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