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