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).