Islanders lose another goalie and game

The improbable, inexplicable and downright incomprehensible too often seems to become the inevitable for the Islanders this season.

Leading the league in man-games lost with 332, the Islanders saw yet another goaltender go down last night as 20-year-old rookie Kevin Poulin suffered a left knee injury in the warmups of what would have been his eighth start of the season. He left Nassau Coliseum on crutches and is expected to undergo an MRI Wednesday.

This latest goalie injury comes less than a week after oft-injured Rick DiPietro was sidelined for four to six weeks with facial fractures and knee swelling suffered in a fight with Penguins goalie Brent Johnson. Call-up Nathan Lawson is out with a sprained knee.

"Any time a goalie gets hurt in warmups, it's a freak accident," Zenon Konopka said. "It's a tough situation."

Poulin appeared to catch his left skate on a rut, causing him to spin and fall near the right post of his goal and teammates rushed to his aid. "It looked like he caught his leg on the ice, like he got stuck on the heel pick," Matt Martin said.

Poulin's injury forced backup Mikko Koskinen to make his NHL debut, and he gave up goals on the first two shots he faced in a 5-3 loss to Toronto.

The 20-year-old Poulin, 4-2-1 in 10 games for the Islanders this season, had to be helped off the ice.

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"First I thought it wasn't anything bad, so I felt he was going to start the game," the 22-year-old Koskinen said. "There wasn't much time to do anything. I didn't have any time to be nervous, so it was OK."

The Islanders scored two straight goals - by Matt Moulson in the first period and Michael Grabner in the second - to tie the score at 2, but the Leafs answered with three goals in the third. Rob Schremp whittled the Leafs lead to two goals with less than two minutes to play. Koskinen made 21 saves.

"Can't be happy," Koskinen said. "In the third period I made a couple mistakes and that cost the win tonight."

The 6-5 Koskinen, from Finland, became the fifth goaltender to appear for the Islanders this season, which tied the franchise record.

Veteran netminder Dwayne Roloson was traded to Tampa Bay last month and Lawson played in six games before suffering a strained MCL in his left knee that is expected to keep him out at least another week.

Koskinen struggled in the AHL this season with a 5-15-0 record, 3.64 goals against average and .882 save percentage.

"With the quick start, we thought it was going to be easy, especially with the kid they had in goal," said Toronto coach Ron Wilson. "He has been struggling in the AmericanLeague and it showed early."

Colby Armstrong tallied for the Leafs at 1:29 of the first and Jay Rosehill's expert deflection gave Toronto a 2-0 lead.

To back up Koskinen, the Islanders called up Bridgeport goaltender Joel Martin, who signed with the Islanders earlier in the week to become the Sound Tigers starter.

Martin had to commute from Connecticut, arriving at the Coliseum late in the second period and appearing on the bench in the third. "My world was kind of spinning," Martin said.

Of the team's misfortunes with injuries, Konopka said: "I can't lie to you. It's something I've never seen before in my career."