Isles' weary, injured 'D' returns to work
Islanders' Steve Staios celebrates his third period goal against the Chicago Blackhawks with teammates Milan Jurcina, Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. (Dec. 8, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
After a running-in-place road trip, with a win in Winnipeg and a loss in St. Louis, the Islanders get back to work Saturday night at the Coliseum with the playoffs still off in the distance and a weary lineup.
Jack Capuano said he hadn't gotten any health updates on flu-ridden Steve Staios and Evgeni Nabokov, both of whom were last-minute scratches for Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Blues, but the Islanders did call up goaltender Kevin Poulin as insurance against Nabokov possibly missing Saturday night's game against the Hurricanes.
Mark Eaton, who had been a stalwart the last dozen games, was a minus-3 on Thursday. Milan Jurcina, somewhat better of late, was a minus-2 and on for both Blues power-play goals, when he wasn't physical enough in front of Al Montoya to help out on a couple screens.
"Some of those guys have logged a lot of minutes," Capuano said.
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