Stat Trick: Isles 5, Sabres 0

At 2:00AM local time on Sunday, most of the United States and Canada will turn their clocks back.  The Islanders beat them to it, turning their clocks back to the 70's and 80's with a shutout win over the Sabres.  On to the trick...

1.  Jeff Tambellini recorded his first career hat trick, scoring twice in the second period and once in the third.  Tambellini, who is now tied for the club goal-scoring lead with six (in only eight games), has never scored more than seven goals in an NHL season.  He's the first Islander to record a hat trick against Buffalo since Pat LaFontaine did so on December 31, 1989 and the first Islander to ever have a hat trick against the Sabres at the Coliseum.

2. Martin Biron made 38 saves to register his first win as an Islander and his 200th NHL win.  He now has 26 career shutouts, including two against the Sabres.  Biron, who had two shutouts as a Sabre against the Islanders, is the first Islander to ever shutout a team that he had once played for, and had recorded a shutout against the Islanders. (Kevin Weekes did it in reverse: he shutout Tampa Bay as an Islander, and then shutout the Isles after joining the Lightning)

3. Richard Park and Josh Bailey had the other Islander goals.  It was Park's first goal of the season.  Nine different players had points and ten Islanders were "plus" players, with Bailey, Tambellini, Mark Streit and Doug Weight all finishing at +3.

...and a few more...

4.  The game was played before only an announced attendance of 8,889.  It's the smallest crowd at the Coliseum since only 8,161 witnessed the Isles-Dallas game on Thanksgiving Eve, 2007 and likely one of the smallest Saturday night crowds in Islander history.

5.  The Islanders have won three straight games for the first time since winning four straight last January 21-February 3.

6.  The Islanders have won three games in four days, defeating three of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference (based on current standings).  The Islanders last won three games in four days from Febraury 18-21, 2008.  The three straight wins allow the Islanders to finish at NHL .500 for the month of October, with a 4-4-5 record.  The Isles are at .500 this late in the season for the first time since they were 32-32-7 after losing in Tampa Bay on March 11, 2008.

7.  The Islanders have now shutout the Sabres in two consecutive games on Long Island.  Yann Danis blanked Buffalo 2-0 last Feburary 27th.  The Isles have shutout the Sabres thirteen times, more than any other opponent.  Chico Resch recorded the first three Islander shutouts against Buffalo; nine other goalies have had the last ten, with only Chris Osgood having two.

8.  Doug Weight was stopped on a penalty shot with 13 seconds to play.  It's the second time in his Islander career that he has been stopped on a penalty shot in the game's final seconds; Cam Ward of Carolina stopped him with less than a second to play last October.
The Islander have failed on their last five penalty shots and sixteen of their last seventeen with only Ryan Smyth scoring in that span. Tim Connolly, who played for the Sabres tonight, was the last Islander to score on a penalty shot before the stretch began.  There has been a penalty shot in both Islander-Sabres games this season; Clarke MacArthur scored against Dwayne Roloson in the first game.  Leaguewide, there have been only three goals on twelve penalty shots this season.

9. Four of the Islander goals were 5-on-5 goals.  The Sabres had allowed only nine 5-on-5 goals in their first ten games.  Ryan Miller, who suffered his first defeat, was chased after allowing three goals on just sixteen shots.

10. Craig Rivet received an instigator penalty with less than 5 minutes to play and is subject to a suspension from Buffalo's next game, which is on Wednesday at home, against the Islanders.  The season series is even at one game (and two points) each.  The Sabres will return to Long Island on January 16.

Up next:  The Edmonton Oilers pay their first visit to Long Island since 2005 when they play the Islanders on Monday at 7:00pm.  The teams have met in Alberta each of the last two seasons with the Oilers winning both games, but Edmonton has lost four straight on Long Island and haven't won at the Coliseum since 1999.

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Isles 4, Washington 3 (ot)

The Islanders tied an NHL record by playing in their seventh October overtime game.  It didn't last long, as Mark Streit converted a pass from John Tavares 53 seconds into the extra session to give the Isles a 4-3 overtime win in Washington.  On to the trick:

1. The Islanders, who won just once in their first ten games, moved to within one game of NHL-.500 with the overtime win in Washington.  Kyle Okposo became the first Islander to score in the first period of a road game this season as he scored for the second consecutive game, before Frans Nielsen recorded his first two goals of the season in the second period -- the first time in his career that he has scored twice in a game, let alone a period.

2.  Alexander the Great (Ovechkin) scored on a first period power play for Washington while Tomas Fleischmann added a pair of goals in the middle session for the Caps, who had won six straight entering the game.

3. Dwayne Roloson made 37 saves and despite not being named one of the "Three Stars" was arguably the best player on the ice for either team.  Roloson made seventeen of those saves in the third period as he won for the second straight game.  The Isles have earned a point in six of his seven starts (3-1-3).  Jose Theodore made 26 saves for Washington.

...and a few more...

4.  The Isles conquered the "Post-Ranger letdown", at least for one night.  They are now 6-14-3 in their last 23 games following victories over the Rangers  They had lost four straight games that followed victories over the Rangers.

5. Scott Gordon finally beat the Capitals after five straight defeats, three of them in overtime.

6.  The Isles have now played seven overtime games (1 ot win, 1 shootout win, three overtime losses, and two shootout losses).  Eight of their first twelve games have been decided by a single goal.

7. The Isles have won consecutive games for the first time since March 7 and 8.  They scored four goals in a game (not including a shootout) for the first time since March 20th.  The win also broke an 8-game road losing streak (0-5-3).

8.  The Isles are 3-1-2 in their last six games, and have earned a point in four straight games (2-0-2) for the first time since going 3-0-1 last March 7-12.

9.  The Isles held Ovechkin to one goal on 7 shots. They also blocked four of Ovechkin's shots and four others missed the net. Radek Martinek played a team-high 24:44 for the Isles, much of that against Ovechkin, and was credited with four blocks.

10.  The season series is even at a game each, and at three points each as well (as the Caps won in overtime on Long Island last Saturday).  The teams play again in Washington on Veterans' Day, before concluding the season series on January 26th at the Coliseum.

Up next: The Isles begin a two-game homestand when they host Buffalo on Halloween night.  The Isles will be looking to avenge a 6-3 loss in Buffalo two weeks ago and get back to NHL .500 for the first time since opening the season 0-0-3.  The Isles have won three straight on Halloween since losing to Toronto in 1996.  The Isles will also be looking to win three straight for the first time since a four game win streak from January 21- February 3, 2009.

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Rangers 1

Break up the Islanders!  The Isles improve to 2-1-2 in their last five games by earning their first regulation win of the season, 3-1 over the rival Rangers.  On to the trick...

1.  All three players on the Islanders' top line: Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo and John Tavares scored goals.  Moulson scored in the first minutes, Okposo on a second period power play for his first goal in nine games, and Tavares with five minutes left to seal the deal. Tavares, playing in his first Islander-Ranger game, was on-ice for all three Islander goals.

2. Dwayne Roloson made 41 saves and was named the game's top star.  The Isles have earned points in five of his six starts (2-1-3). It was Roloson's first win over the Rangers since February, 2004 when he best current Islander goalie coach Mike Dunham.

3. The win broke several streaks, including a Ranger five-game win streak on Long Island, a Ranger four-game win streak over the Islanders, and an Islander fourteen game streak without a regulation win against anyone --dating back to last April 4th vs Tampa Bay.

...and a few more...

