Mikko Koskinen Makes NHL Debut As Islanders Goaltenders Keep Dropping

February 8 2011 Last updated at 10:00 PM ET

At this point it's hard to figure out what the New York Islanders goaltenders did to deserve this run of misfortune, but it's starting to get a little absurd.

Since Jan. 1 the club has traded veteran Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning, lost Nathan Lawson to a knee injury, lost Rick DiPietro after he suffered facial fractures in a fight with Penguins goalie Brent Johnson and attempted to claim Evgeni Nabokov on waivers only to watch him refuse to report to the team. On Tuesday, Kevin Poulin, who was elbowed by Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner over the weekend, was slated to start against the Toronto Maple Leafs only to get injured during warmups when he hit a rut on the ice.

According to the AP he gingerly skated off the ice and had to be helped to the locker room.

His backup, 22-year-old rookie Mikko Koskinen, a second-round draft pick in 2009, was forced to make his NHL debut.

Unfortunately, he didn't exactly hit the ground running as he surrendered two goals to Colby Armstrong and Jay Rosehill on the first two shots he faced. In the end, he allowed five goals on 26 shots in a 5-3 loss, though, it's difficult to place much blame on him. He is, for all intents and purposes, the fifth-string goalie with no NHL experience playing behind an inexperienced team that's at the bottom of the standings. That's not exactly a recipe for success. At least not right away.

Koskinen had previously been playing with the Islanders AHL team in Bridgeport and had posted a .882 save percentage in 20 games with the Soundtigers. After the injury to Poulin the Islanders called up Joel Martin from Bridgeport.

With Koskinen's start on Tuesday the Islanders have now used five different goalies this season, and it's only a matter of time until they have to turn to a sixth.

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