Islanders’ Mike Reilly returns from heart surgery to make an impact

The Islanders knew this was coming. Mike Reilly knew this was coming. And yet, on Sunday morning, when it became clear Reilly would play later that night for the first time since undergoing heart surgery, the difference between knowing and seeing was all too evident.

“I feel like they almost didn’t believe it for a second,” Reilly said.

This was a moment Reilly has spent four months and then some working toward. He rose to it, and then some, skating 14:16 and recording an assist in a comeback 4-2 Islanders victory over the Panthers at UBS Arena which gives the club a massive boost in the playoff race.

“That would’ve been hard for me to do that,” Anders Lee said afterward. “Taking that much time off, being thrown into the mix, he didn’t even get a conditioning stint or anything like that.

“He just comes in and has a good hockey game. He throws a 150-foot pass [to Maxim Tsyplakov] on the tape to tie it up. It’s just a testament to the work he put in to get himself ready for tonight.”

Reilly’s whole world was thrown for a loop in mid-November, when testing while recovering from a concussion turned up an abnormality in his heart that required immediate attention. The issue was never threatening to his career, but that did not make it easy to deal with.

Reilly was cleared to play a little over a week ago, when the Islanders were in California, but with nine defensemen on the roster, there was no reason for the club not to take its time. An injury to Adam Pelech’s foot on Friday night that kept him out Sunday, though, gave a natural opening for Reilly.

“I kinda figured it’d be somewhat soon,” Reilly said. “Just didn’t know when.”

He found out Sunday morning he would indeed be replacing Pelech in the lineup and skating on the third pair with Scott Mayfield, with Ryan Pulock moving up to take Pelech’s spot on the second pair with Noah Dobson.

“Obviously excited,” Reilly said. “It’s been a long, long time, obviously. So a lot of work put into it, with the hope of coming back to play this season. Obviously excited just to be back with the guys here. Ready to go tonight.”

Sunday night, he excelled.

“I think he’s determined. He’s very determined to play,” coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s the first thing. I don’t know how it feels to have what he had, but what I mean is he was determined to play well. He wanted it. He cares. I think good things happen in those situations.”

Adam Boqvist (upper body) skated Sunday in an orange noncontact jersey.