1. Mike Richards scored twice in the first period, Jeff Carter added a pair in the second period, and Claude Giroux added two goals in the third period for the Flyers.
2. John Tavares had both goals for the Islanders, but it was only enough to cut a 4-0 deficit in half. Tavares, who recorded his second two-goal game, matched his career high with his sixth two point game of the season. Tavares is showing signs of being a streaky scorer. He had three goals in his first five games, four goals in a three game stretch in mid November, and four goals in the last five games. Both of Tavares' goals were scored on the power play, giving him a team leading six pp goals on the season -- only five players in the NHL have scored more power play goals.
3. According to Versus' post-game show, it was only the fourth time in NHL history a game ended with four players each scoring twice for the only eight goals in the game. All four games ended with a 6-2 score.
...a few more...
4. Kimmo Timmonen, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnelll all had two assists for the Flyers while Kyle Okposo had a pair of helpers for the Islanders.
5. The Flyers scored three power play goals after being blanked in 19 attempts over the previous five games. Mark Streit was on ice for the other three goals and finished -3. Tavares' two power play goals matched the Isles' power play success in their previous 37 tries, over nine games. The Isles did allow a shorthanded goal (to Mike Richards) for the first time this season.
6. Brian Boucher made 22 saves as he beat the Islanders for the second time this season; he's 2-0 vs. the Islanders and 1-5 against the rest of the NHL. Martin Biron made 31 saves in suffering his second defeat to the Flyers this season. He's allowed six goals in each of his last two games and has lost four straight overall. It's the first time in his NHL career that he has allowed six goals or more in consecutive appearances.
7. The Isles have now played 19 of their first 30 (11-12-7) games on the road. It's the first time in club history that they've opened a season playing 19 of 30 on the road. They'll make it 20 of 31 tomorrow night, before the schedule flips the other way
8. Peter Laviolette wins his first game as the Flyer coach, in his third try. Laviolette is now 168-124-34 in his career.
9. Jeff Carter continues to terrorize the Islanders. He now has 31 points (13-18-31) in 30 career games against the Isles.
10. The Flyers lead the season series 2 games to 0. They have beaten the Islanders eight straight times at the Wachovia Center (0-7-1) and haven't beaten the Flyers in their last 12 meetings (0-9-3), dating back to a 4-3 Islander win at the Coliseum on February 12, 2008.
Up next: The Isles visit Toronto for the second time in less than three weeks on Wednesday night. Dwayne Roloson faced 61 shots, the most by a winning goalie in the NHL since 1981, in their first meeting. The Isles are 2-0-2 in their last four games against Toronto.
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
3. According to Versus' post-game show, it was only the fourth time in NHL history a game ended with four players each scoring twice for the only eight goals in the game. All four games ended with a 6-2 score.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what the other 4 games were? I can't seem to find footage of the Versus post-game show anywhere
Elias had a slightly different take on it from what Versus said:
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