Stat Trick: Islanders 2, Buffalo 0

Yann Danis is dangerous. Too much Danis could cost the Isles draft position. On to the trick.

1. Danis made 31 saves for his 2nd straight shutout at home. Danis has allowed a goal at the Coliseum since Alexander Frolov of the Kings beat him at 6:41 of the 3rd period on February 10th. That's 138:19 of scoreless hockey (including the OT on 2/10); he's stopped 79 straight shots in that timespan.

2 Danis is 6-4-2 in his last 12 starts, and hasn't allowed an even strength goal in five of the 12. He's gone 2-1 in his last three starts, allowing just 1 goal, and stopped 98 of 99 shots.

3. Sean Bergenheim had both goals in the game and now has 11 on the season. He has three goals in the last two games, and four goals in the last 4; two of the 4 were game-winners. The 4 GWG's lead the team; only 29 players in the NHL have more. The 11 goals are a new career high; he had 10 last season.

...and a few more

4. The Isles played without Bill Guerin, who took the morning skate and was on the game roster but never appeared on the bench. (Although he was on the roster, he didn't play, so he becomes the last Islander to miss a game this season.) It's likely that he will be traded, but nothing had been announced by mid-afternoon Sunday.

5.With Brendan Witt missing the first of his five game suspension, Andrew MacDonald made his NHL debut, playing 7:14 and wearing uniform #43. Mark Streit saw extra ice-time: 29:50 in all.

6. Jack Hillen continues to step up: 4 shots, 3 hits, 3 blocks, 1 assist, +2

7. After losing to Buffalo 7-1 in October, the Isles rebounded to win the season series 5 points to 4; both teams had 2 wins.

8. The Isles are 6-1-2 in their last 9 games at home, earning at least a point in all but the 6-2 disaster to Carolina last Thursday.

9. Kyle Okposo had an asist and was +1, but was held without a shot for only the third time this season.

10. Up next: the Colorado Avalanche visit Long Island on Monday in a showdown of 15th place teams. The Isles have won the last 4 games against the Avs on Long Island, dating back to a 2-1 Colorado win on December 8, 1998. In that game, Cam Russell and Peter Forsberg scored for Colorado while Mariusz Czerkawski had the response for the Isles. Patrick Roy beat Tommy Salo. Monday's game will be televised nationally in the US by Versus and in Canada by TSN.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982.