UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. They still havent figured out how to make the most of overtime. Pavel Datsyuk, in his 800th NHL game, scored his second goal of the night with 42.5 seconds left in regulation, but the Red Wings couldnt turn it into a win as they were beaten 5-4 by the New York Islanders in a shootout on Saturday night. The Red Wings have lost six straight overall, five in a row in extra time, and three consecutive in shootouts -- including two on back-to-back nights. "If we hadnt gone through the last five, six games, this point would be pretty good," forward Henrik Zetterberg said. "Right now its tough. We cant find a way to win a game. I think we battled hard. It was a back-to-back game and we found a way to come back at the end. "Overall, I think its a good point, but we were right there to get two points." The Red Wings arrived in New York around 2 a.m. Saturday after losing at home to Washington on Friday. Detroit is 1-7 after regulation this season, 0-4 in shootouts. "We found a way to get a point," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We obviously have to get better. We will get better. Its pretty obvious weve got to win in regulation because the shootout is killing us. "Its like anything in life, it gets in your head a little bit. To me weve got to be hard-headed and mentally tough. The standings could be a lot different for us if we won all these games, especially these shootouts." Kevin Poulin was the difference for the Islanders after he replaced the injured Evgeni Nabokov in the first period. Neither team could hold the lead until he finally shut the door in the tiebreaker, denying Henrik Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi. "I love this," Poulin said. "I was not nervous in the shootout, was pretty excited actually. I felt comfortable. You have to be ready to jump in. Thats why I play hockey." Frans Nielsen scored the only shootout goal for the Islanders, who had dropped five of six. "Kevin really stepped up for us," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "We kept calm and it paid off in the end." Cal Clutterbuck had given the Islanders a 4-3 lead when he had the second deflection of Aaron Ness shot from the left point past Gustavsson 4:43 into the third for his second goal. The Islanders are 6-0-1 against Detroit in the past seven meetings and havent been beaten by the Red Wings in regulation since November 2003. New York outshot Detroit 15-4 in the third period and 6-1 in overtime. Tavares had a goal and assist to stretch his point and assist streaks to five games. Casey Cizikas and Brock Nelson both scored tying goals in the second period for the Islanders. Poulin made 19 saves in relief of Nabokov, who injured a groin. Darren Helm and Johan Franzen had the other goals for the Red Wings, and Gustavsson stopped 37 shots through overtime in his first outing in place of Jimmy Howard since Oct. 23. Both teams were held at bay throughout most of the second period, but then combined for three goals in a span of 1:20 in the final three minutes of the frame. The Islanders got even 2-2 when the Red Wings poorly played a rush into their zone. Matt Martin carried the puck deep and fanned on a shot, but Colin McDonald got his stick on the puck and put it on Gustavsson. Cizikas got to that rebound and scored his second of the season and second in two games with 2:10 remaining. But for the second time, Islanders fans barely had a chance to celebrate before the Red Wings responded. Helm brought the puck into the New York zone and fed a pass to Franzen on the left wing. Franzen glided from the circle into the middle of the ice and snapped a drive past Poulin just 33 seconds later. This time it was the Islanders turn to answer quickly, and they did it 20 seconds into Luke Glendenings tripping penalty. Nelson scored with a second poke with 49.5 seconds remaining. The Red Wings wiped out their early 1-0 deficit just nine seconds after they fell behind, and knocked out Nabokov in the process. Helm won a faceoff against Tavares, right after the Islanders captain put New York in front at 4:03 with his ninth goal. The Red Wings controlled the puck in their zone until defenceman Jonathan Ericsson found Helm with a long lead pass that led to a breakaway. Helm came in on Nabokov, made a move that caused the goalie to do a split, and scored his second of the season at 4:12 to tie it 1-1. The 38-year-old Nabokov was playing for the first time in four games and the second in six. He was assisted by a trainer in the crease before getting up on his skates and gingerly skating while hunched over to the tunnel leading to the dressing room. Nabokov came into Saturday with a 5-5-3 record and 3.24 goals-against average. "He means a lot to this team, all of us," Tavares said. "Not everyone knows how much he does for us in this room. Hes important." Datsyuk made it 2-1 with 1:42 left in the first period, scoring a power-play goal with Bertuzzi screening Poulin in front. The Toronto Maple Leafs are now the only team Datsyuk hasnt scored a goal against. NOTES: The Red Wings recalled Glendening from Grand Rapids (AHL) to fill in for forward Daniel Alfredsson, who missed his second straight game because of a groin injury. ... The Islanders failed to score on a 4-minute power play that spanned the second and third periods after Franzen was called for high-sticking. S Well Teakwood Drinking Bottle .