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