Stat Trick: Devils 6, Isles 1

For fifty minutes, the Islanders competed with the Devils.  For the final ten minutes, though, the Devils played with the Islanders, scoring four times to defeat the Isles 6-1 at The Rock.  On to the trick:

1..  Once again, the Isles started well, as Richard Park opened the scoring midway through the first.  Park now has two goals on the season: one in the final game of October and one in the final game of November.  Watch out Ottawa on New Year's Eve!  It was Park's third career goal agaisnt the Devils; the other two came on Easter Sunday 2007 in a playoff-clinching perfoirmance for the Islanders. Tim Jackman assisted on the goal--his first assist of the season.  Jackman's assist leaves Jerrod  Smithson, David Koci and Brad Richardson as the players who have appeared in the most NHL Games this season (25) without recording an assist.

2.  Mike Mottau and Brian Rolston scored in the second period to give New Jersey the lead.  Mottau's goal was his first in 2009, and snapped a 68-game scoreless streak, dating back to New Year's Eve.  It was the 6th goal in his 202 game NHL career.

3.  The Devils blew the game open with three goals in a 2:02 stretch as Patrik Elias, Zach Parise and Rolston all scored.  Elias added his second goal in the final minute to complete his second career 4-point game.  Rolston also finished with four points.  The Isles have now been outscored on the season 32-17 in the third period while the Devs have outscored their opponents 28-18 in the third period.

...a few more....

4. Sean Bergenheim also assisted on Park's goal, giving him four points in the last four games, but Trent Hunter's point streak ended at a career high of 9.  Parise's goal extended his streak to ten games.  He would have looked pretty good in orange, white and blue, wouldn't he?  Kyle Okposo played in his 100th NHL game, but was -2.

5. The skating record book, Martin Brodeur, extended two NHL records, by winning his 571st game, and raising his minute total to 60,278:42.  Brodeur, who is now eight games behind Patrick Roy's NHL record of 1,029 games played in goal, made 22 saves as he remains one shutout behind Terry Sawchuk's career record of 103.  Marty Biron finished with 36 saves as once again the Islanders did not score when he played.  Biron had allowed three goals or less in each of his last seven starts but is now 2-8-2 on the season.

6.  The Islanders finish the month 6-6-2, which is hard to believe when you realize that the Isles were shutout in Buffalo on November 4, but had the lead at some point in all of the other thirteen games this month.

7.  The Isles had only four shots in the third period, when they were outshot 16-4.  Ignoring their strong performance in the third period against Pittsburgh, the Isles totaled nine third period shots in theirother three games this week.

8. The Devils scored twice on three opportunities in only 2:32 of power play; the Isles had killed 23 of 25 coming into the game.  The Isles went 0-4 in 8:00 of power play time. 

9.  The Devils improve to 11-0-0 when they lead after two periods.  New Jersey also remains a perfect 5-0-0 when leading after one period.  The Isles, on the other hand, dropped to 5-4-3 when leading after one period.  They are 8-1-3 when leading after two periods.

10. New Jersey leads the season series two games to none, and four points to zero.  The Isles drop to 0-5 in their last five trips to Newark; they've scored just seven goals in the five games.  The next three meetings of the season series are on Long Island, including two in a six-game span in January.

Up next:  This is the first of five consecutive road games for the Isles.  The trip continues on Thursday in Atlanta, with stops in Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Toronto also on this trip.  The Islanders dominated the Thrashers 6-4 on November 7th at the Coliseum in the only previous meeting this 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

It was 30 years ago....

November 28, 1979

Saturday is the 30th anniversary of Billy Smith becoming the first goalie in NHL history to be credited with a goal. 

On November 28, 1979, the Isles trailed Colorado 4-3 in the third period when the Isles were called for a delayed penalty.  Colorado defensemen Rob Ramage put the puck into his own goal and the goal was credited to the last Islander to touch the puck, originally believed to be Dave Lewis. After the game, television replays showed that Smith was the last Islander to touch the puck.

A few things you might not know:

1. Smith didn't start the game; he replaced Chico Resch late in the 2nd period after the Rockies scored twice in a minutes' time. 
2. The goal tied the game and thus got Chico "off the hook".  Ron Delorme scored on the ensuing power play and the Rockies added two empty-netters for a 7-4 victory, thus making Smith the losing goaltender.
3. It was the first of two wins for the Colorado Rockies over the Islanders (also done on December 4, 1980; 2-19-3 overall).
4. The goalie who vacated the Colorado net was Bill McKenzie.
5. It was the final game of Billy Harris' 576 consecutive-game streak.  Harris had played in every game in club history to that point, but was scratched for the team's next game, in Edmonton, two night later.  Duane Sutter was brought in from Lethridge to replace Harris.
6.The loss dropped the Isles' record to 6-10-4 --the first time since Arbour's rookie season as coach (1973-74) that the Isles were 4 games under .500  The team wouldn't reach .500 until January 8th, but would sip from the Stanley Cup 4 1/2 months later.

 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, Penguins 2. Tavares' first game-winner caps comeback!

Sean Bergeheim and John Tavares scored third period goals as the Isles rallied to defeat the Penguins 3-2.  On to the trick:

1.  Josh Bailey and Evgeny Malkin traded first period goals.  Bailey's goal gave the Islanders four players with at least seven goals before Malkin became just the second Penguin to reach the 10 goal mark.  Mark Streit and Freddy Meyer assisted on the Bailey goal.  Streit has an assist in three straight games while Meyer tied a career high with two assists in the game.

2.  Matt Cooke scored on a rebound 7:12 into the second period to give the Penguins the lead but the game changed later in the session when the Penguins failed to capitalize on 5:05 of consecutive power play, including a 55 second 5-on-3.  The Pens went 0-5 on the power-play and are 4-55 in their last fourteen games; they're also 0-8 against the Islanders this season.  The Isles have killed 23 of 25 over the last six games.

3.  Sean Bergenheim evened the score just 84 seconds into the third period, setting the stage for John Tavares.  Taveres, who had recorded the first goal, assist and point of his career against the Penguins on October 3rd, scored the winner with 6:12 to play.  He leads all rookies with 10 goals and 21 points.  The Isles outscored the Pens 2-0 after having been outscored 28-15 in the third period so far this season.

... a few more...

4.  Dwayne Roloson improved to 8-2-5, facing only 21 shots one game after facing 61.  The Isles bombarded Brent Johnson with 37 shots, including 18 in the third period.

5.  Trent Hunter extended his point streak to nine games.  He has a single point in each game.  Kyle Okposo broke a five-game drought with an assist on the winning goal.

6.  Talk about a reversal of fortune-- the Pens were 11-1 when leading after two periods while the Isles were 0-7-3 when trailing after two.  It was only the second time all season that the Penguins dropped a 1-goal game.

7.  Nate Thompson had another strong game, even though four of his five shots missed the net.  He also was involved in an altercation with Jordan Staal that landed the Penguin 17 penalty minutes early in the third period.   Seven of the last nine Isles games have been decided by one goal.

8.  The Islanders ended the month 3-1-0 at home.  They are 6-1-1 in their last eight at home and 6-3-2 for the season on home ice.  Only twice in the last 21 seasons have the Isles recorded more points in their first 11 home games than the 14 that they have this season.  They had 17 in 2001-02 and 16 two season s ago.

9.  The Isles contained Sidney Crosby as he has only one shot on goal and was -2.  Crosby did do well on draws, winning 14 of 23.

10.  The Isles lead the season series three points to two after earning a loser point on Opening Night; the series is tied at a game each.  It was the Isles first regulation win over he Penguins since March 24, 2008.  The next three meetings will be in Pittsburgh before the teams close the regular season against each other on April 11th.

Up next: The Isles play the back end of the back-to-backs on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey.  The Devils lead the series 1-0 and have beaten the Isles four stragiht times in Newark, with the Isles scoring a total of six 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

Strange but True

A few quick facts before the Isles face the Pens on Black Friday.

1. Matt Moulson, John Tavares and yes, even Jeff Tambellini have more goals (11 - 9 - 7, respectively) than any Penguin not named Sidney Crosby.  The Kid has 12.  Five Penguins, including Bill Guerin and Evgeny Malkin, have scored six goals.

2.  The Isles are 9-9-7 this season. However, their opponents are 16-5-4 against the Isles -- a record better than any NHL team. (16 wins = 9 Isles losses + 7 loser points, etc.)

3. Roloson and Biron have almost identical stats: Roloson is 2.86 GAA and 91.6 save percentage while Biron is 2.78/91.3%, but Roloson is 7-2-5 while Biron is 2-7-2.

4. The Pens are 17-8-0.  Seven of their eight losses (and six of their wins) have been by three goals or more.  They are 10-1-0 in one-goal games, with a 2-1 Halloween loss to Minnesota being their only defeat by a single goal.  They've gone to extra time six times this season, winning twice in overtime and four times in shootouts.

