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