EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Josh Ho-Sang made his return to the Islanders on Sunday, called up after ripping through the last month in the AHL.



He’s basically here as a stand-in, though. The Islanders, coming off a rally to win in Detroit on Saturday after seeing captain Anders Lee steamrolled by Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, are at an emotional high point of the season 28 games in. No one in charge of making the roster decisions said Ho-Sang’s recall was anything but a need for a healthy body up front, with Lee and Tom Kuhnhackl missing practice.



It’s pretty clear that if Bridgeport had its usual Sunday game, Ho-Sang wouldn’t have been summoned. Ho-Sang practiced in Lee’s spot and Barry Trotz didn’t give much of an indication that Bridgeport’s leading scorer would get in Monday’s game against the Penguins unless Lee, still nursing a sore face after taking Kronwall’s shoulder to his head, were to miss the...