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.