With Mike Sillinger rehabbing with the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport and Brendan Witt already back, things look to be changing in the Islanders favor very quickly.

Sure, Mike Comrie is still nursing a hip problem and Kyle Okposo will be out for at least a week with arm problems of his own, but as I’ve said before, this team’s defense is much more important than the offense. The way Comrie and Okposo have played this season as well makes their absence from the lineup not as big a deal as it could have been if they were producing.

As long as the defense supports Joey MacDonald and he can see the puck, the Islanders should be in decent shape. The way some of the role players have responded the past few games, guys like Frans Neilsen, Jon Sim and Tim Jackman especially, it feels like this team will find a way to produce enough offense to win. That’s not something I would have gone out of my way to say a few weeks ago, but if this team continues to skate and draw penalties, I feel that players will score for this team.

Kind of funny how a few hard-earned wins will change someone’s mind eh?

With KO out, Newsday beat reporter Greg Logan believes the Isles will have an emergency callup from Bridgeport will be made, but didn’t give any ideas as to whom it might be. My money is either on Blake Comeau, who many feel should have made the team out of camp this season and has 11 points in 13 games this season, or Mike Iggulden who has 20 points in 18 games. That doesn’t mean the Isles won’t take the safer route though and go with a guy like Kurtis McLean, who also has 20 points, but is a bit older than both Comeau and Iggulden.

Regardless of who joins the team, I think that players like Trent Hunter and Doug Weight will have to continue to lead the team offensively, while Radek Martinek and Witt will have to jump right into the thick of things. These guys don’t have the luxury of waiting a few games to find themselves. The team’s top defensive duo, they will have to be on top of their game against New Jersey on Friday. Winning three in a row, the Isles have to maintain this type of play until they get healthy again.

Then after that, we’ll see what this team can really do.

Final Score: Islanders 1, Vancouver Media 0.

Seriously, what kind of journalist says something along the lines of the Islanders don’t stand a chance and Roberto Luongo and the Canucks can get away with playing decent and still win?

This is the NHL baby. Every game in this league never has a clear-cut winner. All it takes is for a hot goaltender or someone with a wicked backhand to get an opportunity in the shootout and it’s lights out, regardless of how good your team is.

Luckily, the Islanders got both last night, as Joey MacDonald and Frans Neilsen played superb games, leading New York to an “unlikely” win.

Winners of three in a row and holding a 7-9-2 record, things aren’t nearly as bad as they were a week ago, right? The return of Radek Martinek has quietly bolstered the Islanders defense and all of a sudden Frans Neilsen, Josh Bailey [would you guys keep him around after his nine games are up? As of right now, I totally would] and Kyle Okposo are noticeable out there. Are they playing phenomenal hockey? No, but they are making factors of themselves. The same thing goes for a guy like Tim Jackman, who looks like he may stick around this season after getting a long cup of coffee last season when injuries buried this team and their playoff chances.

This season however, the Islanders playoff chances haven’t really even been realized yet. All this team is doing right now is trying to earn the league’s respect back. In my mind, they are still a legitimate scorer and another offensive defenseman away from being a playoff contender, but if they keep finding ways to win and get Mike Comrie, Brendan Witt and Mike Sillinger back and they can produce, this team is going to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Joey MacDonald alone has been a blast to follow this season and has almost singlehandedly kept this team as close to above water as he can. Nevertheless, I think guys like Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli, Mark Streit and Andy Sutton have played much better in their own end over the past few games as well, giving MacDonald every chance to flourish.

If this keeps up, this team may just take us on another joy ride for a few weeks.

At the very least, Islander fans should enjoy this and keep their eyes on the prize. This is blue collar, unsexy hockey, but it’s winning hockey. With a host of rookies and aging veterans on this team, you couldn’t really ask for me right now.

Coming off two consecutive wins against the Senators, the Islanders don’t look anything like the team that has had problems holding leads in the third period all season. Even in giving up two goals in the final period against the Sens in their last game, the Isles have finally started skating with the type of personal accountability they’ve lacked all season.

Regardless of what the pundits think, I think it’s fair to say that this team is starting to understand what they have to do in order to win.

On top of that, Joey MacDonald is playing his best hockey of the season and with Andy Sutton and Radek Martinek both back in the lineup and the return of Brendan Witt looming, the Isles defense will be as close to 100 percent as possible.

With that being said, a team like the Canucks, with all their offensive ability and strength in net, will be facing a much better Islanders team than they would have faced two weeks ago.
Because of that, this should be a fun one to watch.

