Stefen Rosner on Morning Cuppa Hockey Talking Islanders Samuel Bolduc [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-patrick-roy-samuel-bolduc-grant-hutton-dennis-cholowski-adam-pelech-alexander-romanov-mike-reilly-noah-dobson-scott-mayfield-ryan-pulock-defense-injuries] had a tremendous opportunity to leave his mark with the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-patrick-roy-samuel-bolduc-grant-hutton-dennis-cholowski-adam-pelech-alexander-romanov-mike-reilly-noah-dobson-scott-mayfield-ryan-pulock-defense-injuries] blue line in shambles due to injuries. But, like we've seen in the past, the former 2019 second-round pick wasn't ready when given the opportunity, and now he's headed back to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League: Although Bolduc wasn't the reason for the Islanders 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/] on Sunday night, his lack of awareness proved costly on the Rangers' second goal, with Vincent Trocheck making it a 2-0 game early in the second: Bolduc played two more shifts in the game, 5:56 total. Head coach Patrick Roy made that decision, which certainly put more pressure on the other five defenses as the game transpired. "It's sad. Those things happen, but Sam [Bolduc] needs to be better if he wants to play in the NHL," Roy said postgame. "He's got to understand [that] and step up. He's a good hockey player. He's got all the tools. Now, he just needs to figure it out. But he needs to be better if he wants to play for us." Bolduc did take part in Monday's skate, cycling in on the bottom defense pairing with Dennis Cholowski and Grant Hutton. But the writing on the wall said that he was likely to be the odd man out. The Islanders have yet to make a corresponding move, which likely means that either Alexander Romanov (day to day, upper body) is ready to return after missing Sunday's game and three of the last four. The Islanders battle the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM ET.
