Stat Trick: Buffalo 4, Isles 3 (Shootout)

A solid effort, two late goals, including one in the final seconds is worth a point, but the shootout goes Buffalo's way. On to the trick:

1. Jeff Tambellini scored a goal! It's NHL goal #5 for Tambellini, his first in 44 games dating back to last February 12. Josh Bailey earned his 9th assist on that goal; he's still looking for his first tally.

2. With the Isles trailing 3-1, the Isles got a pp-goal from Mike Comrie (18:34) and the equalizer from Chris Campoli(19:58). Both goals came with the Isles' net empty.

3. The Sabres needed just two rounds to win the shootout, scoring on both of their shots (Kotalik, Stafford) and stopping Park and Okposo.
Buffalo is now 2-0 in shootouts against the Isles, having also won on Long Island on Turkey Eve, 2005.

and a few more...

4. One night after scoring his 399th and 400th goals, BIll Guerin assisted on the two 6th attacker goals for the Isles.
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5. Hecht, Pominville and MacArthur had the goals for Buffalo.

6. Trent Hunter had another strong game: 5 shots and 5 hits. Jermey Colliton was recalled to replace Mike Sillinger; he won 8 of 15 draws; his teammates lost 28 of 47.

7. According to the NHL, a shootout loss is still a loss, meaning that the Isles have lost 11 of their last 12 (1-9-2) and have lost 9 straight on the road (0-8-1) since their miraculous victory in Montreal three nights before Thanksgiving. The 9 straight road losses is the longest since a similar streak in 1998 (10 straight winless).

8. How did Derek Roy not get a star? Roy, a forward, played 28:08 (over four minutes more than any other Sabre), and had 8 shots on goal. He also won 15 of 23 draws.

9. The Isles are now 1-1-1 vs. Buffalo this season (1-0-1 on the road). It's the first time since 03-04 that they've earned points in both trips to Buffalo.

10. Looking ahead: the Isles play their third game in four nights on Monday in Manhattan. The Isles have owned the Rangers at MSG for the last several seasons. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 visits:

11-Apr-06 @ New York 3 2 W
3-Dec-06 @ New York 7 4 W
19-Dec-06 @ New York 4 3 W
9-Jan-07 @ New York 5 3 W
5-Mar-07 @ New York 1 2 Lso
19-Nov-07 @ New York 2 1 W
29-Nov-07 @ New York 2 4 L
4-Mar-08 @ New York 4 3 Wso
4-Apr-08 @ New York 4 3 Wso
4-Nov-08 @ New York 2 1 W

The game will air exclusively on Versus. Joe Beninati has the play-by-play. The Isles will be looking to avoid a 10th straight road loss. They've lost 10 straight on the road only twice in their history -- they lost 28 of 29 (1-28-0) on the road between November 26, 1972- March 31, 1973. There were 13 straight losses, a memorable 9-7 win over the Champion Bruins in the Garden, and then 15 more straight losses that season.

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.