4. Face-offs continue to be a strong part of the Islanders' game.  The Isles won 36 of 56, including all five that occurred during Islander power plays.  One of the wins led directly to Okposo's goal.  Richard Park won 10 of 13, while John Tavares won 7 of 11.

5.  The Isles out-hit the Rangers, 38-24.  Seven different Islanders were credited with at least four hits.

6.  Kyle Okposo had a strong game and led the Isles with seven shots on goal. Ryan Callahan led the Rangers with six shots on goal.

7.  PA Parenteau scored the only goal for the Rangers.  Parenteau, who played five games for Chicago in 2006-07, was making his Ranger debut in place of the injured Marian Gaborik.  It was the first goal the Isles had allowed in the first period at home since Sidney Crosby scored on opening night.

8.  Tha attendance was announced at 15,213, which would make it one of the least-attended Islander-Ranger games since seating in the Coliseum expanded in the early 1980's.

9. Not only did the Islanders win the game, but they won the third period as well as they scored the session's only goal.  The Isles have been outscored 17-8 in the third period this season.

10.  Jeff Tambellini assisted on Tavares' goal.  He has a point in three straight games for the second time in his NHL career.

Up next: The Isles travel to DC on Friday at 7:00 as Scott Gordon looks to do something that he's never done before -- beat the Capitals.  Washington has won all five games between the clubs (three in overtime) since Gordon became the Islander coach.  To do so the Isles will need to solve the dreaded "Post Ranger Win Letdown".  They have lost the last four games that immediately followed wins over the Rangers.
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Weight, three others confirmed with swine flu

Newday's Katie Strang (as per a note from Chris Botta) is reporting that Doug Weight had swine flu, causing him to miss the last three games.  He's expected to play tonight.

Over the last 24 hours, three other NHLers have also been confirmed as having H1N1:
Quintin Laing of the Capitals, Edmonton's Ladislav Smid and Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj.

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

History tonight?

Could tonight be the smallest attended Islander-Ranger game of all time?  I'm not sure what the record is, but the fact that you can buy 12 seats together in section 219  would suggest it might be.

New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers
Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 07:00 PM
Section  Row  Seats Description
219        H     1 - 12  Price Level 4
Lower Level Seating
TypeFull Price Ticket
Ticket PriceUS $140.00 x 12 
Price Details Facility ChargeUS $2.00 x 12
Convenience ChargeUS $6.50 x 12
SUBTOTAL US $1,782.00

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Pat Dapuzzo

Chris Botta has a great first person account by Pat Dapuzzo on FanHouse.  Definitely worth a read.
http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/pat-dapuzzo-reveals-anguish-depression-after-skate-severs-his-face/
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Last to win....

...at least in regulation. 

The Isles are now the only team in the NHL without a regulation win, at Toronto has defeated Anaheim 6-3.  The Ducks allowed a club-record five power play goals.

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Canadiens 3, Isles 2 (overtime)

As Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again." Another game.  Another overtime loss.  On to the trick...

1. Former Islander Roman Hamrlik scored 1:32 into overtime to give Les Habitants the overtime victory. Hamrlik played 300 games for the Islanders earlier this decade and scored three overtime goals for the Islanders (only Pierre Turgeon, with four, has more for the Isles in regular season play).

2. Hamrlik's OT heroics partially spoiled the first two-goal game of Jeff Tambellini's NHL career. Tambellini, who played in his 150th NHL game, now has three goals in the last two games, and sixteen in his NHL career. It was the second time that he has scored in consecutive games, having also done so last March 7-8.  Tambellini has the last three Islander goals; he's the first Islander to score three consecutive Islander goals since Richard Park did so on January 2-3, 2009.

3. Tambellini's goals twice erased one-goal deficits caused by Montreal goals by Jaroslav Spacek and Travis Moen.  It was the 75th goal of Spacek's career, and his first as a Canadien.

...and a few more...

4. Jaroslav Halak and Martin Biron each faced 31 shots as Biron failed for the fifth straight time to win his 200th NHL game.

5. Both of Tambellini's goals came on the power play as the Isles went 2-7 with the man advantage, while Montreal was 0-2. Tambellini now has three goals on the season (in just five games), tying Tavares for second on the squad.  It's the second time this season that the Isles have scored two power play goals in one game (October 3 vs. Pittsburgh)

6. Glenn Metropolit, who wasn't expected to play due to flu-like symptons, assisted on the first two Montreal goals.

7. John Tavares' rookie season continues to mirrors Denis Potvin's, as the Isles 1-4-5 record equals the 1973-74 team mark through ten games.  It's the tenth time in their 37-year team history that the Isles have earned seven points or less through the first ten games.  Seven of the ten games have been decided by one goal.

8.  It's the first time since January 27-February 16, 2004 that the Isles have earned a single point in five games out of a span of ten games or fewer.  The Isles had four ties and an overtime loss in that stretch in 2004.  The Isles once played six ties in a span of ten regular season games, but that was over two seasons, from March 23-October 12, 1975.

9.  With tonight's game going into overtime, the Isles and Montreal still have a combined total of one regulation victory this season.
 
10.  Montreal now leads the season series two games to none, and four points to one.  The teams will play on Long Island on December 9 and April 6, but will not play again in Montreal this season.

Up next: It's the first Battle of New York of the season as the Rangers visit the Coliseum on Wednesday night.  The Blueshirts took five of six from the Isles last season and have won five straight on Long Island, matching their best streak ever at the Coliseum.  Face-off is at 7:08pm with Islander television coverage on MSG+ and Ranger coverage on MSG2.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Bring your kiddings, bring your wife! -- Plenty of seats available for Isles-Rangers

A sampling of tix that are available for Isles-Rangers...

New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 07:00 PM
Section Row Seats Description
305 E 7 - 14 Price Level 8
Upper Level Seating
Type
Full Price Ticket

Ticket Price
US $75.00 x 8
Price Details

Facility Charge
US $2.00 x 8

Convenience Charge
US $6.50 x 8

SUBTOTAL
US $668.00
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

1-4-4

This is the third time that the Isles have opened a season 1-4-4 (although the first since "loser points" were awarded).

The Isles were also 1-4-4 in 1973-74 (Al Arbour and Denis Potvin's first season) and in 1996-97.

In the four previous seasons since the NHL eliminated ties, the Isles earned their fourth loser point in games 54,44,40, and 36 respectively. In the five seasons before that (the only other seasons with loser points), the Isles had no more than four loser points in any season.

This is the first time in Islander history that hey have allowed two overtime goals in the first nine games of the season, and the second time that they've allowed two overtime goals in October.  In October 1988, the Isles lost in overtime to Los Angeles (Steve Duchesne)  and Quebec (Tommy Albelin).

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Caps 3, Isles 2 (Overtime)

Stop me if you've heard this one before.  The Isles take a lead, even a multi-goal lead in the third period, but can't put it away.  On to the trick:

1. Brooks Laich scored 1:00 into overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 win.  Mike Green and Keith Aucoin had scored in the third period for the Caps, who battled back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Isles for the fifth straight time.

2. Radek Martinek recorded the first shorthanded goal of his career when he scored in the first period.  The Isles held that lead until early in the third period, when a deflection from Jeff Tambellini doubled the Isles advantage, and eventually led to the Isles earning a single point for the fourth time this season.

3. The Isles went over sixteen minutes in the second period without a shot, but still outshot Washington, 30-24.  Jose Theodore finished with 28 saves, while Dwayne Roloson had 21 for the Islanders.  Tambellini led the Isles with four shots on goal, despite playing a team-low 9:14.

...and a few more...