The Josh Bailey Experiment Continues- Through his first handful of games this season, Bailey has been a lot better than anyone could have possibly thought. From what the team’s coaching staff has said thus far, it looks like Bailey may be sticking around.

“He hasn’t played at a junior pace. So, that’s very encouraging. Whether he’ll be able to maintain that through these nine games will probably dictate whether he stays here or goes back to junior,” Gordon told the AP “I think the bonus for us if he’s able to stay here is that it accelerates his progress for next year.

“If he goes back to junior, granted he’ll play a lot. But he’ll play at a pace that he should be above. Then, it’s a situation where he comes in next year and has to start over getting back into our system versus what they’re doing in Windsor. If he’s able to come in here and play at an NHL pace through nine games, at least we’ll have a better read on what the right thing is to do for this year and next year.”

If he stays here the whole season, I’m cool with that. However, if he ends up hitting a snag in his development, the Isles will be stuck with another Jeff Tambellini. As of right now, Bailey looks like a completely different player, but it’s way too early to judge what this kid is truly capable of yet.

As 80s super group Whitesnake once said: “Here I go Again.”

After the powerplay and Joey MacDonald ran rampant the other night, Islander fans now a tiny morsel of hope. Can the powerplay continue to produce? Can Joey MacDonald do his best Wade Dubielewicz impersonation? Can Trent Hunter pretend he’s in .38 Special and “Get Back to where He Belongs” [being the 20 goal scorer every Islander fan knows he should be]? Alright, enough with the 80s music references. In all seriousness, if the Isles can commit themselves to playing smart defense and can take advantage of mistakes on the powerplay, they can play with any team in this league.

It’s just a matter of the stars being aligned properly for those to happen on a consistent basis.

What I’m looking for the most in this game is for the Islanders to come out strong and take the body. Without Brendan Witt, they are really missing their best physical presence and I think some rough stuff could open up the ice more for guys like Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey.

Speaking of Bailey, it should be interesting where he ends up tonight, although from what Islanders head coach Scott Gordon said the other night, it’s a pretty safe bet were he’ll be.

“Just watching what I saw from Josh the other night (against Philadelphia), it was an opportunity to see what he can do with Kyle and see how it goes,” Gordon told the AP. “We have a lot of young wingers that have offensive potential, but the reality is we don’t have that high-end playmaking center. So, when we look at Josh and what he brings to the table, he has a different element than Richard Park or Nate Thompson, and with Mike (Comrie) being out of the lineup (with a hip injury), it opens up a hole for us.”

Kind of a smack in the face to Frans Neilsen, but it’s the truth. While I think if he continues to develop, Neilsen could be a 30 assist guy in the NHL, Bailey has the pedigree this team is looking for right now. He is the playmaker they need in the lineup, especially without Mike Comrie and Mike Sillinger out as well, who aren’t playmakers and are more of the dangler-type. If he can open some eyes during the rest of this mini-tryout, it’s going to be very interesting what this team decides to do with him next season.

At any rate, we’ll see what he comes up with tonight.

I think first and foremost, the Islanders have to play 60 minutes of consistent hockey to stand a chance against this team. The Penguins have a ton of depth on their forwards lines and without Brendan Witt [who owns Evgeni Malkin by the way] and Radek Martinek, the Isles have to be perfect on defense tonight. Any lapses will result in a letdown worse than any the Isles have experienced so far this season.

For starters, Miroslav Satan seems to be reborn in Pittsburgh, and already has eight goals, compared to the 16 he had last season with the Islanders. Another former Islander, Ruslan Fedotenko hasn’t enjoyed that same amount of success, but with Crosby out of the lineup for a tad, it’s obvious that’s played a part. Speaking of Crosby, he will be in the lineup tonight, making things that much more difficult for the Isles.

Nevertheless, if they get ahead early, stay out of the penalty box and play a consistent 60-minute game, we’ll see what happens.

In other news, Greg Logan of Newsday reports that Sean Bergenheim will be back in the lineup tonight and that Tim Jackman has been called up to replace Mitch Fritz. Nate Thompson has a strained groin, so he’ll be out of the lineup as well. While Jackman isn’t the enforcer Fritz is, he’s a grittier player, who has more talent offensively. He’s been playing well in Bridgeport this season and should fit in fine with the team again this season.

Joey Macdonald will also be in the net as well, cementing his spot as the team’s starting goaltender with Rick DiPietro injured. Like I’ve said before, you can’t really ask for more for this guy. Who you can ask for more out of are the youngsters, Jeff Tambellini especially, alongside guys like Brett Skinner, who have done little or nothing this season.

