Andrew MacDonald is expected to miss the remainder of the postseason after suffering a broken hand in the second period of the Islanders' 6-4 Game 4 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday. MacDonald led the NHL in blocked shots and will surely be missed. Other Islander blueliners will need to step up defensively in his absence.

Andrew MacDonald will not return to Tuesday's contest because of an upper-body injury. He blocks plenty of shots and logs plenty of ice time as a shutdown defender for the Islanders, so the team will miss him. Consider MacDonald day-to-day for now.

Andrew MacDonald headed to the dressing room in some pain after being assessed a penalty for holding in the second period. Keith Aucoin went to the penalty box to serve MacDonald's infraction. At the time of his exit, he had been leading the team with 15:36 of ice time. We'll keep you posted on his status.

Andrew MacDonald is the surprising blocked shots leader in the NHL. He has gotten in the way of 116 shots and probaly has the bruises to show for it. There aren't many pools that count blocked shots as a stat, but for the ones that do, MacDonald has been a very valuable fantasy player this season.

Andrew MacDonald has 68 blocked shots this year, which ranks him fifth in the league entering Wednesday night's action. The Islanders have been credited with 397 blocked shots, which is sixth-highest total in the NHL. "I've never looked at the numbers but, back in the day, it was never really asked of players to step in front of pucks," said MacDonald. "Their job was more to tie up the other guy. Now there's a lot more emphasis on getting in the shot lane, and then you've got to do whatever you can."

Three Islanders scored their first goals of the season in Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss. Josh Bailey, Andrew MacDonald and Lubomir Visnovksy all scored, while Okposo scored his first in 19 games. Balance is all well and good, but the Islanders were the victims of a rough third period in which they gave up three goals as a valuable point slipped away. "We got a point, but we're definitely not happy," MacDonald said. "We've had so many opportunities to close out games, to go up in games, and we can't get it done."

Andrew MacDonald has signed with HC Karlovy Vary to play in the Czech Extraliga. In 75 games with the New York Islanders last season, MacDonald registered 19 points and a minus-5 rating while averaging 23:22 of ice time per contest. The 26-year-old will return to Long Island when a new CBA is reached.

Andrew MacDonald potted the only goal for the New York Islanders as they prevailed 2-1 in the shootout against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. It was only MacDonald's second of the year, so he's not even worth monitoring in fantasy leagues. John Tavares, 25th point, and Matt Moulson, 24th point, each notched assists on the goal. Impressively, the lowly Isles greatly outplayed the NHL's best team, on the road, nearly doubling their shot total -- 37-21 -- as Frans Nielsen came up with the winner in the shootout.

Andrew MacDonald (leg) is available for Saturday's game. MacDonald is returning a little ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, he has no fantasy value this season.

Andrew MacDonald (leg) will be a game-time decision on Saturday. MacDonald was initially projected to miss two-to-four weeks on December 5th, so if he manages to play on Saturday, he'll beat even the early end of that estimate. MacDonald was a pleasant surprise last season, but he shouldn't be counted on to have any fantasy value in standard leagues in 2011-12.