By the Numbers: Isles 4, Philadelphia 2

By the Numbers #10 -11/26/05 Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 4-2 win in Philadelphia:

3 goals for Jason Blake. It’s the third hat trick of his career; he also had one against Minnesota in 2004 and Atlanta in 2003. Mark Parrish is the only other current Islander with at least three hat tricks in an Islander uniform.

:31 was all it took for Blake to score the game’s first goal

2 goals for RJ Umberger, both scored in the first period for Philadelphia. Umberger had only one goal in 12 previous NHL games.

1 game-winning goal for Brad Lukowich as he scores his first goal as an Islander and first in 29 games. It was the 16th career goal for Lukowich.

200 points as an Islander for Alexei Yashin, who assisted on the first goal

0-3 – the Isles were shorthanded only three times and two of them were shortened due to Flyer penalties. The Isles killed all three penalties. It was the fewest power plays that the Isles had allowed in any game this season. 1-4 Blake’s second goal was the only one on the power play for the Isles. 5 assists in two games for Mark Parrish, who assisted on the final three goals. It’s the first time in his NHL career that he has had three assists in a game. Parrish had only three assists before Thanksgiving. 9-10 the Isles are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and with a little luck and a clutch goal here and there, could be 9-1. 43:32 the Isles held Philly off the boards for the final two periods – a welcome respite from the late third period goals that the Isles have allowed recently.

19,780 in attendance at Wachovia Center. The Flyers have sold out all but one home game this season.

19-40! [ok, 19-41] – the Isles’ awful record on draws. Mike York took 24 face-offs, and lost 20 of them. Michal Handzus was the bully in the face-off circle, winning 19 of 24.

11 forwards and 7 defensemen dressed for the Islanders. Tomi Pettinen was back in the lineup and played 6:10. Jeremy Colliton was not only out of the lineup; he was off the team—sent back to Bridgeport. He played in the Sound Tigers’ game in Philly on Saturday night and scored a goal—but Bridgeport allowed a 5-on-3 goal in overtime to lose 4-3.

37-24 A winning day on draws for the Isles

+2 x 4 Zhitnik and Sopel for the Isles; Umberger and Sim for the Flyers -2 Sami Kapanen

6:23 Ice-time for Eric Godard, a season high. 3:02 Ice-time for Oleg Kvasha, who suffered an ankle injury

21 shots on goal for the Isles, the fewest in a road game this season, makes for a slow day for Antero Niittymaki. 5 of those shots came from Jason Blake

36 shots for Philadelphia – including four each in the third period for Kim Johnsson and Simon Gagne. Gagne finished with six shots.

34 saves for Garth Snow, who is now 6-9-1 against the Flyers for his career.

12-11-1 The Isles climb back over NHL .500.

7-7-0 The Isles reach .500 on the road for the first time since they were 2-2-0. They haven’t been at .500 on the road this late in a season since the end of the 2002-03 season.

7-5-1 the Islanders’ record in November with one game to play; they’ve clinched only their second winning November since going 6-5-2 in 1990.

7 November wins for the Isles; the most they’ve won since they won 9 for Terry Simpson in 1987.

5 November road wins for the Isles; the most November road games they’ve won since they won 6 while defending their first Stanley Cup championship in 1980.

63 games with a point [54-0-9] when the Isles have led after two periods, dating back to December of 2002. [Includes eight ties and a shootout loss]

4 straight home losses for the Flyers [including two in overtime]

1 missing superstar: Peter Forsberg, held out with a minor groin injury. The Flyers are also missing Captain Keith Primeau.

14 points on the road, compared to 11 at home. It’s the first time since the 2001-02 season that the Isles have had at least three more points on the road than at home this late in the season. [The Isles have played four more road games than home games]

Finally—

Take this number with a grain of salt—remembering that there are more points awarded per game this season than any year in NHL history.

25 in 24. The Isles have 25 points in their first 24 games. Only once in the last 17 seasons have the Isles had more points through 24 games [they had 34 points in 24 games in 2001-02].

On the Farm: Phialadelphia 4 – Bridgeport 3. [ot] Before over 8,000 at the Wachovia Center, the Sound Tigers blew 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Travis Brigley, Jeremy Colliton and Bruno Gervais scored for Bridgeport.