4. The Isles held the great Ovechkin to a single assist -- he had scored in all four games vs. the Isles (six goals total) last season.  Ovechkin was held to two shots on goal, the Isles blocked five others and he missed the net three times.  Radek Martinek saw a lot of time against Ovechkin, and played a team-high 24:56.  Martinek was credited with seven blocks.

5. The Isles slaughtered the Caps in the face-off circle, winning 46 of 66.  Richard Park won 15 of 21 while John Tavares won 10 of 15.  Otherwise, Tavares was relatively quiet -- he played only 3:31 in the first period and 17:22 in the game.

6. The Isles are now 1-0-3 in games that they have led after two periods; all four games have gone into overtime.  The Isles have blown two goal leads in the last three of those four games.

7. The Islanders now lead the NHL in overtime games with five, but they have lost four of them.

8. The Isles have allowed fourteen goals over the first two periods this season, but they have now allowed sixteen goals in the third period and two goals in overtime.

9. Including Martinek's goal tonight, the Isles have scored on only 4 of 103 first period shots this season. 

10. The Caps have now beaten the Isles five straight times, including three consecutive overtime wins at the Coliseum. 

Up Next: The Isles make their second trip on five days to Montreal, looking to avenge a dismal performance on Thursday.  The two teams have combined for one regulation time victory this season, and it came by Montreal against the Isles.  Face-off is at 7:30pm.
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles foe Tucker seriously injured

<<
Colorado's Darcy Tucker taken off ice with injury
Friday, 10.23.2009 / 10:55 PM / News
NHL.com
DENVER – Colorado Avalanche left wing Darcy Tucker has been hospitalized for further evaluation after taking a hit from the Carolina Hurricanes' Tuomo Ruutu at 5:26 of the second period in Friday night's game at the Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche reported that Tucker, who was knocked out by the hit, had regained consciousness and was fully alert.

Ruutu was assessed a major boarding penalty and game misconduct. Tucker fell on his back and lay on the ice for several minutes before he was immobilized on a stretcher board and taken by ambulance to the hospital. He was able to move his right arm as he was taken off.
>> 
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Tavares and Moulson

Folks are pretty excited about Tavares' debut...and well they should.

 

Matt Moulson is easily the biggest (positive) surprise of the new season.

 

He certainly seems happy, tooo.

 

"Perfect city, perfect place, perfect system, perfect team, perfect coaching for me," was how Moulson described the Islanders. "I don't think I could have asked for anything more."

 

More on JT below:

<<
 

Sky's the limit as Islanders top draft pick John Tavares excels as NHL rookie

By Bill Beacon (CP) – 21 hours ago

 

MONTREAL — Any question of whether John Tavares would live up to the hype that came with being drafted first overall may have been answered by the 19-year-old's fine play in his first few weeks with the New York Islanders.

 

The centre from Oakville, Ont., was averaging a point per game through his first seven NHL contests, and had the game-winner in a shootout in the lowly Isles' first victory of the season on Wednesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

"It's definitely been a transition, but every day I've been getting better and feeling more comfortable," Tavares said Thursday as the Islanders prepared to face the Montreal Canadiens. "I'm learning something new every day, and learning how to handle it.

 

"It's the highest level in the world and some things you have to go through yourself to learn how to handle them, but so far it's going pretty well. Finally getting our first win was nice, and now we want to get the ball rolling."

 

It was Tavares' first visit to the Bell Centre since the draft in June, when general manager Garth Snow called his name after weeks of teasing suggestions that he may instead opt for big defenceman Victor Hedman, who went second overall to Tampa Bay, or centre Matt Duchene, the third pick by Colorado.

 

So far, the six-foot, 198-pound centre has not disappointed. He scored a goal in his first NHL game against Pittsburgh and has looked strong on a young line with 21-year-old Kyle Okposo and 25-year-old Matt Moulson, a free agent signing from the Los Angeles Kings who trains in the off-season with Tavares in Mississauga, Ont.

 

And Tavares has become the new face of the Islanders, a team that finished last overall in 2008-09 and that has missed the playoffs three of the last four years.

 

A swarm of media awaited him at the team's game-day skate, although Tavares saw that many times when he was starring for the Oshawa Generals and later the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League. That's not to mention his success at the world junior championships, where he won gold with Canada in 2008 and 2009 and was named MVP of the tournament last January in Ottawa.

 

"I can understand the attention and it's been there for a while," he said. "I handle it the best I can and just worry about what I do on the ice and make sure I'm prepared every day to help my team.

"I try to be like one of the guys and not try to make myself any more important than anyone else on the team. Everyone's got a big role and does their part to help the team and I just try to be one of them. I try to stay humble and be a hand-working guy like everyone else."

 

To ease the transition, both to hockey and to life in the NHL, he has been living at veteran Doug Weight's house, much as Sidney Crosby has done while living at team owner Mario Lemieux's home in his first few seasons with Pittsburgh. It is no accident that the two young stars share the same agent, Pat Brisson, who also handles young Chicago Blackhawks talents Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

 

Tavares said living at the Weight household helps him "focus on hockey and not worry about the extra stuff that can come at me really hard, being a young guy in a big city and being in a new environment."

 

"He remembers being with the Rangers and all the stuff he had to learn to handle on his own and he wanted to make sure I didn't have to deal with as many things as he did," he added. "He and his family have been very good to me."

 

Tavares called Crosby "a big inspiration."

 

 

"Mostly it's just me asking Pat a lot of things about how Sid handled things. Jonathan Toews was my roommate when I was 16 at the World Junior camp and I learned a lot from him there."

It is not as though Tavares does not have things to learn. For instance, Islanders coach Scott Gordon has been stressing shorter shifts for his young goal-scorer.

 

"I made a comparison with him and Eric Staal and (Wednesday) night," said Simpson. "The majority of his shifts were over a minute.

 

"Staal played 26 minutes, which was seven or eight minutes more than John, but he had a lot of 30 and 40 second shifts. What makes it hard with overextended shifts is that it's hard for the coach to go back to you. We talked to John about 20 to 40-second segments. If you work hard in the first 20 seconds, you want to get off after 40 seconds. If you go out and just put your toe in the water to get a feel for what's going on, a lot of the time your shifts aren't as productive as they can be."

Another source of support is Moulson, who was drafted 263rd overall by Pittsburgh in 2003 and played four seasons at Cornell University. Moulson ended up signing as a free agent in 2006 with the Kings, for whom he had six goals and four assists in played 29 games over two seasons before being cut loose again.

 

Playing with Tavares, he had five goals and three assists in his first seven games.

 

"Perfect city, perfect place, perfect system, perfect team, perfect coaching for me," was how Moulson described the Islanders. "I don't think I could have asked for anything more.

 

"When I became a free agent, they were the first team that called. Scott Gordon called me himself and said 'we really want you, we're going to give guys a chance.' I was fortunate enough to get a couple of goals in pre-season and ended up with John the last couple of games and developed that chemistry."

 

While some doubted that Tavares could make the jump directly from junior hockey to the NHL, Moulson was not among them.

 

"I knew his 'compete' level," said Moulson. "I said he was going to score a minimum of 35 to 40 goals, but everyone was laughing at me.

 

"I know how hard he works at developing his game on and off the ice every day. He's only going to get better once he figures out what he can and can't do and how much time he has. I think the sky's the limit for him."

>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles Shootout history

A loyal reader (John Kingston) asked if the Isles, prior to Wednesday, had ever gone 3-3 in the shootout.

 

As best as I can tell -- no.

 

On November 14, 2005 the Isles won a shotout against the Pens 3-2, but that was a 9-round affair.

