Battle of the Dynasty Kids

It will likely be the Battle of the Dynasty Kids on Thursday as Eric Nystrom faces the Islanders for the first time in his career.

Nystrom has now played the equivalent of nearly a full-season as he's logged 5 goals and 10 assists in his first 80 NHL games.

Jeff Tambellini has played 110 NHL games and he has 5 goals and 17 assists. All but four of Tambellini's NHL games have been as an Islander, so his next game will be #107, tying his father Steve, a 1980 Cup winner, on the Isles all-time list. Steve had 24 goals and 25 assists as an Islander. (Steve was an extra on that Cup team -- his only NHL playoff experience came in 1984 for Calgary, where he played in 2 post-season games the month Jeff was born. The elder Tambellini was traded at the 1981 trade deadline along with Chico Resch in a deal for Mike McEwen)

BTW -- about Jeff's birthdate, April 13, 1984. Jeff was born in Calgary. That night, the Flames rallied from a 3-goal deficit to win in Edmonton 6-5 on an overtime goal by Carey Wilson. Earlier in the evening, on Long Island, the Islanders also won in overtime, defeating Washington 5-4 on a goal by Anders Kallur. Somewhat coincidentally, the Islanders blew a 3-0 lead in that game.

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.