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.