5.  The Penguins have taken 124 more shots than their opponents while the Isles have taken 100 shots fewer than their opponents.  Goal totals are remarkably similar.  Pens 73, Opps 69.  Isles 67 Opps 72.
 
6.  Pittsburgh is 26-2-2 under Dan Bylsma when they score first.  The Isles are 7-4-3 this season when they score first.

7.  Trent Hunter enters play as one of 4 NHL'ers with 8 game point streaks (Mike Green, Zach Parise and Marian Gaborik are the others).  Corey Perry, who has a point in 16 straight is the only player with a longer current streak.  Hunter's streak is the longest of his career.
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: Flyers 2, Isles 1

When the Islanders are able to maintain the same intensity for 60 minutes, they may very well become a good team. They are not there just yet, as they once again could not hold a lead, and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Flyers..  On to the trick:

1. Trent Hunter scored to give the Isles the lead on a first period power play.  The goal extended his point streak to eight straight games; only Cory Perry of Anaheim has a longer current streak.  John Tavares and Mark Streit assisted on the goal; it was Tavares' first point in five games and gave him his 20th point -- tops among NHL rookies..  11 of Tavares' points have come on the power-play; he has a point on 11 of the Isles' 17 power-play goals this season.

2.  Mike Richards got the Flyers even on the power play late in the second period; Scott Hartnell added the winner with just 5:27 to play.
RIchards' goal came on the Flyers' only power play; it's the second time in the last three home games that the Isles have not had a successful penalty kill (Edmonton did not have a power play in the November 2nd game).

3.  Martin Biron made 26 saves but suffered his 9th loss in 11 decisions (2-7-2).  The Isles have scored two goals or less in all but two of his starts.

...a few more...

4. The Isles dominated territorily throughout the game and the face-off circle through two periods.  Overall, there were 33 face-offs in the Flyers zone and only 19 in the Isles' zone.  The Isles won 37 of 62 faceoffs; John Tavares had a strong game in the circle, winning 9 of 12.

5.  Brian Boucher made 28 saves for the Flyers, who have now won eleven straight over the Isles, including three in overtime/shootouts.  Six of those games were at the Coliseum, equalling the Isles' longest home winless streak against Philadelphia, set between 1973 and 1975.

6.   The Isles have lost three straight Thanksgiving Eve games.  The Isles have had the lead at some point in every game this month except their shutout loss in Buffalo, yet they are only 5-5-2 this month.

7.  The loss ends a 4-game home winning streak and a 6-game home point streak (5-0-1).  The Isles drop to 4-3-3 on the season at home; they have scored only three goals in their three regulation losses at home.  They have led at some point in nine of the ten games (all except the 2-1 loss on Columbus Day to Los Angeles).

8.  The Isles have won only half of the games that they have scored first (7-4-3); they have lost 11 of their 15 one-goal games (4-4-7).  The Isles are also now 5-3-3 when they lead after one period.  The Leafs are the only team that has won a smaller percentage of the games that they have led after one period and of games decided by a single goal.

9..  The Isles have now been outscored 28-15 in the third period, and have been outshot 282-204.  The -13 goal differential in the period equals Columbus for the worst in the NHL.  The Isles had only one shot in the third period, after having ony four in Toronto in the third period on Monday.  They have been outshot by a combined 34-5 over the two games.

10.  The Flyers lead the season series 1 game to 0.  This was the first of 6 meetings on the season and the first of three meetings between the teams in 33 days.

Up next:  The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins visit Long Island on Friday afternoon at 2:00.  Pittsburgh leads the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 1, having defeated the Isles in the Islanders' opener in a shootout.  The Isles are 7-3-3 in their last 13 home games against the Pens.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 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 Extra -- more notes from Monday's win

A few more notes to ponder:

1. (Thanks Elias) - Roloson's 58 saves is the most by a winning goalie in 28 years.  Mario Lessard made 65 saves for the Kings in a win over Minnesota on March 24, 1981.  The Kings were out-shot 68-19 in that game.

2. Roloson's 58 saves are the most by any goalie since March 21, 1991.  Ron Tugnutt (70 - 3/21/91 @ Boston in a 3-3 tie) and Mike Richter (59 - 1/31/91 @ Vancouver in a 3-3 tie) both made more saves than Roloson in games that season. While Roloson stopped 11 of 12 from Phil Kessel, Tugnutt faced 19 shots from Ray Bourque!

3.  60 shots does not guarantees success. According to Elias, teams that have had at least 60 shots since 1991 are 3-3-4 (Three wins, three regulation losses, three ties and one overtime loss. One of those losses was the Islanders last season; they took 60 shots on Carolina's Cam Ward; Ward stopped Doug Weight on a penalty shot at 19:59 of the third to preserve a 4-3 Carolina win (10/25/08).

4.  The Leafs jump to the top of the league in shots per game (34.7), but they've won only 2 of the 13 games that they've outshot their opponents.

5.  The Isles are now next-to-last in shots allowed (34.0 per game); 21 of the NHL's 30 teams average 61 shots allowed (or fewer) per every two games played.   The Isles improved to 7-4-4 when they are out-shot.  They are 2-3-2 when outshooting their opponents and 0-1-1 when the shots are even.

6.  Face-offs were a major problem on this trip, and on the road in general this season.

    Check out these numbers:  The Isles win 57.3% of their draws at home, but lose 56.6% on the road.  Overall, the Isles win 48.6% of their draws.  (The numbers don't appear to balance because the Isles have taken 529 face-offs at home and 873 on the road)

Individual winning percentages:
Player                  Home Road Total
Richard Park         59.0 49.5 53.0
Frans Nielsen        60.3 48.9 52.2
John Tavares         54.1 42.4 47.4
Nate Thompson     66.0 36.5 47.4
Josh Bailey           53.6 33.6 41.8
 
Face-offs are harder to win on the road, but they're not impossible.  Of the 20 players who have taken the most face-offs in the NHL this season, eight have a better winning percentage on the road, including Sidney Crosby who has taken a league high 520 draws, winning 58.1% on the road and 54.7% at home.

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

Re: Rewriting the Islanders' record book

Correcting --thanks Kinger!

ISLANDER CLUB RECORDS:
 
Most shots allowed (overtime game): 61 (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
Most shots allowed (regulation game): 60 ( @ Philadelphia, 11/22/72)
 
Most saves (overtime game):  58 Dwayne Roloson (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
Most saves (regulation game): 55 Felix Potvin  (@ New Jersey, 4/12/99)
                                          and Billy Smith  (@ Philadelphia, 11/22/72)
 
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

----- Original Message ----
From: Eric Hornick <forever1940@yahoo.com>
To: IslesList <isles-list@replayer.com>; islanderfans@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 11:54:30 PM
Subject: Rewriting the Islanders' record book

Dwayne Rolosn re-wrote the Islanders' record book on Monday night, and in doing so he erased, at least partially, an error that has been present in every Islander media guide since 1973.

Roloson made 58 saves and faced 61 shots.  Both are club records.  The 58 saves does indeed break Rick DiPietro's club record of 56, set in a shootout loss to the Rangers on March 5, 2007. 
 
However, the club record for shots allowed was 60, set in a November 22, 1972 loss to Philadelphia.  Billy Smith made 55 saves in that game, which was the club record for saves until it was tied by Felix Potvin, and later beaten by DiPietro.
 
Ironically, for over 30 years, the record was incorrectly listed in the Islanders' media guides.  The guide cited the correct shots total (60), but referenced a 10-2 loss to the Flyers on March 31, 1973.  The record was inexplicably replaced with the game against the Rangers after the 2006-07 season.
 
I've been trying to get it changed ever since.  Dwayne Roloson will likely have more pull.  :)

ISLANDER CLUB RECORDS:
 
Most shots allowed (overtime game): 61 (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
Most shots allowed (regulation game): 60 ( @ Philadelphia, 11/22/72)
 
Most saves (overtime game):  58 Dwayne Roloson (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 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

Holy Roli! Stat Trick: Isles 4, Toronto 3 (overtime)

Dwayne Roloson made a franchise record (and career high) 58 saves as the Islanders beat the Leafs, 4-3 in overtime at the Air Canada Centre.  With the win, the Isles complete the franchise record-tying 7-game road trip with a 3-2-2 record.  On to the trick:

1. Roloson's 58 saves broke the club record of 56, set by Rick DiPietro in a shootout loss to the Rangers in 2007.  The 61 shots allowed by the Islanders broke a club record that had stood for 37 years and 1 day -- the Isles allowed 60 shots to the Flyers on November 22, 1972.  The 58 saves broke Roloson's personal mark of 53 (set in a 2001 game for Minnesota against Boston) in a regular season game.  Roloson made 54 saves in a double-OT playoff loss to Detroit in 2007.

