In the opening-night loss at Buffalo, the Islanders gave the enemy no reason to fear their power play and they gave them no reason to be afraid of running them through the boards. In tomorrow night’s Coliseum opener against Carolina, the Isles may be able to address at least one of those gaping holes.
Aaron Asham, one of their remaining grit guys and one of their few physical players, is expected to return to action for the first time in three weeks.
Asham sat out the exhibition season and Wednesday’s 6-4 loss to the Sabres with a rib injury sustained during training camp. He skated again with the team yesterday and could bring a hammer to an Islander lineup that desperately needed one in the first game.
“Guys are going to try to take advantage of us because we don’t have the team that we had in the past,” Asham said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a fighter or anything, you have to get in there and be there for your teammates. Once guys start realizing that, I think we’re going to be better off as a team.”
The Islanders were thoroughly disappointed that goalie Rick DiPietro was really the only one to show any force against Buffalo when he defended Chris Campoli after a marginal hit at the second period horn. Asham, a grinder with a scoring touch, could help remedy that. Coach Steve Stirling said he will also start looking to Asham for support on the penalty kill, a unit that promises to see much ice time in the New NHL.
“I’m going to be whatever they ask me to be,” Asham said. “With all these penalties and power plays, hopefully I’ll be on something. If not, the ice time is going to drop considerably.”
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Jason Blake, traditionally one of the Islanders’ most effective penalty killers, saw little time with the unit in Buffalo with five other forwards getting more ice than his 2:45.
“I just don’t want to tire him out,” Stirling said, pointing at Blake’s 4:36 on the power play and 9:39 at even strength.
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Shawn Bates, who battled a hip injury during the preseason, was given yesterday off after logging 16:57 in the opener.
As far as the power play goes, the unit went 1-for-7 against Buffalo and will continue working on moving the puck, a vital trait that has eluded the Isles the last few seasons.