Rumors, moves, injuries and newsmakers...

Islanders have a whole lot of signing to do; Jimmy Howard makes first start of the season; Fedorov returns to lineup for Jackets; Price continues to roll; Preds welcome back Tootoo; and more...

WHO'S SAFE ON THE ISLAND? 
Despite the fact that the Islanders have been winning games lately--three in a row--, the team is fading further and further from a playoff spot. With so many teams to leapfrog in order to get that coveted eighth spot in the East, the prospects don't look very promising.

The Islanders will, in all likelihood, be a very different team come next October, with many player contracts coming to an end this summer. And, the short-term result could be some movement at the trade deadline, but not in the same manner as last season when they rented veteran Ryan Smyth for the final month.

Miroslav Satan, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Trent Hunter, Josef Vasicek, Bryan Berard, Freddy Meyer and goalie Wade Dubielewicz are all set to become unrestricted free agents, and any one of them could be moved by February 26 if the club decides to act as a seller at the trade deadline.

For one, Satan is on pace to have his weakest season since his sophomore campaign back in 1997. More precisely, the three-year-old winger is on pace for just 46 points. Comrie is on a one-year contract and, even though he leads the team in scoring, he does carry an ugly minus-20. Other players making themselves attractive with some strong play of late are Hunter, with five points in his last five games, while Vasicek and Fedotenko each have five in their last three.

There is no shortage of restricted free agents on the Isles, either. With winger Sean Bergenheim, prospects Jeff Tambellini, Ben Walter, Frans Nielsen and Jeremy Colliton all up for offer sheets, the Isles could quite easily revamp the majority of their roster.

The team and their salary structure could enjoy a lot of flexibility in the months ahead. For the most part, they're just being tied down by the lengthy contract of goaltender Rick DiPietro and the burden of what they still owe Alexei Yashin. It will be an interesting February on Long Island, to say the least.

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BLACKHAWKS 
Chicago recalled rookie goaltender Mike Brodeur from Rockford of the AHL on Sunday to backup Patrick Lalime. Regular starter Nikolai Khabibulin continues to miss time with an ankle injury. Lalime came within 2:25 of his first shutout of the season as the team topped the Avs 2-1, also on Sunday. Defenseman James Wisniewski continued his hot play of late with a pair of assists--he has six points in his last four games. The team is expecting both Ben Eager (concussion) and Jason Williams (sports hernia) back in the lineup within a week. In other Blackhawks news, the team signed defenseman Brent Seabrook to a three-year contract extension.

BLUE JACKETS 
Veteran center Sergei Fedorov was activated off the injured reserve list on Sunday and skated against the Blues--he played 17:51 but was held off the scoresheet in the 5-1 loss. Pascal Leclaire stopped just 23 of 28 shots and took the loss. Columbus next plays Toronto on Tuesday.

CANADIENS 
With their win on Sunday night over the Flyers, the Habs moved into a tie with Ottawa for tops in the Eastern Conference with 73 points. Rookie goaltender Carey Price, making his third straight start, stopped 34 of 37 shots for the win. Winger Michael Ryder was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last two games (and five of the last seven). Ryder scored but the offense was led by Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Markov, who picked up three points each. The team plays the Rangers on Tuesday.

FLYERS 
Braydon Coburn was back in the lineup for the Flyers after missing four games and contributed a goal and an assist, but it wasn't enough as the team dropped the decision to the Habs 5-3. The Flyers played the game without winger Joffrey Lupul, who suffered a high-ankle sprain on Saturday. Rookie Steve Downie also missed the contest with an upper body injury. Philly reassigned Kyle Greentree to the Phantoms of the AHL and recalled Denis Tolpeko, who played just over two minutes in the loss.

PENGUINS 
Ty Conklin continued his impressive play on Sunday, stopping 36 of 37 shots to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 win over the Sabres. His record improved to 15-4-3 this season. Evgeni Malkin once again led the offense with a goal and an assist. The team is 7-4-2 since star forward Sidney Crosby went down with a high-ankle sprain. Crosby is back skating during practice and should return to the lineup in a week to 10 days.

PREDATORS 
Agitating winger Jordin Tootoo was back in the lineup Sunday after missing 16 games with a groin injury. He played 13:02 in the 5-4 overtime loss to the Wild. Sophomore winger Alexander Radulov had a pair of assists in a losing effort, giving him 27 points in his last 27 games. Nashville's next game is at home against the Oilers on Tuesday.

RANGERS 
New York signed rearguard Fedor Tyutin to a contract extension on Sunday. The 24-year-old has 15 points in 61 contests this season--he has 61 points in his four-year career with the team. Tyutin picked up an assist in Sunday's 3-1 victory over the Sharks. Ryan Callahan led the offense with a pair of goals, while Chris Drury's goal was his seventh in nine contests.

RED WINGS 
Detroit lost their season-high sixth straight game on Sunday, this time to Dallas by a 1-0 score. Jimmy Howard got his first start of the season for the Red Wings, after coming on in relief of Chris Osgood for the last two games. He stopped 30 of 31 shots, the sixth-highest shot total that Detroit has given up this year. Defenseman Brian Rafalski was out with a groin injury, but may play on Monday against the Avs.

WILD 
The Wild were without one of their top scorers in Brian Rolston on Sunday because of the flu, but the team didn't have any problem with their offense en route to a 5-4 overtime victory against the Preds. Marian Gaborik led with three points--he has 19 in his last 16 games. Eric Belanger's first-period assist was his first point in eight games and his second in 14. The Wild lines up against Vancouver on Tuesday.