Stat Trick: Atlanta 4, Isles 2

Some teams are good...some teams are bad... some are downright historical.  The current Isles are falling into that last group, but not for the right reasons... on to the trick.

1.  Ilya Kovalchuk celbrated his 500th NHL game by recording his 500th and 501st career point.

2. The Isles have now lost 10 straight (0-9-1).  It's their first 10 game losing streak since the 1997-98 season when they lost 10 straight (the last was in overtime, but you didn't get a point in those days) and then tied an 11th.  It's the sixth ten-game losing streak in club history.  The club record is 12, done in both 1972-73 (Phil Goyette was fired two weeks after this streak was broken with the famous win in Boston) and 1988-89 (Terry Simpson lost his job eight games into this streak).

3.  The Isles have opened a month winless in 10 games for only the second time in history, and the first time since December 1972.
 
...and a few more....
 
4.  Bryan Little recorded his third two-goal game of the season.
 
5.  Andy Hilbert recorded his 8th goal of the season at 16:48 of the second.  It ended a goal-less streak of 133:20 for the Isles.  Hilbert had eight goals in each of his prior two seasons with the Isles.
 
6.  Sean Bergenheim recorded his first goal in 15 games when he scored shorthanded to tie the game early in the third period.  It was his 2nd shortie of the season.
 
7.  Jeff Tambellini 0-for 43.  Enough said.  Except for this.  21-year-old Brett Sutter, (Darryl's son, and Duane/Brent's nephew) scored in his NHL debut tonight.
 
8.  Josh Bailey 0-for-20.   Two assists in his last 12 games.  Explain again why he's not playing for Windsor... or at least in the World Junior Championships.
 
9.  This is the 10th time in their history that the Isles have gone 10 games without a win. (9 of these were in one season; the 10th straddled the first two seasons in Isles history.)  It's their longest winless streak since an 11 game streak in 1998-99 (0-10-1).  The original Isles suffered through a 15-game winless streak (0-12-3)
 
10.  Looking ahead:  Oh, Canada.  The Maple Leafs come to the Coliseum for Boxing Day on Friday.  The Isles own only ten wins this season -- five are against Canadian opponents (Ottawa 3, Vancouver 1, Montreal 1).  Since winning at MSG on November 4, the Isles are 5-1 against Canadian foes and 1-13-2 against American opponents.  The one win was in Buffalo -- a US border city that plays the Canadian anthem before home games.
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY CHANUKAH!

 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.