Islanders Team Report: Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

Even the Islanders’ most durable player was not immune to the runaway injury bug that has made its way through the entire locker room this season.

With the Isles’ whopping total of man-games lost to injuries this season approaching 400, veteran forward Richard Park became the latest regular to land on the disabled list.

Park, who had appeared in 221 consecutive games since joining the team in 2006-07, is expected to miss at least four weeks with broken ribs suffered Wednesday against the Rangers. That leaves captain Bill Guerin as the lone Islander to have appeared in all 58 games this season.

“Obviously, Parkie’s a very versatile guy for us and a very hard guy to replace,” coach Scott Gordon said.

Gordon long ago became accustomed to operating without a ridiculous amount of lineup regulars. Entering Saturday’s game against New Jersey, 14 Islanders had missed at least 10 games because of injuries.

Hurricanes 6, Islanders 2: Despite owning the worst record in the NHL, the Islanders haven’t put forth many performances that could be categorized as clunkers. This one definitely was one of them.

Following up a physical effort in a loss Wednesday against the rival Rangers, the Isles were dominated in all aspects by playoff-hungry Carolina on Thursday at Nassau Coliseum. Numerous defensive breakdowns led to six goals on 30 shots against goalie Joey MacDonald as the Isles fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight games.

“It’s a situation where we haven’t had one of those in awhile,” coach Scott Gordon said. “We’re not the only team to have a bad night. Given where we are in the standings, one would expect it happens quite often, but it hasn’t.”

Notes, Quotes

• C Dean McAmmond was acquired from Ottawa along with a first-round draft pick this year for C Mike Comrie and D Chris Campoli. The draft pick originally belonged to San Jose; the Senators got it in a deal with Tampa Bay.

• RW Tim Jackman earned 17 minutes in penalties—a minor for instigating, a five-minute major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct—for fighting Carolina defenseman Tim Conboy, who ran over Isles goalie Joey MacDonald in the third period of the Hurricanes’ 6-2 win Thursday.

“It was just frustration, and sticking up for your teammate, your goalie,” Jackman said. “(Conboy) went to the net hard, and stuff like that happens out there.’”

• RW Trent Hunter returned to the lineup after missing four games with a strained hip flexor suffered Feb. 10 against Los Angeles, replacing injured forward Richard Park. Hunter had an even rating and no points over 15:34 of ice time..

Quote To Note: “Obviously, I think the result speaks for itself. I don’t really accept that we haven’t had a bad one in a while … It’s unacceptable to perform like that.”—Islanders defenseman Mark Streit following a 6-2 loss Thursday against Carolina.

Home Opener: Isles 5 Blues 2

What I liked:

--Well, the whole first period. The way the guys were crashing the net and moving without the puck kept the Blues back on their collective heels for most of the night. When the forecheck is working, it is a beautiful thing to watch.

--Joey MacDonald. The guy made what Billy Jaffe called a "sick" save in the second period with a lunge across his crease to deflect a sure Blues goal with his catching glove. He also stopped T-Chuck on a breakaway. The fans were into it for sure, chanting "Jo-ey!" in the same cadence they cheer for DP. Stellar.

--Sean Bergenheim played breakneck and got a goal. Trent Hunter also scored with a nice wrister from just above the circles. The Isles are going to need improved offense from these two to be successful this year. If Trent rediscovers his nose for the net and Bergie buries just half of the chances he seems to have all the time, both guys are going to have good offensive numbers.

--Scott Gordon, who got his first NHL win last night in the home opener.

What I didn't like:

--Radek Martinek went down behind his net again with an apparent shoulder injury. I love Radek as a player and there is no denying that he and Brendan Witt are the team's best pairing but we need to find a way to keep Martinek on the ice. He sure misses a lot of games and he is important to the team.

--The "Somewhere in California" commercial that they play EVERY FREAKING BREAK on the Center Ice package.

--TSN.ca speculated (without giving a source, by the way) that DP was going to be out for a while and was spotted with an ice pack on his knee after the game the other night. Yeesh. These guys really like kicking the can of conspiracy and always like to dig at our boys. If Rick was truly hurt, would they risk putting him on the bench as the backup goalie when he may have to get into a game? What in the name of Bob McKenzie is going on up there?

--Newsday reports that coach Gordon says that Blake Comeau's conditioning is not up to his overspeed standards.

--Josh Bailey is also reported to be out two- to four-weeks with an injury.

It Had To End, Really

Well, the Isles six game win streak had to come to end eventually, and it did yesterday in the matinee against the Devils.

The Isles dropped the game 4-2 and despite Chico Resch's obvious appreciation for Rick DiPietro, Ricky was not as sharp as he needed to be. It's no secret to anyone who watches the Islanders that the team is going to go as far as DiPietro can take them. Yesterday, he was not his strongest and it had to be expected.

The big news for the team came before the game when it was announced that Trent Hunter had signed a new 5 year deal. On the other end of the spectrum, it was also announced that Mike Sillinger would be undergoing season-ending hip surgery. While the team has played well in his absence, the guys are going to miss Sillinger's leadership on and off the ice.

Bruno Gervais also made his return to the lineup after missing the win streak.