Streit suffers shoulder injury during scrimmage

Yesterday's Orange vs. Blue scrimmage at Nassau Coliseum gave the 1,556 in attendance a chance to see Rick DiPietro's encouraging progress, first-round draft pick Nino Niederreiter's pre-season play and John Tavares' nifty backhanded goal.

But the fans are most likely to remember an unsettling sight in the third period: Defenseman Mark Streit, hunched over in pain, skating off the ice while clutching his left shoulder.

The Islanders expect to have a diagnosis and a prognosis for Streit by Monday at the latest.

The 32-year-old All-Star suffered the injury after being hit by Matt Moulson and falling awkwardly into the boards.

"That was pretty flukish," coach Scott Gordon said. "There's a lot more contact in practice than what happened on that play. I think [Streit] couldn't get out of his own way more than anything else. He just got himself jammed up against the boards."

No one felt worse than Moulson, who received a cross-checking penalty on the play. "I know it was a fluke, but I still felt bad," he told Newsday. "Never like to see someone go down."

Moulson also took to his Twitter account to address the play.

"Hey guys, I know I've been getting a lot of stuff about Mark . . . I felt really bad . . . but it was just a freak accident . . . He just fell awkwardly," Moulson tweeted.

Considering Streit's vital role - he was one of last season's alternate captains and the backbone of the defense - the Islanders hope he will not miss significant time.

"Obviously, he's an important guy for us," Gordon said. "Any team that lost one of their top defensemen would have a huge hole in their lineup."

Notes & quotes: DiPietro played all three periods for the Orange team. After the game, he said he felt "it was a good first step." Kyle Okposo (shoulder), Frans Nielsen (groin/hip), Doug Weight (groin/hip) and Robin Figren (foot) did not play.