2. The Isles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second period on goals by Jeff Tambellini (7th goal in 15 games), Matt Moulson (team-leading 11th) and Sean Bergenheim (shorthanded), all in a span of 3:13.

3.  Toronto got back into the game with a Phil Kessel second period tally (his 6th in 10 games as a Leaf, and one of his 12 shots on goal) and third period goals by Wayne Primeau and Niklas Hagman.  That set the stage for the overtime winner by Josh Bailey--his third goal in as many games.  Bailey had never scored in consecutive NHL games prior to this streak.

...a few more...

4.  Trent Hunter extended his point streak to 7 games, matching a career high.  Hunter has a single point in each game (3-4-7) and has 9 points in his 9 NHL games this season..  John Tavares, in his NHL debut in his hometown, and Kyle Okposo were both held off the scoresheet for the third straight game.

5.  The Isles improve to 9-8-7 with the victory and 4-6-5 on the road.  All but one of their road victories have been overtime wins.  The Isles continue to be far ahead of last season's pace.  The Isles have 25 points in 24 games; they recorded their 25th point in game 35 last season.  They also have 13 points in 15 games; they had only 12 points in their first 24 road games last year.

6. Bergenheim's goal came with the Islanders shorthanded.  It was the Isles' third "shorty" of the season.  The Isles are one of three NHL teams not to allow a shorthanded goal.  Six of Bergenheim's 33 career goals have been scored scorehanded.  All three of Bergenheim's goals this season have come in the last eight games.

7. Vesa Toskala made only 12 saves before he was chased.  However, Jonas Gustavsson, who faced only six shots in 27:26 is charged with the OT loss.

8. Lots of strange stats in this one.  In addition to the 61 shots on goal, the Leafs missed the net 27 times, and had 28 shots blocked by the Islanders -- a total of 116 attempts at goal.  The Leafs played only 15 players regularly -- John Mitchell left injured after playing 4:!7 while Garnet Exelby and Colton Orr played just over eight minutes...combined.  Mark Streit was a +3, but Freddy Meyer and Brendan Witt (playing his first game in 9 days) were -3.  Bruno Gervais had 2 assists, 4 blocks, and was +2, but he was also charged with 6 giveaways.

9. The Isles had only two power plays, and failed to score on either.  They are now 0-16 in their last four games, after going 5-11 in the first three games of the trip.  The penalty kill did well, shutting down all 6 Leaf attempts and scoring a shorthanded goal.  The Isles have killed 26 of the last 29 and killed 27 of 32 on the trip.

10. It's the third straight overtime game between the teams -- the Leafs won both contests last season. The Isles are now 3-3 this season in games decided by an overtime goal, while the Leafs are 0-5. The Isles will be back in Toronto on December 9th.

Up next: The Isles play their first home game in 18 days when they entertain Philadelphia in the traditional Thanksgiving Eve game.  The Isles have hosted a Thanksgiving Eve game every year since 1995 except for 1999 (did not play) and 2004 (lockout).  The Isles are 6-3-3 in those 12 games, but have lost two straight, including last year's 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh in a game the Isles led 3-0 in the final seconds of the middle period.
   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

Rewriting the Islanders' record book

Dwayne Rolosn re-wrote the Islanders' record book on Monday night, and in doing so he erased, at least partially, an error that has been present in every Islander media guide since 1973.

Roloson made 58 saves and faced 61 shots.  Both are club records.  The 58 saves does indeed break Rick DiPietro's club record of 56, set in a shootout loss to the Rangers on March 5, 2007. 
 
However, the club record for shots allowed was 60, set in a November 22, 1972 loss to Philadelphia.  Billy Smith made 55 saves in that game, which was the club record for saves until it was tied by Felix Potvin, and later beaten by DiPietro.
 
Ironically, for over 30 years, the record was incorrectly listed in the Islanders' media guides.  The guide cited the correct shots total (60), but referenced a 10-2 loss to the Flyers on March 31, 1973.  The record was inexplicably replaced with the game against the Rangers after the 2006-07 season.
 
I've been trying to get it changed ever since.  Dwayne Roloson will likely have more pull.  :)

ISLANDER CLUB RECORDS:
 
Most shots allowed (overtime game): 61 (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
Most shots allowed (regulation game): 60 ( @ Philadelphia, 11/22/72)
 
Most saves (overtime game):  58 Dwayne Roloson (@ Toronto, 11/23/09)
Most saves (regulation game): 56 Rick DiPietro (@ NY Rangers 3/5/07)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 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

Lost weekend: Stat Trick: Minnesota 3, Isles 2 and St. Louis 4, Isles 1

It was a lost weekend in the midwest for the Isles as they dropped back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, dropping their record to 2-2-2 on this seven game trip and 8-8-7 on the season.  On to the trick:

1.  Owen Nolan was the star of the Friday game, scoring twice, including the winner with 67 seconds to play as the Wild erased a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Isles.  It was the the first time this season that the Isles had lost a game in regulation that they led after two periods (7-1-3) but equalled Florida and Colorado for the most non-wins in games that were led after forty minutes.  The loss broke a five-game point streak (3-0-2) for the Isles, including the first four games of this trip (2-0-2).

2. Patrik Bergulund broke a 1-1 tie with a goal late in the second period and David Perron added two third period goals as the Blues beat the Isles 4-1 on Saturday.  It was Berglund's first goal in thirteen games, while Perron now has six goals in his last six games, after scoring just 31 in his first 157 NHL games.

3. Josh Bailey scored in both games, giving him five goals on the season.  Bailey has two goals and one assist, and is +3 in four games since being scratched in Carolina last Friday.  It's the first time in his NHL career that Bailey has scored in consecutive games. Jon Sim had the other Islander goal on Friday and also assisted on Bailey's goal. It was his first goal in seventeen games.

...and a few more...

--Minnesota game--

4.  Martin Biron and Niklas Backstrom each faced 29 shots.  The Isles dropped to 2-6-2 with Biron in their nets, but Biron has allowed three goals or less in eight of the ten games.

5. Special teams let the Isles down.  The power-play was 0-6, while Miko Koivu scored the tying goal for Minnesota on a third period power play.

6. Matt Moulson led the Isles with five shots, while Mark Streit and Blake Comeau each had four.  However, it was Comeau's mis-play that led to the winning goal.  The Isles won 30 of 57 face-offs; Frans Nielsen led the way, winning 12 of 20.

7. Minnesota broke a 4-game losing streak with the victory.

8. The Isles have lost five straight to Minnesota (0-4-1) dating back to a 3-1 victory on March 19, 2004 at the Coliseum.  They are now winless in their last three trips to St. Paul, dating back to a 4-2 win in December, 2002 in Rick DiPietro's first NHL game after having spent all of the preivous season in the minors.

9.  Brendan Witt rejoined the team after missing the game in Boston due to "personal reasons" but did not play.  In a related note, the Islanders were out-hit 27-9.

10. This was the only meeting of the season between the teams.  The Isles are 0-3 against the Wild under Scott Gordon.

--St. Louis game--

11.  The Isles dropped to 6-3-3 when scoring first, meaning that they have won only half of the games in which they have grabbed a 1-0 lead. Only four teams in the NHL have won a smaller percentage of games in which they scored first. 

12.  Officially, the Isles were 0-3 on the power play, but they had only one complete power play (and 2:56 of power play time).  The Blues failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3, and finished 0-4 with the extra man.

13. Chris Mason made 23 saves to record the victory for the Blues, while Dwayne Roloson suffered his first regulation loss since October 16 (5-0-3).  Roloson finished with 22 saves.

14. Kyle Okposo led the Isles with five shots on goal, but both he and John Tavares were held off the scoresheet for the second straight game.  However, Tavares continues to lead all rookies in both goals [9] and points [19].  Tim Jackman led the Isles with 4 hits (in just 10:16 of ice-time) while David Backes led all players on both teams, with six hits.

15. Besides Perron, who had the two goals, ten other Blues figured in the scoring.  Blues Captain Eric Brewer had the other St. Louis goal--it was his first goal since October 16, 2008.

16. The Isles suffered their first regulation loss in St. Louis since December 19, 1995 (4 wins, including two in overtime, one overtime loss and two ties).  It was St. Louis' first regulation win over the Isles since March 6, 2004.

Up Next: The long road trip concludes with John Tavares' first game in Toronto as the Isles visit the Air Canada Centre (and the Maple Leafs) on Monday.  The Leafs won last season's series 3 games to 1, and 6 points to 4.  It will be the Isles 15th road game, out of 24 games played.  This marks only the second time in Islander histroy that they have opened with 15 of the first 24 on the road, having also done it in 1992-93.
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-St. Louis

The long and winding road trip continues in St. Louis tonight.

St. Louis has been a favorable stop for the Isles in recent trips, but the Isles haven't been to St. Louis in a loooooong time.

