Stat Trick: Isles 4, Canadiens 3 (Shootout)

"That's why I love sports. Every day, you have a chance to see something you've never seen before." --John Sterling on Isles radio after MIke Bossy scored the 50th and 51st goals of his rookie season, the latter with 5 seconds to play, to give the Isles a come-from-behind win over Washington on their way to their first division title. (4/1/78) I saw the goal credited to Smith in 1979, and was at the game when Jose Theodore cemented a Habs win against the Isles with an empty-netter, but my 8 year old hadn't seen either of those as they happened. This one he did. On to tthe trick.

1. Ryan O'Byrne played 16:20, had 2 hits, 1 blocked shot, and an even rating. Of course he would have been +1 had he not put the puck into HIS OWN EMPTY NET to allow the Islanders to even the game on a delayed penalty late in the third period.

2. Bill Guerin was credited with the goal (he was the last Islander to touch the puck) and now has eight, as does Trent Hunter who scored earlier in the game.

3. The Isles scored twice on the power play for the secod straight game. That hadn't happened since December 31 2007 -January 3, 2008, and hadn't happen in consecutive games, both on the road, since December 2005.

and wait... there's more...

4. Doug Weight earned assists on both PP goals, giving him 17 assists on the season. Only five players in the NHL started the night with more than 17 assists: Malkin, Savard, Getzlaf, Crosby, and Henrik Sedin. Weight now has 13 pp points

5.The win breaks a six-game Islander losing streak to Montreal., dating back to a 3-2 win on February 24, 2007.

6.Josh Gorges scored his first goal as a Canadien (89 games + 12 playoff games). His only previous NHL goal came for the Sharks, against Detroit, on January 5. 2007.

7. The Isles lost 34 of 55 faceoffs. Jeremy Colliton was the only Isles success in the circle, winning 5 of 6.

8. THe Isles won the shootout 2-0, It was the first shoout out ever between the teams. RIchard Park, who also scored in regulation, had the deciding goal in the shootout. (Scott Gordon used the three Islander goal scorers in the shootout) Park is now 3-7 for his career in shootouts; all three have been deciding goals.

9. The Isles improve to 5-1 in their last six games. SInce opening 2-7-1, the Isles are 7-3-1.

10. Looking ahead: The Penguins viist the Coliseum in the now tradiitonal Turkey Eve game on Wednesday. This will be the eighth consecutive season that the Isles have played at home on Thanksgiving Eve. The Isles have won twice, lost in regulation twice, tied once, lost in overtime once and lost in a shootout once. (2-2-3) Overall the Isles are 6-3-3 on Thanksgiving Eve at home. The Pens rallied to beat the Isles in a disputed shootout earlier this month. The Isles are 2-5-1 in their last eight games against Crosby and Company.

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.