The streaky Sound Tigers have lost six straight, totally undoing [with the exception of tonight’s OT point] the six game win streak that immediately preceded it.

Up Next: Philadelphia at Isles. Tuesday 7pm. The Islanders and Flyers meet for the fourth time this season – but the first time on Long Island. The Isles will be looking to sweep a home and home from the Flyers for the first time since 1982. [Bryan Trottier scored a hat trick in the Philly-end of that home-and-home, the only one the Isles had ever had in Philly before today] Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Ottawa 6, Isles 2

By the Numbers #9 -11/25/05 Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 6-2 loss to Ottawa:

20 games to start the season with a point for Dany Heatley. His 16th goal of the season opened the scoring; Heatley is now three games shy of the NHL record [23] for consecutive games with a point after joining a new team. The record is held by Wayne Gretzky.

218-84 Alexei Yashin’s goals as a Senator and Islander respectively. He tied the game in the first period.

199 points as an Islander for the aforementioned Yashin.

4 goals for 4 Senators who had combined for 4 NHL goals this season prior to today: Varada and Hamel each scored their first goal of the season, Eaves scores his 2nd, and Schaefer scored his first.

35 points for Jason Spezza, who had a goal and an assist for Ottawa. He had only 76 points in 111 games over his first two NHL seasons. He’s on a pace for 144 this season.

3 goals on the season for Alexei Zhitnik, whose first goal in nearly a month got the Isles within 3-2 before Ottawa opened the game back up.

3x2, 3x3 – for the second time against the Senators, and the third time overall, the Islanders allowed three power play goals in a game.

5-38 the Senators lack of power play success in between their three-goal outbursts against the Isles.

5-5 not the scoring you’d expect next to Mark Parrish’s name 23 games into the new NHL. Parrish had two assists. 8 after eight games in which the Isles went 5-2-1 and had a chance to go 8-0-0, they were clearly outclassed by the Sens.

17-3-0 Ottawa’s record through 20 games.

18 the most games the Sens won in any of their first four seasons in the NHL.

14-3-3 The best record the Isles ever managed through 20 games [in both 1976-77 and 1978-79].

24-3-8 Ottawa’s record in the last 35 games against the Isles.

14-1-0 The Sens’ record when scoring first

19:06 time of Denis Hamel’s third period goal – that makes ten times [plus three empty nets] that the Isles have been scored on in the final three minutes.

10:17 The amount of power play time for the Islanders, who scored once in 6 chances. Buffalo had 9:42 of pp time and went 3-6.

6-0-0 The Isles record this month when Shawn Bates scores a goal 0-5-1 The Isles record this month when Bates doesn’t score

2 This was the second game Bates missed due to his injury 12/26 Projected return date if Bates misses five weeks

3 key Senators missed the game: Redden and Havlat, due to injuries, and Chris Neil, due to the tragic death of his mom.

4-10 Face-off record for Jeremy Colliton, who played 7:42 in his second NHL game.

15,654 in attendance for stick day. It’s the third largest crowd of the ten home games.

10 starts in 11 games for Rick DiPietro, who played in his 100th NHL game.

300 NHL games for Arron Asham, who was miked by FSN-New York for the occasion.

37-34 A winning day on draws for the Isles.

-2 x 4 Blake, Kvasha, Hunter and Sopel

29:41 Ice-time for Zdeno Chara 25:10 Ice-time for Mike Fisher. Quick, somebody tell Bryan Murray that he’s a forward! 33 shots on goal for the Isles 7 of those shots came from Jason Blake

45 shots for Ottawa –the most against DiPietro this season [and one shy of the most he’s faced in his career].

6x6 The Sens hit the “Chili” number for the sixth time this season [Those under 30: see Isles-Rangers 11-13-1979 for complete explanation].

6 the Isles allowed six goals in a home game for the second time this season. They haven’t allowed seven at home since December 23, 2000 when they lost 7-5 to Columbus.

11-11-1 The Isles drop back to NHL .500.

10 By the time the night was over, the Isles had fallen to 10th in the East [behind New Jersey]; they are now four points out of a playoff spot and only five points ahead of the last place Capitals.

