Stat Trick: Kings 3, Islanders 1

It's a winless home January!

1. The Isles finish January winless at home (0-4-2). The NHL considers this a 6-game home losing streak, which is one game shy of the club record, set in the 1999-2000 season. The Isles haven't gone winless in a full month at home since going 0-6 in March 2001. The Isles have scored 3 goals or fewer in each game in this streak, and have been held to three goals or fewer in 19 of the last 21 at home. The Isles have two regulation wins in their last fourteen home games (4-8-2, but two of the 4 wins were in overtime)

2. The Kings have not lost on Long Island since October 27, 1998 (a 1-0 Isles win). The Isles are 0-3-1 vs. LA in that stretch.

3. Bryan Berard has a goal in consecutive games. That give the Isles three defensemen with at least 4 goals (Bergeron 9, Campoli/Berard 4 each). The Isles have 19 goals from their defensemen this season.

... and a few more

4. The Kings had five power plays and the Isles only one. It's the fifth time this season (and fourth time this month) that the Isles have been to one pp in a game (0-3-2). The Devils did not have a pp in their November 10th visit to the Coliseum --the only time this season the opponent has been held to fewer than 2 pp's.

5. The Isles have lost three straight in regulation time for the 2nd time this season. They have had only one regulation losing streak longer than three games under Ted Nolan -- a 6 game skein last December/January.

6. The Kings' winning goal was scored on a power play -- the sixth straight game that the Isles have allowed a pp goal (9 goals on 28 times short)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

It's been a long time since the Islanders hosted a team from California

but that stretch will end late tonight.

The Kings haven't played at the Coliseum since Februrary 16, 2004 (1445 days ago)

On Kenny Jonsson Bobblehead Day, the Isles and Kings played to a 1-1 deadlock in a Washington's Birthday matinee in the only Isles-Kings game coached by Steve Stirling. Trent Klatt and Arron Asham were the goal scorers.

The Ducks will make their first Coliseum visit since 2003 and the Sharks will make their first Coliseum visit since 2001 in February.

The Isles haven't beaten the Kings at home in nearly a decade. On October 27, 1998 the Isles blanked the Kings 1-0 behind Tommy Salo. Joe Sacco's third period goal was the only goal of the game.

This will be only the 4th visit by the Kings since then.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Ottawa 5, Isles 2

1. The Isles remain winless in January at home (0-3-2). The NHL considers this a 5-game home losing streak, which is two games shy of the club record, set in the 1999-2000 season. The Isles haven't gone winless in a full month at home since going 0-6 in March 2001. The Isles have scored 3 goals or fewer in each game in this streak, and have been held to three goals or fewer in 18 of the last 20 at home. The Isles have two regulation wins in their last thirteen home games (4-7-2, but two of the 4 wins were in overtime)

2. The Isles and Sens split the season series two games each, but the Sens win on points by a 5-4 margin.

3. Perhaps Sean Bergenheim is starting to come into his own offensively. He's scored twice in three games after scoring only twice in his first 44 appearances this season. Bergenheim now has nine NHL goals in 93 career games. He has tied his NHL-career high with 4 goals this season.

...and a few more

4. Rick DiPietro was charged with 6 giveaways in tonight's game, more than any skater on either team.

5. The Isles have lost consecutive goals by at least three goals for the first time since last March 15-17. Those were the first two games the team played following DiPietro's injury in Montreal.

6. The Sens played without Dany Heatley, and then lost Daniel Alfredsson in the 2nd period

7. The Isles pp had only two chances, but took four shots on their first attempt and got a 3rd period goal by Bryan Berard on their second try.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick on DiPietro's first AS game

1. Career goals against average through 12 seconds of All-Star play: 300.00
2. Career goals against average through 20 minutes of All-Star play: 3.00 -- not bad at all!
3. Career points in first All-Star Game: 0 -- which is surprising since the East scored 5 goals while he was in the game

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Bruins 4, Isles 1

Not much of a game tonight in Boston -- All-Star Tim Thomas was good for Boston; All-Star Rick DiPietro has had better nights.
On to the trick.

1. Mike SIllinger recorded the Islander goal--his third in two games. Sillinger now has 40 goals as an Islander -- tops among all of the teams he has played with:

In order--
Det 14
Ana 15
Van 28
Phil 11
TB 27
Fla 17
Ott 3
Colum 38
Phoe 8
Nash 27
StL 10
Isles 40
----
Total 238

2. The Bruins win the season series 3 games to 1 (6 points to 2), outscoring the Isles 10-5.

3. The Isles caught the Bruins on a bad night -- after a blowout loss. The Bruins are 7-1 in the game immediately following a loss by 3 goals or more.

Enjoy the All-Star break.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Isles 6, Carolina 3

What a strange night in Carolina...with a lot of entries in the stat trick.

1. The Isles tied the following club records:
Most shorthanded goals, game (3) -- done previously in 1983 vs Washington and 2000 vs Ottawa
Most shorthanded goals, period (2) -- done numerous times
Most shorthanded goals, game, one player (2 - Sillinger) -- done numerous times

The two shorthanded goals 45 seconds apart were not a record -- Bob Bourne and Anders Kallur scored SHG's 17 seconds apart in a game vs Winnipeg in 1980.

2. The Isles recorded their fourth straight win, matching the longest streak under Nolan. They also won four straight between October 11 and November 15 last season. They have not had a five-game road winning streak since winning the first six road games of the Laviolette era.

3. Mike Sillinger recorded his 24th career two-goal game, and second this season, with his pair of shorthanded tallies. THey were his first two shorties of the season, and give 24 career SH goals.

and wait, there's more

4. The road team won all four games, and the Isles won the season series, 5 points to 4. It's the third time that they've swept the two games in Raleigh,a lso doing so in 2001-02 and 2003-04.

5. Blake Comeau's empty-netter gave the Isles their second 6-goal game of the season. They also scored 6 on Opening Night in Buffalo.

6. Wade Dubielewicz now has a three-game (NHL) win streak going back to his wins December 29 and December 31. DiPietro does not have a 3-game win streak this year.

7. The Isles continue their remarkable success on the 2nd night of back-to-backs. They are now 8-3-1 on the back-end (and 16-16-6 in all other games).

8. Blake Comeau matched his career high with two points. He has recorded points in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

9. The Isles outshot Carolina 18-17 in a wild second period, but were outshot for the game by a count of 47-31.

10. Freddy Meyer celebrated his new contract by going +3. Andy Sutton and Trent Hunter were also +3. For the Canes, Ray Whitney was -4, while Sergei Samsonov and Rob Brind'Amour were -3.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Carolina 3, Isles 2 (OT)

1. It's a good thing for the Isles that there are loser points, because the Isles dropped their 7th of the last 10 with a 3-2 defeat at the MLK matinee. By NHL standards though the Isles are .500 in that stretch: 3-3-4.

