Stat Trick: Ottawa 5, Isles 2

Remember when we feared that Ottawa would battle the Isles for draft position? The Sens are in the midst of a playoff run. On to the trick.

1. After a scoreless first period, the Sens exploded for 4 straight goals in the 2nd period to put the game away. It was the first time all season that Ottawa had scored 4 goals in any period. Chris Neil, playing his 500th NHL games, got the scoring going with his first goal since November 6th. Kuba, Fisher and Heatley had the other goals in the 2nd period for Ottawa, while Foligno scored for the Sens in the 3rd.

2. Josh Bailey had both Islander goals - his first 2-goal game of his career. Baily is 3-3-6 in his last 8 and now has 5 goals and 17 assists on the season. Blake Comeau, playing his 100th NHL game, assisted on the first goal.

3. Yann Danis made 21 saves, and allowed 5 goals, matching a season high. His save percentage dropped to .921 (tied-5th in NHL this season). Brian Elliott improved to 15-5-3 for the Sens, making 20 saves. He has won a rookie club-record 8 straight and is 11-1-2 in his last 14 decisions.

...and a few more...

4. Kyle Okposo assisted on Bailey's first goal, extending his assist streak to 4 games and his points streak to 8 games (5-5-10). His eight-game point streak is the longest by any NHL rookie this season (longest current streak is 9 games, by Spezza and White). Okposo had points on 8 (3-5-8) of the 16 goals that the Isles scored on the road trip. He is now in the top 10 for rookies in both goals and points.

5. The Isles finished the longest road trip of the season with a 2-3-1 record.

6. Joel Rechlicz had his second NHL fight --this one with Mike Fisher.

7. The loss was the Isles' 40th of the season. They haven't lost 41 games in a season since 2000-01.

8. The Sens improve to 31-30-10, going over NHL-.500 for the first time since November 6 (6-5-2). Ottawa is 8-1 in their last 9.

9. Despite the loss, the Isles win the season series with Ottawa 3 games to 1, and 6 points to 2.

10. Up next: the Isles finally return home when they host Minnesota in a rare Wednesday game. The Wild beat the Isles in St. Paul in December and have beaten three different Isles coaches in the last three games between the teams. It will be Minnesota's first visit to Long Island since December 13, 2005 -- a span of 1,198 days.

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