Joey Who?

Joey MacDonald has joined the Islanders and will serve as Wade Dubielewicz' backup tonight.

MacDonald has NHL experience, appearing in 15 games with the Red Wings and Bruins last season. (3-7-2, 3.12, 89.4%) He owns NHL wins over the Senators, Devils and Flames.

Last March 27, MacDonald went into Ottawa and beat the Sens 3-2, making 32 saves. Earlier that week, he had a 1-0 lead over the Rangers late, only to fall 2-1 in a shootout.

He joined the Isles as a UFA on July 5th. This is the first season of a 2-year contract. MacDonald shared the Hap Holmes Memorial Award (lowest goals against) in 2002-03; Dubielewicz shared the same award (with Dieter Kochan) the following season for the Sound Tigers.

He is 6-10-0 with two shutouts this season for Bridgeport. Mike Mole, who spent some time with the Sound Tigers last season, hs been recalled from Utah to replace MacDonald on the Sound Tigers' roster.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Bunus Stat Trick: Isles 4, Leafs 3 (OT)

1.The Isles scored three goals in the first period. It was their second multi-goal first period of the season and their first since opening night. The Isles hadn't scored two goals in any first period at home this season -- the list time they did that at home was on March 10 against the Caps. The Isles have scored only 16 first period goals this season (6 of those in two games); every other NHL team has managed at least 20 first period goals.

2.The Isles impoved to 5-2 in OT/SO (4-1 in OT and 5-2 in SO). Only Edmonton (10-3) and Atlanta (8-1) have better records than the Isles. Pittsburgh is also 5-2.

3. After going pointless through (US) Thanksgiving, Hilbert has 4 goals and 4 assists in the last 16 games.

Stat Trick: Isles 4, Leafs 3 (OT)

Not a lot of time this morning but here goes:

1. Wade Dubielewicz's second win comes in his third relief outing of the season. He is 2-0 in relief and 0-2 as a starter this season. He will likely get his first chance for a win as a starter (since Easter Epic II) tonight in Ottawa. (The Sens were the last team to beat the Isles, and Dubie, last season).

2. Before leaving injured, DiPietro earned his third assist on the season, tying former Islanders Chris Osgood and Roberto Luongo for the league lead in that department.

3. Dubie has never allowed a goal in extra time in six NHL appearances. He now has two OT wins, a tie, and three shootout wins to his resume. His other OT win was also in relief -- Garth Snow was injured in the final seconds of regulation on January 4, 2006 and Mark Parrish scored in OT Five of Dubie's nine NHL wins have come in extra time.

and a few more:

4. It's the first time since December 30-31, 2002 that the Isles have won consecutive games, both in OT (Hamrlik vs Florida and Blake vs Buffalo, prompting Howie to exclaim "Happy New Year").

5. It's also the first time since November 7-10, 1987 that the Isles have won consecutive games, both at home, both in OT (LaFontaine vs Washington, Brad Lauer vs. Detroit).

6. Comrie's goal earned Richard Park his third assist -- a career high for Park for one game

7. Comrie's goal came at 4:50 at overtime. The Isles have now won three games this sesaon in the final thirty seconds of OT. (Guerin-NJ 10/20, Sillinger-TB, 12/8)

and finally...

8. With the win, the Isles tie Toronto and Pittsburgh in the standings, and pass Florida, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Hold on folks. It's going to be a wild ride.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

It's Boxing Day!

If you have good thoughts about the Islanders and Boxing Day, you're right. Particularly when they play at the Coliseum.
The Islanders now have 8 wins, 1 loss, 1 overtime loss and 1 tie in home Boxing Day games. How many did you attend?

26-Dec-78 Vs Toronto 5 1 W
26-Dec-81 Vs Philadelphia 4 2 W
26-Dec-85 Vs Hartford 3 4 L
26-Dec-87 Vs Boston 2 1 W
26-Dec-91 Vs New Jersey 5 5 T
26-Dec-92 Vs New York 6 4 W
26-Dec-93 Vs Buffalo 4 3 Wot
26-Dec-95 Vs Boston 3 3 T
26-Dec-96 Vs New Jersey 4 1 W
26-Dec-98 Vs Boston 4 2 W
26-Dec-06 Vs New York 2 0 W
26-Dec-07 Vs Toronto

The Isles are 3-0 against the Rangers on Boxing Day, winning 2-1 in 1976 at MSG behind Howatt's GWG and 42 saves by Billy Smith, 6-4 in 1992 at the Coliseum behind 2 Steve Thomas goals, and 2-0 last year behind a DiPietro shutout.

According to wikipedia, "Boxing Day is a traditional celebration, dating back to the Middle Ages, and consists of the practice of giving out gifts to employees, the poor, or to people in a lower social class. The name has numerous folk etymologies; the Oxford English Dictionary attributes it to the Christmas box; the verb box meaning: "To give a Christmas-box (colloq.); whence boxing-day." Outside the Commonwealth of Nations (which includes Great Britain and Canada) , the day is celebrated with a different name."

This will be Toronto's second Boxing Day appearance on Long Island. Clark Gillies scored two goals as the Isles routed the Leafs 5-1 in 1978. It was the 17th game of a 23 game home unbeaten streak that opened the 1978-79 and the Leafs' first visit to Long Island since their upset of the Isles the previous spring.

They are 12-7-2 overall on Boxing Day.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

DiPi

Rick DiPietro recorded his 106th win of his career tonight.

That ties Kelly Hrudey for third on the all-time Islander list. Billy Smith won 304 games for the Isles while Chico Resch won 157.

It's his 16th overtime win, which is a club record (Hrudey won 10 in OT).

DiPietro has 16 of the Islanders' 17 wins this season (Dubie won in relief on Al Arbour night). His 16 wins are two behind Evgeny Nabokov for the league lead. (Several other goalies have either 16 or 17 wins)

DiPietro is now 8-3 against the Caps in his career.

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Washington 2 (OT)

1. Richard Park's game winning goal was the first that the Isles had scored 4-on-4 all season. It's their third overtime win of the season, but the the other two (NJ and Tampa) were won on PP goals. It was Park's first OT goal as an Islander and his second winning goal of the season.

2. Miro Satan extended his point streak to six straight games. He now has 331 goals and 335 assists, giving him 666 career points. Pretty good for a Satan, huh? (I wish that I had thought of this one, but the credit goes to Hockey Night to Canada) BTW, check out this link to Miro's career stats:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/666/

3. Bill Guerin's goal was his fourth against the Capitals this season and ninth overall. Guerin now has 373 career goals, which is one more than Eric Lindros and two fewer than Butch Goring.

and a few more for the holidays....

4. It's the Isles' first overtime win over the Capitals in over 13 years. Benoit Hogue had the winner for the Isles on April 5, 1994 in Landover. Ray Ferraro had two OT winners at the Coliseum against the Caps in the 1993 playoffs. To find a regular season OT win, you have to go back to November 5, 1988 when Pat LaFontaine ended the shortest OT game in Islander history (:10), just 18 1/2 months after ending the longest (68:47).

5. The Isles improve to 2-4-0 at home this month. They haven't lost five home games in any month since dropping six in March, 2001.

6. Trent Hunter didn't figure in the scoring but he had a strong game, with 7 shots, 4 hits, and three takeaways.

7. Washington had only 16 shots, giving them 28 in their two games at the Coliseum. They haven't had fewer than 23 shots in games in any locale other than Long Island.

