Alexei Yashin’s insides must be eating away at themselves.
In the midst of the worst offensive season of his career with 13 goals, Yashin has seen other Islanders like Mark Parrish (21 goals), Dave Scatchard (17) and Jason Blake (16) pace the team in scoring. As for Yashin, the team’s highest-paid player in the second year of a 10-year contract with the Isles, he’s on pace for a career-worst 19 goals.
“Of course it’s frustrating,” Yashin said after the Islanders were shut out for the fifth time in 16 games Thursday in Nashville. “What I try to do is try to make the right plays and play as hard as I can and help the team to be successful.”
On the ice, his frustration is evident. Of late, he’s been forcing plays, taking shots from improbable angles and running out of gas in the offensive zone as he works to bust out of his season-long scoring funk.
“There’s always a lot of pressure on the guys who get to produce and score goals and create some plays,” Yashin said. “What I can do is just come out strong and play and hopefully it will go in.”
Last year Yashin scored 32 goals in his first season with the Islanders and did so with opposing defenders draped all over him like a cape. Sometimes there were two or three men pulling, hooking and jumping all over him, yet Yashin managed to find the net as he had in Ottawa, where he netted 84 goals in his final two years with the Senators. This season, the defenses have not concentrated as much on him and have sent fewer defenders at him. Even on the power play, where No. 79 is lethal from the left circle, there isn’t as much pressure on him as there was at the start of the year when he wasn’t even allowed the time and room to set up.
And as far as getting linemates to play with, that shouldn’t be an excuse anymore now that Oleg Kvasha has been operating masterfully on Yashin’s left wing for the last month. On his other side, Arron Asham has been physical but still Yashin goes into tonight’s game against the Kings with only five goals in the last 32 games.
“It’s what I said. I guess everybody goes through times like that and hopefully it’s not going to be long so I can get back on track and help the team be successful,” Yashin said.