6-5-1 the Islanders’ record in November with two games to play; they’ve had only one winning November since going 6-5-2 in 1990.

6 November wins for the Isles; they haven’t won more November games since they won 9 for Terry Simpson in 1987.

6-3 Isles all-time record for home Friday games. This was the first of four Friday home games this season. The Sens return to Long Island for the second Friday home game on December 23rd.

On the Farm: Syracuse 4 – Bridgeport 1. Allan Rourke scored shorthanded for the Sound Tigers’ goal; Masi Marjamaki was stopped on a penalty shot. The streaky Sound Tigers have lost five straight for the second time this season – the two streaks are separated by a six-game winning streak.

Up Next: Isles at Philadelphia. Saturday 2pm. The Islanders and Flyers meet for the third time this season – in a schedule oddity again in Philadelphia. The Flyers own a pair of home-ice wins over the Isles already this season [5-1 and 3-2]. It’s the first of a home-and-home series that concludes at the Coliseum on Tuesday. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Buffalo 4, Islanders 3 [shootout]

By the Numbers #8 -11/23/05 Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 4-3 shootout loss to Buffalo:

3 reasons you might have thought the Isles would win this game: 1. Buffalo played last night while the Isles were idle 2. The Sabres were missing JP Dumont and Daniel Briere 3. The Islanders led 3-1 early in the second period

231 consecutive games that Briere had played—the fourth-longest current NHL streak 6 games out of the last eight in which the Isles have gained a point [5-2-1]

3 games out of the last eight where a late opposition goal has cost the Isles at least a point.

101 career goals for Mike York, including three this season.

8:54 The amount of power play time for the Islanders, who scored once in 5 chances. Buffalo had 6:52 of pp time and went 1-4.

6-0-0 The Isles record this month when Shawn Bates scores a goal 0-4-1 The Isles record this month when Bates doesn’t score

1 This was the first game Bates missed due to his injury 12/26 Projected return date if Bates misses five weeks

1 NHL game for Jeremy Colliton, who played 1:57, was credited for a hit, and split 2 face-offs in his NHL debut

1985 birth year for Colliton—the youngest active Islander. [Nokelainen in born in 1986]

52 seconds between Sopel’s goal and Blake’s goal gave the Isles a 3-1 lead

2:18 was the time it took for the teams to combine for three goals in the second period

22 minutes of pine time for Robert Nilsson, who didn’t play again after an early third period shift

11:19 without a shot for the Isles after Blake’s goal

17:42 without a shot to end regulation and through overtime for the Islanders

5 assists for Chris Campoli in the last four games

0-3 Yashin’s record in shootouts; Jason Blake was also stopped in the shootout while Miro Satan never got a chance to shoot

2 goals on three shots for the Sabres in the shootout.

16-16 Home team records in the shootout, including losses by the Isles and Caps on home-ice tonight

3-0 record of the road team in shootouts involving the Islanders

13,212 attended on Thanksgiving Eve. It was the ninth time in the last ten seasons that the Isles, who did not play a single Wednesday home game in their first eighteen regular seasons, hosted a Thanksgiving Eve game.

1,1,1,1,1 One win, one tie, one shutout loss, one overtime loss, and one shootout loss on the last five Turkey Eves.

6 game point streak ended for Alexei Yashin—Yashin has also had a 5-game and 7-game point streak earlier this season

9 starts in 10 game for Rick DiPietro

8-0 points for the Isles and Sabres, respectively, in the 2003-04 season series

6-1 points for the Sabres and Isles, respectively, in the 2005-06 season series

13 points swing between last season and this season [Isles vs. Sabres]

6 points that Isles finished ahead of Sabres in 2003-04 season

37 consecutive successful pk’s for the Isles before Drury’s power play goal ended the streak.

12-6 A solid win-loss record on face-offs for Oleg Kvasha tonight. Alexei Yashin [4-11] didn’t fare as well. Overall the Isles went 32-26.

-2 Thomas Vanek was the only player on either team with a crooked +/-. 26 shots on goal for the Isles 27 blocked shots for the Sabres, including six for Jay McKee

11-10-1 The Isles stay above NHL .500 …barely.