Last visit: December 6, 2005 - a 6-3 win.  (Mike York had two goals and three assists in that one; Mark Parrish had two goals as well.)
In their last seven trips to St. Louis, Isles own four wins (two in overtime), one overtime loss, and two ties.

They haven't been beaten in regulation in St. Louis since December 19, 1995, when a Mike Milbury-coached squad dropped a 4-1 decision to the Blues in their first visit to the Kiel Center.  (The Isles did not lose to St. Louis when the building was renamed the Savvis Center, and this will be their first visit since a subsequent renaming to the Scottrade Center in 2006.)

Scott Gordon's first NHL win came in the teams' last meeting, 5-2 on October 11, 2008 (last season's home opener).  Overall, the Isles are 2-0-2 in their last four against the Blues, dating back to a March 6, 2004 loss at the Coliseum, 4-2.

 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

Calling the Yukon; leading the Rangers?

The Isles resume their franchise record-tying seven game road trip in Minnesota tonight.

The Isles no longer lead the league in loser points and Tampa earned their 7th last night.  In fact, the Lightning, who got a magnificent goal by Steven Stamkos last night have a very similar record to the Isles.  Tampa is 8-4-7 while the Isles are 8-6-7.

During last night's Lightning-Ducks game, Ducks voice John Ahlers noted that the Lightning's record looked more like an area code than a hockey record.  In fact, with their loser point last night the Bolts record is an area code in suburban Chicago (847).

The Isles on the other hand have the entire Yukon covered as wikipedia explains:

<<Area code 867 is the area code for the three Canadian territories in the Arctic far north.  867 was created on October 21, 1997 from portions of two existing Canadian area codes. It has the largest land area of any area code in the North American Numbering Plan. The territorial extent reaches 3,173 km from Cape Dyer on Baffin Island to the Alaska border, and 4,391 km from the south end of James Bay to the North Pole. The largest distances between exchanges are 2,200 km from Sanikiluaq to Grise Fiord, and 3,365 km from Beaver Creek to Pangnirtung. Four different official time zones are observed within the area.
>>

Tonight in St. Paul, the Isles have an opportunity to do something for the first time in 22 months -- look down on the Rangers (and drop the idle Blueshirts into last place in the division).  The teams are tied with 23 points.  The Isles have not had more points than the Rangers at any point in the Scott Gordon era.  You have to go back to the morning of January 24, 2008 to find the last time.  A Ranger win and Islander loss that evening knotted the teams with 54 points.  The Isles have not led the Rangers in points since then.

 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

Special guest for "Let's Play Hockey" at Isles-Wild game

Much like the Cubs have a guest lead the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", the Wild have a special guest yell "Let's Play Hockey"  before each game.

For the Friday Islander-Wild game, the guest will be Josh Sacco.  (No, not Joe Sacco -- he's the Av's coach)  5-year old Josh Sacco has become a bit of a celebrity for his interpretation of Kurt Russell's re-enactment of Herb Brooks' speech before the US-Russia game.  You can see Sacco's speech here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI

1980 was a pretty good year for the USA ... and for the Islanders too!

 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: Islanders 4, Boston 1. Isles extend point streak to 5!

In perhaps their most solid effort of the seaason, the Islanders went into Boston on Monday night and pounded the Bruins, 4-1.  The Isles have earned a point on all fou games on this road trip (2-0-2) and are 3-0-2 in their last five overall.  On to the trick:

1.  Matt Moulson scored twice to become the first Islander to reach double digits, with 10.  His second goal, with 1:11 left in the middle session proved to be the winner.  Moulson has four goals in the last five games, and he nearly had a fifth.  John Tavares was credited with a goal that went in off the skate of Matt Hunwick.  Hunwick's deflection denied Moulson the chance to become the first Islander to ever record a hat trick IN Boston.  The Isles have five hat tricks against the Bruins, including two in the Playoffs, but all five have happened at the Coliseum.

2. Daniel Paille had the Bruins' goal, which needed video review to confirm.  Paille now has scored in consecutive games after not scoring in his first thirteen games with Boston.

3.  Trent Hunter finished the scoring with an empty-net goal, securing the Isles first regulation win on the road this season and only the 7th regulation win in 53 road games under Scott Gordon.  You have to go back to January 22, 2008 (Isles 6, Carolina 3) to find another road game that the Islanders won by at least three goals, making this the most lopsided road win of the Gordon era.

4..  The Isles have scored at least four goals in five straight games.  It's the first time that they've done that since scoring at least four goals in seven consecutive games from December 11-26, 1993.  They've scored at least four in each of the four games on this trip; it's the first time since December of 1983 that the Isles have had four straight games on the same road trip in which they scored at least four games.

5.  Richard Park assisted on thre first three goals, tying his career high.  Park has earned five assists in the last three games.

6.  As the score suggests, it was a strong night for the Islanders' defense: Mark Streit led the Isles with 28:35 of ice time, blocking 4 shots.  Bruno Gervais was +3 and Andy Sutton was +2 with six hits.  Andy MacDonald, making his season debut for the Isles, was +1 as he played 11:44 in his fourth NHL game.

7. John Tavares now has a 5-game point streak (4-4-8).  He is the second NHL rookie to have a streak of at least five games this season.  (Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly had a seven-game streak in October.)

8.  The Isles have earned at least one point in eleven of Roloson's twelve starts (6-1-5) and are 6-0-3 in his last nine starts. He has made twelve appearances, more than any goalie who has one or fewer losses.  Roloson, who made 28 saves, has played in four of the last five Islander games.

9.  Isles have earned points in 11 of the last 13 games (7-2-4) and are 9-3-4 since their 0-3-3 start.  Their 8-6-7 record give them 23 points in the season's first 21 games; they had only 23 points last season through 34 games.  The Isles are also two games over NHL .500 for the first time since they were 32-30-7 after losing to the Rangers on March 6, 2008.

10. It was the Isles' first win in Boston after six straight losses (0-4-2), dating back to a shootout win on January 11, 2007.  The Isles all broke a seven game losing streak to Boston overall (0-6-1) with their first win over B's since November 24, 2007.  The season series is even at a game each, with the Isles holding a three point to two edge.  The teams have two meetings left, both on Long Island (December 12 and March 6).

Up next: The Isles will look to extend the point streak to six for the first time under Scott Gordon when the road trip continues on Friday in Minnesota against the Wild.  The Isles are 3-6-1 all-time against the Wild, and have lost four straight (0-3-1).  They've won only once ever in St. Paul, on December 19, 2002, but are only 0-1-1 in Minnesota since then. 
 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 goal leads

The Bruins had an interesting note in their media notes for Monday's game:
<<- In 12 of their 19 games this season, either the Bruins or their opponent has held a two-or-more goal lead at some point in the game ...The Bruins have a 5-0-0 record in games this season in which they have held a two-or-more goal lead, including when scoring the first two-or-more goals of a game ... They are 1-4-0 in games this season in which they have given up the first two-or-more goals and they are 2-5-0 in games in which they have trailed by two-or-more goals in the contest.>>

I checked out the Islander numbers for the same stats.

In 16 of their 20 games, either the Isles or their opponent has held a two-or-more goal lead at some point in the game...
The Isles have had a two-goal lead in 10 of their first 20 games, but have won only six of them [6-0-4].  They have trailed by two goals in seven games, and have gone 0-6-1.  Saturday's SO loss in Florida was the first time that the Isles have earned a point in a game they trailed by two goals this season and the first time that they have led by two goals and trailed by two goals in the same game.
 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

Jackman sets NHL record

I mentioned in "Stat Trick" that Jackman had scored just 16 seconds into the game on his 28th birthday.

Turns out that he set an NHL record.  According to Elias, it's the earliest goal in a game a player has scored on his birthday.

Thomas Eriksson (32 seconds into a game on his 24th birthday in 1983 for the Flyers) held the previous record.

Elmer Lach (43 seconds, on his 26th birthday in 1944) and Dave Taylor (52 seconds, on his 24th birthday in 1979) are the only other players to have scored in the first minute of a game on their birthday.

 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: Florida 5, Isles 4 (shootout)

How many two goal leads will the Islanders blow on this trip?  It's now three, as the Isles have given away a lead of at least two goals in each of the three games.  Saturday's blown lead results in the second shootout loss in three games.  On to the trick...

1.  Tim Jackman celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring 16 seconds into the game and Trent Hunter added a goal before the five minute mark to give the Isles a 2-0 lead.  That gave the Isles 11 goals in their last four games.  However, they couldn't get a third goal in the session -- the Isles have never scored three goals in four straight first periods.

2.  Florida took over the game in the second period as Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss scored 31 seconds apart, before Rusty Olesz gave the Cats the lead in the final half-minute.  Michael Frolik scored three minutes into the third to give Florida a two-goal bulge.  Weiss was active in the face-off circle as well, taking 34 draws and winning 19 of them.

