UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Mark Recchi knows a little about scoring goals at this level. He had 506 of them before the Penguins faced the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum last night.

But he also has been in the NHL long enough -- 1,330 games, and counting -- to understand that slumps are inevitable, that even reliable goal-producers go through stretches when the puck simply won't go in the net.

Which is why he wasn't panicking about failing to score in the 14 games that preceded the one last night. And, more important, wasn't letting the dry spell sabotage other elements of his game.

"When you're younger, it's a little harder, but, at this point, I know I'm [doing] more than just scoring goals," said Recchi, 39. "I have to play physical, I have to hit, I have to create energy. I still have to make plays, and you have to try to be as good as you can defensively."

He said he has not felt the need to change anything, be it equipment or his game-day routine, because of his goal drought.

"No, because I'm getting three or four good chances a night," he said. "It's one of those things where it's not going in.

"You're going to go through stretches like this. You just have to make sure you keep doing things that are going to help."

Yashin update

Islanders general manager Garth Snow and coach Ted Nolan had a lengthy meeting with captain Alexei Yashin after the team's morning skate yesterday, and it wasn't to discuss terms of a contract extension.

"We wanted to talk to him and tell him how important he is to our team and how vital it is for him to play well," Nolan said.

He demoted Yashin to the fourth line after a blown defensive assignment cost New York a goal during its 4-3 overtime loss in Tampa Tuesday and made no secret of his displeasure with Yashin's work.

That led to what Nolan described as "about a two-hour conversation" Wednesday, and the likelihood of another chat today as the Islanders try to get their most-talented forward to play to his potential.

"What I need from him is for Yashin to play the way Yashin is capable of playing," Nolan said.

"He needs to be Yashin-caliber. He has to make good plays for us, he has to make intelligent plays for us because he's a very intelligent player. I just want him to play the way he's capable."

Tiebreaker disadvantages

The Penguins have made up considerable ground on first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division lately and were just two points behind the Devils before last night.

They aren't quite as close to New Jersey as it might seem because the Devils have an edge in the tiebreakers that would be used to determined the Atlantic champion if they end up tied with the Penguins in points.

The first is victories and New Jersey, which played in Tampa last night, began the night with a 43-41 edge.

No. 2 is head-to-head competition, and the Devils come out on top there, too. New Jersey earned 10 points in its eight games against the Penguins this season, while the Penguins took seven points out of those games.

Because the second tiebreaker goes to New Jersey, the third would not apply in this instance, but it is based on goal-differential over the course of the season. That's too bad for the Penguins, because they were plus-26 before facing the Islanders, while New Jersey was plus-11.

Busy prospects

Six Penguins prospects will be involved in the NCAA's Division I hockey tournament, which begins today.

They are goalies David Brown (Notre Dame) and Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud State), defensemen Alex Goligoski (Minnesota), Carl Sneep (Boston College) and Brian Strait (Boston University) and right winger Tim Crowder (Michigan State).

The tournament will conclude with the Frozen Four in St. Louis April 5-7.