9-0-1 a blemish to the Islanders’ previous perfect record when leading after two periods

61 The end of the Isles’ unbeaten streak [53-0-8] when the Isles have led after two periods, dating back to December of 2002

62 An unofficial streak—the Isles have gained points in the last 62 games they’ve led after 2 periods [53 wins, 1 ot loss, eight ties]

6-4-1 the Islanders’ record in November; they’ve had only one winning November since going 6-5-2 in 1990.

6 November wins for the Isles; they haven’t won more November games since they won 9 for Terry Simpson in 1987.

Up Next: Isles vs. Ottawa. Friday 2pm. The Islanders and Senators meet for the second time this season. The Islanders swept a pair of home games form the Sens in 2003-04 but Ottawa slaughtered the Isles 6-0 in Kanata on November 5th. It’s the second straight year that the Isles are scheduled to host a post-Turkey day matinee—the lockout cancelled last year’s game against Pittsburgh. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Isles 5-Panthers 3.

By the Numbers #7 -11/19/05

Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 5-3 win in Florida:

3 wins in four games on this road trip

5 wins in eight games in a stretch in which the Isles played only once at home. In the final seven games, the Isles won five times and lost in the final minutes twice. The Isles dressed the same twenty players for each of the eight games.

11 straight losses for Florida, including four in overtime/shootouts. The club record is 13.

2-6-0 The Isles win for only the second time after allowing the game’s first goal.

9:56 The amount of power play time for the Islanders, who scored twice in 6 chances. Florida had 12:00 of pp time and went 0-6.

2 more goals for Shawn Bates; Bates left with an upper leg injury late in the game. He has scored at least one goal in all six of the Islanders’ November victories; the Isles are 7-0 when he scores at least one goal. Jason Blake earned primary assists on both tallies, as Bates reached double digits in goals on the season, surpassing his 2003-04 total. 400 NHL goals for the venerable Gary Roberts

450 NHL games for Oleg Kvasha, who recorded his third goal of the season.

17 seconds between Kvasha’s goal and Bates’ second tally of the game

1:44 was all it took for the Islanders to score three goals in a third period flurry.

2 assists for Chris Campoli – his second two-assist game on the road trip

5 assists for the Islander defense tonight

36-46-8 career record for winning goalie Rick DiPietro

86-147-33 career record for losing goal Roberto Luongo

5-27, 23-23 power play and penalty kill stats for the week on the road

6 consecutive games without the Islanders allowing a power play goal, covering 33 times short in those games.

36 consecutive successful pk’s for the Isles, including the final three at New Jersey on November 8.

34 minutes for Eric Godard, who saw 3:17 of ice-time and fought former mate Eric Cairns in the third period after drawing a roughing penalty in the second period. He now has 34 penalty minutes on the season, which exactly matches his season ice-time—34:00. He’s also gone 34 games – the longest streak of his career-- without a point. His only point in 65 NHL games came on November 20 2003 in Tampa.

6-3 A solid win-loss record on face-offs for Jason Blake tonight. Trent Hunter [2-7] didn’t fare as well.

+2 Trent Hunter was the only player on either team with a crooked positive number. -2 x 3: Sopel, Zhitnik and Parrish were all -2.

31 of the game’s 57 shots came in the third period; the Isles outshot Florida 16-15 in the period and were outshot 29-28 in the game.

11-10-0 The Isles climb back above .500 as the season hit the quarter-pole.

5-1-3 The Isles’ record in their last nine trips to Sunrise, FL. Their only defeat in that stretch was in March 04, when they dropped a 6-4 decision.

9-0-0 the Islanders’ perfect record when leading after two periods

61 games without a loss [53-0-8] when the Isles have led after two periods, dating back to December of 2002

0-6-2 the Panthers’ near-perfect record when trailing after two periods

1-10-0 the Panthers’ near-perfect record when they don’t score at least one power play goal

$0.00 the price for GROWL, the Panthers’ game magazine

6-4-0 the Islanders’ record in November; they’ve had only one winning November since going 6-5-2 in 1990.