3.  However, the Panthers couldn't hold a two goal lead any better than the Isles as John Tavares and Kyle Okposo both scored on third period power plays to send the game into the overtime and the eventual shootout.  Frans Nielsen scored first in the shootout but Stephen Weiss scored in the third round and Sean Bergenheim did not, the Panthers had the shootout win.  It's the second time this season that the Isles have played three consecutive overtime games and the frst time since April 2-6, 1994 that the Isles had played three consecutive overtime games, all on the road.

...a  few more...

4..  The Isles have scored at least four goals in four straight games.  It's the first time that they've done that since doing it in four consecutive games in December 9-19, 2006.  (They haven't had a longer streak since scoring four straight in seven straight games in December, 1993)

5.  The Islanders have scored 2 power-play goals in consecutive games for first time since November 22-24, 2008. Both goals in Washington came in the first period; both goals in Florida came in the third period.

6. The Isles have now lost 6 straight in Sunrise, but earn a point in South Florida for the first time since beating the Panthers 4-1 on November 18, 2006.  The Panthers outshot the Isles 42-40; every Panther and all but three Islanders (Matt Moulson, Freddy Meyer, and Brendan Witt) had at least one.

7. John Tavares now has a 4-game point streak. (3-4-7).  He has back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career.  Kyle Okposo has goals in consecutive games for the 2nd time this season.

8.  The Isles have earned at least one point in ten of Roloson's eleven starts (5-1-5) and are 5-0-3 in his last eight starts.  Roloson's five "loser points" not surprisingly leads the NHL.

9.  Ten of the Isles' first 20 games have gone to overtime. Isles are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and 1-4 in games decided in shootouts.  Isles are 4-9 under Gordon in shootouts, having lost eight of the last ten.  Twelve of the first 20 have been decided by a single goal (3-2-7).

10.  Isles have earned points in 10 of the last 12 games (6-2-4) for the first time since going 7-2-3 from December 21, 2007 to January 13, 2008.

Up next:  Isles now head to Boston for a Monday meeting with the Bruins-- they've lost six straight in Boston (0-4-2) since winning in a shootout on January 11, 2007.  Isles have lost seven straight to Boston overall (0-6-1) since beating the B's 2-1 on November 24, 2007, including a 4-3 shootout loss on October 10 in a game in which the Isles blew a 3-0 lead. This is the middle game of a club record-tying seven game road trip.  Face-off is at 7:00 on MSG-Plus.

 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

Quick Notes: Florida 5, Isles 4 (shootout)

Stat trick will have to wait until tomorrow... but a few quick notes until then:

1.  Isles have had a two-goal lead in all three games of trip, but have gone only 1-0-2.
2.  The Isles have scored at least four goals in four straight games.  It's the first time that they've done that since doing it in four consecutive games in December 9-19, 2006.  (They haven't had a longer streak since scoring four straight in seven straight games in December, 1993)
3.  The Isles have played three consecutive OT games for second time this season.  Last time they played 4:  October 18-28, 2001 (three wins and a tie)
4.  Last time Isles played three consecutive OT games, all on the road: April 2-6, 1994 (one win and two ties). 
5.  Isles have scored 2 power-play goals in consecutive games for first time since Nov 22-24, 2009.  They'll look in Boston to do it in three consecutive games for the first time since October 18-27, 2007.
6. Isles have now lost 6 straight in Sunrise, but earn a point in South Florida for the first time since beating the Panthers 4-1 on November 18, 2006.
7. John Tavares now has a 4-game point streak. (3-4-7).  He has back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career.
8.  Kyle Okposo has goals in consecutive games for the 2nd time this season.
9.  The Isles have earned at least 1 point in 10 of Roloson's 11 starts (5-1-5) and are 5-0-3 in his last eight starts.  Roloson's 5 "loser points" not surprisingly leads the NHL.
10.  Ten of the Isles' first 20 games have gone to overtime. Isles are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and 1-4 in games decided in shootouts.  Isles are 4-9 under Gordon in shootouts, having lost eight of the last ten.  Twelve of the first 20 have been decided by a single goal (3-2-7).
11.  Isles have earned points in 10 of the last 12 (6-2-4); first time since going 7-2-3 from December 21, 2007 to January 13, 2008.
12.  Isles now head to Boston -- they've lost six straight in Boston (0-4-2) since winning in a shootout on January 11, 2007.  Isles have lost seven straight to Boston overall (0-6-1) since beating the B's 2-1 on November 24, 2007.

 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 (overtime)

It was John Tavares early and Kyle Okposo late, as two of the key building blocks in the Islanders' rebuilding played leading roles as the Isles built, and blew a three-goal lead, before emerging victorious in overtime.  On to the trick:

1. Tavares scored twice in the first period, once on a power play as he batted the puck out of mid-air, and once just after another power play expired as the Isles came within seconds of matching the club record for power play goals in a period (3).

2. Mark Streit also scored on the power play, as the Isles built a 3-0 first period lead.  The Isles, who have scored as many first period goals over their last three games (9) as they did in the first sixteen games, scored three first period goals for the third straight game.  It's the first time they've done that since March 15-16-18, 1980 (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th games played after the acquisition of Butch Goring jump-started the Cup run).

3. Tuumo Ruutu and Ray Whitney got the Canes back in the game in the 2nd period, before Tim Gleason tied it with a stoppable shot from just inside the blueline with 2:31 to play.  It was enough to get the 'Canes a point, but when Okposo scored with 15 seconds left in overtime, it was not enough for the Canes to avoid matching a franchise record 14 game winless streak (0-10-4) that was set by the Whalers in 1992. Ruutu's goal came on the powerplay and was Carolina's first after going 0-23 in their prior six games.
 
...and a few more...
  
4. Okposo is the fifth Islander to score in the final 15 seconds of overtime, joining Stefan Perrson, Mike Bossy, Michael Peca and Mike Comrie.  He also became the 14th Islander with multiple regular-season overtime goals. Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to record four OT goals (in regular season play).
 
5.  The Isles improve to 2-4-4 on the road.  Both wins have been in overtime. The Isles haven't won in regulation time on the road since March 27, 2009 in Detroit.

6.  It's the third time this season that the Isles have scored two power play goals in a game, but the first time that they have done it in the same period since Mark Streit and Frans Nielsen did so in the 2nd period on March 15, 2009 in Chicago.  The Islanders last scored two power play goals in the first period on October 5, 2007 when Ruslan Fedontenko and Mike Comrie scored against Buffalo in the season opener,
 
7.  The Isles go over NHL .500 (7-6-6) for the second time this season (they were 5-4-5 after beating Edmonton on November 2nd). Nine of the first nineteen games have gone into overtime (3-0-6); eleven of the nineteen have been decided by one goal (3-2-6).  The Isles have scored 14 goals in their last three games (2-0-1); it's the most goals that they've scored over a three-game stretch since February 28-March 3, 2007.
 
8. John Tavares recorded the first two-goal game of his career.  His seven goals leads all NHL rookies, while his sixteen points are tied for the club lead. Tavares now has five points in the last three games, matching his production in his first three NHL games.  He had a rough night in the face-off circle, though, losing nine of eleven.
 
9.  Andy Sutton led the Isles with four hits and five blocked shots.  The Isles were out-hit by a hard-to-believe 48-22 with Ruutu and Erik Cole combining for seventeen hits.
 
10.  The Islanders lead the season series 2 games to 0, and four points to two.  The team will play twice more, nine days apart, just before the Olympic break.  The Isles also improved to 3-1-1 on regular season Friday the 13th's.  It was the first time they played on Friday the 13th since beating Phoenix 5-2 in February, 2004.  Not surprisingly, all five games have been played on the road. (The Isles have played twice on Friday the 13th in the playoffs, evening a series with Washington in 1984, and being eliminated by the Rangers in 1990.)
 
Up next: The Isles will look to go two games over .500 for the first time since March 6, 2008 when they visit Florida on Saturday night.  The Isles are now 1-0-1 on this club record-tying seven game road trip.  While the home team won all four Islander-Panther games last season, the Isles have lost five straight in Sunrise, Florida, dating back to a 4-1 win on November 18, 2006. 

 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

Business Week on Wang and the Lighthouse

http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_47/b4156030711852.htm

Charles Wang's Messy Second Act
The ex-CEO of '90s highflier Computer Associates is trying real estate. But his past won't stay behind him

By Steve Hamm

New York entrepreneur Charles B. Wang, who made his mark in software, is busy reinventing himself as a real estate tycoon. He's pushing a mammoth $3.8 billion mixed-use development in suburban Hempstead, Long Island, surrounding the Nassau Coliseum, where his New York Islanders hockey team plays.

Since the project will include a fix-up of the Coliseum, which the plain-spoken Wang calls a "dump," it has won the backing of pols, including Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). But Wang is running into resistance from local leaders over concerns that the 150-acre development will adversely affect traffic and the environment.

