Lightning notes: Konopka reluctantly rests weary body

The long and winding road through four time zones finally comes to an end today, but there have been some bumps and bruises along the way.

Defenseman Matt Walker and center Zenon Konopka will sit out tonight's game against the New York Islanders. Walker left after the first period of Friday's win at St. Louis with an undisclosed lower body injury he said isn't considered serious but will take a few days of rest to recover from. No testing has been necessary, Walker said.

The coaching staff decided to sit Konopka because of all the bumps and bruises the rugged forward has acquired while leading the NHL with 15 fighting majors and 135 total penalty minutes. Over the past few days, Konopka has walked around with a stiff neck, looking as if ice packs were the latest fashion trend.

Konopka wasn't pleased with the decision, but respected the wishes of the coaching and medical staff.

"It's extremely disappointing and frustrating, but it is what it is,'' Konopka said on Monday. "Everyone involved with the team believes it's in my best interest to come out. I'm not a guy that lies, so obviously I'm not happy with that. ... It's not the worst thing in the world, but you live in the moment and for the last three or four years you can probably count on one hand the number of games I've missed because of injury. So, I don't like taking a day off for maintenance, but it's not my decision.''

One player who will be back tonight is right wing Steve Downie, who sat out the past two games with what the team said was an upper-body injury. Downie said he just wasn't feeling right after a face-first fall to the ice during a fight in Nashville on Tuesday.

"I fell on my face pretty good there. Stuff like that happens sometimes when you get in a fight, and it's an unfortunate fall,'' he said. "But after a couple of days off to rest, I feel good. I'm ready to go.''

Krajicek-ing out

It would appear that Tampa Bay is set to severe ties with defenseman Lukas Krajicek, who went unclaimed on waivers on Dec. 12 before being assigned to Norfolk of the American Hockey League on Friday.

While Lightning general manger Brian Lawton has been looking to trade the 26-year-old former first round pick since the summer, he has yet to find a taker. No matter what happens - Lawton still believes a trade can be made - Krajicek likely will not wind up back in Tampa this season.

"He will not be put on re-entry waivers under any circumstances. He's pretty much there until he can be moved,'' Lawton said. "There were some teams who were interested in trading for Lukas, to be honest, but they wanted to trade back X-amount of money and we didn't feel that was in our best interest.

"We have to come to conclusions on what is best for us long term, and that's what we decided. I think something will happen there, I really do.''

Who's tired?

While the players might disagree privately, head coach Rick Tocchet doesn't believe his team is tired at the end of a 12-day road trip.

"I don't buy the tiredness." Tocchet said. "We've had enough days off. Every team goes through this, and when you are losing, you can't be tired for a game."

Even with the grueling travel schedule since the start of November, which has featured three separate trips of at least eight days, Tocchet reiterated his feelings when asked Monday if he bought into the theory that the last game of a trip, such as tonight's, was more difficult to play.

"Not when you win one out of (five) games (on the trip),'' he said.

There apparently is no rest for the weary, either, as the team is scheduled to be back on the ice for an afternoon practice on Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday's home game against Philadelphia. The team will be off, however, on Thursday and Friday before returning to action on Saturday against Atlanta.

Nuts and Bolts

Goaltender Mike Smith, who shut out the Islanders on Dec. 5 in Tampa, will get the start in net tonight. New York will start Dwayne Roloson. ... The Lightning are 16-16-2 all-time at historic Nassau Coliseum, but have dropped four consecutive games there in which they were shutout twice and scored a total of two goals.