Finally, the Islanders can see light at the end of the tunnel for Mathew Barzal. 

Nearly two months after a left-knee flare up from which the club originally refused to rule him out for opening night, Barzal shed his non-contact jersey and skated as a full participant for the first time all season on Saturday morning. 

After it took him until last week to join the team for the first time, this was a rapid move to the next step in his recovery. Though the Islanders are sticking to rhetorical caution — coach Pete DeBoer said it had yet to be decided whether Barzal would travel to California with the team on Sunday — a return to game action for Barzal is starting to look like a matter of when and not if. 

Even better is that the same applies to Matias Maccelli, who also participated fully Saturday morning for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury three weeks ago. 

“It’s not fun when you have injuries. We have a few injuries: Barzy, ’Chelly, [Calum Ritchie]. When your full roster’s healthy, it’s nice,” Matthew Schaefer said. “All the boys are rolling, we’re feeling good together. We’re just having fun out there.” 

The Islanders declined to make Barzal or Maccelli available to reporters. 

DeBoer said that both would meet with the Islanders’ medical staff after skating Saturday to decide whether they would travel. 

“It’s all medical doctors,” DeBoer said of how that decision would be made. “If they have a chance to play, I think that’s part of it. The other part of it is, we have some practice time on the road, real practice time. Even if they can’t play, practicing with us as a group.” 

Though Barzal and Maccelli aren’t the only two players the Islanders are waiting on — Ryan Pulock (upper body) remained in a red non-contact jersey Saturday morning and Ritchie (upper body) hasn’t yet started to skate — the cumulative effect of those four injuries has hit the Islanders hard on their current homestand. 

Largely as a response to two straight losses, DeBoer tweaked his lineup for Saturday’s match against the Devils, putting Ondrej Palat on the second line and Simon Holmstrom on the third, with Emil Heineman replacing Holmstrom on the top line. Ben Hutton was also inserted for Scott Mayfield on the third defense pair. 

Until Barzal and Maccelli are back, though, any changes will feel like precursors. 

Their returns — and eventually, Ritchie’s — will give DeBoer a series of options he hasn’t had all season. Whether to put Barzal at center or load up the top line with him on Bo Horvat’s wing is a dilemma DeBoer will be thrilled to have. 

Barzal’s speed might help solve the Islanders’ growing power play problem, too, while Maccelli’s skill adds a dimension to the top six that they’ve been lacking ever since he got hurt. 

Not to mention the effects further down the lineup, where the Islanders may suddenly be fielding third and fourth lines that look much like their current second and third lines. The three forwards they’re missing — Barzal, Ritchie and Maccelli — could easily form a second line 

“Especially when you lose a game or two, you tend to look at [future lineup options] a little bit more,” DeBoer said. “I think we’ve done a good job of staying in the moment and focusing on the group that’s available to us, and playing a good brand of hockey with the guys we have available.” 

Nevertheless, it’s a simple fact that even after 15 games, nobody can say with much certainty what the Islanders are, because they’ve yet to play a lineup that includes one of their best players. 

That may change very soon.