Kyle Palmieri exits with lower-body injury in major Islanders concern

No matter the outcome of Friday’s game, the most important long-term consequence for the Islanders could be the loss of Kyle Palmieri.

Palmieri suffered a lower-body injury while battling Jamie Drysdale for a puck in the corner early in the second period on Friday and limped off the ice.

The Islanders announced before the third that he wouldn’t return to the game.

Palmieri’s 223 consecutive games played are the longest of any Islander by a significant margin, and without him, there’s a massive hole in the top six.

He did at least give the Islanders something to remember before coming out of the game.

While Palmieri was limping off the ice, he somehow stole the puck off Emil Andrae and tapped it to Jonathan Drouin, who promptly fed Emil Heineman for the Islanders’ first goal of the afternoon.

That helped start a comeback from 3-0 down, and as the third period started, the Islanders and Flyers were knotted at three.