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