8. Goals in last 2.5 seasons: Ovechkin 123, Heatley 122, Kovalchuk 122 (including tonight).

9. Strange but true: 10 of the last 11 Islander wins have been by one goal.

10. In winning consecutive games for the first time since winning at the Rock and the Garden in mid-November, the Isles won on consecutive nights for the second time this season. They are 6-2 on the back-half of back-2-backs and 6-0 if the set did not include a game with the Rangers.

11. The Isles have won their last game before X-mas in 4 of the last five seasons. Ho. Ho. Ho.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Isles 4, Penguins 2

1. The Isles ended a streak of 22 games without scoring 4 goals in a game (11/1/07 vs Tampa, 4-0 was the last). Thas was one shy of the club record of 23 -- set in 1998-99.

2. The Isles won the game by two goals -- their widest margin of victory since 11/1. The last nine Isles wins had all been by one goal. They had only one goal with a multiple goal lead at any point in that stretch -- 2-0 and 3-1 against Phoenix last week.

3. The win evens the season series at 2, and is only the 2nd Isle win in Pittsburgh in their last eight trips (2-5-1).

No goals

The Isles have scored 72 goals in 32 games, which is a pace of 185 goals for the 82-game season. The original Isles scored 170 goals in a 78-game season.

Edmonton had the fewest goals in the NHL last season: 195. The only other team to score fewer than 200 since the lockout was St Louis, who had 197 in 2005-06.

Columbus scored 164 in 2001-02, which is the season lowest total since expansion. The original Oakland Seals scored only 153 in 1967-78, but that was in 74 games.

As noted earlier, the Isles have gone 22 consecutive games without scoring four times.

The 72 goals equals the lowest 32 game total in club history (and remember one of the 72 is a shootout winner). The Isles scored 72 in 2000-01 and 64 in 1972-73.

The Isles have scored 30 fewer goals than last season, while allowing four fewer. (Perhaps amazingly they have only five fewer standings points than they did at this time last season.) The 161 goals (both teams) is the lowest in club history at this point in the season.

Stat Trick: Sabres 2, Isles 1

1. Brendan Witt's goal was his 2nd as an Islander -- he scored in January at MSG -- and is the first goal he has ever scored at the Coliseum. He has 0 career goals against the Isles.

2. Every Islander had at least one shot, but Ryan Miller made a season-high 42 saves for Buffalo.

3. The Isles drop to NHL .500 for the first time since a loss to Philadelphia dropped them to 3-3-0 on October 13th. That game was Chris Simon's season debut. The Isles are 2-7-1 in their last 10 since a shootout win over Ottawa raised their record to 13-8-1.

and one more:

4. The Isles have now been outscored 25-12 in first periods. They have scored 1 goal or less in 31 consecutive first periods --- their only multi-goal first period was against Buffalo on opening night, when they scored three times. They have scored three goals or fewer in 22 straight games -- one shy of the club record (23).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Comeau, not Tambellini recalled

The Islanders recalled Blake Comeau today from Bridgeport, essentially to take Chris Simon's spot on the roster.

The choice is an interesting one in that the Isles recalled the 21-year old Comeau, who has only 3 goals and six assists this season and not Jeff Tambellini, who despite his time with the Islanders leads the Sound Tigers in scoring. Tambellini continues to impress at the AHL level, and he had a hat trick Sunday, scoring at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded.
One has to wonder though how many more chances that the 23 year old Tambellini will get with the Isles.

Tambellini has been a dominant player at the AHL level --he also led the Sound Tigers last season in scoring, but has scored exactly three goals in 56 NHL games. One has to wonder if Tambellini will get it right someday on the NHL level, or will he be the hockey equivalent of a baseball AAAA player.

Time will tell.

First is worst

If the Isles are going to be a competitive team, they'll need to improve their first periods. The Isles have now been outscored 24-12 in the first period this season.

The 12 goals is by far the fewest in the NHL -- St. Louis, who has played two fewer games than the Islanders, have 17 first pd tallies.
The -12 differential is the second worst in the NHL -- Atlanta, who was outscored 3-1 by Ottawa in the first period on Saturday, is -13 in the first period.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

3 or less streak reaches 21

The Isles have now scored three goals or less in 21 consecutive games, yet have earned points in over half of those games, going 9-10-2. The streak started on Al Arbour night. The last time the Isles scored 4 goals was in a 4-0 win over Tampa on November 1.

The club record for scoring three goals or less is 23 games, set in 1999. The Isles went 4-14-5 during that streak, which ended with a 5-3 win over Florida on March 31, 1999.

Prior to the current streak, the 2nd longest streak was 17 straight games during the 95 lockout season.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick - Pens 3, Isles 2

1. Power play time: Isles 3:07 - Penguins 14:43. The Isles had six shots on goal while playing shorthanded.

2. Isles out-hit the Pens 31-15, and won 35 of 53 draws.

3. It's the Penguins' first regualtion win in their last seven trips to Long Island. The Isles had gone 5-0-1 in the previous six.

and one more...

4. Rookie Tyler Kennedy, who scored his first NHL goal on Al Arbour night, had a goal and two assists tonight for the first three-point game of his career. Four of Kennedy's ten career points have come at the Coliseum.

and one question...

How many games will Simon get this time? By receiving a match penalty, Simon has been "automatically suspended from further competition until the Commissioner has ruled on the issue".

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Fw: Stat trick errata

An eagle eye pointed out that Gillies' # was retired on 12/7/96. The Isles' previous victory over Phoenix was on 12/6/97. The games had one thing in common -- an Islander shutout victory.

Fw: Stat Trick: Sabres 5, Isles 3

1. The Isles have scord only 66 goals in 29 games -- third lowest total in club history at this point in the season (57 in 1999-00 and 58 in 1972-73).

2. The Isles have scored three goals in consecutive games for the first time in over a month -- they haven't scored four goals in any of their last 19 games. It's the second-longest 3 or less streak in club history. In 1999, the Isles went 23 consecutive games without scoring at least three goals.

3. The Isles have gone 2-6-2 in their last 10 games, and haven't beaten anyone in regulation time in that span. Their last win in 60 was on November 25 vs Boston.

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Coyotes 2

1. Three is a magic number. Isles score three goals for the third straight game, and a power play goal for the third straight game as well (both equal season highs). However, it's now 20 straight games that the Isles have scored three goals or less and they haven't scored two pp goals in a game since October 27th.

2. Bill Guerin had his second multi-goal game of the season but fell one goal short of becoming the first Islander captain to record a hat trick at the Coliseum since Flatley did so in February 1994. (Guerin's hat in Washington in October is the only one, home or road, by an Isles captain since Flatley did so -- Yashin had two hats as an Isle, but both were before he became the Captain). Guerin now has 372 goals, passing RIck Kehoe and tying Eric ("the lesser") Lindros on the all-time NHL list. Of course he did so against former Isle GM Don Maloney.

3. It's the Isles first home win against Phoenix since Clark Gillies night (12-6-97), stopping a 4-game home winless streak (2 losses, 2 ties) against the Coyotes. It was also the Isles first home game vs. Phoenix since 2002 -- Radek Martinek was the only Islander to play in both games.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick errata

An eagle eye pointed out that my last sentence was missing something... a number.

<< The Isles are 18-8 all-time in shootouts, and have won five of their last shootouts.>>

It's five of the last 6 shootouts, dating back to two SO wins over Toronto last February and including the two season-saving SO wins in April over the Rangers and Devils. The SO loss, as mentioned earlier, was at MSG on the night DiPietro made 56 saves.