6 November wins for the Isles; they haven’t won more November games since they won 9 for Terry Simpson in 1987.

4 November road wins for the Isles; they haven’t won more November road games since they won 6 while defending their first Stanley Cup championship in 1980.

12 points on the road, compared to 10 at home. It’s the first time since the 2001-02 season that the Isles have had at least two more points on the road than at home this late in the season. [The Isles have played five more road games than home games]

Finally—

Take this number with a grain of salt—remembering that there are more points awarded per game this season than any year in NHL history.

22 in 21. The Isles have 22 points in their first 21 games. Only once in the last 17 seasons have the Isles had more points through 21 games [they had 29 points in 21 games in 2001-02].

Up Next: Isles vs. Buffalo. Wednesday 7pm. The Islanders and Sabres meet for the third time this season. Buffalo has won the first two games by an identical 6-4 score. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Islanders 7, Atlanta 3

By the Numbers #6 -11/16/05

Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 7-3 win in Atlanta:

3 consecutive Islander wins for the first time this season and the first time since a 4-game win streak in March 2004

2 wins in consecutive games, both on the road, for the first time since March 12-16, 2004.

7 goals scored by the Islanders for the first time in over two years [October 25, 2003 vs. Pittsburgh]

7 goals scored by the Islanders in Atlanta for the first time since April 4, 1980 – the final regular season game played by the Flames in Atlanta – and the final regular season road game of the Islanders’ pre-Cup era.

17:34 The amount of power play time for the Islanders, who scored three times in 12 chances with the extra man, including a 5-on-3 goal by Miro Satan to put the game away. Atlanta had 12:53 of pp time.

3-12; season highs for the Islanders in both categories. They last scored 3 pp goals in a game on February 18, 2004 vs. Pittsburgh. It’s the most power play attempts for the Isles since they had 13 at Carolina on March 26, 2000.

5 minor penalties, all on Atlanta, in a 54 second span in the third period

3 power play goals on the season for Jason Blake, matching his career high.

3 power play goals allowed by the Thrashers in 33 chances over the previous seven games

29:33 The amount of even strength time in the game – ironically seven of the game’s first eight goals were scored at even strength.

4 5-on-3 goals in the first 19 games for the Islanders; equaling their total for the entire 2003-04 season.

5 goals in three games for the red-hot Shawn Bates. Bates who scored nine goals in ’03-04, now has eight this season. He has scored at least one goal in all five of the Islanders’ November victories; the Isles are 6-0 when he scores at least one goal.

2 goals for Miro Satan, equaling his total for the last nine games.

2 assists for Matthias Weinhandl – his first assists of the season.

7/9 assist and point streaks, respectively, for Slava Kozlov – both were stopped by the Islanders tonight

11 assists in the last four games for Mark Savard, including two tonight.

36 goals in 63 games against the Islanders for Peter Bondra, who now has 487 goals in his career [tenth among active players]

4 consecutive games without the Islanders allowing a power play goal, covering 22 times short in those games.

1:07 of ice-time for Eric Godard—who managed to avoid the penalty box. He now has 27 penalty minutes on the season and only 25:44 of ice-time. He’s now gone 32 games – the longest streak of his career without a point. His only point in 63 NHL games came on November 20 2003 in Tampa.

13-9 A solid win-loss record on face-offs for Mike York tonight. Jason Blake [0-5] didn’t fare as well.

+3 x 2 Janne Niinimaa and Brad Lukowich; neither took a penalty either.

+2 x 2 The buzzing B’s: Blake and Bates, who combined for three goals and three assists. Greg de Vries and Jim Slater were +2 for Atlanta

-2 x 5 for two Isles [Martinek and Nilsson] and three Thrashers [Kozlov, Mellanby, and Sutton]

11 different Islanders had at least two shots; Alexei Zhitnik had five in the second period and seven overall.

10-9-0 The Isles climb above .500 for the first time since they were 5-4 after their previous win over the Thrashers.

