New York Islanders Daily: Nikolay Kulemin Likely To Miss Monday’s Game

Nikolay Kulemin, who didn’t play in the New York Islanders vs Boston Bruins game is unlikely to play tonight as well.

In the first period of Friday night’s New York Islanders vs Pittsburgh Penguins game, Nikolay Kulemin suffered what’s listed as an upper body injury. He missed Saturday’s action and it looks like he won’t play tonight either according to Arthur Staple.

Coach Doug Weight told Newsday “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do every night.”

Kulemin’s already tied his point total from last year, although it seems unlikely that he’ll hit 15 goals which is his Islanders career high.

Sure, he’s not much of an offensive player but he’s a big part of the Isles penalty kill unit. We saw Stephen Gionta fill in for him, so expect to see that again tonight.

Gionta’s a smaller grittier version of Kulemin so I guess that works, although I’d rather Nikolay in the lineup. Regardless, we’ll see if he’ll be ready for Thursday’s game against the Flyers.

Isles Tweet Of The Day

Our Stuff

The Islanders aren’t dead yet (Eyes on Isles)

The loss to the Bruins was bad, but they aren’t dead yet. Here’s a way they can still make the playoffs.

Next: Gionta Takes a Head Shot

The powerless power play (Eyes on Isles)

Going six power plays without a goal in one game is pretty pathetic. It’s certainly an issue with this team.