Sidney Crosby has abandoned hope of returning to the Penguins' lineup ahead of schedule.

In fact, he still doesn't have a target date for getting back into uniform.

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Scouting report

• Matchup: Penguins at New York Islanders, 7:08 p.m. today, Nassau Coliseum.
• TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh; WXDX-FM (105.9).
• Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Rick DiPietro for Islanders.
• Penguins: Have gone 3-2-2 in past seven games after being 5-1-1 in previous seven. ... D Kris Letang does not have a point in seven games. ... Penalty-killing is 12 for 13 in past four games.
• Islanders: Had won six games in row before 4-2 loss at New Jersey Saturday. ... Marc-Andre Bergeron is tied for league lead in power-play goals by a defenseman with eight. ... Own worst home-ice power play in league, scoring on 13.7 percent of their chances.
• Hidden stat: Islanders have better record when being outshot (18-13-4) than when outshooting opponents (11-13-3).

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Crosby has been out since getting a high ankle sprain Jan. 18. The initial prognosis was that he would be out 6-to-8 weeks, but Crosby said nine days ago that he hoped to resume playing before that.

Week 6 of his recovery will end Friday, however, and because Crosby didn't accompany the Penguins on the road trip that begins with a game against the New York Islanders tonight at Nassau Coliseum, it's pretty clear he won't play anytime soon.

The good news for the Penguins is that, after being off the ice since Wednesday, Crosby plans to resume skating this week. He said he stopped not because of a setback in his recovery, but because there was no real point in continuing.

"The purpose of skating was to stay in shape," he said. "Obviously, I knew at some point that I wasn't going to be playing within the next week or so.

"For me to skate for a month before I was going to be back would be pretty useless, wearing myself out for no reason.

"I just realized it's going to be a while. I just have to be patient and not waste energy every day."

Erik Christensen returned to the Penguins' lineup Sunday after sitting out five games because of a bruised shoulder.

The layoff didn't seem to bother him much, though, as he got their only goal in regulation of a 2-1 shootout loss to San Jose and beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov again in the shootout.

His timing certainly didn't seem to suffer, as he one-timed a Sergei Gonchar pass perfectly on his goal, but Christensen suggested he still didn't feel quite in sync during the game.

"I didn't necessarily feel rusty," he said. "I don't know what it was. The game didn't have a lot of flow. It was hard to get some momentum."

That seemed to be the case for just about everyone involved in the game, thanks to San Jose's stifling defensive style. The Sharks' approach doesn't make entertaining hockey but might have been a good primer for what the Penguins will face in coming weeks.

"That's how it's going to be once the regular season winds down into the playoffs," defenseman Ryan Whitney said.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, back with the Penguins after playing five games on a conditioning stint with their minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre, acknowledged that he still experiences some pain from the high ankle sprain he got in his right leg Dec. 6.

"Sometimes," he said. "But it's nothing too bad."

Coach Michel Therrien was noncommittal about whether Fleury will start against the Islanders. Regardless of when he plays, however, Fleury apparently has decided to stick with his new white pads instead of going back to the gold ones he has worn since junior hockey.

"White," he said. "They've been good."

Center Nathan Smith cleared waivers and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre. He did not have a point in 12 games after being promoted from the Baby Penguins Jan. 28. ... The Penguins' game against Washington March 9 at the Verizon Center will begin at 12:28 p.m. and will be televised nationally by NBC. ... Therrien gave the Penguins, who had played three games in the previous four days, yesterday off. ... Islanders left winger Chris Simon has played two games since serving a 30-game suspension for stomping Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu with his skate during a game at the Coliseum Dec. 15. ... New York center Mike Sillinger, a good penalty-killer and faceoff man, was scheduled to have season-ending hip surgery yesterday. He has been on injured reserve since Feb. 4.