2. It's the first time all season that the Isles haven't won a game they led after 2 periods (15-0-1). The Isles were the last team in the East to drop a point in a game they led after 40 minutes. Minnesota and Vancouver are the only remaining perfect teams. The Isles are one of 10 teams that has gotten a point in every game they've led after two periods this season. In fact, in the Nolan era, the Isles have lost only 1 game in regulation that they led after 2 pds - -the night DiPietro got hurt in Montreal.

3. The Hurricanes win both games at the Coliseum for the 2nd time in the last four seasons. This afternoon's game marked the start of the third home-and-home since the Whalers moved to Carolina. The team that has won the first game has won the second game both previous times.

and a few more..

4. Miro Satan's goal ended a 12-game goalless streak while Andy Hilbert ended a stretch of 10 straight without scoring.

5. The Isles played the first 58 1/2 minutes without allowing a pp. Of course it was the second of the back-to-back penalties that killed them in overtime.

6. The Isles have had 2-goal leads at some point in five of the last 6 games yet have blown that lead three times (Calgary - won OT, Philly - lost regulation, Carolina - lost OT). They protected a 2-goal lead for the final 13 minutes in Ottawa and added an empty-netter for the two-goal margin vs. New Jersey.

7. On the farm, Jeff Tambellini recorded his 25th goal of the AHL season in Bridgeport's 2-1 win over Portland. BTW, it looks like Okposo has been moved off of Tambellini's line.

8. Tim Jackman recorded his eighth fight of the season.

9. The Isles are 0-2-2 at home this month, matching the longest streak without a win at the Coliseum under Nolan. The last time the Isles went winless at home in a full month was in March 2001 (0-6-0) -- Butch Goring was fired after the second home game of the month.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Monday not a funday

The Isles entertain Carolina this afternoon. They'll be looking to reverse a recent stretch of Monday home games in which the Isles have had very little success.

Since defeating Ottawa 5-2 in 2004, also on MLK Day, the Isles have played 11 Monday games at the Coliseum and won only once -- last President Day's 6-5 thriller over Pittsburgh. In the other 10, the Isles have 6 losses, 1 tie, 2 overtime losses and a shootout loss.

The Isles won twice earlier this season on the road on Mondays (at MSG in November and in Carolina on New Year's Eve). Those wins ended an 8-game road Monday losing streak (0-7-1 overtime loss)

This will be the Isles' 7th MLK matinee. The Isles are 2-3-1 in the prior 6, including a 4-3 loss last season to Tampa Bay. Perhaps the most infamous MLK matinee was in 1997. As the AP reported,

<<UNIONDALE, N.Y. - When the Islanders didn't skate in the third period New York coach Mike Milbury kept them around for a fourth.
After his team gave up four goals in the third period in a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday, Milbury brought the Islanders back on Nassau Coliseum's ice after the game for 33 minutes of hard skating. ``When you don't produce an effort, you have to do something as a coach,'' Milbury said.>>

MLK Matinees:
17-Jan-94 Vs Florida 1 2 L
15-Jan-96 Vs Tampa Bay 3 2 W
20-Jan-97 Vs St. Louis 4 6 L
17-Jan-00 Vs Ottawa 3 4 Lot
19-Jan-04 Vs Ottawa 5 2 W
15-Jan-07 Vs Tampa Bay 3 4 L
21-Jan-08 Vs Carolina

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

It was 26 years ago today...

January 21, 1982

The Isles swamp Pittsburgh 6-1 at the Coliseum, to begin their
record-setting 15-game winning streak.

The game was scoreless into the 2nd period, before Brent Sutter
and Bryan Trottier sandwiched goals around a Rick MacLeish
tally. It was Trottier's 250th NHL goal.

The Isles blew the game open early in the 3rd on goals by Bobby
Bourne and Clark Gillies. Bourne and Billy Carroll would score
late in the game and the Isles had their 6-1 victory.

The Isles actually scored 3 goals on the same 4 on 4. Pat
Boutette and Denis Potvin, playing his 600th NHL game, were both
given double minors at 18:08 of the 2nd period. Trottier
scored 20 seconds later while Bourne and Gillies later completed
a 3 goal in 3:27 outburst.

Gillies, Trottier, and Bossy all extended point stretches to 15
of 16 games.

Roland Melanson stopped 23 of 24 shots.

It was the start of one of the most dominating stretches by any
team in any sport.

Try these numbers:

The Isles won 15 straight, outscoring their opponents by a
combined 97-35--an average of 6.53 - 2.33.

They won by at least 3 goals in all but three games in the
streak.

9-0 at home, 6-0 on the road.

John Tonelli scored the winning goal of the 15th game at 19:13
of OT --remember, there was no OT in those days. That win
established the NHL record. It was one of only two one-goal
wins during the streak. The other was a 7-6 win over Washington
in which all of the goals were scored in the first two periods.
The Isles have not won a 7-6 game in regulation time since.
[They've won 3, all in ot, and they haven't done it all since 1993]

They beat the Penguins 4 times in the streak, before Pittsburgh
would break the spell on February 21, 1982 [4-3]

After losing to Pittsburgh, they went 7-0-1 in their next 8
[7-0-2 in their next 9]. Their 24 [and 25] game stretches were
22-1-1 [and 22-1-2].

THE STREAK:

21-Jan-82 Vs Pittsburgh 6 1 W
23-Jan-82 Vs New York 6 1 W
26-Jan-82 Vs Pittsburgh 9 2 W
27-Jan-82 @ Pittsburgh 6 3 W
30-Jan-82 Vs Minnesota 4 2 W
02-Feb-82 Vs Washington 7 6 W
04-Feb-82 @ Washington 5 2 W
06-Feb-82 Vs Detroit 6 2 W
07-Feb-82 @ Buffalo 7 3 W
11-Feb-82 @ Chicago 8 2 W
13-Feb-82 Vs Philadelphia 8 2 W
14-Feb-82 @ Hartford 9 1 W
16-Feb-82 Vs Pittsburgh 6 2 W
18-Feb-82 @ Philadelphia 7 4 W
20-Feb-82 Vs Colorado 3 2 W
21-Feb-82 @ Pittsburgh 3 4 L

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Flyers 5, Isles 3

1. Scott Hartnell recorded his second hat trick in NY in a ten day span (Jan 10 at MSG) and the third of his career. Hartnell has 9 goals and 4 assists in his last 6 games. It's the 12th hat trick by Philadelphia against the Islanders -- Rick Mac Leish had the only four goal game of the bunch.

2. Rick DiPietro recorded his fourth assist of the season --tops among NHL netminders. It's a career high for Rick -- who now shares the club record with Chris Osgood (2001-02).

3. The Flyers maintain their shutout in the season series, having won three games vs the Isles, all in regulation. The Isles have fewer points (16) against the Flyers than any other division rival over the last 2 1/2 seasons. Part of this is due to the lack of overtime games between the squads -- this was the 19th consecutive game to be settled without overtime. The Flyers have won 11 of them and the Isles 8.
There are five games remaining in the season series, including 4 in March.

and one more:

4. The Isles have lost three straight home games (0-2-1) for the first time since March 25-31, 2007. After getting off to a great start at home, the Isles are 4-6-1 in their last 11 home games, beating only the Coyotes (3-2 on 12/13) and Devils (5-2 on 12/29) in regulation time during that stretch The Isles are winless in January at home (0-2-1) and are 1-4-3 under Nolan in games played in January.