After waiting nearly two years to get the project approved, Wang is threatening to uproot the Islanders if Hempstead doesn't O.K. his plans soon. Tensions are escalating. "I don't give him a deadline for delivering the Stanley Cup to Long Island, and he shouldn't give us a deadline for approving his project," says Kate Murray, the Hempstead supervisor.

Wang seems to attract controversy. In the go-go 1990s, when he ran software giant Computer Associates, he cut a ragged path through the tech industry with dozens of layoff-causing acquisitions and rancorous relations with corporate customers. Then the company imploded amid Justice Dept. charges that its executives had violated accounting and securities laws. Eight of them went to jail. But Wang, the company's chairman during the period investigated, was not prosecuted.

Hard as he tries, Wang is having difficulty leaving his past behind. His former company, renamed CA (CA), last month filed court papers seeking to recover compensation it paid to Wang, including a $600 million-plus performance bonus. "CA's Special Litigation Committee concluded that Mr. Wang knew of, directed, and participated in the premature recognition of revenue," says spokesperson Jennifer Hallahan. Wang denies any culpability. Of CA's effort to recover money from him, he says: "What they've done is shameful. They should focus on the business and move on."

CONCILIATORY NOTE

The company's claim is based in part on a jailhouse deposition by former CA Chief Executive Sanjay Kumar, who is serving a 12-year sentence in a minimum-security federal prison in New Jersey. Kumar stated that Wang "personally directed" the illegal accounting practice that landed him and the other CA managers in jail. Wang rejects Kumar's allegation: "He's the one who pleaded guilty." Through his lawyer, Kumar declined comment.

Wang insists that his critics have him all wrong. He claims his real estate plans are motivated partly by his love for Long Island, where he grew up after immigrating from China at age 8. Wang's project is the largest development proposed on the island since the building of Levittown after World War II. Says Wang: "It could be a catalyst for the rebirth of Long Island," an area that has lost a lot of manufacturing jobs. Wang claims the 42-building development would create 19,000 permanent positions. Even though he's impatient with the slow progress, Wang is sounding a conciliatory note. "I have never said I won't compromise," he says.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, another fan of Long Island, once wrote: "There are no second acts in American lives." Wang has proven Fitzgerald wrong, but it remains to be seen whether his second act will end better than his first.

Hamm is a senior writer for BusinessWeek in New York and author of the Globespotting blog.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 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

Re: Stat Trick: Capitals 5, Isles 4 (shootout)

From Elias' column on espn.com

<<The Islanders had not scored three goals within the first seven minutes of a game since Oct. 20, 2005, when Miroslav Satan, Jason Blake and Mark Parrish scored in the first 2:47 against the Rangers at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders outscored the Capitals, 3-2, in the first period, after outscoring Atlanta, 3-1, in the opening period in their last game. It's the first time that the Islanders have scored at least three first-period goals in each of two consecutive games since Jan.. 23-26, 1993, when they did that in home wins against the Flyers and Devils.>>

The Isles actually scored 4 goals in the January 23, 1993 first period.  Here's the scoring (Isles won 8-4):
1 - PHI : Rod Brind'Amour 21 (Greg Hawgood, Garry Galley) (PP) 6:25
2 - NYI : Dalgarno 8 (Turgeon, McInnis) (PP) 13:35
3 - NYI : Green 4 (EV) 13:58
4 - NYI : Kurvers 3 (Flatley, Thomas) (PP) 14:44
5 - NYI : Flatley 8 (Hogue, Kurvers) (EV) 18:01
6 - PHI : Mark Recchi 29 (Brent Fedyk, Garry Galley) (PP) 19:41

The Isles scored 3 goals in the January 26, 1993 first period.  Here's the scoring on that: (Isles won 8-2)
1 - NYI:  Hogue (18) Flatley, Krupp   2:36
2 - NYI:  Turgeon (30) King 4:07
3 - NYI:  Hogue (19) Flatley 9:15
4 - NJ:    Pellerin (8)  Fetisov Semak  13:01

Ironically, those two wins got the Islanders back to .500 that season at 22-22-5.  Three months later, they'd have their only playoff series wins since 1987.

 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

Capitals 5, Isles 4 (shootout)

Trent Hunter, playing for the first time in over a month, scored on a power-play with 2:08 to play to force overtime, but in the eventual shootout, the Capitals got an 11th round goal from Chris Clark to beat the Islanders 5-4 in the longest shootout in Islander history and the longest in the NHL this season.  On to the trick...

1.  It certainly didn't start well for the Isles as Alex Semin scored the first of his two goals just 8 seconds into the game.  It was the earliest goal ever allowed by the Islanders (breaking a record set by Kevin Hatcher, also of the Caps, on January 27, 1991) and tied the Capital record (set by Gaetan Duchesne is 1987) for their earliest goal.  It's only the 22nd time in NHL history that a goal has been scored in the first eight seconds.

2.  The Islanders rebounded for three goals before the game was seven minutes old, as Matt Moulson, Mark Streit and Sean Bergenheim all scored to chase Jose Theodore in the shortest start of his career.  The three goals were one more than the Isles had scored in the first period of their first eight road games this season.  Washington had allowed only six first period goals prior to tonight all season!

3.  The Caps scored three straight goals, off the sticks of Tomas Fleischmann, Semin and Eric Fehr to take a 4-3 lead after two periods, setting the stage for Hunter's game-tying heroics.  The first two of these goals were power play tallies.

... and a few more...

4. The Isles had all three power plays in the third period, and cashed in on the third for the tying goal by Hunter.  It was the only goal allowed by Semyon Varlamov, who replaced Theodore at the 6:54 mark. Varlamov finished with 25 saves.

5. In the shootout, two of the first three shooters scored, as Jeff Tambellini and Alex Semin tallied.  The goalies then stopped seventeen straight before Clark scored the shootout winner.  Washington, who has lost only three times all season, now leads the Eastern Conference with 26 points, are are 9-1-2 in their last twelve games.

6.Dwayne Roloson made 37 saves during the game, and stopped 9 of 11 in the shootout.  The Isles have earned at least one point in 9 of his 10 starts (5-1-4).

7. With the shootout defeat, the Isles' record is now a soccer-like 6-6-6, including 5-2-3 in their last ten games.  The Isles didn't earn their sixth "loser point" last season until their 53rd game.  Three of the six loser points have come in shootouts (1-3) while three others have come in games decided in overtime (also 1-3).  The Isles are now 1-4-4 on the road -- their overall record was 1-4-4  after losing to Washington in overtime in October.

8. With Alex Ovechkin out with an injury, Alex Semin played like Alex Ovechkin.  In addition to scoring twice and adding a shootout goal, Semin also had 11 shots on goal.  Mark Streit led the Islanders with 4 shots on goal in 25:02 of ice-time, but it was Jack Hillen who led the squad, playing 25:24

9. Rob Schemp played for the first time in ten games, assisted on Streit's goal, and drew the penalty that led to Hunter's tying tally.  He couldn't finish the story, though, as he was stopped by Varlamov when he had a chance to win the shootout for the Isles.

10.  All three games between the teams this season have gone at least to overtime, with the Capitals winning twice.  Seven of the last nine games between the squads have gone to overtime, with Washington winning four of the extra session games.  The final meeting of the season will be on Long Island January 26th.

Up Next: The "Devilish" 6-6-6 Isles will next face Carolina on Friday... the 13th.  The Hurricanes dropped to 2-12-3 with their loss to Los Angeles this evening.  The 'Canes, who have equalled the worst start in their history, will be looking to avoid equalling their club record of 14 straight without a win.  The Isles beat Carolina in a shootout last month for their first victory of the 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

The upcoming trip

I've noted that the Isles will begin a club-record-tying seven consecutive games away from the Coliseum when they visit Washington (quite likely without Ovechkin) tomorrow.

In addition to being a long trip, this trip arguably features more winnable games than any trip in Islander history.  A quick look at the standings confirms why.

The Islanders are one of 19 teams in the NHL with at least 17 points (entering play Tuesday, they are one of four teams with exactly 17).

Washington, the Islanders' first opponent, has 24 points -- tied with Pittsburgh for the Conference lead, and only two points behind San Jose and Colorado, yet the Islanders have already earned three points in two games vs. the Caps.

The other six games are all against teams currently behind the Islanders in the overall standings:

Carolina (Friday) - 30th/ 7 points
Florida (Saturday) - tied 28th/ 11 points
Boston (Monday) -tied 20th/ 16 points
Minnesota (next Friday)- 27th/ 12 points
St. Louis (next Saturday)-  tied 25th/ 14 points
Toronto (next Monday) -tied 28th/ 11 points

Is it too much to ask for the Isles to come back with at least seven points in the seven games?  We'll see.

