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Lightning try to end slide as Sillinger plays 1,000th game

Nov 1, 2007 - 1:59 PM Tampa Bay (5-4-1) at NY Islanders (5-4-0) 7:00 pm EDT

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning try to end a three-game losing steak on Thursday night when they face the New York Islanders.

The Lightning have suffered setbacks to the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils over their last three games, getting outscored by a 13-5 margin during the slide.

Despite scoring just two goals in its last two games, Tampa Bay still ranks eighth in the league in scoring, averaging 3.30 goals per game.

Vaclav Prospal's heady play has lifted the offense, as his nine goals this season are tied for the second-most in the league.

The 32-year-old center scored just 14 goals while playing in all 82 games for Tampa Bay last season.

Islanders center Mike Sillinger will play in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday, joining Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski and Alex Kovalev of the Montreal Canadiens and Owen Nolan of the San Jose Sharks as players that have reached that milestone this season.

The 36-year-old Sillinger will be the 223rd player in NHL history to accomplish the feat and the sixth to wear an Islanders jersey. Sillinger has scored 225 goals and collected 298 assists while playing for 12 teams during his career.

New York may be a bit rusty, as it has played just once over the past 12 days, absorbing an 8-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.