CHICAGO — This is part of what all professional athletes sign up for, so Matt Moulson had it planned out ahead of time.
The Islanders forward was in Greenwich, Conn., at 8:24 a.m. on Friday, with his wife Alicia as she gave birth to their second child, a son named George Benjamin, weighing in at nine pounds, nine ounces.
The Moulsons had little time as a family together, as Matt quickly chartered a private plane that left White Plains at noon and got him to Chicago around 2 p.m., Central time. He ate a meal on the plane, so he had a chance for 45-minute nap at the hotel, and then it was on to the United Center, where the Islanders lost to the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, 3-2, on Friday night.
“A whirlwind,” is how Moulson described it to The Post. “Any time you have a child born, it’s a great feeling, it’s a blessing. It was an emotional day.”
Moulson, who will turn 30 on Nov. 1, already has a 1-year-old girl named Mila. He and his wife had planned the his son’s birth by caesarian section so that Matt could be there for the birth and not miss a game.
“I know he’s really thrilled to be there for it,” captain John Tavares said after the morning skate. “Being in what we do, those things can be tough on families in those situations. It’s already been an amazing day for him.”
Moulson, a free agent after this season, started the game next to Tavares, and he finished his 18:12 of ice time with two shots on goal and a plus-1 rating.
“Did I look sluggish?” he said jokingly. “I felt fine. Obviously running on adrenaline. I felt perfectly fine. If I looked crappy, it was just me.”
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The Islanders’ brightest spot this season might be the penalty kill.
They went 4-for-4 against the Blackhawks on Friday, and are now 10-for-11 to open the season.
“The PK has been pretty good,” said Matt Martin, who played 3:18 of his 13:45 on the penalty kill. “[Assistant coach Brent Thompson] takes a lot of pride in it, and he has his killers take a lot of pride in it too. So we’ve been blocking a lot of shots and paying attention to little things.
“[Thompson is] going to continue to make it hard on us,” Martin said, “continue to challenge us and make us be better. It’s good to have that.”
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Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov is expected to play Saturday night in Nashville against the Predators.
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There is a chance hulking veteran defenseman Matt Carkner could take the spot of rookie defenseman Matt Donovan, who played the worst game of his four-game NHL career.
“[Donovan] struggled,” coach Jack Capuano said. “There’s no question.”
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Up front, Cal Clutterbuck made his Islanders debut and played 8:35, registering two hits and a minus-1 rating. He took the spot of rookie winger Brock Nelson on a line with Peter Regin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
It doesn’t seem like too many roster spots are set in stone, as Capuano said, “A few guys could probably learn from watching a game.”