To paraphrase, "The (Canadiens) win the game 5 to 4; I don't believe what I just saw. I don't believe what I just saw."
On to the trick:
Where to begin:
The good:
1. The Isles scored 2 pp goals in a game for the first time this season, after going 3-27 in the first five games at home on the power play.
2. Mark Streit has been on the ice for every Islander power play goal this season. He four goals in the last 5 games (all on special teams).
3. The Islanders scored 4 goals in 2 periods against the Canadiens; one more than they tallied in four games last season.
4. The Isles scored four consecutive goals for the first time since February 16th against Atlanta.
5. The Islanders took a lead for the first time in 6 games (317:04 since their OT winner in Tampa)
6. The Islanders took a three goal lead for the first time since the home Opener. (Tonight was also the first time they led at any time on home ice since the opener as well.
7. Streit and Weight each have points in five straight games. Weight also won 8 of 10 face-offs.
8. Franz Nielsen had his first goal of the season and an assist. He won 9 of 12 draws, and has won 23 of 30 draws over the last two games.
The bad and the ugly:
1. The Isles allowed an early goal for the 6th straight game, all losses. They have allowed the first goal in 7 of their first 10 games and are 0-6-1 when doing so.
2. The Isles blew a three-goal lead in the third period, allowing 4 goals in 7:31. (The Isles were 22-1-2 when they led after two last season (losing to Toronto at the Coliseum on March 18) and 29-1-5 (with the loss coming the night Ricky was hurt in Montreal ) in 2006-07).
3. Plekanac and Kovalev each had four points for Montreal. Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn were both +4.
4. The Islanders scored 4 goals but lost at home in regulation for the first time since October 29, 2005 vs Buffalo (6-4) (and the first time against Montreal anywhere since 1981! Really.)
5. The Canadiens outshot the Isles 16-1 in the first 16 minutes of the third period.
6. The Isles fall to 2-7-1, equalling the worst 10-game start in club history. They were 2-7-1 in both 1972-73 and 1993-94. Their five points is the fewest in the league -- one less than Atlanta.
7. The Isles have lost 6 straight to Montreal; longest since losing 10 straight to Les Habitants between 1975-1978.
8. The Isles are 1-5-0 at home this season; the 2 points equals the worst 6-game home start in their history (0-4-2 in 1989-90 and 1-5-0 in 1972-73). They are 2-11-2 in their last 15 Coliseum games, dating back to last February.
9. The Isles have allowed 25 goals in the five straight home losses; most since allowing 25 in Feb/Mar 200. (The all-time worst in 27, most recently in 2000.
10. The Isles are 5-16-3 in their last 24 games (over 2 seasons).
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.
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