 

On April 15, 2006, the Isles won a shooutout against the Pens 4-3, scoring on four straight shots -- but those were shots 3-6 of the shootout.

 

On April 4, 2008, the Isles beat the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout, however they needed four shots to do it.  Somewhat surprisingly, all four of the shooters (Okposo, Comeau, Bergenheim and Park) are still with the team.  Lundqvist stopped only Bergenheim as the Isles closed their second consecutive season (and, as it turned out, the Ted Nolan era) with a shootout win.

 

According to the Isles guide, the Isles have allowed 3 goals in a shootout and lost only once: on February 10, 2007 in Boston.  That also was a 9-inning shootout.

 

(I found one error in this section of the Guide while cross-checking some of this; if I hear/read anything different, I'll let you know.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Montreal 5, Isles 1

This one was not pretty.  Entering tonight, neither team had won in regulation since last April 4th.  However, tonight, the Isles never seemed to be in the game, except for a brief stretch in the third period.  On to the trick:

 

1.  Montreal had not led by more than one goal all season, and had not won in regulation.  Both streaks ended tonight.

 

2.  Former Ranger/Devil Scott Gomez and former Islander Marc-Andre Bergeron had first period goals for the Habs, who also got goals from Max Pacioretty, Mike Camelleri, and Maxim Lapierre.

 

3. The lone Islander goal came after a Jaroslav Halak giveaway in the opening minute of the third period.  Josh Bailey converted the gift for his first goal of the season and for the Isles' first shorthanded goal of the season.  Bailey had not scored a shorthanded goal since scoring for the WIndsor Spitfires in the 2006-07 season.

 

...and a few more...

 

4.  Marty Biron remains winless on the season, and remains stalled on 199 NHL wins.  He made 38 saves, including one on a 3-on-0.

 

5. A capacity crowd of 21,273 saw it -- that's more people than attended the last two Islander home games combined.

 

6. John Tavares had the weakest game of his NHL career, going -2 with no shots on goal.  He played only 17:03, including just 4:00 in the second period.

 

7.  The Isles were charged with 23 giveaways (to Montreal's 12).  Mark Streit and Andy Sutton each had four.  On the positive side, the two players combined for nine blocked shots (five by Streit).

 

8.  The loss broke an Islander two-game winning streak at the Bell Centre; the Isles have never won three straight in Montreal.

 

9. Matt Moulson's goal scoring streak ended at four games.

 

10. The Isles were outscored 2-1 in the third period, and have been outscored 14-5 in the third period this season.  The 14 goals allowed is the more in the NHL in the third period, and the -9 differential is also the worst in the league.  Last season the Isles were outscored 111-63 in the third period; no other team allowed more than 91 third period goals.

 

Up next: Ovechkin.  The Caps make their first visit to the Coliseum on Saturday.  Washington won all four games last season, but both Coliseum games went to overtime.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Isles 4, Carolina 3 (Shootout)

The 1973-74 Islanders didn't have overtime, let alone a shootout.  With the help from the extra, extra session the Islanders avoided tying the '73-'74 squad's club record of seven straight (0-3-4) to open a season without a victory as they defeated Carolina 4-3 in a shootout.  On to the trick...

 

1. Finally, a win.  The Isles (1-3-3) leave Toronto as the only winless team in the NHL, scoring on all three shootout attempts (Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and John Tavares).  Carolina scored once, so Nielsen is credited with the deciding goal.  It's the second time in Islander history that their first win of the season came in a shootout.  The Ted Nolan-led Isles did so in Anaheim in 2006.  The win ended a 4-game losing streak in shootouts for the Isles; it was their first shootout win since February 16, 2009 against Pittsburgh.

 

2. The Islanders started strongly again, grabbing a 1-0 first period lead on a Matt Moulson goal.  It was Moulson's team-leading fifth goal of the season, matching his career high-- set in 22 games with Los Angeles in 2007-08.  Moulson has now scored in each of the last four games.

 

3. It's the Islanders first win since April 4, 2009 - a span of exactly 200 days.  The Isles lost 10 straight regular season games (0-6-4) in the interim.  Only 9,122 were in attendance -- the second smallest crowd of the season in the NHL (6,899 in Phoenix last week) and the smallest Coliseum crowd since only 8,161 saw Dallas defeat the Isles in overtime on Thanksgiving Eve, 2007.

...and a few more...

 

4. After Matt Cullen scored to tie the game, Tim Jackman (9th career goal, coming in his 145th NHL game) and Andy Sutton scored 49 seconds apart to give the Isles a 3-1 lead heading to the third.  Sutton finished with one goal, one assist, four blocked shots and five hits. 

 

5. The Canes forced extra time by scoring twice within 62 seconds.  Eric Staal (off a gorgeous set-up by Ray Whitney, who played in his 1,000th NHL game) and Jussi Jokinen had the goals.  The Isles have been outscored 12-4 in the third period this season.

 

6. Dwayne Roloson made 35 saves to pick-up his first win as an Islander.  Carolina outshot the Isles 38-29, including 30-16 after the first period.  Cam Ward suffered his 13th loss in eighteen career shootouts for Carolina.

 

7. It's the Isles' first win at home against Carolina since November 22, 2006 (0-3-1).

 

8. The Isles were credited with scoring four goals for the first time since a 5-4 loss in Carolina last March 20th. 

 

9. Seven Islanders had points during the game, including two for Sutton.  Three other Islanders had the shootout goals.  Kyle Okposo, pulled off the Tavares/Moulson line was held without a point for the first time this season; Tavares did not have a point for the second time in his career.

 

10. The Isles won 44 of 64 face-offs. Tavares, Bailey, Thompson and Nielsen all won at least 63% of their draws with Thompson (9-2, 82%) and Nielsen (8-1, 89%) leading the way.

 

Up next:  the Isles make their first of two visits in five days to the Bell Centre to face the Canadiens on Thursday.  The Islanders swept the two games in Montreal last season, winning once in overtime and once in a shootout.  The Isles will be looking to do something that they have never done before -- win three straight games in Montreal.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

One for the conspiracy theorists

A puck hits the netting and leads to a goal against the Isles -- no big deal.

A puck his the netting and leads to a goals against Les Habitants - sacre bleu!

 

For the record, I think that this would be a good idea.

 

From Darren Dreger (TSN)

 

<<Twice in this young NHL season, we've seen goals scored after the puck bounced back into play off the netting.

 

The first occurred in a 3-2 Ottawa Senators overtime win over the New York Islanders on October 8.

 

The puck hit the netting behind the Islanders goal. Both teams seemed to pause, expecting a whistle that never came.

 

And Ottawa rookie Peter Regin scored 11 seconds later.

 

A week later at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the puck bounced off the netting, dropped behind the net where Andrei Kostitsyn found it and then fed Tomas Plekanec in a seven-second sequence in the third period that tied the game at two. Montreal eventually lost to Colorado 3-2 in regulation time.

 

Now pucks going off netting is not subject to video review, but a surprisingly high number of general managers believe they should be.

 

Of the 21 general managers who responded to the question asking whether video review should be used to determine whether the puck has come in contact with the netting prior to a goal being scored, 11 voted in favour of a review.

 

One proponent of video review said, "We can't have the defensive team stop playing for a second or two while the offensive team continues to play resulting in a goal. You would hate to lose a game on a non call. I'm okay if we agree to continue play if the puck hits the netting, but we must decide one way or the other. With current rules, we must check to see if the puck did hit the netting."