Okposo watch - 2 more assists

2 more assists for Kyle Okposo tonight as Bridgeport rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Norfolk 3-2.

Okposo, who was on ice for all three Bridgeport goals, earned assists on two goals scored by housemate Jeff Tambellini. Tambellini now has 24 goals in the AHL this season.

Okposo has appeared in 4 games, scoring once and adding six assists.

The Sound Tigers play in Philadelphia on Friday, Albany on Saturday, and Portland on Monday afternoon before returning home to host the Phantoms next Wednesday.

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 3,118 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

A few more notes

Tonight's win was the 203rd January win in Islander history. The Isles have won more games in January than any other month, breaking a tie with March (202)

The Isles are 3-2-3 this January with six games to play. The Isles have posted more wins than regulation losses in each month this season. The last time the Isles had a winning record in the season's first four months was in 1985-86. (Of course in that year, all losses were losses.)

The Isles have earned 236 points in games against the Devil franchise -- more than against any other opponent.

Over the last 2 1/2 seasons, the Isles have earned 28 points vs the Devils --more than any other opponent. They've earned 24 vs the Rangers, 22 vs the Penguins and 16 vs the Flyers in that timeframe. The Isles have earned 17 points agsint Boston and Washington -- most against any non-divisional foe.

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Devils 1

1. Bill Guerin's empty-netter gives him 17 goals on the season. Coupled with his first period power play goal, he now has four multi-goal games on the season.

2. The Isles now lead the season series 5-0, and have won six straight over NJ since Wade Dubielewicz poke checked the Isles into the playoffs. Since the lockout, the Isles are 7-2-1 in New Jersey. The six-game winning streak over the Devils is the Isles' longest over NJ since they won 16 straight over the Rockies/Devils (including the first 14 against the Devils) between 1982 and 1984.

3. The Isles have won three straight road games for the first time this season. They won 3 straight on the road over two seasons between games 81 and 82 of last season and the opening game of this season. The Isles had one road winning streak of at least three games last season: 4 between October 11 - November 15, 2006.

...and a bunch more.

4. With the win, the Isles now have 51 points in 46 games. It's only the second time since 1986-87 that they've reach 50 points in the first 46 games.

5. The Isles are now 15-0-0 when leading after two periods -- they've lost (in regulation time) only one game that they've led after 40 minutes under Ted Nolan -- the night Ricky got hurt in Montreal last March.

6. The Isles killed all five Devils power plays, and have now killed 20 of 21 over the last five games, and all 14 Devils power plays this season.

7. DiPietro is now 4-0 against the Devs this season, allowing just five goals (1.22 GAA and a 95.6 save pctg.)

8. With Chris Campoli getting hurt early in the game, Andy Sutton played 26:31 and blocked six shots.

9. In addition to scoring the winning goal, Mike Sillinger went 15-4 on draws. Overall, the Isles won 33 of 50.

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 3,118 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

Devils eliminated!

Howie's been having some fun with the e-mail I dropped him during tonight's broadcast -- the Islanders' win eliminated the Devils from the Metro Ice Challenge which has been running all season on FSN and MSG

To clarify, here's why:

With tonight's win, the Isles have 16 points against the Rangers and Devils (8-1), while the Rangers have 10 (5-3), and the Devils (0-6-3) just 3.

The Devils can reach 17 points if they would win their final 7 games, but they still can't win the Challenge. The reason: the Isles still have 4 games left with the Rangers, guaranteeing that one of those teams will finish the Challenge with at least 18 points.

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 3,118 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

First period woes continue

The Isles were outscored 1-0 in the first period tonight and have been outscored 31-22 this season in the opening 20 minutes. The 22 first period goals is the fewest by any team in any period this season.

Things are a lot worse in the first period at home. The Isles have scored a grand total of 9 first period goals in 23 home games this season (and have allowed 19). The nine goals is the fewest by any NHL team at home in any period. The Isles have not scored a pp goal in the first period at home this season.

It took awhile but...
The Isles had only 18 shots tonight -- fewest in any home game since having 18 in a 5-1 defeat to Philadelphia on November 29, 2003. (My notes indicate that one Roger Farina, the then-reigning NHL Fan of the Year, dropped a ceremonial opening faceoff.)

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: Canadiens 3, Islanders 1

Based on their play tonight, maybe the Isles should have played a sixth straight road game instead of returning to the Coliseum for the first time in 12 days. On to the stat trick:

1. Tomas Plekanec recorded his 6th two-goal game of the season, including the 9th shorthanded goal allowed by the Islanders this season. The 9 SHG's allowed tie the Isles for the League Lead in this category with the Wild. The Wild however, have scored 39 PP goals, the Isles only 31.

2. Montreal sweeps the Long Island portion of the season series, and wins consecutive games at the Coliseum for the first time since winning three straight at the Coliseum between February 1997 and January 1998.

3. Tonight's game concludes a five-game stretch against Canadian opponents - longest since a similar stretch in March 1998. Isles went 2-2-1 in this stretch (1-3-1 in 1998). The Isles have had four other five-game stretches against Canadian opponents as well as a six-game stretch in December 1980.

and a few more...

4. While a lot has been written about the first game back after a long road trip, the Isles won their first game back after their last three trips of at least five games:

11/22/06 vs Carolina (After 5 game trip)
3/21/06 vs Montreal (after 5 game trip)
3/19/04 vs Minnesota (after 5 game trip)

Tonight's loss was the first in a similar situation since dropping a 4-2 decision to New Jersey on March 22, 2003 following a six game trip.

5. The Islanders were held to one shot in the first period. It was the first time since February 13, 2007 in Toronto that the Isles were held to only one shot (regular season only -- Buffalo held the Isles to one shot in Game 1 of last year's playoffs). They finished with only 18 shots --their lowest total since having only 18 in Ottawa on 12/27/06.

6. While the Isles had only 18 shots on goal, the Canadiens blocked 25 others, including six by Andrei Markov.

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 3, Ottawa 1

1. Isles conclude the longest road trip of the season with a 2-1-2 record led by a pair of pp goals from Marc-Andre Bergeron. Bergeron now had five goals and two assists in the eight games that he's played since being benched for five striaght games. Seven of his eight goals and 13 of his 17 points have come on the power play.

2. The Isles win a regular season game in Ottawa for the first time since March 15, 2003 (0-6-1). It's only the Islanders 6th win ever (regular season play) in Ottawa and only their third since the Sens moved into Scotia Bank Place in January 1996.

3. All-Star Rick DIPietro played every minutes on the trip, allowing 13 goals in 312 minutes. Along the way, be became the 3rd winnigest goalie in Islander history (108 --two more than Kelly Hrudey) and the 2nd losingest goalie too (95, one more than Tommy Salo).

and a few more...

