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