NHL

Niederreiter tough call for Islanders

If the Islanders hear the clock ticking on Nino Niederreiter, the 18-year-old Swiss winger has done everything he can to slow it down.

Niederreiter will play in his fourth NHL game tonight, when the Isles head to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in their new arena. What that means for Niederreiter is that he has five more games to go before he hits the nine-game plateau, the point when the franchise has to make a decision to send him back to juniors or to kick start the first year of his entry-level contract.

“When we drafted him [this year] in the fifth position of the first round, we knew he had abilities,” coach Scott Gordon said when he first announced his 23-man roster. “This is an opportunity for him to extend his stay and for us to be able to see what he is able to do in the regular season.

“Whether it’s one game or nine games, it’s a time we can evaluate him a little longer,” Gordon continued. “If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, he’s got a good situation back in [WHL] Portland.”

It’s only been three games, but so far, Niederreiter is doing his part to make it work. In Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at Washington, Niederreiter took a pass from 39-year-old linemate Doug Weight and scored his first career goal, becoming the fourth-youngest player of the expansion era to score a NHL goal. Funny enough, Weight’s first assist came on an overtime goal by Sergei Nemchinov on Oct. 5, 1991 — almost a year before Niederreiter was born.

“It was a great feeling,”Niederreiter said at the time, “but the end result wasn’t.”

Niederreiter also has shown that his game isn’t just scoring goals. Although he certainly has great hands, at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, he is strong on the puck and isn’t afraid to use his size in the corners or against the boards. His play in his own zone has been better than can be expected for an 18-year-old.

And on top of that, Gordon has lauded Niederreiter’s maturity since the start of training camp, saying the kid from Chur, Switzerland, is wise beyond his years.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Gordon said. “I think he’s a focused individual. He doesn’t just take anything for granted. He works at things. He’s a good listener. Those are the things that, as a coach, you can’t take for granted because not every 18-year-old is like that.”

And if there’s a coach in the NHL who knows anything about dealing with 18-year-olds, it’s Gordon. In the previous two training camps, Gordon had two other young prospects, Josh Bailey in 2008 and John Tavares last year.

“I try to make it a yearly thing,” Gordon quipped

But Gordon and GM Garth Snow have a tough decision to make nearing the end of this month, when Niederreiter either stays or goes. His ninth game would come Oct. 27 in Montreal.

The team already is reeling from the loss of forward Kyle Okposo, out at least another 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury, as well as defenseman Mark Streit, expected out until about March. On top of that, Tavares missed Tuesday’s game in Washington and will miss tonight’s in Pittsburgh due to a mild concussion.

“He [Niederreiter] is going to find out real quickly that in the NHL there is a lot less time,” Gordon said. “He’s going to have to make his decisions quickly. He’s going to have to realize that everybody is his size and bigger. He’s a smart kid, and he’ll figure it out.”

bcyrgalis@nypost.com