4. The Islanders blocked 18 shots, including three apiece by Meyer, Hunter and Comrie.

5. The Isles had 12:20 of power play time while Ottawa had only 2:26. Overall, the Isles finsihed 2-8 on the pp while Ottawa was 1-3. The 8 pp's equals a season high and the +5 pp differential was also a season high.

6. Daniel Alfredsson had the Ottawa goal, and now has a point in 10 straight games but Mike Fisher's point streak was stopped at 9.

7. Brendan Witt missed his first game of the season, leaving seven Islanders (Comrie, Hunter, Park, Campoli, Vasicek, HIlbert and Sutton) as having played in every game this season.
Of the seven, Richard Park has the longest streak as an Islander -- he's played all 126 games since joining the team, Andy Hilbert was a scratch on Opening Night last year and has placed 125 since. Hunter has played in 95 straight while Campoli's streak is now 80 games.

8. Mike Comrie had a goal and an assist for the Isles --his only points on the trip.

9. The Isles are now 22-17-5 on the season and have 49 points. Only once since 1984-85 have the Isles recorded more points in their first 44 games (they had 51 in 2001-02).

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", to the left of Howie and Billy, at most Islander home games. For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick: Islanders 5, Calgary 4 (shooutout)

1. Mike Sillinger had two goals for the Islanders in the first period -- the 23rd two-goal game of his career. He has never had a regular season hat trick although he did score one in the 2004 playoffs for St.Louis.

2..That Isles have scored at least 4 goals in a game against the Flames for the first time since a 6-2 win over Calgary on January 7, 1994 at the Coliseum. That game was filled with historical oddities:

Arbour serving suspension for first time in NHL career (Vukota had left bench during a fight)
Isles/NHL debuts for Jamie McLennan and Ziggy Palffy
This was the 16th game between the teams since then.

3. The Isles earn the win (via the shootout) in their first game in Calgary since January 15, 2002 and do so without Miro Satan (who missed a game due to injury for the first time as an Islander) and Brendan Witt (who played only 5:#7 before being injured in a collision with Jarome Iginla.

and a few more...

4. The Isles are 1-1-2 on this road trip with one game to play. They are 6-2-3 in their last 11 games, including 3 wins and 3 losses in ot/so games.

5. Freddy Meyer blocked six shots as he saw extra time due to the injury to Witt.

6. The Isles equaled their first period high by scoring three times (for the third time this season, all on the road).

7. Jarome Iginla led all players with 26:59 of ice-time and had nine shots on goal, and one more in the shootout, but fellow All-Star Rick DiPietro stopped them all.

8. Isles have kiiled 19 of 20 on this trip, including the critical double minor to Mike Sillinger with under five minutes to play.

9. The Isles now have 47 points in 43 games. Since 1988, only the 2001-02 squad has had more points(49) in their first 43 games.

10. Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and two assists, matching his opening night performance in Buffalo.

11. Speaking of Buffalo, the Islanders do something that the Sabres and Rangers have failed to do in 2008: become the first New York based team to win a hockey game. Isles are 1-1-3 in 2008, Sabres are 0-2-3 and the Rangers are 0-4-1.

12. The win puts the Isles in sole possesion of 7th place and drops Boston to 8th. The 9th place Rangers are two points behind the Isles, but the Isles also hold a game in hand
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

NHL Game 7 history

There have been only 120 of them ever played (one last year - won by
some guy named Roberto Luongo).

As best I can tell, Patrick Roy has played in the most 13, but won
only 6.

Among current legends, Brodeur has played in 8, winning 5.