2-0-1 Steve Stirling’s near-perfect record in Atlanta; the Isles are 4-0-1 in their last five visits

1 Star of the Game for Garth Snow – who made 39 saves. It was Snow’s first appearance in seven games.

120 shots faced by Snow in his three starts

8-0-0 the Islanders’ perfect record when leading after two periods

60 games without a loss [52-0-8] when the Isles have led after two periods, dating back to December of 2002

0-8-1 the Thrashers near-perfect record when trailing after two periods

5-3-0 the Islanders’ record in November; they’ve had only one winning November since going 6-5-2 in 1990.

Up Next: Isles at Tampa. Thursday 7:30pm. The Islanders visit the Stanley Cup champions for the first time this season. The last time these two teams met, Martin St. Louis’ overtime goal sent the Isles into a summer that lasted nearly eighteen months. The Isles will be looking for their fourth straight win as well as three wins in consecutive games, all on the road. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

More obscure penalty shot records

From last night's By the Numbers:

<<4 for 4 on penalty shots for Rick DiPietro, who previously stopped Nylander [2002], Cole [2004] and Stefan [October 25/05]

2 obscure club records tied by Rick DiPietro tonight: most penalty shots faced, season [also Hrudey in 1984-85 and Resch in 1977-78] and most penalty shot saves, season>>

[Resch stopped Don Murdoch of the Rangers in January 1978 and Ron Sedlbauer of Vancouver, in March 1978] --this corrects the shooters involved.

Some other penalty shot minutiae: DiPietro is the first Isles goalie to ever stop four consecutive penalty shots [he's 4-4 on his career] The two penalty shots vs. the Isles came in a 5-game, 11 day period. [They faced two in a 5 game, 13 day period in 1978.]

By the Numbers: Ottawa 6, Isles 0

By the Numbers #5 -11/5/05

Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 6-0 loss to Ottawa:

9 consecutive goals allowed by the Islanders since Yashin brought them within one on Tuesday night vs. Pittsburgh.

10 consecutive goals allowed by the Islanders in Ottawa [the Isles led 4-0 on January 15, 2004 but Ottawa rallied for a 4-4 tie].

6-0 the second time in the Stirling era that the Isles have lost by this score—it happened against Detroit on November 28, 2003

2 goals and an assist for Daniel Alfredsson; he now has fourteen goals in thirteen games. He also has a six game point streak. Alfredsson is 12-21-33 in 31 games against the Islanders.

1 goal, one missed penalty shot, and one assist for Dany Heatley, who has at least one point in all 13 games the Sens have played.

4 for 4 on penalty shots for Rick DiPietro, who previously stopped Nylander [2002], Cole [2004] and Stefan [October 25/05]

2 obscure club records tied by Rick DiPietro tonight: most penalty shots faced, season [also Hrudey in 1984-85 and Resch in1977-78] and most penalty shot saves, season [Resch stopped Ron Sedlbauer of Vancouver and Rick MacLeish of Philadelphia, both in March 1978]

2 assists for Jason Spezza; he has 20 on the season. The 22-year-old also recorded his 100th NHL point. He now has a 9-game point streak.

2nd career shutout against the Isles for Dominic Hasek; he also blanked the Isles in November of 2000.

1st appearance by Hasek against the Isles in over four years. He last faced the Isles on November 2, 2001, when he handed Peter Laviolette his first regulation time loss [after a 9-0-1-1 start] as Islander coach.

66th career shutout for Hasek; he ties Patrick Roy for 13th all time. It’s his third shutout of this season.

15th anniversary of Hasek’s first NHL game is Sunday – Chicago tied Hartford 1-1.

13:12 The amount of time the Isles spent killing penalties. They had only 10:00 of pp time.

1 Referee with previous NHL experience [Don VanMassenhoven]. Steve Kozari, the other referee tonight, is an NHL rookie.

3 more PP goals against the Islanders. They’ve allowed nine pp goals in their last three losses and at least one PP goal in every game they’ve lost this season.

1 fight for Eric Godard—who again drew more penalty minutes [5] than ice-time [2:57]. He now has 22 penalty minutes on the season and only 18:08 of ice-time.

12-5 A sterling win-loss record on face-offs for Oleg Kvasha tonight.