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Ottawa 2 (SO)

1. Welcome home, Fort Neverlose. The Isles finish November 6-1-1 at the Coliseum -- the first time they've won six November home games since 1987 (6-2-0) and their best November at home since 1984 (6-0-0). The Isles have 19 points in thirteen games at home this season (9-3-1) equalling their best home start since 1987-88. They haven't had a better record at home through thirteen games since winning 11 of their first 13 at home in 1984-85.

2. It's the first time the Isles have ever beaten the Senators in extra time. They've lost only once in overtime (Hossa in 2000) and this was the first shootout between the teams.

3. It's only the Islanders' third home win (and fifth overall) since 1996 against the Sens. They were 2-14-1 with four ties in their last 21 home games against Ottawa.

and a few more for the shootout...

Ricky is now 14-7 in career shootouts, stopping 69 of 91 shots. He has not allowed more than one goal on an opponent's first three shots in eighteen consecutive shootouts. It was DiPietro's first shootout since March 5, 2007, when he suffered a 2-1 loss at MSG the night that he recorded a club-record 56 saves.

Mike Sillinger had the winning goal --his first goal in three shootout attempts as an Islander. The Isles are 18-8 all-time in shootouts, and have won five of their last shootouts.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Smallest crowd since....

 

The announced attendance at tonight's Islander-Dallas game was 8,161 (just 44 people more than half-full). It is by far the smallest announced crowd of the season (11,008 vs. Tampa) and is the smallest crowd of the Nolan era. (8,269 attended an Isles-Devils game last November 2 in New Jersey; the smallest home crowd was 8,739 last Halloween) 

 

The last time the Isles announced a smaller crowd for a home game was an announced crowd of 3,863 for the blizzard game 12/6/03 vs. Chicago --note however that that was an actual attendance as opposed to a tickets sold number. 

 

Last Halloween's game was the lowest announced attendance since March 6, 2001.  That night, 8,415 attended the Isles' 5-1 loss to Washington.  Alan Hahn's story in Newsday concentrated more on the trade  deadline...and one of Mike Milbury's targets: Michael Peca.

However, tonight's crowd has that number beat, so we have to move back to the Islanders' first game of the Millenium.  On January 2, 2001, the announced attendance was 7,916 for an Islander 3-0 loss to the Canadiens.  Jose Theodore punctuated that evening by scoring into an empty net -- the only goal ever scored by an opposing netminder. 

 

Alan Hahn's Newsday story noted: "The holiday season is over and it seems the Islanders' season is slowly following suit. Playing before a scattered crowd that braved not inclement weather but the specter of witnessing another loss for the home team, the Islanders last night ended their seven-game homestand with a dismal 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in front of an announced attendance of 7,916 at Nassau Coliseum, which has become hockey purgatory.

 

Well, for one night the aging Coliseum was hockey heaven for Montreal goalie Jose Theodore, who scored in the final seconds to punctuate a game that seemed not to need any further punctuation.

 

"It can't get worse than that," Claude Lapointe said.

 

But it does for the Islanders and beleaguered general manager Mike Milbury, who once again heard rousing chants of "Mike Must Go!" And it did for forward Mark Parrish, who after the game scolded the few remaining fans the team has for booing the team's final touch on a 2- 5 record during the homestand.

 

"As much as we love the fans and want them to come out and watch us," he said, "if they're going to boo us like that, we'd appreciate it if they just stayed home, to be honest with you. That's not going to help us out all too much."

>>

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Dallas 3, Isles 2 (OT)

1.  Mike Modano's two goals gives him 515 career, tying Pierre Turgeon for 32nd all-time.  It was the 8th OT goal of his career.

 

2. The Isles have scored 2 or fewer goals in 9 straight games -- first time they've done that since 1997-98.  The club record is 12 straight games, set by the original Islanders, and broken in the famous 9-7 win at Boston Garden.  At least they avoided playing three consecutive 2-1 games for the first time in club history.

 

3. Dallas' win was their first on Long Island since 12-21-00.  (The Isles had won the only three Coliseum tilts in that span.)

 

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Islanders 2, Rangers 1

1. A nite for milestones as Di Pietro wins his 100th (4th goalie in Isles history: Smith 304, Resch 157, Hrudey 106) as the Isles record their 500th road win.

2. A nite for records as the Isles become the first NHL team to ever play seven consecutive one-goal games, all decided in regulation, extend their MSG point streak to six (5 wins and an OT loss) for the first time ever and stretch their record over the Rangers to 9-1-2 -- the best 12-game stretch ever against the Blueshirts, and set a record with an eighth straight win over the Devils and Rangers.

3. A night for celebrating, as the Isles have won 11 of 17 games, matching their total in 2001-02 for the most wins in the first 17 since opening 12-4-1 in 1987-88.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

More DiPi/ Shutout notes

Di Pietro now has 13 shutouts. His shutout in New Jersey was only the 4th of the thirteen on the road.

It's the first time that DiPietro has won a 1-0 game and only the 12th 1-0 win in Islander regular season history:

13-Jan-76VsDetroit10W
21-Dec-84@Hartford10W
11-Feb-86VsVancouver10W
4-Feb-90@Buffalo10W
23-Mar-95VsNew York10W
15-Feb-97VsFlorida10Wot
17-Oct-98@St. Louis10W
27-Oct-98VsLos Angeles10W
15-Dec-98@San Jose10W
12-Feb-02@Philadelphia10Wot
31-Dec-02@Buffalo10Wot
16-Nov-07@New Jersey10W

Tommy Salo had all four of the 1-0 wins in 1997 and 1998; no other Isle goalie has more than one. Jason Blake had the OT goal in the most recent 1-0 win, which made a winner out of Chris Osgood.

DiPietro now has 99 career wins, and the Isles as a team have 499 road wins in their history, meaning Monday at MSG could be a multiple milestone game.

Only three goalies have won 100 games for the Islanders (Smith 304, Resch 157, Hrudey 106) -- Hrudey won his 100th game in January 1989.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

Sweet 16

The Isles are 10-6-0 and reach the 20-point mark in only 16 games. It's only the second time in the last 20 years that the Isles have recorded at least 20 points in 16 games (11-3-1-1 in 2001-02).

Stat Trick: Isles 1, Devils 0

Lot of numbers from the Isles maiden visit to the Rock...

1. Josef Vasicek has scored the Islanders' first goal in all three games against NJ. Vasicek now has seven goals on the year (including the only two shorties that the Isles have scored) and has recorded eight of his 68 career goals against the Devils.

2. Rick DiPietro records his 13th career shutout and 99th career victory as the Isles become the final Atlantic Division opponent to blank the Devils this year (NJ has been shutout five times this season). It's the Isles first shutout against NJ since a scoreless tie (Vanbiesbrouck/Brodeur) on December 1, 2000 and the first time the Isles have beaten New Jersey by shutout since Glenn Healy blanked the Devils 7-0 on April 15, 1992. Brodeur, making his fourth NHL appearance, played the third period of that game.

3. The Isles have played six consecutive one-goal games, winning three and losing three. It's the first time in club history that . the Isles have ever played six consecutive 1-goal games. (The Isles did play 7 consecutive games in 2001 decided by one goal or less)

and a few more..

4. The Isles are taking this Hummer Metro Cup seriously -- they're now 5-0 against the Rangers and Devils this season (and have won seven straight against the two rivals counting two wins last April).

5. The last ten Islander-Devil games have been decided by either one or two goals -- the Devils won the first six games and the Isles won the last four games. Two of those games were tied in the final 2 seconds of regulation--once by each team.