I can't give you much more on an individual basis but here's the all-
time game list with winners listed first: (thanks whowins.com)
Year Round Victor Vanquished
1939 Semis Boston Bruins New York Rangers
1941 Semis Boston Bruins Toronto Maple Leafs
1942 Finals Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings
1945 Semis Detroit Red Wings Boston Bruins
1945 Finals Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings
1949 Semis Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens
1950 Semis Detroit Red Wings Toronto Maple Leafs
1950 Finals Detroit Red Wings New York Rangers
1952 Semis Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins
1953 Semis Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks
1954 Finals Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens
1955 Finals Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens
1959 Semis Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins
1964 Semis Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens
1964 Semis Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks
1964 Finals Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings
1965 Semis Chicago Blackhawks Detroit Red Wings
1965 Finals Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks
1968 Qtrs St. Louis Blues Philadelphia Flyers
1968 Qtrs Minnesota North Stars Los Angeles Kings
1968 Semis St. Louis Blues Minnesota North Stars
1969 Qtrs Los Angeles Kings Oakland Seals
1971 Qtrs Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins
1971 Semis Chicago Blackhawks New York Rangers
1971 Finals Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks
1972 Qtrs St. Louis Blues Minnesota North Stars
1974 Semis Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers
1975 Qtrs New York Islanders Pittsburgh Penguins
1975 Semis Philadelphia Flyers New York Islanders
1976 Qtrs Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs
1976 Qtrs Boston Bruins Los Angeles Kings
1978 Qtrs Toronto Maple Leafs New York Islanders
1979 Semis Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins
1980 Qtrs Minnesota North Stars Montreal Canadiens
1981 Qtrs Calgary Flames Philadelphia Flyers
1982 Qtrs Quebec Nordiques Boston Bruins
1983 Qtrs Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres
1984 Qtrs Minnesota North Stars St. Louis Blues
1984 Qtrs Edmonton Oilers Calgary Flames
1985 Qtrs Quebec Nordiques Montreal Canadiens
1986 Qtrs Montreal Canadiens Hartford Whalers
1986 Qtrs St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
1986 Qtrs Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers
1986 Semis Calgary Flames St. Louis Blues
1987 Prelim New York Islanders Washington Capitals
1987 Qtrs Montreal Canadiens Quebec Nordiques
1987 Qtrs Philadelphia Flyers New York Islanders
1987 Qtrs Detroit Red Wings Toronto Maple Leafs
1987 Finals Edmonton Oilers Philadelphia Flyers
1988 Prelim Washington Capitals Philadelphia Flyers
1988 Qtrs New Jersey Devils Washington Capitals
1988 Semis Boston Bruins New Jersey Devils
1989 Prelim Calgary Flames Vancouver Canucks
1989 Prelim Los Angeles Kings Edmonton Oilers
1989 Qtrs Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins
1990 Prelim Boston Bruins Hartford Whalers
1990 Prelim Chicago Blackhawks Minnesota North Stars
1990 Prelim Edmonton Oilers Winnipeg Jets
1990 Qtrs Chicago Blackhawks St. Louis Blues
1991 Prelim Pittsburgh Penguins New Jersey Devils
1991 Prelim St. Louis Blues Detroit Red Wings
1991 Prelim Edmonton Oilers Calgary Flames
1991 Qtrs Boston Bruins Montreal Canadiens
1992 Prelim Montreal Canadiens Hartford Whalers
1992 Prelim Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres
1992 Prelim New York Rangers New Jersey Devils
1992 Prelim Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals
1992 Prelim Detroit Red Wings Minnesota North Stars
1992 Prelim Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets
1993 Prelim Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings
1993 Qtrs New York Islanders Pittsburgh Penguins
1993 Qtrs Toronto Maple Leafs St. Louis Blues
1993 Semis Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
1994 Prelim New Jersey Devils Buffalo Sabres
1994 Prelim Boston Bruins Montreal Canadiens
1994 Prelim San Jose Sharks Detroit Red Wings
1994 Prelim Vancouver Canucks Calgary Flames
1994 Qtrs Toronto Maple Leafs San Jose Sharks
1994 Semis New York Rangers New Jersey Devils
1994 Finals New York Rangers Vancouver Canucks
1995 Prelim Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals
1995 Prelim San Jose Sharks Calgary Flames
1995 Prelim Vancouver Canucks St. Louis Blues
1995 Prelim Chicago Blackhawks Toronto Maple Leafs
1996 Qtrs Detroit Red Wings St. Louis Blues
1996 Semis Florida Panthers Pittsburgh Penguins
1997 Prelim Buffalo Sabres Ottawa Senators
1997 Prelim Edmonton Oilers Dallas Stars
1997 Prelim Anaheim Mighty Ducks Phoenix Coyotes
1998 Prelim Edmonton Oilers Colorado Avalanche
1999 Prelim Pittsburgh Penguins New Jersey Devils
1999 Prelim St. Louis Blues Phoenix Coyotes
1999 Semis Dallas Stars Colorado Avalanche
2000 Prelim San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues
2000 Semis New Jersey Devils Philadelphia Flyers
2000 Semis Dallas Stars Colorado Avalanche
2001 Qtrs New Jersey Devils Toronto Maple Leafs
2001 Qtrs Pittsburgh Penguins Buffalo Sabres
2001 Qtrs Colorado Avalanche Los Angeles Kings
2001 Finals Colorado Avalanche New Jersey Devils
2002 Prelim Toronto Maple Leafs New York Islanders
2002 Prelim Colorado Avalanche Los Angeles Kings
2002 Qtrs Toronto Maple Leafs Ottawa Senators
2002 Qtrs Colorado Avalanche San Jose Sharks
2002 Semis Detroit Red Wings Colorado Avalanche
2003 Prelim Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs
2003 Prelim Minnesota Wild Colorado Avalanche
2003 Prelim Vancouver Canucks St. Louis Blues
2003 Qtrs Minnesota Wild Vancouver Canucks
2003 Semis New Jersey Devils Ottawa Senators
2003 Finals New Jersey Devils Anaheim Mighty Ducks
2004 Prelim Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins
2004 Prelim Toronto Maple Leafs Ottawa Senators
2004 Prelim Calgary Flames Vancouver Canucks
2004 Semis Tampa Bay Lightning Philadelphia Flyers
2004 Finals Tampa Bay Lightning Calgary Flames
2006 Prelim Anaheim Mighty Ducks Calgary Flames
2006 Semis Carolina Hurricanes Buffalo Sabres
2006 Finals Carolina Hurricanes Edmonton Oilers
2007 Prelim Vancouver Canucks Dallas Stars
Here are team-by-team all-time game 7 records:
W L
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2 1
Boston Bruins 9 7
Buffalo Sabres 1 5
Calgary Flames 5 6
Carolina Hurricanes 2 0
Chicago Blackhawks 5 4
Colorado Avalanche 4 5
Dallas Stars 2 2
Detroit Red Wings 11 7
Edmonton Oilers 6 3
Florida Panthers 1 0
Hartford Whalers 0 3
Los Angeles Kings 3 4
Minnesota North Stars 3 4
Minnesota Wild 2 0
Montreal Canadiens 10 8
New Jersey Devils 6 6
New York Islanders 3 4
New York Rangers 3 4
Oakland Seals 0 1
Ottawa Senators 0 4
Philadelphia Flyers 6 6
Phoenix Coyotes 0 2
Pittsburgh Penguins 5 4
Quebec Nordiques 2 1
San Jose Sharks 3 2
St. Louis Blues 6 8
Tampa Bay Lightning 2 0
Toronto Maple Leafs 12 9
Vancouver Canucks 5 4
Washington Capitals 1 4

It's been a looooooooooooooooong time since....

An Islander goalie was named to the All-Star team. Congratulations to Rick DiPietro, who wasn't born the last time an Islander goalie was named to the team.

Billy Smith was the MVP of the All-Star Game in 1978
Chico Resch was on the 1976 and 1977 teams.

Nystrom to appear in Islander game

It's been over 21 years, but a Nystrom will play in an Islander game tonight when the Isles visit Calgary.

Eric Nystrom was only 3 years old when his father made his final NHL appearance on April 5, 1986. That was a token appearance for Bobby Nystrom, who had been injured when teammate Gerald Diduck's stick caught him in the left eye during practice on Januarry 5 1986.

The appearance in the Islanders' final home game of the 85-86 season allowed Nystrom to complete his career with 900 games played as an Islander. Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, it was done at the suggestion of Al Arbour, who wanted Nystrom to reach the milestone. Arbour was similarly honored by Ted Nolan earlier this season.

Eric Nystrom got into two NHL games in the 05-06 season but missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. he has played 34 games with Calgary this season, with one goal and four assists. The only NHL goal of his career came in his second appearance of this season, on October 30 against Nashville. Nystrom has 43 penalty minutes on the season, including seven major penalties.

A rare trip to Calgary

The Isles conclude their swing through Western Canada with their first game in Calgary in nearly 6 years. On January 15 2002, the Isles defeated the Flames 3-1 at the Saddledome, ending a 6-game losing streak in Calgary that dated back to 1992.

The teams last met on January 12, 2006 at the Coliseum. In the first game for interim coach Brad Shaw, the Isles defeated their relocated expansion cousins 3-2. Mark Parrish scored the winning goal for the Isles. The game featured two fights against Flame tough guy Chris Simon.

The two wins mentioned above are the only ones that the Isles have had in their last 12 games against the Flames (2-10-0). Seven different men coached the Isles over that 12 game stretch, and Nolan will make it eight coaches in the last 13 games against Calgary.

The Isles have scored only 27 goals in their last 15 games against Calgary (1.8 per game) and haven't scored four in any game since a 6-2 win on January 7 1994.

Of course, the Flames and Islanders began their history together, on October 7, 1972 at the Coliseum. Morris Stefaniw and Ed Westfall were the first to score for their respective teams. Westfall would go on to score 105 goals for the Isles (tied with Benoit Hogue for 22nd in club history) while Stefaniw, who is celebrating his 60th birthday on Thursday (really), would never score another NHL goal. The Flames won the game 3-2 (Billy Harris had the other Islander goal.)

Stat Trick: Vancouver 3, Isles 2 (SO)

1. It took 143:08 but Bill Guerin's strange goal ended a long Islander scoreless streak.

2. Rick DIPietro was clearly the star of the game, and the media recognized that by naming him the game's first star. He made 43 saves (third highest total of his career).

3. The Isles killed 7 Vancouver power plays and spent only 18 seconds (all in their own end) on the power play.

and a few more...

