CHICAGO -- Mat Barzal looked like Christmas had come early.
After six weeks of waiting and watching, Barzal and Adam Pelech are both making their returns from injury on Sunday afternoon against the Blackhawks, rejoining an Islanders team that suddenly looks in position to make up ground in an Eastern Conference wild-card race where no one has been anything approaching dominant.
"The guys did a heck of a job the last six weeks," Barzal said pregame. "Every game was inspiring. Watching how much compete they were playing with, every guy stepped up. I'm just looking to jump back in and feed off that. Just roll with these guys."
Barzal, who suffered an upper-body injury, said he skated on his own for two weeks before rejoining the team for morning skate on Thursday. With Pelech, Anthony Duclair and Mike Reilly also injured, the foursome spent significant time together in their respective rehab processes.
"That was the one thing that kept us all going," Barzal said. "My mom flew down, spent a little time with her. Just finding little things to do. Playing some chess, little bit of reading, but there's really nothing I could do. Long days at the rink. Long workouts."
Pelech, who hurt his jaw after taking a puck to the face six weeks ago in Buffalo, will play Sunday with what he described as a "jaw visor" -- short of a full face shield. He's unsure how long it will be until that's removed.
"It was definitely a couple weeks of no solid food," Pelech said. "But once I got the OK to eat, I feel like all the weight came back quickly and I was able to work out and get back in good shape."
The Islanders entered Sunday with the chance to go above NHL-.500 for the first time since Oct. 25 and get above the playoff cutline with a win over the last-place Blackhawks.
Duclair (suspected groin) and Reilly (heart) remained out, but there have been positive signs for both. Duclair is on the road and looks close to a return, while Reilly was spotted skating on his own for the first time Saturday.
"I think with us coming back here shortly, hopefully the boys can get excited about that," Barzal said. "I think that's really it. We're just coming in, trying to tag along with that compete and energy they're bringing the last six weeks."