6. The Isles are 3-0 vs. the Devils this season, and have won four straight over New Jersey, (dating back to last year). It's the first time that the Isles have won the first three games of a season series from New Jersey since 1985-86.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

Playing shorthanded

The Islanders were shorthanded six times against Pittsburgh and had only two power plays. The -4 difference equalled the worst of the season.

It also ends a streak of five straight games that the Islanders had more power plays than the opposition. The Isles had 21 power plays and were shorthanded only 10 times in the previous five games. The Isles hadn't taken advantage of the disparity, though, going 2-21 on the pp and 8-10 on the pk.

The Isles are one of four teams to have had fewer power plays than their opponents in each of the last six seasons. (Chicago, Florida and Washington are the others)

Including tonight, the Isles have had 65 pp's and been shorthanded 67 times.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Penguins 3, Islanders 2

1. The Isles have played five consecutive one-goal games, winning the first three and losing the last two. This ties the club record, set seven previous times, including last season. It's only the second time that the Isles have ever played five consecutive regulation 1-goal games (previously done in 1998). (The Isles did play 7 consecutive games in 2001 decided by one goal or less)

2. The Isles outscored Pittsburgh 2-1 at full strength, but allowed a 5-on-3 and a 4-on-4 goal. The Isles have been outscored 3-0 in 4-on-4's this season.

3. Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor were scratched by the Penguins. Combined, they have played in 2,471 NHL games. Crosby and Malkin extended their point streaks to 18 and 12 games respectively. Including tonight, they have played in 276 NHL games.

...and one more for the history books

4. Crosby's assist on the winning goal was his 250th NHL point. He has 33 of those points vs the Isles --more than any other opponent. Gonchar's goal was his 14th career goal against the Islanders--more than any other opponent.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Flyers 3, Isles 2

1. Chris Simon's goal was #144 of his career. His last goal came in the game that earned him his 25 game suspension -- on March 8th against the Rangers. Miro Satan earned an assist on the Simon goal, extending his point-scoring streak to 8 straight games.

2. The Flyers are now 5-2-0 in divisional play. They won only five divisional games all last season (5-20-7).

3. Marc-Andre Bergeron's ill-timed pinch contributed to Richards' winning SH goal. It capped a rough (-2) night for Bergeron, who was able to get only two of his ten shots on goal (6 blocked, 2 missed). Overall, the Flyers blocked 22 shots (6 by Kimmo Timonen).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Satan first Isle with three consecutive GW goals since 1982

The Isles noted on their website that Miro Satan is the first Isle player with three consecutive game winning goals since 1982.

The last player to do so was Bryan Trottier -- against the Penguins, Rangers and Penguins on January 21, 24 and 26, 1982.

Unlike Satan's goals, Trottier was credited with the winner in three blowouts (6-1, 6-1 and 9-2). The games were the first three of the Islanders' 15-game winning streak -- and the first three in the "career" of a certain statistician. :)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

New feature on NYI.com

Looks like a new feature on NYI.com. Kinda reminds me of sometihng they used to run.

<<ISLES POST GAME STATS 411
Corey Witt | Islanders media relations coordinator
New York Islanders Nov 11, 2007, 11:31 AM EST

Your stop for quick stats on the Islanders the morning after each game.

Miroslav Satan's game-winning goal
STANDINGS: Following last night's 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils, the Islanders remain in third place in the Atlantic Division with 18 points after 13 games played. The Rangers are one point ahead of the Orange and Blue, but have played in four more games. The Philadelphia Flyers, the Islanders opponent on Monday, are first in the Atlantic with 20 points with 16 games played.
The Islanders have played in the least amount of games in the entire NHL. Each team in the Eastern Conference has played in at least three more games.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Islanders power play ranks third in the NHL with a 23.7 percent conversion rate. On the road, the team has been scoring at a remarkable 41.2 percent clip.
The penalty kill ranks eighth in the NHL as they have been negating 84.8 percent of their opponents power plays.
Last night, the Islanders did not take a single penalty against the New Jersey Devils. It was the first time that has happened since January 29, 2002 versus the Devils.

SATAN IS CLUTCH: Miroslav Satan's game-winning goal last night was his third in as many games. He is the first Islanders to do that since Bryan Trottier netted three consecutive game-winners in January of 1982.
Miro is in a six-way tie for second place in the NHL with three game-winning goals. Last season, Satan only had two game-winners all season.

GETTING IN THE WAY: Brendan Witt is seventh in the NHL in blocked shots with 41. Last season he finished fifth the league with a total of 207. Everyone above him in the rankings has played in either 16 or 17 games to his 13.

I'LL TAKE IT: Mike Sillinger once again leads the Islanders with a 55.3 faceoff winning percentage. He ranks seventh in the NHL by taking 33.5 percent of the Islanders faceoffs. Last season, Sillinger ranked fourth in the NHL with a 58.8 faceoff winning percentage.

ISLE LEAD THE WAY: Islanders team-leaders...
Goals: Five Players Tied - 5
Assists: Mike Comrie - 10
Points: Mike Comrie - 15
Shots: Bill Guerin - 48
Penalty Minutes: Andy Sutton - 17
Plus/Minus: Miroslav Satan - +4
Game-Winning Goals: Miroslav Satan – 3
Shooting Percentage: Josef Vasicek – 29.4
Time On Ice/Game: Brendan Witt – 22:02

>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Monday night madness...or Monday night badness

The Isles head to Philly tomorrow night, looking to stop an ugly Monday night streak.

The Isles have lost 11 straight Monday Night games (0-8-3), dating back to a 1995 win in Pittsburgh (the 9-round shootout game).

They did defeat the Penguins last season on a Monday, but that game was a matinee. (I'm also excluding an MLK day loss to Tampa)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick - Isles 2, Devils 1

1. The Isles are 4-0-0 in November. It's the first time since 1983 that the Isles have won their first four November games (they won their first five that season). They also won their first four November games in 1976.

2. Miro Satan has the game winning goal in each of the last three games -- all one goal victories. The club record for consecutive wins all by one goal is 4, set last February. Satan, who had only two game winning goals in each of his first two seasons with the Isles, now also has a point in seven straight games.

3. The Isles are 7-2 at home. They haven't earned more points in their first nine games at home since 1984-85. They are 9-4 overall and their 18 points in 13 games is their second highest total through thirteen games in the post-Cup era.

and a few more...

4. The Isles are now 8-0 against teams that made the playoffs last season and have won all six games that they've led after 40 minutes.

5. The Isles did not take a penalty in a game for the first time since January 29 2002 (also against New Jersey)

6. The winning goal came on a 5-on-3. The Isles have scored four 5-on-3 goals this season, matching their total for all last season.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Back in the NH.... back in the NH .... Back in the NHL....

The Islanders will actually play their 13th game of the season on Saturday.

Consider this:

With Buffalo's loss on Friday night, the Islanders have played at least three fewer games than every other team in the Eastern Conference.

The Isles have played five fewer games than the Maple Leafs

The Isles have played one fewer game than Ottawa has won. (The Sens are 13-2)

The Isles have played twelve games -- the Sabres have allowed the first goal in twelve straight games.

It will be interesting to see how much this crazy schedule affects the Isles as this season goes on. Beginning Saturday, it's 22 games in 43 days before the Isles take three days off for Christmas.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Getting it done in 60

Last season, the Isles finished 40-30-12 and didn't get into the playoffs until Dubie's pokecheck. Based on early season stats, 92 points may not be needed this year due to a significant drop in three point games.