4. Who is Alexander Edler? The 21 year old Edler scored the winning goal in the shootout. He was the 91st pick in the 2004 draft. It was his first appearance of the season in the shootout

5. Where were the Sedins in the shootout? On the bench. Daniel is 0-2 in the shootout this season while Henrik does not have a shooutout attempt.

6. DiPietro is now 14-9 in his career in shootouts, having allowed 26 goals in 100 attempts.

7. Last place Rangers -- the Isles entered the night tied with the Flyers and one point behind the Rangers. With the Flyer win and the Isle point, the Flyers are now 3rd and the Isles (20-17-5) slide ahead of the Rangers (20-18-5).

8. Blake Comeau's goal was the 100th credited to the Isles this season -- they became the last team to reach 100 goals. St. Louis reached the mark earlier in the evening.

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

DiPietro vs. Luongo ... and Snow too!

As the Isles travel to Vancouver tonight, it sets up a possible
first meeting since 2005 between Rick DiPietro and Roberto
Luongo.

How have they done head to head? I never thought you'd ask.

If they both play, it will mark the eighth time that they
appeared in the same game. However, in the first meeting
(2/24/01), Luongo played only 53 seconds in mid-game relief of
Trevor Kidd.

They have started against each other six times (DiPietro has
finished five of them) and each team has won three of them.

03/11/01: Florda 4, Isles 1
10/18/03: Isles 2, Florida 1
11/19/03: Isles 4, Florida 1
03/17/04: Florida 6, Isles 4 (Snow played the third period,
allowed two goals and was charged with the loss)
10/10/05: Florida 3, Isles 1
11/19/05: Isles 5, Florida 3

xxxxxx

Islander GM Garth Snow played 2+ seasons for the Canucks. He
earned his first victory as a Canuck against the Islanders on
March 14, 1998, 6-2 at the Coliseum.

That was the only game he played as a Canuck against the Isles.
Overall, in Vancouver, he went 33-52-11. He appeared in a
career high 65 games in 1998-99 (no more than 43 games in any
other 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: Edmonton 4, Isles 0

1. It had to happen sooner or later and it happened tonight Edmonton recorded its first victory of the century over the Islanders and their first win in Edmonton over the Isles since a January 31, 1997 1-0 shutout by Curtis Joseph. That was the only previous shutout by the Oilers against the Islanders in regular season play. Only Quebec/Colorado has been in the league as long and shutout the Islanders only once.

2. The Isles have lost three straight (0-1-2) for the second time this season. They had a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) in late Nov/early Dec. The Isles have scored only four goals in the three games.

3. The Isles reach the season's midpoint with 44 points, three more than last season. The Isles needed 51 points in the second half of the season to make the playoffs on the season's last day.

and two more:

Shawn Horcoff recorded his 100th career goal, all as an Oiler. He is the 15th Oiler to reach 100 goals.

Rick DiPietro came into the game looking for his 107th win, which would have passed Edmonton native Kelly Hrudey for third on the all-time Islander win list. Instead, he suffered his 95th loss, and passed Tommy Salo for second place in that category. Only Billy Smith has lost more games as an Islander. Smitty lost 230.

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

Road trip continues in Vancouver

Edmonton and Calgary are only 172 miles apart, so much like the Rangers did last week, the Isles will sneak a trip to Vancouver (511 miles from Edmonton) in between when they face the Canucks on the second-half of the back-2-back.

The Islanders haven't won a game in Vancouver this century. Of course, they've had only two shots to win in Vancouver since their last victory there (3/19/1999 for one of Bill Stewart's 11 NHL wins as a coach and the Islanders' only win in seven trips to Vancouver since 1993).

This will be the teams' first meeting since the Canucks, behind a Todd Bertuzzi hat trick, slaughtered the Isles 8-1 at the Coliseum on January 14, 2006 in the Islanders' second game under interim coach Brad Shaw. (It's one of only three home losses by 7 goals in Islander history).

Overall, the Isles 4-3 with 2 ties in their last nine games against Vancouver.

How many games to 100?

Question for you stat people
Posted by: "mrbelvidear" mrbelvidear@yahoo.com mrbelvidear
Mon Jan 7, 2008 12:33 pm (PST)
What is the furthest the Islanders have gone into a season(games played) before scoring 100 goals?

This is the 6th time in Islander history that they've played 40 games without scoring 100 goals. The Isles have been credited with 98 goals this season, although that includes a goal for winning the shootout vs Ottawa in November.

The other years:
75 in 40 games in 1972-73; scored 100th goal in Game 49
93 in 40 games in 1973-74; scored 100th goal in Game 42
91 in 40 games in 1998-99; scored 100th goal in Game 45
86 in 40 games in 1999-00; scored 100th goal in Game 48
88 in 40 games in 2000-01; scored 100th goal in Game 44

The Isles have allowed only 110 goals (including shootout loss) through 40 games. That's the 7th lowest total in club history. The fewest goals the Isles allowed in the first 40 games was 99 in 1977-78. By that point, they were +66, having scored 165. (In the following season, 1978-79, the Isles stepped up the offense a bit, and scored 194 goals in the first 40 games.)

Isles head to Edmonton

The Isles are in Edmonton for the first time in nearly five years. On March 13, 2003, the Isles defeated Edmonton 5-2. Jason Blake had two goals and an assist for the Isles, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit for goaltender Garth Snow. Some guy named Ryan Smyth is the last Oiler to score against the Isles in Edmonton.

The Isles have 3 wins and 1 tie in their last four games in Edmonton since losing to the Oilers 1-0 on January 31, 1997. (Curtis Joseph had a shutout in that game)

Overall, the Isles have won their last six games against Edmonton, including a shootout win in their most recent meeting (December 10 2005 at the Coliseum). In that 2005 game, Chris Pronger's pp goal with 1:05 to play necessitated overtime and the shootout. After Rick DiPietro stopped Smyth in the fourth round of the shootout, Trent Hunter beat Jussi Markanen for the winning goal.

The six game win streak equals the longest the Isles ever have had in regular season play vs Edmonton (originally set Oct 8, 1982 - Feb 7 1984). (That steak actually was 10 games, if you include the 1983 Finals)

The Oilers' last win over the Isles came on December 14, 1999, 4-2 at the Coliseum. Every other NHL team has beaten the Islanders at least once since the Oilers last did so.

Isles history set in Colorado -- but not the type of history they'd like to set

The OT loss in Colorado marks the first time in Islander regular season history that they've ever lost consecutive games on an overtime goal.

Once last season the Isles lost consecutive games in which one game was a shootout (to Nashville on 10/16/06) and the other was in overtime (to Pittsburgh on 10/19/06), but this is the first time they've ever lost consecutive games in which there was a goal scored in overtime.

The Isles did lose consecutive playoff games in overtime in 1985 to the Caps (Haworth and Gartner) and in 1993 to the Canadiens (Lebeau and Carbonneau).

