ROAD TRIP BLOG: Day 10 / Isles at Sens

Sunday, January 13


After a day away from the rink yesterday, the Islanders got back on the ice this morning with a mandatory morning skate. Here are some notes…

- The match-up in goal tonight looks to be Rick DiPietro versus Martin Gerber, who did not start last night for Ottawa.

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- Ted Nolan announced that Islanders winger Miroslav Satan will be back in the lineup tonight after missing one game with a sprained knee. That means Jeff Tambellini will be returned to Bridgeport.

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- Nolan also announced that Brendan Witt will miss tonight’s game. While talking about his defense pairings, Nolan credited Freddy Meyer as his most reliable defenseman over the past few games.

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- Although Ottawa had an optional skate, their players were still available to the media. It was confirmed that Dany Heatley will be out four-to-six weeks with a separated shoulder. When told of this news by the Ottawa media and asked if this makes Ottawa a less dangerous team, Nolan replied: “No, they still have Jason Spezza, Daniel Aldfredsson and a lot of talented guys.”

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I’ll check in tomorrow with some final thoughts of the road trip.

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Total miles traveled so far: About 6,467

Miles to be traveled tonight: 390

MORNING SKATE: Isles at Penguins

Both teams were at the rink for meetings today and both had optional skates. Here’s what we learned at the morning skate for tonight’s game:

- The match-up in goal tonight should be Rick DiPietro for the Islanders and Dany Sabourin for the Penguins.

- By moving Richard Park up to the team’s top line with Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin, Ted Nolan reiterated that the best players will continue to get playing time and be rewarded for their hard work.

- With the same notion, Freddy Meyer will remain in the lineup on the blueline.

- On the team’s “so-called fourth line”, Andy Hilbert will center Blake Comeau and Tim Jackman, who will play on the left and right sides, respectively.

- Nolan doesn’t expect any extra emotion between the teams due to the Chris Simon/Jarkko Ruutu incident from last week.

MORNING SKATE: Sabres at Isles

With the Islanders set to square off against the Buffalo Sabres in their fourth and final meeting of the regular season, it looks like the probable match-up in goal tonight is Rick DiPietro versus Ryan Miller.

According to Ted Nolan at the morning skate, Freddy Meyer returns to the lineup tonight and will be paired Andy Sutton on the blueline. Only six defensemen will skate as Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bryan Berard are the scratches.

Ted Nolan on Meyer: “Freddy has been the ultimate team guy for us and he’s been working his tail off.”

Blake Comeau will skate on what Nolan describes as the “so-called fourth line” with Richard Park and Tim Jackman.

Ted Nolan on Comeau: “Blake has some young legs and hopefully he can provide some energy for us like Sean Bergenheim has.”

NEWS: FREDDY MEYER TO PHOENIX

Defenseman Freddy Meyer has been claimed off waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes. As reported earlier by media outlets, Meyer was placed of waivers on Saturday.

On a personal note, Freddy was great to deal with and we wish him the best of luck in Phoenix.