As John Kreiser notes in his NHL.com column, only 15% of games have not been settled in regulation. Thus, the average NHL game awards 2.15 points. In each of the last two seasons, 281 games (nearly 23%) have reached OT so the average game in those seasons awarded 2.23 points.

There were 2,741 points awarded last year -- an average of 91.4 per team. (92 points made the playoffs in the East and 96 points in the West) At this year's pace, the average team would record 88.15 points.

John's numbers are below.

<<60 minutes getting it done this season
John Kreiser | NHL.com columnist
Nov 9, 2007, 11:46 AM EST

Six weeks into the new season, NHL teams are doing a much better job of deciding games in the regulation 60 minutes than they have in the last two.

Through Thursday night, 227 games have been played and just 34 (15.0 percent) have gone past regulation. Fifteen of those have been settled in overtime; the other 19 went to a shootout.

That's a 33-percent decline from last season, when 51 of the first 227 games (22.5 percent) were decided after regulation, and also markedly lower than 2005-06, when 46 of the first 227 games were decided after regulation time.

The biggest drop from last season has been in the number of shootouts. Just 19 of the first 227 contests this season (8.4 percent) went to a shootout; in the same number of games last season, that number was 32 (14.1 percent). In 2005-06, the first season of the shootout, 18 of the first 227 games went to a shootout, but 28 others were decided in overtime.
In each of the last two seasons, a total of 281 games have gone past regulation time. At this pace, that number this season would be 184.

This season's shooters have been slightly more successful than in the first two years of the shootout. So far this season, 41 of the 120 shooters (34.17 percent) have been successful, up from 32.76 last season and 33.64 percent in 2005-06.

One change from last season is that home teams have been more successful. Twelve of the 19 shootouts (63.2 percent) have been won by the home team; last season, home teams were 79-85 (48.1 percent).
>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 3,044 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Isles return to NHL Saturday

This ridiculously strange schedule has had the Isles playing so infrequently that it almost seems like they are not in the NHL. In fact, when the Isles take to the ice on Saturday, it will be 5 weeks and 1 day (36 days) after they opened the season in Buffalo.

Only once before have the Isles taken that long to reach game 13. In 1999, the Isles took 39 games between the opener and game 13-- but that season featured eight days between games 1 and 2.

How does this compare to recent seasons? The inactivity is not an illusion. Last year, game 13 was 30 days after the opener and the season before it was 29 days. Thus, the Isles will have had six extra days off compared to last season at this point.

The days off come with a price though --they will play the final 70 games in 147 days --the shortest time to play the final 70 since the season switched to 82 games.

Put another way--the Isles season starts and end on the first Friday of October and April respectively. That's 183 days. The Isles will play on 82 of those dates and be off on 101 of them.

In the first 36 days of the season, the Isles played on 12 days and had 24 days off.

In the final 147 days, they will play on 70 days and have 77 days off. Four of those off days come during the All-Star Break, another three come around Christmas. Other than that, it's basically every other day for the next 21 weeks, beginning Saturday.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick

1. The first place Isles have now won consecutive games that they trailed after two periods (both in regulation time). They are now 2-3-0 when trailing after 40 minutes and, going back to last January, are 7-11-1 in the last nineteen games that they've trailed after two periods.

2. Miro Satan now has 26 career goals against the Rangers in his career -- more than any other NHLer against the Rangers since Satan entered the league.

3. The Isles are now 8-1-2 in their last 11 games against the Rangers, matching the best 11-game stretches in club history (done most recently during the dynasty days).

and some more...

4. Chris Drury's pp goal was only the fourth goal of any kind that the Rangers have scored in the second period this season.

5. Is it the return of Fort Neverlose? The Isles are 6-2 at home, and have earned 12 points in their first eight home games. This equals their best home start since opening 7-1 at home in 1986.

6. The Rangers are 0-5-1 on the road. It's the first time in 55 years that the Rangers have only one point in their first six road games.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick Part Deux

1. The Isles are now 6-0 against teams that made the playoffs last season and 1-4 against teams that missed the playoffs.

2. When Trent Hunter scored in the second period, it removed the name "Dan Plante" from the answer to the question: "Who was the last Islander to score a goal for Al Arbour?"

3. As best I can determine, there is only one current NHL player who played for Arbour (prior to tonight). Derek Armstrong, now with the Kings, made his NHL debut in Arbour's 1499th game, April 15, 1994 at Florida. Four other players were active in the NHL last year: Kasparaitis, Turgeon, Green and McLennan --all but Turgeon are still active in Europe. Malakhov was also under contract last season but he did not appear in an NHL game.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick - Isles 3, Penguins 2

1. Al Arbour 1500

2. Al Arbour 740

3. The Isles are 7-4-0. It's only the second time in the last 20 years that they've won seven of their first 11. (9-0-1-1 in 2001-02). The Isles had 14 points in 11 games in 2003-04, but were 6-3-2.

Assorted Arbour facts

Al Arbour returns to the Isles' bench for his 1500th game on Saturday. Here's a few facts you might not know:

1. On April 15, 1992 Arbour coached his 1438th game to set the all-time record (Previously held by Dick Irvin) This includes games with the Blues. (Saturday's game will be #1,607 for Arbour; Scott Bowman now holds the all-time record with 2,141).

2. Arbour's first game as a coach was on October 10, 1970 -- final score: St. Louis 3, Rangers 1. No player on the Islanders' current roster was born -- Guerin arrived in the world thirty days later.

3. Arbour's first game as Islander coach: October 10, 1973 -- Islanders 1, Atlanta 1. Of the current Isles, only Guerin, Sillinger and Simon were alive.

4. Arbour's first win as Islander coach: October 27, 1973 -- Islanders 3, Rangers 2

5. Arbour's 739th win as Islander coach: April 13, 1994 -- Islanders 2, Tampa Bay 0 (Hextall shutout)

6. Last game as coach: April 24, 1994 vs. Rangers

7. Last Islander to score in game coached by Al Arbour: Dan Plante -- his only playoff goal coming in his only playoff game.

8. The Islanders have been swept in the playoffs twice in their history (1986 by Washington 3-0 and 1994 by Rangers 4-0). Arbour retired after both series.

9. Mike Sillinger has played for four of the six winningest coaches in NHL history (Bowman-1244, Quinn-657, Murray-613, and Keenan 590, including six this season). Playing for Arbour - 781 will make it five of six. (Dick Irvin won 692 games before passing away 50 years ago)

10. Arbour's career record is 739-537-223 with the Islanders and 781-577-248 overall.

11. Arbour won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders after winning four as a player.

12. Arbour will extend his NHL record for most games coached, one team (currently 1499) and his 739 wins for the Isles is also an NHL record. Billy Reay is second in both categories, winning 516 of 1002 games for the Blackhawks.

Double Stat Trick

Lots of nuggets from the Isles 4-0 win over Tampa:

1. Tampa had won eight straight regular season games, and 11 straight including playoffs, against the Isles, dating back to March and April 2004, respectively. The last Isles win in both regular season and in playoffs against the Lightning were by the same score: 3-0.

2. Rick DiPietro recorded an assist and a shutout in the same game for the first time in his career. He earned his assist on the play that he clobbered Andy Hilbert -- he now leads Hilbert in scoring on the season (1 - 0). It was the 12th shutout and 8th assist of DiPietro's career.

