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