Stat Trick: School is Out! Flyers 4, Isles 1

As a 12-year old boy, I can vividly remember the Isles losing a playoff series to the Canadiens and hearing Tim Ryan punctuate the last game with the phrase "School is Out" as the Canadiens moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals. For the Isles, school was out on Sunday night as the loss eliminated the Isles from playoff contention. On to the trick:

1. Joey MacDonald made 26 saves in his Islander debut. It was his first NHL goal since losing to Atlanta (for Boston) on March 31, 2007. Remember, MacDonald has a one-way contract for next year; Dubie is not under contract. MacDonald is now 3-8-1 in his NHL career.

2. Miro Satan broke a long goal-less streak with the Islanders' only tally-- his 15th goal of the season came with 4:27 to play. It was Satan's first goal in 14 games -- the Isles went 3-10 in the ten games in between. Satan has scored 20 or more in 10 straight seasons -- he'll need 5 in the final 6 to keep that streak going.

3. The Flyers lead the season series 6 games to 1, and 12 points to 2. They have outscored the Isles 26-13. The Flyers are 13-31 on the pp vs the Isles while the Isles are 3-29 (and have allowed 2 SH goals, too!).

.... and more

4. Martin Biron raises his record to 6-0-0 against the Isles this season, while lowering his GAA to 1.50. He is now 14-4-1 in his career against the Isles.

5. Scott Hartnell's third period goal gives him 7 against the Isles this season (16 against the rest of the NHL).

6. It's the first time that the Flyers have ever won four home games against the Isles in a single season. Last season, the Isles were 4-0-0 in Philadelphia.

7. By being eliminated from the playoffs, the Isles clinch a top-14 draft pick (non-playoff teams pick first). The Isles currently hold the 5th seed entering the lottery, with one more point that St. Louis and three more points than Atlanta. The Isles will finish ahead of St. Louis if the teams tie in points because the Blues will have fewer wins. The Isles are only seven points ahead of Tampa/LA, who share last with 66 points. They are seven points behind Toronto/Chicago, who share 22nd with 80 points.

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.