It’s funny how things turn out. Jason Blake came to the Islanders as a fourth-line pest in 2001 and has since evolved into a top-line player, someone who’s not afraid to let coaches know where he should be playing.
Blake thinks he should be playing on the Isles’ top scoring unit and the sparkplug winger got his wish Saturday night when coach Ted Nolan put him on a line with Alexei Yashin and Viktor Kozlov. The line was intact again last night against Nashville, giving Blake the most talented set of linemates he’s ever had.
The move paid instant dividends.
In the first game the trio was together, Blake scored two goals and had an assist against Boston after registering only one point during the four-game seasonopening western road trip.
“I think it’s great,” Blake said. “Obviously, I’m getting a lot more offensive opportunities.
Not taking away from anyone else on the team, it’s just that Kozlov’s a special player. So’s Yashin.
Kozlov’s hands and how big he is, the reach of his stick, is amazing.” Blake had an assist in the loss at Los Angeles and rang what could have been a game-tying goal off the iron late in the third period against the Kings. Someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve, Blake made no secret of his frustration.
Blake, the longest tenured Islander, is in a contract year. He’s making $1.558 million this season, putting eight Isles ahead of him on the payroll. Blake has made no secret of his desire to get an extension and a raise, and you can be sure you’ll hear his stick tapping for the puck more than ever this season in order to get stats to warrant a pay increase.
While he is unquestionably the hardest working forward the Islanders dress on a nightly basis, the speedy Blake has been characterized as selfish in his time with the team for his tendency to hold on to the puck too long and for taking long shifts.
There is a possibility he could be traded, but with the Isles thin on speed up top, he remains one of their most lethal weapons.
Now he’s getting more ice time on the top line, more scoring chances, and the points should start to pile up the more Blake plays with Yashin and Kozlov.
“Part of the big problem was I wasn’t maybe playing my best hockey on the road, I wasn’t getting as many offensive opportunities, but Ted switched up the lines and now we’re rolling,” Blake said. “Hopefully we can keep it going.”
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Only three Isles – Bruno Gervais, Andy Hilbert and Radek Martinek – had not scored a point in the first five games . . . Isles, amid a stretch in which they play nine of 10 at home, host the Pens tomorrow and Carolina on Saturday.