Islanders lose, need to decide on Niederreiter's fate

MONTREAL - If Nino Niederreiter had scored like James Wisniewski last night, the Islanders' decision would be pretty easy.

Wisniewski scored a goal and had two assists, but Niederreiter was held scoreless by Montreal in his all-important ninth NHL game during the Islanders' 5-3 loss to the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

Although Niederreiter made a nice defensive play to stop Mike Cammalleri on a breakaway in the first period, he failed to add another point to his totals that might have swayed the organization before it decides his fate for the remainder of the season.

Per league rules, the Islanders must now choose whether to keep Niederreiter or send him back to his junior team - the WHL's Portland Winterhawks - and delay the start of the first year of his entry-level contract.

The Canadiens took a 2-0 first-period lead with a deflection in front from Mathieu Darche at 13:19 and a shorthanded goal from Travis Moen at 17:54, but Wisniewski's slap shot at 19:16 gave the Islanders their sixth straight game with a power-play goal.

Wisniewski went down after a nasty hit from Moen along the boards in the second period, but after several minutes face down on the ice, skated off then returned.

The Islanders didn't convert on the resulting power play to answer Tomas Plekanec's second-period goal, but they scored on their next opportunity with the man-advantage. John Tavares deflected Wisniewski's point shot past Canadiens goalie Carey Price to make it 3-2 at :13 of the third period.

After a fluky Canadiens goal later in the third, when a puck bounced off defenseman Mark Eaton's leg at 6:56, Wisniewski picked up his third point with an assist on Doug Weight's goal at 12:56 that pulled the Islanders to 4-3. Andrei Kostitsyn sealed it for Montreal with an empty-netter at 18:59.

Now the Islanders must make a decision on Niederreiter. As of Wednesday afternoon, they were still undecided about the 18-year-old first-round draft choice.

Although he indicated that Niederreiter is further along in his development than third-year forward Josh Bailey was two years ago, coach Scott Gordon said the team's circumstances are markedly different from 2008-09.

"In Nino's situation, it's different in that we do have some prospects in Bridgeport, like Matt Martin and Jesse Joensuu and Rhett Rakhshani, that are in a position now to get called up," Gordon said. "And then also we have some other players that are part of our organization like Kyle [Okposo] and Rob [Schremp], so it's a different set of circumstances."

Gordon and GM Garth Snow planned to discuss the matter on the return trip to New York.

"I know it's the ninth game, so you see whether you go back or not," Niederreiter said before the game, "But I'm just going to play hockey and see what happens."

Notes & quotes: Bailey returned after missing two games with a hip pointer . . . Martin was called up on an emergency basis to replace Michael Grabner (groin) . . . Trent Hunter (foot) did not play.