Lane Lambert smiled Wednesday morning when asked about Ross Johnston’s return to Long Island.
“One of my favorite guys that I’ve coached,” Lambert said. “Just a good guy to be around.”
If you want to understand Johnston’s value to the Islanders over a seven-year period in which he skated in just 134 games, that would be a good place to start.
“I personally loved him,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau told The Post. “As a person, as a player, he would always have your back.
“I think everyone here is just wishing him the best, and it’s fun that he gets to play.”
Johnston never quite stuck in the lineup, and by the time he was waived following training camp this season, a move felt inevitable.
But the 6-foot-5 enforcer was very much a beloved figure in the Islanders’ dressing room.
“He went through some tough times with being healthy-scratched a lot,” Lambert said. “And he always came to the rink, always worked, always had a good attitude. Nice to see him get an opportunity.”
His return to UBS Arena, then, was well-appreciated by the organization, which gave Johnston a tribute video during the first TV timeout of the eventual 4-3 Islanders win, in which Johnston skated 8:10.
“It probably hit me a little deeper than I thought it would,” Johnston told reporters after the game. “I have a lot of great memories here, a lot of close teammates, made Long Island home for a lot of years, so it’s special to be back and the tribute was nice. I’m touched by the Islanders and I’m forever grateful for my time here.”
Sebastian Aho was activated off injured reserve and played Wednesday against the Ducks after missing eight games with an upper-body injury, skating to the right of Mike Reilly and finishing the night with 18:51 time on ice.
“I felt good,” Aho said. “I thought me and Mikey moved the puck well, and we had a lot of opportunities up the ice. Overall a good game.”
The revolving door on the blue line, however, continued as Scott Mayfield missed the game and was declared day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Lambert said that this was a new injury for Mayfield as opposed to something the defenseman had previously been playing through.
2022 second-round pick Calle Odelius is currently on Long Island and has been in the press box for the past couple games. Djugardens IF coach Michael Holmqvist told The Post via text that Odelius is stateside to rehab a fractured ankle suffered three weeks ago. He is expected to miss three months including the World Junior Championships.
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