Islanders Team Report from Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

Never has the scheduling of a meaningless preseason game sparked so much speculation or consternation.

The Islanders are playing dumb on the intent of the news, but they acknowledged Thursday that they are planning to face the Los Angeles Kings in a September exhibition game in Kansas City, a city known to be actively seeking an NHL franchise.

And with talks with local politicians at a standstill over a longstanding proposal to renovate aging Nassau Coliseum and develop its surrounding land, there once again are plenty of folks on Long Island concerned about the long-term viability of the Islanders, who are an NHL-worst 12-28-4 entering Saturday’s game against New Jersey.

“I’m not worried about (the perception). It’s a preseason game,” general manager Garth Snow said before Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Boston. “The last few years, and even before I became GM, we always played preseason games in different markets.

“This is just another opportunity for us to bring this organization and our team to a different market.”

Isles owner Charles Wang has insisted since purchasing the Isles in 2000 that he remains committed to not relocating the team.

Bruins 2, Islanders 1: The NHL’s worst team gave the Eastern Conference’s best all it could handle. It still wasn’t enough, largely because Boston—with All-Star Tim Thomas—doesn’t have a the Islanders’ worries in goal with Rick DiPietro and backup Joey MacDonald both out of the lineup.

Third-string netminder Yann Danis played well, but was out of position on Marc Savard’s game-opening goal in the second period. And Thomas made 40 saves as the Bruins sent the Isles to their sixth straight loss and a 2-16-2 mark in their last 20 games.

“I felt a lot better as the game went on,” Danis said. “I would like to have the first one back, but I’m not going to dwell on that.”

Notes, Quotes

• G Wade Dubielewicz, a former Islanders backup who recently was bought out of his contract in Russia, has agreed to a one-year deal reportedly worth a pro-rated portion of $500,000 for the remainder of the season. Current backup Joey MacDonald is sidelined with a groin injury, but Dubielewicz’s return is the surest sign yet that injury-plagued starter Rick DiPietro likely will be shut down for the season due to persistent swelling in his surgically repaired knee.

G Peter Mannino was recalled Thursday from AHL Bridgeport to back up Yann Danis until newly signed Wade Dubielewicz arrives.

“We should have an update (on DiPietro) hopefully within a couple days,” GM Garth Snow said Thursday. “It’s tough. We anticipated having Rick healthy and running on all cylinders from Day One. There’s been a couple setbacks. We’ve had injuries throughout the lineup.”

• RW Kyle Okposo took a puck in the side of the face off the stick of teammate Radek Martinek early in Thursday’s game against Boston. Okposo left the game and underwent X-rays but later returned wearing a facial visor.

Quote To Note: “We just played two teams in first place. We’ve started to put together more consistent 60-minute efforts. Obviously, it’s only two games, but it’s a very encouraging sign.”—Coach Scott Gordon, after the Isles lost 2-1 in back-to-back games against the Rangers and Boston.