 

An opponent of reviews said he didn't want to expand what can be reviewed, "Because icing and offsides would be next. They cause twenty more times the problem than this relatively isolated play." The general manager said he asked his players if they would want the circumstance subject to video review and they said no.

 

NHL hockey operations says the agenda for next month's general managers meeting hasn't been established, but based on the response from general managers and the split vote, it's hard to imagine there won't be discussion on the latest target for video review.>>

 

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Two visits to the same opponent

On Wednesday night, the Isles will look to avoid tying the club record for consecutive games without a win to start a season -- the record is seven, and is held by the 1973-74 squad (0-3-4).

 

On Thursday, the Isles will begin something almost as rare, when they make the first of two visits to Montreal in a five day period.  It's only the 8th time in club history that the Isles will play consecutive road games against the same opponent. 

It's the third time in club history that the Isles will sandwich a home game with road games against the same opponent.

 

The list:

12/31/86-1/9/87 @ NYR  (the Isles played two home games in between)

2/8/96-2/22/96 @ NYR (the Isles played four home games in between)

10/17/01-10/26/01 @ Carolina  (two home games in between)

3/19/02-3/28/02 @ Toronto (four home games in between)

4/6/06-4/11/06 @ NYR  (one home game in between)

11/28/06-12/2/06 @ Pittsburgh (one home game in between)

1/26/07-2/1/07 @ Atlanta (two home games in between)

10/22/09-10/26/09 @ Montreal (one home game in between)

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Line changes

Chris Botta reporting on Point Blank that the Moulson-Tavares-Okposo trio has been broken up.  They've accounted for 8 of the Isles' 13 goals this season.  Weight takes Okposo's spot; Kyle is expected to be teamed with Bergenheim and the returning Frans Nielsen.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Sharks 4, Isles 1

For nearly a period and a half, the team that finished with the fewest points in the NHL last season had the team that won the President's Trophy on their heels.  That all changed on a Brendan Witt penalty, and the Sharks took command on their way to a 4-1 victory.   On to the trick...
 

1. Matt Moulson deflected in a Kyle Okposo shot in the first period for the Isles' only goal.  Moulson now leads the team with four goals.  Okposo has earned a point in all six games this season.

 

2.  Following the Witt penalty, Joe Thornton (first overall pick in 1997) then took over, assisting on two goals before scoring a third.

 

3. John Tavares (first overall pick in 2009) assisted on the Moulson goal, and had a strong game on draws, winning eight of thirteen face-offs.  Tavares, with seven points in his first six NHL appearances,  is the only NHL rookie to be averaging over one point per game.

 

and a few more...

 

4.  The Isles are 0-3-3 to start the season.  It's the second time in club history that they have gone winless in the season's first six games--they went 0-3-4 to open the 1973-74 season.  Toronto, at 0-6-1, is the only other winless team in the league.

 

5.  The Sharks connected on two power-plays in three opportunities.  After holding their first three opponents without a power-play goal, the Isles have allowed four power play goals in the last three games.

 

6.  Moulson's goal was only the second that the Isles have scored in the first period this season.  The Moulson-Tavares-Okposo line have combined for eight of the Islanders' thirteen goals this season.

 

7. Marty Biron made 25 saves for the Isles and remains stuck on 199 NHL wins.  Evgeni Nabokov made eighteen saves in the first period and finished with 31 overall.

 

8. Cornell alumni had reasons to be proud.  Not only did Moulson play for the Big Red, but Ryan Vesce scored his first NHL goal for San Jose.  Vesce is a native of Lloyd Harbor, Long Island but grew up following the Rangers -- he was 12 when Lord Stanley was "bought", and "brought" to Broadway.

 

9.  Going back to last season, the Islanders have lost ten straight (0-7-3), including five in a row on Long Island (0-3-2).

 

10.  The Islanders beat the Sharks in each of San Jose's first five visits to Long Island.  However, since 1996, the Sharks has lost just once in their eight trips to the Coliseum.

 

Up next:  The Hurricanes visit the Coliseum on Wednesday.  Carolina dominated the series last season, winning all four games in regulation, including a 9-0 win on April 7th -- the most one-sided loss in Islander history.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Rolson and the penalty shots

• Roloson has now stopped seven of ten career penalty shots, including four striaght before tonight.
• Stopped penalty shot (Rob Blake), April 13, 1998.
• Allowed penalty shot goal (Petr Sykora), January 6, 2000.
• Stopped penalty shot (Brad Isbister), February 10, 2002.
• Stopped penalty shot (Pavel Datsyuk), November 15, 2003.
• Allowed penalty shot goal (Ladislav Nagy), October 8, 2005.
• Stopped penalty shot (Niklas Sundstrom), December 17, 2005.
• Stopped penalty shot (Jarome Iginla), October 5, 2006.
• Stopped penalty shot (Rick Nash), November 26, 2007.
• Stopped penalty shot (Jonathan Toews), March 20, 2009.
• Allowed penalty shot goal (Clarke MacArthur), October 16, 2009.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Sabres 6, Isles 3

One of these the Isles will win a game.  It just wasn't today.  On to the trick...

 

1.  The Isles drop to 0-2-3 on the young campaign with a 6-3 defeat in Buffalo.  The Isles now have a 9-game losing streak (0-6-3) dating back to last season.  It's the third time in club history that they have opened winless in the season's first five games, going 0-3-4 to open 1973-74 (with a rookie star named Denis Potvin and a rookie coach named Al Arbour) and 0-4-1 to open

1995-96 (with a first year coach named Mike Milbury).

 

2.  Dwayne Roloson hasn't stopped a shot on a shootout this season (one shot hit a post) and now he's allowed a penalty shot goal as Clarke MacArthur scored tonight.  Roloson, who has never beaten the Sabres (0-5-2), allowed four goals on twelve shots before he was pulled.  It was the first time that the Sabres have ever scored on a penalty shot against the Islanders; Kevin Weekes stopped Miro Satan in 2000 in the only other Sabre penalty shot against the Isles.

 

3. Tyler Myers scored his first NHL goal to open the scoring.  Myers was the 12th pick overall in 2008.  Jason Pominville had his 100th career goal to finish the scoring.

 

...and a few more...

 

4.  John Tavares could have had a hat trick, but he did convert on one of the chances for his 3rd goal in five NHL games. He led all players with seven shots.

 

5.  Matt Moulson and Andy Sutton had the other goals for the Isles, who trailed 3-0 and weren't ever able to get closer than two.

 

6. Dumb penalty of the night went to Joel Rechlicz. He crosschecked Jason Pominville after the whistle and it led to ex-Isles Tim Connolly scoring a power-play goal to make it 3-0. It was Rechlicz' only shift of the second period and he didn't play at all in the third period.

 

7.Martin Biron replaced Rolosn had made twenty saves.  Ryan Miller had thirty-six saves for the winning Sabres, who had points from twelve different players.
 

8. Brendan Witt blocked four shots, but otherwise had a rough night, going -3.

 

9. No offense, but.... the Isles have now scored three goals or fewer in sixteen straight games, going back to last season.

 

10. Matt Moulson continues his strong play.  He now has six points in the season's first five games after recording a goal and an assist tonight.

 

Up next:  The Isles return home to face San Jose on Saturday.  The Isles beat San Jose on President's Day 2008 in the Sharks' first visit to Long Island since Bryan Trottier's uniform was retired before the eighth game of the Peter Laviolette era in 2001.

 

Trivia: Besides the Sabres, who is the only other NHL team that Roloson has not beaten in his NHL career?

 

Answer: The Devils.  Roloson is 0-6-2 against New Jersey.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Wang: LI Press report BOGUS

Wang:  It's Bogus! 