 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

Most consecutive road games in Islander history

The Islanders will begin a stretch of 7 consecutive road games on Wednesday in Washington.  It will match the longest consecutive road game streak in Islander history, done twice prior:

In 1981, the Isles went 1-5-1 on a seven game trip:

28-Nov-81 @ Boston    4 5 L
29-Nov-81 @ Buffalo     2 5 L
5-Dec-81 @ Minnesota 8 5 W
6-Dec-81 @ Winnipeg  2 5 L
9-Dec-81 @ Vancouver 3 4 L
12-Dec-81 @ Calgary  3 3 T
13-Dec-81 @ Edmonton  3 4 L

and in 2001, the Isles went 2-3-2:

14-Mar-01 @ Pittsburgh 29 Pittsburgh 3 1 W
17-Mar-01 @ Columbus 29 Columbus 3 3 T
18-Mar-01 @ Carolina 29 Carolina 1 2 L
20-Mar-01 @ St. Louis 29 St. Louis 4 3 Wot
23-Mar-01 @ Dallas 29 Dallas 1 2 L
25-Mar-01 @ Phoenix 29 Phoenix 2 2 T
28-Mar-01 @ New York 29 New York 2 4 L

 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 6, Atlanta 3

After playing against the Devils, facing almost anyone else would seem to be an easier test.  The Thrashers didn't seem to put up much of a fight as the Isles waltzed to a 6-3 victory.  On to the trick:

1. As they have all season, the Islanders started strong on home ice, dominating play at times and recording a season-high 21 shots in the first period. Andy Sutton, Sean Bergenheim (who was playing his 200th NHL game) and Jack Hillen scored in the first session for the Islanders while Zach Bogosian was the first of three Thrasher defensemen to score.

2. The Isles blew the game open in the second period, getting goals from Blake Comeau and Matt Moulson, sandwiching an Atlanta goal by Pabel Kubina.  Chris Schubert and Josh Bailey traded goals in the third.

3. Freddy Meyer and Comeau got back in the line-up, and both figured in the scoring.  Meyer had an assist while Comeau, who was named the game's first star, had a goal and an assist.  Meyer replaced Radek Martinek, who suffered a torn ACL Friday in New Jersey.  Martinek's season is likely over, meaning that he will have played only 389 out of a possible 656 games in his first eight NHL seasons.  Comeau replaced Doug Weight, who is expected to miss a week or so.

 ... and a few more...

4. Sean Bergenheim, playing in his 200th NHL game, had his first goal of the season.

5. The Isles regained NHL .500 with a 6-6-5 record.  They are now 5-2-2 at home, where they have won four straight for the first time since February 2008.  Dwayne Roloson, who made 31 saves, is now 5-1-3 on the season.  He has had more ice-time (526:12) than any other goalie in the league who has lost just once in regulation time.  Roloson was originally credited with an assist on Bailey's third period goal, but that assist was later taken away.

6. The Isles have now allowed three goals or fewer in nine straight games, their longest streak of allowing three or fewer since the 2003-04 season, when they went ten games between December 23, 2003 and January 10, 2004.

7.  Thirteen different Islanders had points.  John Tavares and Nate Thompson each had two assists -- the first time in their careers that they had accomplished that.  Thompson, one of two Islanders without a shot on goal, also drew a key penalty on Pavel Kubina that set up Bailey's power play goal to seal the game.  Thompson and Meyer led the Isles with four hits each.

8. Matt Moulson had a strong all-around game, with a goal, an assist, six shots, two hits and three takeaways.

9. The Islanders finished with 45 shots on goal, chasing Ondrej Pavelec after two periods.  It was their highest total since having a club record 60 shots on goal in a loss to Carolina on October 26, 2008.

10. It was an offensive night for the defenses.  The Thrashers got three goals and two assists from their defenders while the Isles recorded two goals and two assists.

Up next: The Isles begin only the third 7-game road trip in their history when they visit Washington on Veterans Day Wednesday.  The Caps played without Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green on Saturday, but still managed to rally with five third period goals to defeat Florida 7-4.
The teams have split the first two games, with the visitors winning in overtime on each occasion.

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: New Jersey 2, Isles 1

No Marty to start for Devils, bad goal allowed by Marty in second period, no Marty to finish for Isles. No problem for Devils.  Problem for Isles.  On to the trick:

1. Ex-Isle Yann Danis, starting in place of the resting Marty Brodeur, makes 23 saves in his first game against his former squad. Danis is 2-0-0 on the season, allowing just one goal in each game.  It's the first time that he's won consecutive starts since last March 8th-12th.  It's the first time since October 20, 2007 that a healthy Marty Brodeur did not play in a game against the Islanders -- he missed four Islander-Devils games last season while injured.

2. Islander defensemen Radek Martinek needed help to get off the ice following an injury late in the third.  It's the latest in a series of injuries for Martinek, who has played in only 373 out of a possible 574 games in his first seven NHL seasons.  If Martinek misses tomorrow's game (and assuming Trent Hunter does not return), Richard Park will be the Islander on the ice who has played the most games, and had the most goals, assists and points as an Islander.

3. Brian Rolston scored his 100th career Devil goal, beating Marty Biron for the winning goal late in the second period.  Cory Murphy had the other New Jersey goal, on a shot from the blue line.

... and a few more...

4. Frans Nielsen, playing in his 100th NHL game, had the only Islander goal.  It was only the second goal that the Isles have scored on the road in the first period this season and the only goal that they scored on this two-game road trip.

5. The Isles (5-6-5) suffered their sixth regulation loss of the season.  They have scored one goal or fewer in five of them.

6. The Isles have now allowed three goals or fewer in eight straight games, equalling their longest streak of allowing three or fewer in the post-lockout era.  The last time that the Isles went longer than eight straight games allowing three goals or fewer was in the 2003-04 season, when they went ten games between December 23, 2003 and January 10, 2004.

7. The Isles drop to 1-4-3 on the season on the road.  The Isles were 3-4-1 in their first eight road games last season, then won games 9 and 10, but earned only ten points on the road in their final 31 road games.

8.  Odd stat of the night: each team was credited with only three blocked shots.  The Isles have been credited with 280 blocks on the season - second in the NHL, behind only Colorado.  The Isles were better on face-offs than they were in Buffalo on Wednesday, winning 22 and losing 26.  They lost an almost incomprehensible 39 draws out of 47 on Wednesday.
 
9.  The Devils have won 4 straight overall and are 10-2-0 in their last 12 games.  New Jersey is now 7-1-0 in games decided by one goal, while the Isles fall to 2-2-5.  The Devils have allowed only 15 goals in their ten wins (and 16 goals in their four losses) this season.
 
10.  The Isles are 0-4-0 under Scott Gordon in New Jersey.  It's their longest winless streak in the Garden State since going 0-3-2 between December, 2001 and December 2003.  This was the second game of a 17-game stretch in which the Isles play twice in both New Jersey and Toronto, but only three times at home.
 
Up next: The Isles play the back-end of the back-to-backs on Saturday when they entertain Atlanta.  The Thrashers swept both Coliseum contests last season--only the second time in their history that they managed that.  The Islanders have won three straight on home ice, equalling their longest home winning streak under Gordon.  They last won four straight at home in February, 2008.
 

 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: Buffalo 3, Isles 0

Marty Biron's first start as an Islander in Buffalo didn't go as well as his home start against Buffalo four days earlier.  This time it was the Sabres with the shutout.  On to the trick...
 
1.  The Isles chased Ryan Miller to the bench on Saturday but the All-Star, and likely US Olympian, made 24 saves to blank the Islanders for the second time in his career (10/26/06) and end the Islanders' 4-game winning streak. Biron finished with 36 saves for the Islanders.

2.  The Sabres scored once in each period, with Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek scoring on power plays in the first and second period.  Paul Gaustad scored with 3:41 to play to seal the deal.

3.  It's the first time this season that the Islanders have been shutout.   They were last blanked on April 7 in Carolina (9-0).

.... and a few more...

4.  The Islanders entered the game ranked second in the NHL in face-off percentage, but lost 39 of 47 face-offs.  It's likely the most lopsded face-off differential in Islander history since face-offs became an official real-time statistic.  Richard Park lost all nine that he took, while Josh Bailey lost eight of nine.    In addition to scoring his first goal of the season, Derek Roy won all fourteen face-offs that he took.

5. The Isles out-hit the Sabres 15-12.  Tim Jackman had five hits for the Isles while Patrick Kaleta led all players with seven hits.

6. Mark Streit led all players with 26:14 of ice-time.  He attempted five shots, but three were blocked by Buffalo and two missed the nets.

7. Jason Pominville, who had five shots against the Isles in the first period on Saturday was one of three Sabres held without a shot.

8. John Tavares had his four-game point streak wiped away by the shutout.

9. Buffalo has allowed a league-low 24 goals in their first twelve games.  They have held nine of their twelve opponents to two goals or less, although the Isles had scored eight goals in their firt two games against the Sabres.