The Isles have won consecutive games, both in overtime, on multiple occasions, including earlier this season (12/23 vs Washington and 12/26 vs Toronto). They've also done it on multiple occasions in the playoffs, including three straight vs the Caps in 1993.

It's the 12th time that Ted Nolan has been beaten by an opponent's goal in overtime (Excluding shootouts) since becoming Islander coach -- only Al Arbour (24) has more regular season ot losses. Mike Milbury suffered 11.

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

Isles finish 7th in East; face Penguins in 1st game of 2007 playoffs

Well, they would have...if the NHL based the playoffs on calendar year 2007. (I won't comment further on how the NHL used point percentage to rank the teams :) (All stats below compiled by the NHL)

East

NHL STANDINGS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2007
(Ranked by points percentage)
GP W L OT PTS PTS% GF GA
1 Ottawa Senators 80 52 16 12 116 .725 297 211
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 83 51 25 7 109 .657 270 234
4 New Jersey Devils 82 48 25 9 105 .640 207 200
5 New York Rangers 81 43 28 10 96 .593 220 186
6 Buffalo Sabres 81 44 31 6 94 .580 270 239
7 New York Islanders 83 41 31 11 93 .560 233 242
3 Florida Panthers 80 38 30 12 88 .550 234 233
8 Toronto Maple Leafs 81 38 30 13 89 .549 244 256

9 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 41 35 6 88 .537 240 268
10 Carolina Hurricanes 82 39 36 7 85 .518 241 259
11 Montreal Canadiens 83 39 36 8 86 .518 243 261
12 Atlanta Thrashers 82 39 37 6 84 .512 230 258
13 Philadelphia Flyers 81 31 38 12 74 .457 236 264
14 Boston Bruins 85 35 43 7 77 .453 210 270
15 Washington Capitals 82 27 43 12 66 .402 223 271

Tampa and Atlana made the actual 2007 playoffs, while Florida and Toronto did not.

West
NHL STANDINGS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2007
(Ranked by points percentage)
GP W L OT PTS PTS% GF GA

Detroit Red Wings 84 55 18 11 121 .720 280 203
Vancouver Canucks 83 51 22 10 112 .675 232 191
Minnesota Wild 82 50 24 8 108 .659 228 190
Dallas Stars 82 48 23 11 107 .652 240 206
San Jose Sharks 81 47 24 10 104 .642 242 194
Colorado Avalanche 83 47 28 8 102 .614 267 253
Calgary Flames 85 43 29 13 99 .582 263 246
Nashville Predators 81 43 31 7 93 .574 245 227

St. Louis Blues 81 41 30 10 92 .568 217 228
Anaheim Ducks 82 39 30 13 91 .555 216 220
Columbus Blue Jackets 82 36 37 9 81 .494 197 224
Chicago Blackhawks 81 34 40 7 75 .463 217 253
Phoenix Coyotes 82 34 44 4 72 .439 211 255
Edmonton Oilers 84 30 45 9 69 .411 192 258
Los Angeles Kings 81 27 43 11 65 .401 217 262

One strange stat: 6 Eastern teams finished between 84 and 89 points; no team in the West finished between 82 and 90 points.

GOALS
GP G
Vincent Lecavalier 82 57
Ilya Kovalchuk 82 54
Dany Heatley 80 53
Alex Ovechkin 82 51

ASSISTS
GP A
Joe Thornton 81 90
Sidney Crosby 83 79
Pavel Datsyuk 81 73
Marc Savard 84 73

POINTS
GP G A PTS
Vincent Lecavalier 82 57 58 115
Sidney Crosby 83 35 79 114
Joe Thornton 81 24 90 114
Dany Heatley 80 53 59 112

GOALS BY DEFENSEMEN
GP G
Ryan Whitney 78 16
Sheldon Souray 59 15
Marc-Andre Bergeron 67 15
Michal Rozsival 78 15

ASSISTS BY DEFENSEMEN
GP A
Nicklas Lidstrom 82 58
Sergei Gonchar 79 54
Brian Rafalski 84 53
Sergei Zubov 78 52

POINTS BY DEFENSEMEN
GP G A PTS
Sergei Gonchar 79 14 54 68
Nicklas Lidstrom 82 8 58 66
Brian Rafalski 84 12 53 65
Sergei Zubov 78 9 52 61

PENALTY MINUTES
GP PIM
Daniel Carcillo 51 246
Ben Eager 57 205
Chris Neil 80 197
Zack Stortini 54 169

POWER PLAY GOALS
GP PP
Tomas Holmstrom 75 22
Michael Cammalleri 76 20
Daniel Sedin 83 19
Henrik Zetterberg 60 18
Ilya Kovalchuk 82 18
Alex Ovechkin 82 18

SHORTHANDED GOALS
GP SH
Patrick Sharp 77 9
Mike Richards 67 8
Daniel Alfredsson 79 5
Vincent Lecavalier 82 5

GAME-WINNING GOALS
GP GW
Henrik Zetterberg 60 10
Milan Michalek 77 10
Daniel Sedin 83 10
Marian Gaborik 75 9
Bill Guerin 77 9
Dany Heatley 80 9
Vincent Lecavalier 82 9

SHOTS ON GOAL
GP SOG
Alex Ovechkin 82 397
Vincent Lecavalier 82 347
Olli Jokinen 80 339
Jason Blake 84 332

PLUS/MINUS RATING
GP +/-
Dany Heatley 80 57
Daniel Alfredsson 79 50
Nicklas Lidstrom 82 44
Pavel Datsyuk 81 43

NHL GOALTENDING LEADERS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2007
GAMES PLAYED
GP
Miikka Kiprusoff 79
Martin Brodeur 76
Henrik Lundqvist 75
Roberto Luongo 72

MINUTES PLAYED
GP MINS
Miikka Kiprusoff 79 4660
Martin Brodeur 76 4568
Henrik Lundqvist 75 4435
Roberto Luongo 72 4334

WINS
GP W
Roberto Luongo 72 45
Martin Brodeur 76 45
Miikka Kiprusoff 79 41
Henrik Lundqvist 75 40

SHUTOUTS
GP SHO
Henrik Lundqvist 75 10
Evgeni Nabokov 69 9
Martin Brodeur 76 9
Roberto Luongo 72 8

POINTS PERCENTAGE (minimum: 25 decisions)
GP W L OT PTS%
Chris Osgood 35 24 3 6 .818
Martin Gerber 39 28 6 3 .797
Niklas Backstrom 54 34 12 5 .716
Marc-Andre Fleury 58 34 13 6 .698

GOALS-AGAINST AVERAGE (minimum: 1500 minutes)
GP MINS GA GAA
Chris Osgood 35 2043 67 1.97
Pascal Leclaire 29 1622 55 2.03
Henrik Lundqvist 75 4435 151 2.04
Roberto Luongo 72 4334 149 2.06

SAVE PERCENTAGE (minimum: 1500 minutes)
GP MINS SOG GA SV%
Roberto Luongo 72 4334 2103 149 .929
Pascal Leclaire 29 1622 720 55 .924
Henrik Lundqvist 75 4435 1943 151 .922
Niklas Backstrom 54 3106 1438 112 .922
Martin Gerber 39 2258 1135 89 .922

SHOTS ON GOAL
GP SOG
Miikka Kiprusoff 79 2214
Roberto Luongo 72 2103
Martin Brodeur 76 2060
Ryan Miller 69 1981

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: Panthers 4, Isles 3 (OT)

1. The Isles pp connected for two goals in the second period, giving them five power play goals (all in the 2nd period) of the last two games. It's the second time this season that the Isles have scored 5 pp goals in a 2 game stretch.