34-30 represents a rare winning night for the Isles in the face-off circle. -2 x 2 Shawn Bates and Jason Blake

+2 x 3 Brian Pothier, Andrej Meszaros, and Peter Schaefer

6-8-0 The Isles fall two below .500 for the first time since they were 13-15-2-1 after losing to Philadelphia on December 20, 2003. -10 represents the goal differential in the last two Isles games. That last happened in November 2003 when they lost 6-0 to Detroit and 5-1 to Philadelphia. The club record is -13, set in October, 1990 against New Jersey [1-8] and Montreal [2-8].

6th win of the season by at least three goals for Ottawa

3rd loss of the season by at least three goals for the Isles

24-9: Ottawa’s third period scoring differential

13-21: the Isles’ third period scoring differential

1 win in the last nine regular season trips to Ottawa [1-7-1]

3 times in those nine visits that the Islanders have been shutout [Patrick Lalime had both of the others]

1 obscure piece of Isles history on Ottawa’s coaching staff. Sens’ assistant John Paddock scored the goal to send game six of the 1980 Cup Finals into overtime.

0-5-1 in the Isles’ last six games, including tonight, on this day. Pat LaFontaine’s OT winner in 1988 vs. Washington marked the Isles’ last November 5 victory.

Around the League: 7-0, 7-0, 9-0-1: Peter Laviolette’s Carolina Hurricanes are 7-0 at home after their 2-0 shutout win over Florida. The Canes have won seven straight, tying their franchise record [set by Hartford in 1985] and have extended the longest home-win streak in franchise history. They are 9-0-1 since losing to the Isles on Long Island.

7 points ahead [of the Isles] are the Rangers, who completed a sweep of the home-home with the Devils with a 3-2 shootout win.

3 goals for Simon Gagne, giving him a league-leading 15 as Philly beat Atlanta 4-3.

Up Next: Isles at New Jersey. Tuesday 7:30pm. Two struggling teams [each with just six wins in their first fourteen games] meet at the Meadowlands. Marty Brodeur has missed the last five Devils games –will he return to face the Isles? Howie and Joe will have the game on MSG [while Doc and Chico will call it on FSN-NY]; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Penguins 5, Isles 1

By the Numbers #4 -11/3/05

Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh:

2 Goals by Penguin Superkid Sidney Crosby—his first NHL multi-goal game

5 times before he turns 18 years and three months that Crosby has had at least two points.

299 Career goals for Alexei Yashin, after his 8th goal of the season.

2:03 amount of time Isles were within one goal after Yashin’s goal

1 Assist for Chris Campoli -- his first of the season

1 Goal for Erik Chirstiansen – his first in the NHL

3 assists for Mario and for Penguin rookie Ryan Whitney as well.

1 point for Mike Recchi – who had a second point, which would have been his 100th against the Isles, taken away after a scoring change.

14+ number of years between Pittsburgh’s 2nd youngest goal scorer [Chirstiansen, who’ll turn 22 in December] and their 2nd oldest [Leclair, who turned 36 this past summer].

10,793 means Crosby’s first game brought only 159 extra people to the Coliseum compared to Tuesday’s win over Boston.

13:18 The amount of time the Isles spent killing penalties. They had only 7:41 of pp time.

6 previous games against the Isles for Ziggy Palffy –tonight’s third star. He’ll have a chance to play eight games this season against the Isles.

650 Number of NHL games for Janne Niinimaa. He took two penalties tonight, although one was coincidental.

8-14 A bad win-loss record on face-offs for Shawn Bates tonight.

31-31 equals .500 in the face-off circle –the only even spot in this game. -3 x 3 Mike York, Mark Parrish and Robert Nilsson

+3 x 2 Steve Poapst and Ryan Whitney

3 Islander shots in the final 17:52.

7-1-0-2 was the Isles’ record in Pittsburgh’s last ten visits. Make it 7-2-0-2 in the last eleven.

6-7-0 The Isles fall below .500. They’ve been no more than one game from .500 all season.

0 Mario hat tricks in his rookie season. Crosby has a good shot to break that – in part because he plays with the amazing #66.

1st time a chant of “Fire Stirling” was clearly heard throughout the Coliseum.

5-1 worst home loss since a similar score to Philadelphia the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2003.

