Islanders Team Report courtesy Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

In the middle of an interview on a top-rated local radio program Thursday, Islanders general manager Garth Snow was asked if Ted Nolan’s decision to start backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz for the third straight game that night caused him to raise an eyebrow.

“One eyebrow or two?” Snow replied.

Snow already was on record earlier in the week that he expected All-Star starter Rick DiPietro back in the lineup Thursday on the back end of a home-and-home series against the rival Rangers, even though Dubielewicz had filled in admirably in a 4-3 shootout victory two nights earlier at Madison Square Garden with DiPietro skipping his second straight game due to the death last week of his grandmother.

The Isles’ ongoing struggles on the power play were more of a factor than was Dubielewicz’s play in Thursday’s playoff-damaging 4-1 loss, and Nolan undoubtedly will switch back to his workhorse starter for Saturday’s visit to Philadelphia.

Still, DiPietro, who returned from Massachusetts in time to practice with the team Wednesday and again at Thursday’s morning skate, has 13 years remaining after this season on a 15-year contract. Thus, it was big news that Nolan had the pucks to stick with Dubielewicz, who entered the game with 13 wins in his NHL career.

“I was told I wasn’t playing,” said DiPietro, who sports a lackluster save percentage of .886 over his past 16 starts. “At the end of the day, that’s a coach’s decision. Dubie played well the last game and got us that win in the shootout. It was unfortunate I was away a couple of days and missed time.”

Nolan also wasn’t pleased that DiPietro announced the decision to the media before he did.

“Ricky has to concentrate on being a goaltender and we’ll concentrate on coaching the team,” he said. “We’re in the business of winning games, so you’ve got to go with the hot goaltender — if that’s the case — or you come back with our No. 1 guy.

“Either way, it’s a tough decision. But actually, it’s a good decision. You want tough decisions to make. If it’s easy, the competition isn’t there. So, a hard decision is better for the team. It’s a great position for us to be in deciding which goaltender should go because they’re both very adequate.”

Rangers 4, Islanders 1: Whatever you think of Ted Nolan’s daring decision to stick with backup Wade Dubielewicz for a third straight game despite All-Star starter Rick DiPietro’s availability, know that goaltending wasn’t to blame for the Islanders’ latest anemic loss. Heck, instead of manning the door at the end of the bench, maybe DiPietro’s vaunted stick-handling skills could have proved helpful at the point to aid another wretched performance by the Isles’ putrid power-play unit. The Isles went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, including three straight power-play opportunities with the game within reach in the second period. With their fifth loss in their last seven games, the low-scoring Isles slipped to five points behind the eighth-place Flyers in the Eastern Conference, with a visit to Philadelphia on tap for Saturday.

Notes, Quotes

• D Bruno Gervais (concussion) skated Thursday for the second consecutive day, but Isles coach Ted Nolan said there is no timetable presently for his return to the lineup. LW Jon Sim, who had surgery in October to repair a torn ACL, also has resumed skating on his own, but it remains doubtful that he will be back before the regular season is over.

Quote To Note: “I thought Dubie did well. He had a breakaway against him, then a re-direction on the second and third (goals). It certainly wasn’t Dubielewicz’s fault. He played a strong game and kept us in. Rick (DiPietro) will have two practices under his belt and he’ll run with it from here on in.”—Coach Ted Nolan, on his decision to give backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz a third straight start in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers.