New York Islanders
Mar 12, 2008 | By Ben Chaisson | Teams Articles Archive
How do you best describe the hideous scoring problems that have plagued the Islanders in recent weeks?
Injured winger Miroslav Satan, who had one goal in 19 games before sitting out the Islanders' sixth straight loss Thursday night in Pittsburgh with a knee injury, somehow is still the team's second-leading scorer with a whopping 29 points.
"Miro has one of those nagging injuries that could take a couple days or could take a couple weeks," Isles coach Ted Nolan said. "We'll rest him the next couple days, for sure, then see how he reacts in Minnesota (Saturday). We'll re-evaluate him at that time."
With center Mike Sillinger, the team's fourth-leading scorer, already sidelined with a hip injury, the Isles are holding out hope that a few days of rest will enable Satan to return to the lineup Saturday in Minnesota.
Satan, who originally sprained his right knee Jan. 8 in Vancouver, has struggled while trying to play through the injury, a noble gesture for a low-scoring team that has sunk to the periphery of the Eastern Conference playoff picture -- in 13th position entering Thursday's game.
Satan accompanied the Isles on this two-game road trip, and doesn't sound as if he plans to be sidelined long.
"I didn't really want to take time off, but I was kind of convinced," Satan told reporters Thursday in Pittsburgh. "We'll see how I feel day by day. I expect to be back soon. I don't want to say any number, but I seriously expect to be back shortly."
Penguins 4, Islanders 3: Silver linings are for losers, but the clouds hovering over the Islanders' season have grown so dark and ominous, coach Ted Nolan attempted to glean the positive aspects from his team's season-high sixth straight defeat Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Sparked by three goals from two slumping veteran forwards -- Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko -- and a strong and energetic game from an all-Bridgeport line of recent call-ups -- Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and Blake Comeau -- the Isles were tied into the closing minutes of the third period before Kris Letang's hard-angle goal squeezed past Rick DiPietro to deny the Isles a much-needed standings point with 3:39 remaining.
The disheartened Isles, who have lost six games in a row for the first time since early last season, nearly tied the score when the puck squirted into the net in the final seconds, but replays showed the whistle had blown with the puck under Pittsburgh goalie Ty Conklin with 2.4 seconds remaining.
Notes, Quotes
• The kids keep coming. One day after summoning young forwards Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen from Bridgeport, the Isles also recalled center Jeremy Colliton to replace injured winger Miroslav Satan.
"We want to try and reward kids who are doing some things down in the American Hockey League," coach Ted Nolan said. "Colliton's been one of those guys who's gotten better and better all year. He deserves the opportunity to come up... There's nothing like a good, youth-energizing line to maybe energize the rest of our team."
Quote To Note: "The one thing we talked about is we needed to work and compete and show the effort. And we had that tonight. It's a game of mistakes and we made one too many... But we do that, most nights, we'll come out OK." -- Coach Ted Nolan, who tried to remain positive despite the Islanders' sixth straight loss, 4-3 Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Roster Report
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• C Mike Comrie, the Isles' leading scorer who had no goals in his previous 10 games, heeded coach Ted Nolan's call for someone to "step up" in the absence of C Mike Sillinger and RW Miroslav Satan. He had two goals in a 4-3 loss Thursday in Pittsburgh.
• LW Ruslan Fedotenko netted his first goal in 10 games for the Isles.
• C Jeremy Colliton, appearing in his first NHL game this season after being called up from AHL Bridgeport to replace injured RW Miroslav Satan, logged a team-low 7:44 of fourth-line ice time.
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