10.  The home team has won all three games in the series, with the final meeting set for January 16th on Long Island.

Up next:  The Isles travel to the Prudential Center in Newark to face the Devils.  The Isles lost all three meetings in New Jersey last season. Face-off is at 7:08pm with the Islander telecast on MSG Plus 2 (and the Devils telecast on MSG Plus).
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

Byers suspended; why not Rivet?

The NHL today announced a suspension of Ranger forward Dane Byers, who received an instigator in the last five minutes of the game last night.  However, I haven' t seen a suspension of Craig Rivet for the same rule....

<<Rangers' Byers suspended one game Wednesday, 11.04.2009 / 3:08 PM

New York Rangers forward Dane Byers has been suspended for one game and coach John Tortorella has been fined for an incident in the third period of Tuesday's game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Byers was given an instigator penalty with 1:10 left in the third period of the Rangers' 4-1 loss. Pursuant to NHL Rule 47.22, a player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation in the final five minutes of a game is subject to an automatic one-game suspension. Byers will miss Thursday's game at Edmonton.

Tortorella was fined $10,000 as well, as the rule states that the offending player's coach is subject to that automatic penalty.

The players' suspension money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund while the coach's fine goes to the NHL Foundation.
>> 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 look to match club record tonight

The Islanders will be looking for their fifth straight win when they visit Buffalo tonight (MSG Plus 2).  While the Isles have won at least five straight games 26 previous times (including once over a two-season span), they are looking to do something tonight that they have done only 9 times in their history - win five games in an 8-day span.

While the Isles accomplished this feat seven times in their first 12 seasons (including once in the "Drive For Five" campaign in 1983-84), it has been done only twice since 1984:

January 10-17, 1990      (Games 4-8 of a 9-game win streak)
February 14-21, 2008    (Final 5 games of a 6-game win streak)

(The Isles have played 5 games in 7 days a number of times in their history, but have come close to winning all five only once -- the won 4 times in the final six days of 2003 before dropping a 1-0 decision in Ottawa on New Year's Day.)

On a more generic note, the Isles will be looking to win for only their second road winning streak under Scott Gordon. They defeated Buffalo and Montreal last November 22-24, with the latter being the famed Ryan O'Byrne game.
 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

Fewest losses in first fourteen games since....

Nice to be digging positive numbers out of the archives.  :)

The Isles arre 5-4-5 through 14 games.  It's their fewest losses since 2001-02 in the first 14 games, when they opened 11-1-1-1.
These are the only two times in the "loser point" era that the Isles have suffered only four losses or fewer in the first 14.

In fact, the 4 losses in 14 equals the second fewest in the post-Cup era.  The Isles went 9-4-1 in their first 14 in the 1987-88.

Six times in the first 11 seasons in their history the Isles managed four or fewer losses in the first 14:

7 4 3 in 1974-75
8 2 4 in 1975-76
10 2 2 in1976-77
9 3 2  in 1978-79
9 2 3  in 1981-82
11 3 0 in 1982-83

Maybe Tom Renney was right.  The Isles have made the playoffs in every season that they had four or fewer losses in the first fourteen games. :)

 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, Edmonton 1

It took him 862 games, but Brendan Witt now has a two-goal game in the NHL.  Oh yes, the Islanders have a four-game winning streak, too.  On to the trick:

1.  Witt scored twice in the second period to break a 1-1 tie.  It was his first goals since scoring on January 22, 2008 against Carolina, a span of 92 games that Witt had played.  Witt, who three times scored three goals in a season for the Capitals, had scored only three goals in 219 previous games with the Islanders.  Witt now had three goals in twelve career games against Edmonton and 22 goals in 848 games against the rest of the NHL.  It's the first time since 2002, and the fourth time in his career, that Witt has even recorded two points in a game.

2.  Ethan Moreau and John Tavares traded first period goals.  Moreau's goal ended an Islander shutout streak at 95:12 dating back to Thomas Fleischmann's second period goal in Washington on Friday night.  Tavares now has a point in four straight games (2-2-4)

3.  Dwayne Roloson made 22 saves as he defeated his former team, recorded his three straight win, and raised his record to 4-1-3. He also raised his career mark to 4-11-0 against the Oilers.  Nikolai Khabibulin finished with 34 saves for Edmonton.

... and a few more...

4.  The Islanders have now won four straight for the first time since January 21- February 3, 2009 and have earned points in six straight (4-0-2) for the first time since a seven game point streak (6-0-1) in February, 2008.  The Isles move over .500 (5-4-5) for the first time EVER under Scott Gordon.  They last had a winning record on March 8, 2008, when they were 32-31-7.  The Isles have also won three straight at home, allowing only two goals total (one to the Rangers and one to Edmonton). 

5.  The Isles power-play were 0-4, while their penalty kill was non-existant.  Literally.  Edmonton did not have a power play in the game.  It's only the second time in 197 games in the NHL this season that a team was held without a power play attempt -- Montreal did not have a power play on October 6 in Calgary.  The Islanders last held an opponent without a power play attempt on November 10, 2007 (against New Jersey).

6. The Islanders outshot the Oilers in every period and 37-23 for the game.  The Isles outscored Edmonton 2-0 in the second period and have now outscored their opponents 18-10 in the middle period.  They've been outscored 30-18 in the other periods (including overtime).

7.Jeff Tambellini was held without a goal, but did add an assist.  Tambellini led the Islanders with a career-high eight shots on goal; he had never had eight shots on goal over a two-game span in his NHL career. 

8. It was a bad night for Edmonton defensemen Denis Grebeshov and Taylor Chorney.  Both defenders finished at -3.

9. Witt wasn't the only Islander defenseman to have a strong night as Andy Sutton led the team with five hits and four blocked shots. He also was victorious in a fight with J-F Jacques.  The Isles now have four defensemen each with two goals as Mark Streit, Radek Martinek, Sutton and Witt have each tallied twice.

10. The Islanders have now beaten Edmonton 5 straight times on Long Island, dating back to Edmonton's win on December 14, 1999.  This was the only meeting of the season between the teams, and the first at the Coliseum since December 10, 2005..

Up next:  The Islanders begin a two-game road trip on Wednesday in Buffalo.  It will be the Sabres' first game since being blanked 5-0 by the Isles at the Coliseum on Saturday.  The game will be shown on MSG Plus 2 (check local listings).  Face-off is at 7:08pm.
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

Ex-Ranger Coach Renney: "Isles are a Playoff Team"

From Katie's blog:

"Scott came in here with a really good game plan and structure and a way he wanted to get things done. Last year you saw the beginning of that and at the front end of this year--where guys were still trying to get in line with it--but now it's corrected itself and I think they're an excellent team. I think they're a playoff team."
 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

Hey Edmonton, where have you've been?

It's been a long time since Edmonton has been at the Coliseum -- December 10, 2005 to be exact (1,423 days).  The Isles won that game 3-2 in a shootout.  Trent Hunter scored during the game and had the deciding goal in the shootout, to make a winner out of Rick DiPietro.  Only two current healthy Islanders (Radek Martinek and Bruno Gervais) played in that game.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020431.HTM
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/ES020431.HTM
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/SO020431.HTM

That's the most recent of four consecutive Islander wins over the Oilers on the Island.  Edmonton has not won at the Coliseum this century.  Their last win here came on December 14, 1999 (3,611 days ago) as they beat the Isles (and coach Butch Goring) 4-2 that night, before an announced crowd of only 6,526.

No fewer than six future Islanders (and one former Islander) played for Edmonton that night..

Tom Poti
Roman Hamrlik
Doug Weight
Bill Guerin
Janne Niinimaa
Ryan Smyth

Ex-Isle Tommy Salo got the win in his return to the Coliseum.  Guerin scored the game's first goal off an assist from Weight.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/19992000/GS020419.HTM
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/19992000/ES020419.HTM
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

Attendance

Saturday's "crowd" of 8,889 is NOT the smallest Saturday crowd in Islander history.

It is however, the smallest Saturday crowd since April 1, 2000, when 8,858 saw the Isles tie the Blackhawks 2-2.  Tony Amonte had both Hawks goals in that game while Brad Isbister and Mariusz Czerkawski scored for the Islanders, who were outshot 49-19.  (That game actually began at 4:00pm)

It's also the smallest Saturday night crowd since January 22, 2000, when only 8,399 saw Kevin Weekes make 28 saves as the Isles shutout Tampa 2-0.  Gino Odjick and Jorgen Jonsson scored that night for the Isles.

 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

Eklund FWIW

Eklund wrote Saturday (before the game) that Marty Biron "might be the answer that Detroit is looking for".

Today he notes that there may be something brewing between the Islanders and Oilers (besides their game tomorrow, obviously).

Quoting his tweets:

"the (Islander) name I am hearing right now is definitely too shocking to go with until I get more confirmation. Not Tavares obviously.about 2 hours ago 
 Horcoff may be involved. Checking."
*
 
Horcoff is in the second year of a 6-year contract with the Oilers. 

 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