captain skated three days in a row before practicing with the top line on Tuesday.
"(Monday) was a day I pushed it pretty hard from a skating standpoint, and it reacted well," Getzlaf told reporters after practice Tuesday. "I skated with the guys (Tuesday), which was a more of an up-tempo, little more of that push and pull, those kinds of things, reactionary stuff, and so we'll see how it reacts (Wednesday)."
Getzlaf, 33, was one of the top two-point scorers the past six seasons for Anaheim.
The Ducks (4-1-1) could be without their leading point scorer this season, however.
Jakob Silfverberg left in the second period Sunday after he was struck in the left hand with the puck while trying to block a shot against the St. Louis Blues. He did not return in the 3-2 victory. Silfverberg scored earlier in the game, giving him three goals and four assists in the first six games.
The Ducks also lost right wing Carter Rowney to an upper-body injury during a 5-3 loss at the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Anaheim was already without Getzlaf, Patrick Eaves (shoulder), Ondrej Kase (concussion) and Corey Perry (knee surgery).
The club recalled forwards Joseph Blandisi and Chase De Leo from San Diego on Tuesday.
"It seems like the injuries keep piling up," Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano told the Orange County Register.
The Islanders (2-2-0) have been in Southern California since Sunday. They last played Saturday night in a 5-2 loss at the Nashville Predators, who have defeated New York in both meetings this season.
The Islanders are hopeful to have fourth-line center Casey Cizikas back in the lineup after he missed the most recent Nashville game with a lower-body injury.
Cizikas, who has never scored more than nine goals in his previous seven seasons in New York, practiced on a line with Ross Johnston and Leo Komarov on Tuesday. Cizikas had been with Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin, who reunited this season after Martin spent the past two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Cizikas, Clutterbuck and Martin played three seasons together starting in 2013-14 and helped the Islanders to a first-round win against the Florida Panthers in 2016, their only playoff series win since 1993.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz, who won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season, also moved Andrew Ladd onto a line with Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey, and put Anthony Beauvillier with Valtteri Filppula and Clutterbuck.
"We need to be a little more thorough through our lines," Trotz told the team web site after practice Tuesday. "Having a little bit of identity for each line and making sure they're productive."
In the last meeting between these teams on Dec. 21 in New York, Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm completed his first career hat trick with an overtime goal in a 5-4 win.
