Wisniewski hoping to make impact on power play

Six days into training camp and another six to go until their first preseason game Wednesday, the Islanders coordinated an intra-squad scrimmage to focus on special teams.

But beyond the extra work they put forth at Nassau Coliseum last night to improve the penalty-killing and power-play units - which finished 29th and 27th in the league, respectively - the Islanders believe they have gained a real impact player in 26-year-old defenseman James Wisniewski.

Considering his career-high 30 points last season (three goals, 27 assists) and the Islanders' lack of a big righthanded shot from the point, Wisniewski hopes to play a pivotal role on the power play.

"If I get the chance to play with Mark Streit, that's going to be great," Wisniewski said before the scrimmage. "It's huge when you have two guys who can fire 95-mph shots because it brings the opponents' two forwards up and gives our forwards down low more time and space."

Wisniewski, who said he thrives playing the off wing and unleashing his powerful one-timer, is striving to improve on last season's offensive production.

"It's kind of hard to say, but I think 40-plus points is a very realistic goal," he said. "And if we have the season we want to have, it could definitely be higher."

Wisniewski's presence also should have a big impact on Streit, the power-play quarterback.

Because the team didn't have another big shot to pair with Streit last season, teams would lock in on the Swiss defenseman. Coach Scott Gordon said that rather than worrying about playmaking from the point, as he did last season, Streit can adjust his focus to getting shots through.

"It's so important to have that shot presence," Gordon said. "It opens things up a lot for our guys down low, and to have two guys up there with a big shot to get pucks through, it gives our forwards different options and different looks. We're excited to have that."

Last night's scrimmage was the first glimpse into the duo's chemistry, and Gordon was pleased with the results.

"I liked the way Streit and Wiz worked together on the power play," he said.

Streit tallied twice in the third period of the scrimmage to pull Team Orange ahead of the Blue squad for a 6-4 victory.

Streit, Wisniewski and the Islanders hope that's a sign of good things to come.

"The more weapons we have," Streit said, "the harder we make it for another team's penalty kill."