Around the League: 9 goals by ex-Isle Raffi Torres, including his OT winner tonight in Detroit 14 goals in 14 games for the Rangers’ Jaromir Jagr, who could have been an Isle, not a Pen, if it wasn’t for Uwe Krupp. 10-2 The Sens’ record after defeating the Champion Lightning tonight in Kanata. 22 points for Peter Forsberg in the Flyers’ first 11 games.

Up Next: Isle at Ottawa. Saturday 7pm. Steve Stirling is one of three Islander coaches [Milbury and Arbour are the others] with at least two regular season wins over Ottawa. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.

By the Numbers: Isles 4, Boston 3 [ot]

By the Numbers #3 -11/1/05

Some notes By the Numbers from the Isles’ 4-3 OT win over Boston:

2 Goals by Islander defensemen [Niniimaa and Campoli]

3 goals on the season for Campoli – one more than fellow rookie Sidney Crosby. Crosby had a goal credited for a few minutes tonight in New Jersey—it was later changed to Mark Recchi.

1 Point for Radek Martinek – his first of the season

8 times in the first 12 games the Isles have allowed a goal in the final two minutes of regulation time [three of the goals were empty-netters].

10,634 means that there were 5,600 unsold seats. The Isles have drawn 77,568 for their first six dates –an average of 12,928. That’s 79.6% of capacity.

4-2-0 The Islanders continue to be successful at home.

11:16 The amount of time the Isles spent killing penalties. They had only 5:16 of pp time.

0 There were no power play goals scored tonight – it’s the first time in eight games that the Isles haven’t allowed a power play goal and only the second time all season that there wasn’t a power play goal in an Islander game.

1 Shawn Bates was named the game’s First Star for his overtime goal. It was his first OT goal as an Islander.

20 Snow started at the Coliseum for the first time in over twenty months [2-29-04 OT loss to Pittsburgh]

600 Number of NHL games for Bruin backliner Jiri Slegr.

7 Number of seconds played by Colton Orr for Boston

2 Bruins didn’t finish the game. Both Brad Isbister and future HHOF’er Brian Leetch left the game in the second period with injuries.

1 asssit for Joe Thornton, giving him 15 – second in the League to Peter Forsberg. Thornton also added the game-tying goal to get the Bruins into ovetime.

1-8 A bad win-loss record on face-offs for Oleg Kvasha tonight. Kvasha did score the game’s first goal—his first of the season.

34-21 A dominant performance by the Bruins in face-offs. Dave Scatchard won 9 of his first 10 and finished 14 -8. Joe Thornton won 13 of 18. By the middle of the third period, the Isles had won exactly one face-off in the offensive zone.

4 Blake waited until overtime but extended his point streak on Bates’ winning goal.

-3 Trent Hunter was on-ice for three goals –all by Boston.

7:11 played shorthanded by Brent Sopel. Where have I heard that time before?

3-28 The Bruins power play after an 0-6 effort tonight.

9 saves by Garth Snow in 3:42 of consecutive Bruin power play time late in the 2nd period.

1 day that Bruin goalie Hannu Toivoen lived with the Islanders as Stanley Cup Champs. He was born on 5/16/84; the Oilers ended the dynasty the following night. 6 The Isles’ home unbeaten streak vs. Boston [4-0-2]. It ties the club’s best home streak ever against Boston. 6-6-0 The Isles get back to .500. They’ve been no more than one game from .500 all season.

11-4-1 The Isles improve to 11-4-1 on this date with their second overtime win over the Bruins on this date. They defeated Boston 6-5 in 1987 on a Pat LaFontaine tally. Those of a certain age may remember an Islander 4-1 win over California 33 years ago tonight. Germain Gagnon recorded the first hat trick in club history that night.

Around the League: 124 of 174 games played in October did not have a single fight. 6.4 average goals scored in October NHL games [59.5 shots on average] 91.2% percentage of capacity filled Leaguewide.

Up Next: Isles-Penguins @ the Coliseum. Thursday 7pm. Sidney Crosby visits Long Island for the first time. Can he catch Chris Campoli in goals? The Isles are 7-1-0-2 vs. the Penguins in Pittsburgh’s last ten visits. Howie and Joe will have the game on FSN-NY; John and Chris will cover it for Bloomberg 1130.