Link to Newsday below:
http://bit.ly/ItsBogus
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Wang pulls plug?

http://bit.ly/1jJev 
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

ESPN 30 for 30

ESPN is running a new documentary series in honor of their 30th anniversary.  The first two editions have already aired and (for different reasons) they may be of interest to Isles fans.

 

The Kings Ransom is about the Gretzky trade.

 

Re-airings:

Thursday Oct 15   10pm ESPN Classic

Sunday Oct 25        8pm ESPN Classic

Thursday Oct 29 7:30pm ESPN 2

Friday Dec 11     3:30pm ESPN

 

 

"The Band that Wouldn't Die" is about the Baltimore Colts band that continued to play long after the team was moved to Indianapolis and the role that the band had in bringing the Ravens to Baltimore.

 

Re-airings:

Thursday Oct 15     9pm ESPN 2

Thursday Oct 15   11pm ESPN Classic

Monday Oct 19      7pm ESPN 2

Wednesday Oct 21 8pm ESPN 2

Sunday Oct 25        9pm ESPN Classic

Sunday Nov 8         9pm ESPN Classic

 

Both are worth checking out.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick errata

I read, and repeated, in yesterday's trick that Ryan Smyth was making his first appearance against the Isles at the Coliseum.  My apologies --Smyth did play (and even scored) in last year's game against Colorado.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Los Angeles 2, Isles 1

There would be no disappointment in overtime or a shootout this time.  For the first time this season, an Islander game ended after 60 minutes.  When it was over, the Isles were still winless.  On to the trick....

 

1.  Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty had the goals for the Kings.  Both players have had at least a point in all five Kings games.

 

2.  Kopitar's goal came on the power play.  It was the first power play goal allowed by the Isles this season.  They had been the only team in the NHL not to allow a power play tally, and came after ten consecutive successful penalty kills by the Isles.

 

3. Matt Moulson avoided the shutout by beating his good friend Jonathan Quick with 1:55 to play.  It ended an Isles' scoreless streak totalling 87:17.

 

... a few more...

 

4.  John Tavares was on-ice for Moulson's goal, but was held without a point for the first time in his NHL career.

 

5.  The Isles have now lost four consecutive games by a single goal, matching the club record, set three times previously.

 

6.  The Kings have had the Isles' number for some time now.  The Isles haven't beaten the Kings at all since February 15, 2003 (three losses, a shootout loss, and a tie), and haven't beaten the Kings on Long Island since October 27, 1998 (four losses, a shootout loss, and a tie).

 

7.  The Isles out-hit Los Angeles 19-2 in the first period and 34-22 for the game.  Andy Sutton led the way with seven hits.

 

8. Ryan Smyth played on Long Island for the first time as an ex-Isle.  He led all King forwards with 22:05 of ice-time and assisted on Kopitar's goal.

 

9.  The Isles are winless through four games for the first time since opening the 2000-01 season 0-3-1.  It's the fourth time in their history that they've gone winless in the season's first four games (1973, 1995, 2000).  The club record is seven games, held by the 1973-74 team.  That team, Al Arbour's first, opened 0-3-4.

 

10.  The Isles have played a Columbus Day matinee in four of the last five seasons.  They've lost four, scoring one goal in each game.  The Isles are 0-5 in their history in home Columbus Day games.

 

Up next:  The Isles head to Buffalo Friday for the front-end of the season's first set of back-to-backs.  The Isles were 2-1-1 against the Sabres last season.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick; Boston 4, Isles 3 (SO)

It's been said that three-goal leads are the hardest to defend.  The Islanders proved it tonight in Boston, dropping a 4-3 decision in a shootout.  On to the trick...

 

1.   The good:  The Isles dominate the better part of the first 52 minutes, grabbing a 3-0 lead on second period tallies by Jon Sim, Radek Martinek, and John Tavares.

 

2.  The bad:  Boston scores three times in the final 8:01 to force a shoot-out.  Marc Savard, Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick score in a 5:27 span to even the score.

 

3.  The ugly:  The B's get shoot-out goals from Blake Wheeler and Marc Savard (only his third in fourteen career attempts) while Robbie Schremp has the only response for the Isles to give the Bruins an improbable victory.

 

...and a few more...

 

4. Tuukka Rask makes thirty-save saves for Boston, while Dwayne Roloson stops twenty-seven for the Isles.  Roloson hasn't made a save in five shootout attempts over the two games, allowing four goals and having a fifth shot hit the post.

 

5.  The Isles played without Trent Hunter (placed on IR) and Doug Weight.  Both aggravated (or re-aggravated) injuries suffered in the pre-season during the game in Ottawa.

 

6.  The Isles went 1-7 on the power-play but failed on a 1:37 5-on-3.  The Bruins were 0-5 with the man advantage.  The Isles have killed all ten opponent power plays this season and are the only team in the NHL not to allow a power-play goal.  The Isles have had 17 power plays and been short only ten times this season.

 

7.  Tavares and Hunwick each had a goal and an assist; they were the only players with two points in the game.

 

8.  All three Isles games have gone to overtime.  It's the first time that's happened since October 21-28, 2006.  The Isles have lost three straight overtime games for the first time in their history.  It's also the first time that the Isles have played three consecutive overtime games to open the season, and the second time that the Isles have been tied through sixty minutes (two ties in 1975) in their first two road games.

 

9.  The Isles have now lost seven straight to Boston (0-6-1).  That last happened from 1993-1995, when they also lost seven straight (the final seven games of a ten-game winless (0-8-2) streak against Boston).

 

10.  Tavares is the first rookie to reach five points; he shares the rookie lead in both goals (2) and assists as well (3).  He also had a good seat for Richard Park's shoot-out attempt.

 

Up next:  The Isles return home to face the Kings in a Columbus Day matinee (Monday/2pm/MSG+).  It will be interesting to see what retaliation if any the Islanders have for Sean O'Donnell, who served a five game suspension after incurring a match penalty when he cross-checked Matt Martin.

 

The Isles haven't beaten the Kings on Long Island since Tommy Salo blanked Los Angeles 1-0 on October 27, 1998.  The Kings have visited Long Island five times since, winning four (including last year in a shoot-out) and tying once. 

 

Trivia: Who scored the only goal in that October 1998 victory?

 

Trivia Answer: The current coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Joe Sacco.  (One of six goals he scored in an Islander uniform.)

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Sens 3, Isles 2 (OT)

So what kind of fan are you?  Are you the type that notes the Isles are on pace to go winless (0-0-82) or the type that notes the Isles are on pace finish with 21 more points than last season.    On to the trick....

 

1.  Matt Fisher scored 32 seconds into overtime to give the Sens a 3-2 win in their home opener.  Peter Regin and Matt Carkner (first NHL goal) had the other goals for Ottawa.

 

2.  Kyle Okposo's first goal of the season was a thing of beauty for the Isles. The Olympic team candiate now how 21 goals in 76 NHL games.

 

3.  Matt Moulson scored his first goal as an Islander on a third period power play.  Moulson also assisted on Okposo's goal to give him three points in first two games with the squad, after going 6-4-10 in 29 preivous NHL games over two seasons with Los Angeles.

 

... and a few more

 

I got to 4. before I even mentioned John Tavares.  The rookie assisted on Moulson's goal to give him three points in two NHL games.  He had four shots on goal, and four others blocked by Ottawa, in 19:46 of ice-time.  Both Tavares and Okposo were on-ice for the final four goals of the game.

