Jaroslav Halak injury update: Out at least six weeks

The New York Islanders will be without starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak for at least the next six weeks. 

During the third period of the New York Islanders 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, goaltender Jaroslav Halak went down on the ice and had to be helped to the locker room. The injury speculation is over. Islanders head coach Jack Capuano has announced that Halak will miss at least six weeks while recovering from his injury.

Replacing Halak as the Islanders primary goaltender will be backup goalie Thomas Greiss. Greiss has outperformed Halak this season but does not have the pedigree of Halak. The German netminder Greiss has never been a starter in the NHL except for a spell this season while Halak was recovering from an unrelated injury.

Thomas Greiss leads the NHL with a .930 save percentage while appearing in a career high 29 games for the Islanders this season. Jaroslav Halak, by comparison, has a .919 save percentage. Greiss can most likely replace Halak competently. This is an opportunity for Greiss to prove that he is worthy of a starting job in the NHL. He’s never had that opportunity before so that’s quite exciting for him.

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The primary issue with losing Halak will be who will be the second part of the goaltending tandem. Halak and Greiss formed a nice tandem. Capuano could afford to rest Halak knowing that he had Greiss. Two other goalies have seen spot starts with the Islanders this season: Jean-Francois Berube and Christopher Gibson. Of those two, Berube will likely get first dibs at the Islanders backup goaltender role that is now vacated.