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