 

5.  The Sens, helped by their only two power plays, had 12 of the game's final 13 shots to finish with a 28-25 edge.  Jon Sim had the Isles' only shot after Moulson tied the game 5:29 into the third.  Ottawa finished 0-2 on the powerplay, while the Isles were 1-4.

 

6.  The Isles fall to 9-20-8 in their first road game of the season.  It's the first time that they've ever opened a road season with an OT loss, offsetting a 1985 OT win in Los Angeles in a road (and season) opener.  Do you recall who scored the OT goal in that 1985 game?  Answer is below my signature.

 

7. It's the first time in their history that the Isles have gone 0-0-2 through two games.

 

8. Pascal Leclaire made twenty-three saves to earn the OT win for Ottawa while Martin Biron made twenty-five stops in his Islander debut.  Both goalies made huge saves -- Leclaire on John Tavares in the second period; Biron on Alexei Kovalev in the third.

 

9.  The Isles are 2-1-1 in their last 4 trips to Ottawa, after having gone 1-11-1 in their previous thirteen trips.

 

10. Mark Streit led the Isles in ice-time with 27:16, while Tim Jackman (6:49) was the only Isle to play less than ten minutes.  Anton Volchenkov led the Sens with 22:45 and led all players with six blocked shots.

 

Up next: The Isles head to Boston to meet the up-and-down Bruins (7:00 Saturday, MSG-Plus/94.3).  The B's were spanked at home by Anaheim 6-1 tonight.  The Bruins have beaten the Isles six straight times, all in regulation. 

 
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

 

 

TRIVIA ANSWER:  Bryan Trottier scored only one overtime goal in a regular season game as an Islander.  It came in the 1985-86 season opener in Los Angeles.  Trottier also had one overtime goal in the playoffs for the Islanders --against the Rangers in 1982.

Botta on deHaan

Here's the story that I was referring to:  http://bit.ly/3216bV
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Stat Trick: Penguins 4, Isles 3 (Shootout)

It was almost a perfect debut for John Tavares.  But the champs are champs for a reason, and Pittsburgh rallied to tie the Isles and then beat them in a shootout.  For the first time in season 37, on to the trick:

 

1. John Tavares had a goal on two shots in his NHL debut and also added an assist.  Both of his points came on the power play.  He played 22:05 and won 9 draws and lost 10.  Tavares is the 18th Islander, and first since Jesse Joensuu to score in his NHL debut.  Joensuu did it  last season. 

 

2. Linemate Okposo was the only forward to play more than Tavares (22:18)  Along with Matt Moulson, the trio combined for 4 points and 11 shots on goal.

 

3.  Dwayne Roloson made his Isles debut, stopping 39 shots.  He had to be at his best in the 3rd period and overtime, stopping 20 of 22.

 

...a few more

 

4.  The Isles fail to win on Opening Night (nothing new there; the Isles are 9-19-9 on Opening Night and have won only once in the last 7 season openers) and in the home Opener (after 5 straight home Opening wins).

 

5.  The Opener was a sellout for the 8th time in the last 9 seasons.  (Only 2006 vs Boston failed to sell-out)  It's the earliest in October that the Isles have ever played a home game and only the 3rd time that they opened this early in the month (10/3/97 at MSG, 10/2/00 at TB)

 

6. Sidney Crosby had a goal, an assist and a shootout goal for the Pens, who beat the Isles for the 7th time in the last 8 meetings (including three shootouts, two won by the Pens and one, last President's Day, by the Isles)  Evgeny Malkin seemed to have a quiet game, but assisted on the tying goal and finished +2.
 

7.  Brendan Witt had 8 blocked shots, and two hits -- including one that led to a frst period fight with  Jay McKee.  The Isles blocked 29 shots in all.

 

8. All three Isles goal scorers (Hunter, Streit and Tavares) also added an assist.  Fedotenko and Crosby had 1 and 1 for the Pens.

 

9.  It's the first time that the Isles have ever opened a season against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion.  Bill Guerin was briefly honored during a first period timeout.

 

10. This year's goalie tandem of Roloson (167) and Biron (199) have 366 career wins.  Last year's duo (excluding DiPietro) started the season with a total of 6 (three each).  (366/ 6 =61   -- with the 61 matching the Isles' point total last season.

 

Up next: Tavares will play his first road game in hockey-mad Ontario as the Isles visit Ottawa Thursday.  The Isles took 3 of 4 from Ottawa last season.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

MSG+2

John Tavares Game 1 has trumped Marty Brodeur Game 1000.  With both the Isles and Devils playing tomorrow evening, the Isles will air on MSG+  while the Devils are relegated to MSG+2.

 

In Cablevision areas, MSG+ 2 has likely moved to a new non-digital channel.  On Long Island, for example, it is now Channel #99.

The game will also air in digital quality on Channel 414 for iO customers.

 

The first Isles game on +2 is this Thursday in Ottawa.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

deHaan hurt in OHL season opener

<<de Haan injured in Oshawa Generals loss

defenceman

Oct 01, 2009 - 10:06 PM

PETERBOROUGH -- It wasn't the return Calvin de Haan or the Oshawa Generals likely had in mind.

 

The star defenceman, who was just returned to the Generals earlier this week from the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, left Thursday night's 5-4 loss to the Peterborough Petes with an apparent upper body injury.

 

Not long after the opening faceoff of the second period de Haan he went into the corner and attempted to lay the body on Peterborough captain Zack Kassian before falling awkwardly into the boards.

 

Adding insult to injury, as de Haan struggled to regain his feet, Kassian scored a goal.

de Haan then skated off the ice and went straight to the Oshawa dressing room.
>>
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Sad but true Isles trivia

With Trent Hunter on the Injured list, the Isles will start the season without the team's active leader in games played, goals, power play goals, game winning goals, assists and points as an Islander.

 

So who holds those distinctions now (only in games played as an Islander)?

(NHL.com now has a new stats engine that allows you to answer such pressing questions.)

 

Games:  Martinek 373, Park 235  (Trottier 1,123 is all-time club leader)

Goals:   Park 36, Bergenheim 30   (Bossy 573)

PP goals: Okposo 10, Streit 10     (Bossy 181)

GW goals: Bergenheim 7, Park 5   (Bossy 82)

Assists: Martinek 68, Park 53       (Trottier 853)

Points:  Park 89, Martinek 84       (Trottier 1,353)

 

Hunter is 87-110-197 in 381 games as an Isle with 21 pp goals and 15 gw goals.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Weight, Hunter, Nielsen, (and of course), DP start season on IR

nhl.com

 

New York Islanders

Josh Bailey, F; Sean Bergenheim, F; Martin Biron, G; Blake Comeau, F; Bruno Gervais, D; Jack Hillen, D; Tim Jackman, F; Radek Martinek, D; Freddy Meyer, D; Matt Moulson, F; Kyle Okposo, F; Richard Park, F; Joel Rechlicz, F; Dwayne Roloson, G; Rob Schremp, F; Jon Sim, F; Mark Streit, D; Andy Sutton, D; Jeff Tambellini, F; John Tavares, F; Nate Thompson, F; Brendan Witt, D.

Injured reserve: Rick DiPietro, G; Mark Flood, D; Trent Hunter, F; Frans Nielsen, F; Jeremy Reich, F; Doug Weight, F.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Katie's blog on today's events

>>Suozzi unveils new lease; Wang discusses deadline

54 m ago By Katie Strang

 Sorry I had to resort to tweeting during the meeting, but there was no wireless available and my air card is currently defunct :)

 

For all of you who did not receive my tweets, here is a basic summary of what went down today at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative building:

 

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi announced that the new lease agreement with the Lighthouse Development group will go until 2030.