3. It's the first time that DiPietro and Henrik Lundqvist have recorded shutouts on the same night; DiPietro leads Lundqvist - 12 career shutouts to 11.

and some bonuses:

4. The Isles record a shutout on Al Arbour's birthday for the third time -- the legendary coach turned 75 today. In 1977, Billy Smith and Goran Hogosta shared a 9-0 pasting of Atlanta (Hogosta played 9 minutes in his only appearance with the Isles) and in 2000 Wade Flaherty recorded the fourth and final shutout of his Islander career, blanking Florida 4-0.

5. The Isles have blanked the Lightning 10 times (club record is 11 against both Buffalo and Washington).

6. Mike Sillinger played in his 1000th NHL game -- on the same night that Ryan Smyth played in his 800th. Sillinger has played for 21 different coaches -- Arbour will make it 22.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick

An ugly game produces an interesting stat trick...

1. Carolina's 8 goals tied the club record for most goals since relocating from Hartford. (The Whalers scored 11 goals three times) It also equaled the most goals that the franchise has ever scored against the Isles (Hartford 8, Isles 2 in March 1989)

2. It's the worst home loss of the Nolan era. The Isles last lost by at least five goals at home on Jan 14, 2006 (8-1 to Vancouver)

3. Rod Brind'Amour now has three career hat tricks and two of them are against the Isles. Brind'Amour was the last 'Cane to record a hat trick against the Isles, on January 7, 2001. Brind'Amour now has 414 career goals, including 40 in 80 games played against the Islanders.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

October to remember?

As the Isles continue to enjoy this really long break (they've played as many games as the Rockies have this month - 8), a couple of notes on the month:

The Isles have clinched a winning record for the second straight October (5-3-0 with 1 to play this year after going 5-4-2 last month) -- (winning meaning more points than games played). If the first time they've done it back-2-back since 2000 (4-3-2-0 on their way to a 21-win season) and 2001 (9-0-1-1). Before that, you'd have to go back to the mid 80's to find consecutive winning Octobers.

The Isles will have a winning record at the Coliseum for a fourth consecutive season --they hadn't done that since five straight winning Octobers from 1984 to 1988.

The Isles have six points in their first four home games for the fourth consecutive season. The Isles have won their first four home games twice and gone 3-0-1 three other times, but they haven't done better than six points in the first four at home since October 1984.

If the Isles can beat Carolina Saturday, they'll finish October with 6 wins -- a total reached in October only once (in 2001) since October 1992.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Re: What? A week off?

Just to clarify -- the nine days between games in 1975 referenced below were not scheduled. The Isles and Red Wings were scheduled to play in Detroit on December 26, 1975, but the game was postponed by snow. It is the first of only five games in Isles history to be rescheduled due to weather.

The eight day gap in 1999 is the longest scheduled break in Isles history, ignoring All-Star breaks, Olympics, Challenge Cups, and the 1992 mini-strike.

----- Original Message ----
From: Eric Hornick <forever1940@yahoo.com>
To: islanderfans@yahoogroups.com; IslesList <isles-list@replayer.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 9:33:55 PM
Subject: What? A week off?

This bizarre schedule to start the season continues with the Isles now having an entire week off before hosting Carolina on Saturday night. It's not the longest in-season break the Isles have ever had, but it is one of the longest, particularly after you discount All-Star breaks, Olympics, Challenge Cups, and the 1992 mini-strike.

In 1999, the Isles opened the season in Tampa on October 2 and then didn't play again until hosting Colorado on October 10.

The longest break was over Christmas 1975, when the Isles went 9 days between games.

The Hurricanes btw will play three other games in the interim (Mon-Vancouver, Wed- Buffalo, Fri - Montreal, all at home) before journeying to Long Island.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

What? A week off?

This bizarre schedule to start the season continues with the Isles now having an entire week off before hosting Carolina on Saturday night. It's not the longest in-season break the Isles have ever had, but it is one of the longest, particularly after you discount All-Star breaks, Olympics, Challnege Cups, and the 1992 mini-strike.

In 1999, the Isles opened the season in Tampa on October 2 and then didn't play again until hosting Colorado on October 10.

The longest break was over Christmas 1975, when the Isles went 9 days between games.

The Hurricanes btw will play three other games in the interim (Mon-Vancouver, Wed- Buffalo, Fri - Montreal, all at home) before journeying to Long Island.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick

1. Coming 48 hours after he became the first Islander captain to record a hat trick in 13 years, Bill Guerin is the first Islander captain to score in overtime since Michael Peca scored with 9 seconds left in overtime in Philadelphia on February 12, 2002 for a 1-0 Islander victory and a shutout for GM Garth Snow. (Yashin also scored in ot that season, but never did so as the captain)

2. Guerin's goal, at 4:56 of overtime, is the latest goal the Islanders ever scored in overtime in a regular season game, breaking a record set by Stefan Persson (4:54) in the Isles' second overtime victory, in 1983. Anaheim's Peter Douris scored against the Isles at 4:59 of overtime in November of 1995.

3. The Islanders have eight "pure" overtime wins over the Devils, plus three more in shootouts. They're "after 60" record is 11-7-16 vs. the Devils, and have more ot goals (8) and ot/so wins (11) against NJ than any other opponent.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Special "Special Teams"

(thru Thursday)

The Islanders' special teams are off to a terrific start.

The Isles currently rank third on the powerplay and tied for fourth on the penalty kill.

Add it together, and their percentage is 115.8 -- by far tops in the NHL.

(a percentage of 100 would mean that you were scoring pp goals at the same percentage that you were allowing pp goals - the Isles finished 99.9% last season)

TeamPP%PK%Combined
New York Islanders25.890.0115.8
Columbus Blue Jackets20.092.6112.6
Boston Bruins28.681.8110.4
Philadelphia Flyers23.186.2109.3
Nashville Predators20.088.9108.9
St. Louis Blues16.791.7108.4
Detroit Red Wings23.884.4108.2
Ottawa Senators15.891.9107.7
Carolina Hurricanes26.580.6107.1
Vancouver Canucks25.781.3107.0
Montreal Canadiens25.079.3104.3
Pittsburgh Penguins24.180.0104.1
Florida Panthers19.484.2103.6
Dallas Stars18.884.8103.6
Colorado Avalanche17.286.2103.4
Buffalo Sabres21.981.0102.9
New York Rangers15.883.999.7
San Jose Sharks16.782.499.1
Los Angeles Kings22.076.298.2
Minnesota Wild4.590.094.5
Tampa Bay Lightning16.777.394.0
Anaheim Ducks13.280.493.6
Toronto Maple Leafs11.481.592.9
Chicago Blackhawks16.175.992.0
Calgary Flames20.070.790.7
New Jersey Devils21.169.090.1
Phoenix Coyotes14.375.089.3
Washington Capitals12.575.087.5
Edmonton Oilers3.781.585.2
Atlanta Thrashers12.170.582.6

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Re: [isles-list] Guerin's hat tricks

I asked the Isles to follow-up with Elias on this note early this morning--don't know whether or not this was the result, but one thing is certain --it was a record setting performance for Guerin.

From Elias:

<<
Bill Guerin scored his first three goals for the Islanders in their 5-2 win over the Capitals in Washington on Thursday night. It was the ninth regular-season hat trick of Guerin's NHL career. The Islanders are the sixth different team for which Guerin has recorded a regular-season hat trick, an NHL record. He's also scored three goals in a game for the Devils (once), Bruins (twice), Stars (three times), Blues (once) and Sharks (once).

Guerin's only hat trick in the playoffs was for not for any of the six teams for which he's had one in the regular season. He scored three goals for the Oilers in a playoff game on April 18, 2000.

Four players have had a regular-season hat trick for five different NHL teams: Eddie Shack, Ivan Boldirev, Tony McKegney and Brendan Shanahan.
>>

----- Original Message ----
From: "Kirshy, Richard" <Richard.Kirshy@LibertyMutual.com>
To: isles-list@list.replayer.com
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 8:24:52 AM
Subject: RE: [isles-list] Guerin's hat tricks

10 hat tricks (including the playoff one) for seven different teams.
Let's hope he gets a few more with us :)

-----Original Message-----
From: root@list.replayer.com [mailto:root@list.replayer.com] On Behalf
Of Eric Hornick
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:43 PM
To: islanderfans@yahoogroups.com; IslesList
Subject: [isles-list] Guerin's hat tricks

1. for New Jersey at Buffalo - 12/31/96
2. for Boston at Carolina - 1/2/02
3 for Boston vs Columbus - 2/4/02
4. for Dallas vs Calgary 10/29/03
5. for Dallas vs Nashville 11/2/03
6. for Dallas vs Columbus 3/3/04
7. for St. Louis vs San Jose 2/13/07
8. for San Jose vs Chicago 3/13/07
9. for ISLANDERS at Washington 10/18/07

Guerin also recorded a hat trick for Edmonton in the playoffs against
Dallas on 418/00

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric,
who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th
anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January
21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920
Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the
Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in
the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander
home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit
www.beanactuary.org

Guerin's hat tricks

1. for New Jersey at Buffalo - 12/31/96
2. for Boston at Carolina - 1/2/02
3 for Boston vs Columbus - 2/4/02
4. for Dallas vs Calgary 10/29/03
5. for Dallas vs Nashville 11/2/03
6. for Dallas vs Columbus 3/3/04
7. for St. Louis vs San Jose 2/13/07
8. for San Jose vs Chicago 3/13/07
9. for ISLANDERS at Washington 10/18/07

Guerin also recorded a hat trick for Edmonton in the playoffs against Dallas on 418/00

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick -- Bill Guerin edition

1. Bill Guerin's hat trick, the ninth of his career, is the Islanders first-ever at the Verizon Center. Derek King had the Isles' last hat trick in Landover--on New Year's Day, 1992.

2. Guerin's hat trick is the first by an Islander captain since Patrick Flatley had a hat trick against San Jose on February 1, 1994. (Yashin had two hat tricks as an Isle, but both came before he was named captain.)

3. Guerin is the first Islander to collect his first three goals as an Islander all in one game since Pat LaFontaine recorded a hat trick in his second professional game, an 11-6 blowout of the Leafs on March 3, 1984.

and one more:

4. Guerin turned his trick in his 7th game as an Isle - fewer games than anyone since LaFontaine. It's the second straight season that the Isles had a player in his first season with the team record a hat trick - Viktor Kozlov did so last December at MSG, scoring four time.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

THirty years ago tonight...

(I sent this earlier today, but it never made it through)

Chico Resch and Rogatien Vachon both earn shutouts as the Islanders play the first scoreless tie in their history, before 12,254 against the Kings at the Coliseum. Resch stopped 28 shots and Vachon stopped 41. (Chico would be involved in two other scoreless ties, about three weeks apart, in 1980)

In another NY-LA game about thirty miles away, some guy named Reggie hit three home runs to lead the Yankees to the World Championship.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Fw: [isles-list] Stat Trick

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Eric Hornick <forever1940@yahoo.com>
To: islanderfans@yahoogroups.com; IslesList <isles-list@replayer.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:40:34 PM
Subject: [isles-list] Stat Trick

That was ugly. But ugly games make for interesting stats, like these:

1. The 8-1 loss is the worst in the Ted Nolan era, and the Isles' worst since a loss by the same score to Vancouver at the Coliseum in January, 2006. The Isles hadn't lost a road game by 7 goals since January 30, 1999 (9-2 loss in Ottawa).

2 The seven goal defeat is also the Islanders' worst ever to Toronto. The previous most-lopsided loss to the Leafs was a 7-2 defeat at Maple Leaf Gardens on March 7, 1987.

3. The Leafs lost their previous game (to Carolina) 7-1. Thus, the Leafs improved by 13 goals (6 goal loss to 7-goal win margin) over their previous game. The Isles have never done that -- their best turnaround is 12 goals, happening twice (in 1972, in the 8th and 9th game of their history, and again in 1979).

Perhaps however this was to be expected--
The Isles played their first five games in only seven days -- the first time in their history they've ever started a season with that condensed of a schedule. In October 1980 and January 1995 the Isles opened the season with five games in eight days. (It will be six games in nine days Saturday -- which will equal the most condensed first half-dozen).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Fw: [isles-list] Schedule oddities

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Eric Hornick <forever1940@yahoo.com>
To: islanderfans@yahoogroups.com; IslesList <isles-list@replayer.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:52:38 PM
Subject: [isles-list] Schedule oddities

The Isles played their first five games in only seven days -- the first time in their history they've ever started a season with that condensed of a schedule. In October 1980 and January 1995 the Isles opened the season with five games in eight days. (It will be six games in nine days Saturday -- which will equal the most condensed first half-dozen).

After Saturday's game, the Isles will play only three times in the next eighteen days (Oct 18, Oct 20, Oct 27).
It will mark the fewest games that the Isles have played in any eighteen game stretch in their history (excluding the late season 1992 strike and the three Olympics).

One has to wonder how the Isles got straddled with such a strange schedule. In fact, the Isles are playing only nine games this month - fewest of any team in the League.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY. You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Longest NHL suspensions

Unless I've missed someone, Hill is the first player to be suspended under the new CBA and has received one of the longest NHL suspensions of all time:

(from about.proicehockey.com)

The Rest Of The Season (minimum 25 games)

Chris Simon of the New York Islanders, for a slash to the face
of the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg in March 2007. Simon misses 15 regular
season games plus all of the Islanders' playoff games. The suspension
carries over to 2007-08 if necessary to meet the 25-game minimum.
The Rest Of The Season (23 games)

Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins, for knocking out
Vancouver's Donald Brashear by swinging a stick at his head in March,
2000. McSorley misses 23 regular season games.
The Rest Of The Season (20 games)

Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks, for serious injuries
sustained by Colorado's Steve Moore when Bertuzzi jumped him from
behind in March, 2004.
23 Games

Gordie Dwyer of the Tampa Bay Lightning, for abusing
officials and leaving the penalty box to fight in a pre-season game
against the Washington Capitals in September, 2000.

21 games

Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals, for a hit on Pierre
Turgeon of the New York Islanders while Turgeon celebrates a goal in
the 1993 playoffs.

20 games

Tom Lysiak of the Chicago Blackhawks, for intentionally tripping a linesman in October, 1983.

20 games

Brad May of the Phoenix Coyotes, for a slash to the head of Columbus' Steve Heinze in November, 2000.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games.For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Time to stave (apologies if you have already received this)

Updating a piece that I wrote for nyi.com a few years back....

According to Webster, "stave off" has been around for nearly four centuries. Funny, I didn't realize that there were playoffs then.

It seems like the only time I ever hear the word stave is when a sports team is one game away from elimination-- the situation the Isles find themselves in Friday evening at HSBC.

The Islanders have successfully staved off elimination 25 times in 41 tries. Of course the other sixteen times they've ended up on the wrong side of a handshake.

Four times in their history, the "Never-Say-Dielanders" have managed to stave off elimination at least three times in a single playoff year.