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday. Swell Bottle Uk Sale . Sijsling, ranked 74th in the world, was leading 6-0, 4-1 when his Italian opponent called it quits after just 39 minutes on court. In a match pitting together two qualifiers, Michal Przysiezny of Poland defeated local favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) for only his second Tour win of the season. http://www.swellbottleuk.com/. Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Swell Traveler Sale . Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Swell Traveler Uk . Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Addition by subtraction is a time- honored theory in team improvement. A team gets rid of someone who is either, hurting the team with his attitude, or is standing in the way of someone else, normally younger, and said team thrives. That appears to be the case with the Detroit Pistons. They have gone 7-0 since the shocking release of Josh Smith, a player who has infuriated coaches in the past, but also a player with about $25 million left on his contract. To take such a drastic step as to waive Smith showed how little the Pistons wanted him. Hes mercurial. Truthfully, very little is said about him negatively in terms of being a teammate, or a pain in the posterior. Smiths rap is bad because of his propensity to take too many 3-pointers. Hes a power forward who has played out of position, out of necessity, for both the Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. Smith is an elite athlete and has buckets of talent, but its never truly materialized. And lets be clear, seven consecutive wins since cutting Smith is a reflection on Smith. If the Pistons had won say four games in a row after cutting him, thats not necessarily a true representation of Smith. We could attribute that to the newness of the situation. But, seven? Thats two weeks of perfection. There has to be a reason. How this has all happened, I really dont know, Stan Van Gundy told ESPN.com Van Gundy is not only the coach of the Pistons, but also the president of basketball operations. It was his call to send Smith packing, although, in Tim McMahons piece on ESPN. com, the author clearly states Van Gundy had no problem with Smith off the court, nor his work ethic. What we anticipated was giving different guys opportunities, our young guys. Joshs a 10-year vet in a tough situation at 5-23, and I wanted to give other people opportunities, which was probably going to cut his minutes and take the ball out of his hands some, Van Gundy told ESPN.com. I didnt really think it was fair in that regard. It was easier to do it this way, plus in the future we also get a cap-space benefit, so it helps us for the future. Lets put aside Smith, the personality, for a moment. On the court, this monstrous trio of Smith, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe was an interesting idea that never worked. Smith and Monroe were both power forwards and Smith had to play small forward. It turned out to be a horrible fit, like me and anything with horizontal stripes. So, the easiest explanation is that re-inserting Monroe into the starting lineup, alongside Kyle Singler at the three spot, is a more natural fit all the way along. You cant emphasize the importance of everyone playing their natural positions. With Singler out there and Monroe on the block and playing like a legitimate force on the interior (15.4 ppg), its opened the floor for the Pistons. They are shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range during their winning streak. Jodie Meeks return has helped, but his playing time has increased since Smith left. Another factor in stretching the floor has been Jonas Jerebko. Hes averaged 20-plus minutes a game since Smiths departure and is scoring a shade under 6.5 ppg. He is, however, 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. The other revelation has been Brandon Jennings. Hes averaging 19.2 ppg during the win streak, which is a tremendous output. As for Smiths personality, or mere presence, hampering the team, the proof is somewhat in the math. They are 7-0 and their average margin of victory has been 15 points. The wins have come on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who