However, this proposed lease still must pass through the county legislature and planning commission. While the lease was submitted this afternoon, no further action can be taken until an environmental impact statement is provided (this is a legal requirement).

 

As far as the deadline goes--October 3- this impasse will probably not be resolved in the next few days. Charles Wang has been dogged in his pursuit of a straight yes or no answer on the Lighthouse project from Kate Murray and the Town of Hempstead, and it is looking highly unlikely he'll receive that by the time the Islanders drop the puck for their season opener. 

 

I talked to Wang after the press conference and asked him whether--gut feeling--he felt like he'd be given a yes or no answer by Saturday.

 

"No," Wang said. "I may get a "Yes, but...."

 

So what if that happens? If Murray relents but also has conditions and wants to make changes to the existing Lighthouse plans?

 

"Can't do it," Wang said.

 

Wang, Suozzi, and Scott Rechler all said they felt that any changes presented at this point would be "disingenuous," because they have not been voiced throughout the process. Modifications would also set back the project significantly and further stall the development.

 

When asked about what type of reception Wang has gotten throughout the past several months from Murray and the Town of Hempstead officials, Wang said:

 

"Can't get any less welcome than what I've gotten," Wang said. "It's pretty bad."

 

Clearly not the most amicable working environment between the two sides.

 

During the press conference, Wang reiterated that he wanted to keep the team on Long Island but that he would begin to entertain other offers once his deadline passes.

 

"I certainly will begin exploring other options," Wang said. "But, I'm committed to Long Island, I love Long Island, and this is where the Islanders belong." >>
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Opening Night Minutiae

The Isles will play their 37th Opening Night on Saturday.  The Isles are 9-19-8 on Opening Night; a .361 winning percentage.

Only two teams have lower percentages: (San Jose (.353) and Anaheim (.267))

 

Of course this will be only the 5th season that the Isles have opened at home (2-2-0)

 

They opened at home in 1972 (first game ever), 1980 (first banner raising), January 1995 (After lockout) and 1998 (after Gluckstern threatened to move due to leaks).

 

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Final Isles Pre-season stats

Note that pre-sesaon stats are not subject to the same level of editing as regular season stats; for example Matt Martin scored twice without having a shot on goal.

 

PRESEASON     2009-2010 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-5-1)
POS NO. PLAYER                  GP   G   A PTS  +/-  PIM  PP SH GW OTG  S   PCTG
LW   26  Moulson, Matt           5   4   1   5   3-    0   4  0  0  0   15  26.7
D     2  Streit, Mark            4   1   3   4   1     5   1  0  0  0    1 100.0
D    38  Hillen, Jack            5   1   3   4   0     0   1  0  0  0    3  33.3
LW   15  Tambellini, Jeff        5   0   4   4   1-    2   0  0  0  0    8   0.0
C    12  Bailey, Josh            5   2   1   3   3-    0   0  0  1  0    5  40.0
RW   16  Sim, Jon                5   2   1   3   3-    2   2  0  0  0    4  50.0
RW    7  Hunter, Trent           3   0   3   3   1     2   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
C    91 *Tavares, John           4   0   3   3   4-    0   0  0  0  0    3   0.0
LW   46 *Martin, Matthew         4   2   0   2   1-   23   1  0  0  0    0   ---
D     8  Gervais, Bruno          3   1   1   2   1     0   0  0  0  0    2  50.0
D    24  Martinek, Radek         4   1   1   2   3-    0   0  0  0  0    1 100.0
RW   57  Comeau, Blake           5   1   1   2   1-    8   0  0  0  0    7  14.3
C    10  Park, Richard           3   1   0   1   0     2   0  0  0  0    6  16.7
D     3 *de Haan, Calvin         3   1   0   1   0     0   0  0  0  0    7  14.3
LW   77 *Smith, Trevor           5   1   0   1   1-    2   0  0  0  0    7  14.3
D    25  Sutton, Andy            5   1   0   1   1-   11   0  0  0  0    9  11.1
RW   27 *Moore, Greg             6   1   0   1   1     2   0  1  1  0    4  25.0
C    53 *Cizikas, Casey          1   0   1   1   1     0   0  0  0  0    0   ---
RW   21  Okposo, Kyle            1   0   1   1   1     0   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
D     4 *Flood, Mark             2   0   1   1   1-    0   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
D    47 *MacDonald, Andrew       3   0   1   1   0     2   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
C    45 *Haskins, Tyler          3   0   1   1   2     4   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
C    62  Mauldin, Greg           4   0   1   1   0     0   0  0  0  0    6   0.0
D    32  Witt, Brendan           4   0   1   1   2-    9   0  0  0  0    3   0.0
C    11  Thompson, Nate          4   0   1   1   1     9   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
D    44  Meyer, Freddy           5   0   1   1   1-    6   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
D    48 *Klementyev, Anton       1   0   0   0   0     2   0  0  0  0    0   ---
C    93  Weight, Doug            1   0   0   0   1     2   0  0  0  0    0   ---
D    49 *Niemi, Jyri             1   0   0   0   0     0   0  0  0  0    0   ---
RW   41 *Figren, Robin           1   0   0   0   2-    2   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
RW   55  Morency, Pascal         1   0   0   0   0    14   0  0  0  0    0   ---
D    36 *Hamonic, Travis         1   0   0   0   1-    0   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
LW   67 *Bentivoglio, Sean       2   0   0   0   1-    4   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
C    81 *DiBenedetto, Justin     2   0   0   0   1-    2   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
LW   20  Bergenheim, Sean        2   0   0   0   0     2   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
D    42  Westgarth, Brett        2   0   0   0   0    22   0  0  0  0    0   ---
C    54 *Romano, Tony            2   0   0   0   0     0   0  0  0  0    0   ---
LW   58 *Joensuu, Jesse          3   0   0   0   2-    2   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
RW   28  Jackman, Tim            3   0   0   0   1-   12   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
C    59 *Haley, Michael          4   0   0   0   1-   51   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
C    50 *Marcinko, Tomas         4   0   0   0   0     0   0  0  0  0    2   0.0
LW   17  Reich, Jeremy           4   0   0   0   1    19   0  0  0  0    1   0.0
RW   40 *Rechlicz, Joel          4   0   0   0   0    53   0  0  0  0    0   ---
D    56 *Kohn, Dustin            5   0   0   0   3-    0   0  0  0  0    3   0.0
         TEAM TOTALS             8  20  31  51   2-  278   9  1  2  0  184  10.9
         OPPONENT TOTALS         8  24  39  63   2   250  11  1  5  0  215  11.2
RK NO GOALTENDER          GPI  MINS   AVG  W  L OT EN SO  GA   SA  SV%  G  A PIM
   33 Munroe, Scott         1    40  1.50  0  0  0  0  0   1   11  90.9 0  0   0
   43 Biron, Martin         3   151  2.38  1  1  0  1  0   6   79  92.4 0  0   2
   30 Roloson, Dwayne       2    90  2.67  0  1  0  0  0   4   33  87.9 0  0   0
   52*Lawson, Nathan        3   137  3.07  0  3  0  1  0   7   52  86.5 0  0   0
   60*Poulin, Kevin         1    64  3.75  1  0  1  0  0   4   26  84.6 0  0   0
      TEAM TOTALS           8   485  2.97  2  5  1  2  0  24  215  88.8 0  0   2
      OPPONENT TOTALS       8   485  2.47  6  2  0  1  0  20  184  89.1
 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick