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