2. Jasen Cullimore's winning goal ended two long streaks -- it was his first goal in 80 games (dating back to October 31, 2006 against the Islanders) and was the first time in the last 11 overtime games between the teams that the Panthers beat the Isles. The Islanders had won three overtime games, and two shootout games and there had also been five ties since Ray Sheppard scored in overtime to beat the Isles on December 22, 1996.

3.Sure looks like Marc Andre Bergeron is back in the Isles' good graces. He played 21:18 (buoyed by 8:22 of pp time) and had a game high eight shots on goal. Comrie's goal came off a play that Bergeron started -- Sillinger and Hunter batted at the rebound before Comrie put it in. Overall, the Isles defense combined for 17 shots.

and a few more...

4. Craig Anderson picked up his first victory of the season and first in three career appearances vs. the Isles. He had been beaten by the Isles twice in 2003 -- Alexei Yashin had a four goal game against Anderson and Steve Passmore in March, and the Isles beat him in the blizzard game in December.

5. If you thought Jay Bouwmeester was on the ice the entire game... he was. He played 35:48 as Jacques Martin used four defensemen for most of the game. (Mezei played 7:39 and Montador only 5:25).

6 Bill Guerin now has six goals in the last 6 games and nine goals in the last 12 games. He had only 5 in the previous 27 games, and they all game in a 4 game span.

7. Comrie's goal gave him a season-high five game point streak (4-4-8)

8. After missing his first game as an Islander, Sillinger had a goal and two assists. He now has five points (1-4-5) in his last two games. It was his first three point game since recording four points at Florida on March 17th.

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

Who su**?

Chris Botta caused some commotion over the weekend on his blog regarding fans chanting "You suck" after Islander goals.
http://nyipointblank.blogspot.com/2008/01/for-your-consideration.html

Tonight, at the Coliseum, the word "Sucks" was heard twice on the PA system.

In the first period, a clip of Denis Potvin's speech at the 25th anniversary was shown. "How many Cups" "Four" "Who Sucks" "the Rangers".

In the second period, Game Show host Pat Sajak appeared and suggested when he resumes taping of "Wheel of Fortune", a new puzzle could be "Rangers Suck", drawing a large roar from the crowd.

Personally, I always liked the collegiate "It's all your fault" chant aimed towards the opposing goalie.

Jiggs and DiPi

If you were at the game tonight, you saw a press box shot of Jiggs McDonald. As Howie mentioned on the telecast, Jiggs will be at the microphone for the upcoming road trip as Howie takes some time off. Jiggs will do all five games of the trip; Versus will have the Isles-Montreal on 1/15 before Howie rejoins Billy on 1/16 at New Jersey.

Who will be in goal in Denver on Saturday and Edmonton on Monday is certainly a question. DiPietro broke out new pads for the first period but was forced to remove them before the second period. I'm fairly certain that that directive came from the "War Room" in Toronto which was watching one of the telecasts.

From what I've put together, Ricky may have violated a section of rule 11.8, which notes
"A goalkeeper who plays with equipment that has not been inspected and approved by the League's Hockey Operations
Department, or who tampers with equipment after it has been inspected and approved by the League's Hockey Operations,
Officiating and or Security departments will be suspended for the next two (2) League games, his Club will be fined $25,000.00 and his
Equipment Manager will be fined $1000.00 (to be deducted from his pay), regardless of whether or not such equipment previously
complied with League standards. Each additional violation will result in all game suspensions and fines being doubled."

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

Happy New Year Stat Trick

I've been on vacation (if you've been watching Isles tv carefully, you know that it was in Montreal) but with the strong post-Xmas play I figured that I'd share a few (okay, many) notes...

1.The Isles end 2007 with a 20-16-2 record. It's the first time since the 1987-88 season that the Isles won 20 of their first 38 (20-14-4).

2. The Isles rallied to finish December at .500 (7-7-1). It's the second straight season they've gotten through December without a losing month -- that hadn't happened at all prior to Nolan since 1983-84 through 1985-86.

3. The 42 points in 38 games is one more than the 03-04 and 06-07 squads managed. It's the second-best total at this stage of the season since 1988. (45 in 2001-02)

4. The Isles recorded three PP goals in the 2nd period at Carolina tying the club record. It was the first time the Isles have done that since 1996. The three pp goals in the game equaled a season high --all three times are on the road (in Buffalo and Washington, both in October).

5. The 4 second period goals in Carolina marked the first time all season that the Isles had scored 4 goals in one period. They last scored four goals in a period on February 27th vs. Philly.

6. The Isles are now 9-7 on 12/31 games, including three straight wins. The Isles have played at home only twice on New Year's Eve, defeating Washington 6-4 to end 1988 and Quebec 6-3 to end 1990.

7. The Isles were off on New Year's Day...and that's a good thing. The Isles are 0-7 on New Year's Day. It's the only day (besides 12/24 and 12/25, two days that the Isles have never played) between October 3 and April 18 that the Isles have never earned a point.

8. The Isles lost their fifth straight game in Ottawa on Dec 27. They are 0-6, with one tie in Ottawa since winning there on 3/15/03. The Isles have won twice in Ottawa since 1996. (regular season only)

9. The Isles defeated the Devils for the 4th straight time this season (5th overall) on December 29th. In their last 16 games vs NJ, the Isles have won 5 straight, lost 6 straight, and won 5 straight) The Devils have earned 4 loser points in that stretch (6-6-4) while the Isles have earned one (10-5-1).

10. The New Year's Eve win in Carolina ended a four-game losing streak in Raleigh and a 3-game losing steak to the Hurricanes overall.

11. The 9 goals the Isles scored in the last two games equaled a season high. They haven't scored 10 goals over two games since January 9-11, 2007.

12. The New Year's Eve win was the 199th December win in Islander history. They've won 200 January games and 202 March games (which is the most in any month).

13. Mike Sillinger sat out his first game as an Isle on Monday, ending a streak of 119 consecutive Isles games. Last season was the first time in his career that he played in 82 games.

14. Dubie earned six points in the four games since he replaced Rick DiPietro after one period on Wednesday.

15. Bill Guerin ends 2007 with a flourish: 5 goals in 5 games and 8 goals in 11 games.

16. Mike Comrie went 3-4-7 in the four post-Xmas games.

17. Bergeron had 2 goals and an assist vs Carolina. The three points equals his career high, set two other times. It's the third time he's scored at least two goals (2 vs SJ on 3/21/04 and 3 vs Ottawa on 1/14/06).