still had LeBron James, albeit a hobbled one, in the lineup. They beat San Antonio on a last-second basket and Dallas in back-to-back nights on the road. Thats extremely impressive. No one on the Pistons is saying anything about Smith, the person, or the teammate. But, it would be naive to ignore the on-court product without him. The Pistons sure seem crisper. Well, weve gotten better on both ends of the floor, Van Gundy said after the win over the Mavericks on Wednesday. The ball is going in the basket that helps quite a bit when the ball goes in. It not only helps obviously forr the reason that the ball goes in and you score a point, but I think it gets your energy up when things are going well.dddddddddddd Weve also defended a lot better. Also our group, I dont know why, but started Dec. 22 we had three days of practice and from then on its just been different. Guys have worked harder, theyve been more attentive. A lot more together and again we dont have guys that are getting concerned about whos in the game or their playing time, or their shots, or anything else. They just want to win games. Thats not a shot at Smith. Van Gundy was commenting on the fact that, in those two wins in San Antonio and Dallas, different players were in the fourth-quarter lineup. You have guys, four guys that were in the game in a great win last night sitting on the bench on the sideline tonight and loving every minute of it, Van Gundy said. You know Greg Monroe didnt get in the game last night in the fourth quarter. Tonight Andre (Drummond) doesnt get in, in the fourth quarter there at the end of the game. Brandon doesnt get back in, KCP doesnt get back in and guys are into the game. Morale is clearly high and confidence means everything. This group is extraordinarily positive and the scenes from the sidelines as Jerebko, Monroe, Caron Butler, Meeks and D.J. Augustin played the entire fourth quarter, and out-scored the Mavs by seven, tell a tale. Theres a spring in the step of the Pistons right now. Its not a coincidence its happened with Smith in a Houston Rockets uniform. It wasnt a good fit. Now, Monroe and Drummond form the interior nucleus. Good 3-point shooters are taking 3-point shots. Its all fitting. Remember this, the Pistons are just 2 1/2 games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs are more than in reach, so while Smith may have been a decent guy, his good-bye has the Pistons firing. RANDOM THOUGHTS - At its surface, two first-round picks for Timofey Mozgov seems like a lot. But, both picks werent originally Clevelands so maybe the Cavs feel like its house money. They desperately need a center. Mozgov may not be an athletic, ideal fit, but hes better than nothing. Thats what you want from someone who goes for two first-rounders - hes better than nothing. - The East backcourt situation is tough for the All-Star game. John Wall and Dwyane Wade are going to start, which is not terrible. Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler are going. Two guards get selected as reserves, three frontcourt players, then two additional players at any position. Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks and Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets both deserve consideration and the backup frontcourt situation is ... shaky, so maybe one of the two has a chance. - Its no surprise the Memphis Grizzlies want Luol Deng or Jeff Green. Deng probably isnt available, but Green is incredibly available. He has a player option for $9.4 million, which Id imagine hell pick up for next season. What does Boston want? Do they make someone take Gerald Wallace and his $10 million contract for next season? - With the Baseball Hall of Fame on peoples minds, the only interesting first-ballot candidate worth discussing this year is Dikembe Mutombo. Four Defensive Player of the Year awards, eight All-Stars, three times on the All- NBA team makes him a pretty strong choice. Hes curried enough good favor in his lifetime that voters probably put him in this year. No beef from me. - Movie moment - Back to the Future is on peoples minds since 2015 was a year in the trilogy and we clearly arent flying to work via jet pack. But, what always cracked me up, and I love the original and hate the sequels, was how Marty had time to sing another song at the dance. To say his plan was predicated on timing was an understatement. His only chance at traveling TO THE FUTURE, mind you, was based on the exact timing of a lightning strike to a clock tower. Maybe he passes on the encore at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance to make sure everything is exactly where it needs to be for his intricate return home 30 years in the future. - TV moment - I will miss Parenthood. Its a really great show. I hope they dont kill Zeek. ' ' '