Also, According to Newsday, Josh Bailey, Mike Sillinger and Martinek all practiced yesterday and are all close to returning. Once they come back, things are going to get mighty interesting with this team. Who stays? Who goes? Who knows. At any rate, it’s going to be fun seeing Bailey, Kyle Okposo play with guys like Doug Weight and Bill Guerin.

In other, other news:

I was quoted by the New York Times hockey blog today for my coverage of the New York Islanders.

You can check that article out here as well.

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/isles-move-to-the-back-of-the-line/

I said yesterday that this was a game the Islanders had to win and for 40 minutes, it looked like they were going to do just that. Well, not exactly.

The first period was a toss up, but the Islanders were holding their own. Aside from a bad change that resulted in Slava Kozlov’s goal, the Isles were in fact the better team out there. Over a 17-second span in the second period however, the Isles took control of the game behind Frans Neilsen, who has to continue to play this way if this team is ever going to back to .500 this season and Trent Hunter, who hasn’t been this solid since his rookie year.

Nevertheless, the Islanders found a way to cough this one up.

As I’ve said before, this team cannot make mistakes in the defensive end, especially without three good defensemen on the shelf in Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Freddy Meyer. Andy Sutton has been solid since he came back, but everyone else on the defense has to commit themselves to playing well for the entire 60 minutes. Weak penalties like the ones Mark Streit and Joey Macdonald took later on in the game are prime examples of what the Islanders need to stay away from if they are going to turn this season around.

Speaking of MacDonald, I think that while last night wasn’t one of his best games, he did what he’s done for most of the season: keep this team in a game for the entire 60 minutes. As a goalie, especially on a team like the Islanders, that is all you can really do. Asking for anything more from Mac would be crazy.

In the end, I think Islanders color commentator Billy Jaffe said it best during the postgame show; this team needs to cut out the garbage and commit themselves to playing non-stop, in your face, heavy puck pursuit hockey. Anything less from them is going to result in the same thing that has been happening almost every single night this season. I think the fans of this team have already started catching on to that.

On another note, while Kyle Okposo was buzzing a bit at times, he still has yet to establish himself on the ice. I know getting switched to the left side can be an adjustment for any player, nevertheless, a rookie, but he has to start producing. The same thing goes for Jeff Tambellini, who I feel the fan base and coaching staff have already given up on and as soon as Sean Bergenheim gets rid of the flu bug he caught, Tamby will be back to being a fourth liner, or even worse, a healthy scratch.

With the Islanders defense is Dire Straits as it is, another injury could have really put them but that famous creek without a paddle. Luckily, Andy Sutton, according to Newsday and the team’s official website, is set to make his season debut when the Isles take on the Broad Street Bullies on Thursday.

While he’s a far cry from Paul Coffey, Sutton will be able to give the Isles the toughness they desperately need right now. Aside from Trent Hunter, Nate Thompson, Freddy Meyer and Sean Bergenheim, Doug Weight has been the Islanders biggest physical presence. If you don’t believe me, just ask Brandon Sutter. At any rate, with the way this offense has performed this season, they need as much help on defense as possible.

Much like last season, if the Islanders can get Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek and Freddy Meyer back, the Islanders defense will be solid and the team won’t have to be forced to play catch up every night. Again, Sutton by himself isn’t going to change everything, but he can be a competent player than can give the team one less thing to worry about. Aside from giving the team an edge on defense, he’ll be able to play the point on the powerplay too if he absolutely has to, providing the team with another option for the second unit. Before his injury last season, Sutton started to come around and after a rocky start, became a leader on the team. If he can provide that same type of energy and clear the crease, he’ll be a pleasant addition to the lineup.

Nothing against Jack Hillen, but it looks like he’s not quite ready yet to be a regular. A sloppy pass here, a failed shot from the point there, combined with Chris Campoli’s return made Hillen a bit replaceable. Given that he has barely any experience in pro hockey in the first place, some time in Bridgeport could benefit his game immensely. His smarts and skating ability could provide him with an ample start there and by later in the season, he may be ready to give the NHL another whirl. That will only be the case though if this defensive core can stay healthy. Otherwise, guys like Hillen and Brett Skinner will be forced into action and as we’ve seen already this season, they are far from being dependable NHL defenders. That’s not to say that they won’t be at some point, but as of right now, they need to earn a few more bumps and bruises.