In 1975, the Isles beat the Rangers in the decisive Game 3, and then found themselves down 3-0 to both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The Isles won eight of the nine elimination games they played, setting an NHL-record for avoiding elimination.

In 1985, their first playoff after losing the Cup, the Isles lost three of their first four playoff games, and looked like they were headed to an early spring, before rallying to beat the Caps three times, to stave off elimination each time. The Isles trailed the Flyers 3-0 in the second round and won game four before losing the series in five. Four successful staves.

Two years later the Caps and Flyers again became Islander victims. The Isles trailed both series 3-1; yet beat the Capitals on Easter morning, before losing to Philadelphia in seven. Five more successful staves.
Finally in 1993, the Isles trailed Pittsburgh 3-2 before winning in 7 on David Volek's overtime goal. After Montreal used eight guys on the ice to score in OT in Game 3 of the Conference Finals to grab a 3-0 lead in the series, the Isles staved off elimination with a home-ice win in game four, only to fall to the eventual champs in Game five. Three more staves.

Five other seasons featured one successful stave. In 1976 and 1977, the Isles forced the eventual champion Canadiens an extra game each year with their backs against the wall. In 1982 and 1984, with their dynasty on the line, the Isles used overtime goals to beat Pittsburgh and the Rangers to stave off elimination and increase the legacy that guides this franchise today. Finally, in 2002, the Isles overcame the loss of Michael Peca and Kenny Jonsson in game 5 in Toronto to win an emotional game six at home.

In potential season-ending playoff games, the Isles are 15-4 at home and 10-12 on the road.

The Isles were eliminated at home in 1977 by Montreal, in 1978 by Toronto, in 1986 by Washington and in 1994 by the Rangers.

The Isles have been eliminated in the playoffs only sixteen times. In 7 of those seasons, the team that beat the Isles won the Stanley Cup [75-76-77-84-93-94-04] and in three other years, the team that beat the Isles lost in the Finals [79-85-87].

If the Islanders were to lose tonight, it would mark the fourth time that they've been eliminated by losing the final 3 games after splitting the opening pair. It happened in 2003 to Ottawa and 2004 to Tampa Bay but it also happened in 1984, when the Dynasty ended with three straight losses to Edmonton. Of course, the Edmonton series deserves an asterisk -- games 3-5 of that series were all played in Alberta.

Whowins?

The good folks at whowins.com (full disclosure--they've mentioned me on their site in the past) have some interesting numbers on this series, based on all of the previous best-of-7 series that have been played.

Limiting them to the NHL, they look like this:

[all credit due to whowins.com]

<<The team tied 1-game-all with Games 1-2 at home (Buffalo) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2006 MLB Finals:
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 121-101 (.545)
series record, NHL only, Prelim round: 39-38 (.506)
Game 3 record, NHL only, all rounds: 107-115 (.482)
Game 3 record, NHL only, Prelim round: 39-38 (.506)

The team that wins Game 1 but loses Game 2 irrespective of site (Buffalo) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2006 MLB Finals:
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 105-122 (.463)
series record, NHL only, Prelim round: 31-46 (.403)

Game 3 record, NHL only, all rounds: 107-120 (.471)
Game 3 record, NHL only, Prelim round: 35-42 (.455)

The team that wins Game 1 but loses Game 2 with Games 1-2 at home (Buffalo) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2006 MLB Finals:
series record, NHL only, all rounds: 54-54 (.500)
series record, NHL only, Prelim round: 13-20 (.394)

Game 3 record, NHL only, all rounds: 49-59 (.454)
Game 3 record, NHL only, Prelim round: 15-18 (.455)
>>

Two numbers really jump out from an Islander perspective:
Teams that win game two after losing game one have won an NHL preliminary round series nearly 60% of the time.
Teams that win game two after losing game one on the road have won an NHL preliminary series over 60% of the time.

Here's to history repeating itself!

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games.For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

A few trivial notes as the Coliseum opens for playoff hockey for the first time in 3 years and 2 days

The Islanders carry a long playoff home scoreless streak into Monday's game. They've gone 157:12 since Adrian Aucoin scored the Islanders' only goal in a 3-1 defeat to Ottawa (Game 4, 2003). It's their only goal in the last 243:19 of Coliseum playoff hockey.

The Isles have lost their last six Monday playoff games after going 9-3 in their first dozen Monday's. Their last Monday win came seventeen years ago last Monday (4-9-90) as Brent Sutter's goal early in the second overtime ended the first multiple overtime game in Coliseum history.

This is the third straight Islander playoff series that is tied 1-1. (The Isles lost game 3, and the series, to Ottawa and Tampa Bay in 2003 and 2004).

The Isles won game three (and the series) in 1976, 1977, and 1980 against Buffalo. The Isles have won seven of eight home playoff games against Buffalo, losing only game 4 in 1980.

A reminder: Local TV is on FSN-NY Monday and Wednesday. Out-of-town fans will find the games on Versus (Center Ice is blacked out).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games.For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Happy Isle-versary

On this date:

1984: Don Maloney ties it in the final half-minute, but all it does is prolong the Rangers' agony as Ken Morrow scores 8:56 into overtime to give the Isles a series-clinching victory. It's their seventeenth consecutive playoff series triumph. This game is unquestionably on my short list of greatest games I ever saw.

2004: Rick DiPietro records his only career playoff win (so far!) and it's a shutout as the Isles blank Tampa 3-0. Jason Blake scores twice in the 133rd (and most recent) victory in Islander playoff history.

So how have the Islanders done on Easter Sunday?

We all know about the Easter Epic, which actually ended in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday.

 

But how have the Isles done on Easter Sunday historically?

 

Not well... except, ironically, in New Jersey.  Not counting the LaFontaine martathon, the Isles are 3-6-1 on Easter Sunday, with nine of the ten coming on the road.  The only time the Isles played at home on Easter Sunday was in 1978, to make up a game that was snowed out in the "Blizzard of 78".

 

The Isles are however, 2-0 on Easter Sunday at the Swamp, including a season-ending win there in 1991.

 

The Islanders were scheduled to play a game 7 in Ottawa on Easter 2003, but the Sens ended that series in 5.

 

 

Easter Sunday

 

      22 April 1973 season over

      14 April 1974 season over

      30 March 1975 T @ Atl 2-2

      18 April 1976 idle

      10 April 1977 idle

      26 March 1978 W Min 6-3 [make-up for snow-out]

      15 April 1979 idle

       6 April 1980 idle

      19 April 1981 L @Edm 5-2 PLAYOFFS

      11 April 1982 L @Pit 5-2 PLAYOFFS

       3 April 1983 L @Phil 4-2 

      22 April 1984 idle

       7 April 1985 idle

      30 March 1986 idle

      19 April 1987 early morning LaFontaine

       3 April 1988 L @ Boston 3-2

      26 March 1989 L @ Washington 3-2

      15 April 1990 season over

      31 March 1991 W @ NJ 3-2

      19 April 1992 season over

      11 April 1993 W @ NJ 5-4

       3 April 1994 idle

      16 April 1995 L @ NYR 3-2 [lockout season]

       7 April 1996 idle

      30 March 1997 idle

      12 April 1998 idle

       4 April 1999 idle

      23 April 2000 season over

      15 April 2001 season over    

      31 March 2002 idle

      20 April 2003 season over    

      11 April 2004 idle    

      27 March 2005 no season    

      16 April 2006 idle

       8 April 2007 Game 82 @ NJ    

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick. Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,920 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games.For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org