Double Stat Trick: Philadelphia 2, Isles 0; Florida 2, Isles 1

It was a lost weekend for the Isles as they dropped a pair of low-scoring games.  On to the trick:

1. Saturday in Philadelphia, the Isles suffered their 14th consecutive loss to the Flyers (0-11-3) and their 9th straight loss in Philadelphia (0-8-1) bya score of 2-1..  Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell had first period goals for the Flyers; Josh Bailey had the Isles' only goal of the weekend, with 5:16 remaining in the middle period.  The 14 straight victories equals the Flyers' longest winning streak against any opponent.

2. Ray Emery made 31 saves for the Flyers, while Dwayne Roloson had 30 saves for the Isles.  Emery is the sixth different Flyer goaltender to defeat the Isles in this stretch; it was his first win over the Isles since March, 2007.

3. Sunday in Sunrise Florida, Tomas Vokoun made 33 saves to record his fourth shutout of January and seventh of the season as the Cats blanked the Isles 2-0.  Both Panther goals came from defensemen and Jordan Leopold and Keith Ballard scored.  Ballard's goal was a killer -- coming with less than ten seconds to play in the second period.  Rick DiPietro made 23 saves for the Isles.

... a few more..

4.  The Isles are 0-3-0 on this road trip, and have scored just two goals.  They have scored just seven goals in their last six games (they were credited for an 8th goal for their shootout win vs. Florida on January 21). It's their fewest goals in a six game stretch since scoring just five in six games from March 28-April 6, 2006.

5.  The Isles have lost five straight games, all in regulation.  It's the first time since they lost seven straight in regulation last January that they have gone pointless in five straight games.  They have also lost four straight road games, all in regulation.

6.  Apparently the Isles have the calendar all mixed up.  After roaring like lions through their first nine January games (7-2-0), the Isles were slaughtered like lambs in their final five games (0-5-0).

7. With the Rangers' win in Colorado on Sunday night, the Isles remain in 13th place in the East, but are now three points out of a playoff berth.  The Isles are only nine points ahead of Carolina and Toronto.

8. Vokoun continued his mastery over the Islanders.  He has shutout the Isles in one of the two games played in Sunrise in each of the last three seasons.  He has now defeated the Isles twelve times in his career (including twice by shootout); he's allowed only 18 goals in those games, with includes four shutouts.

9. The Flyers lead the season series four games to none (and eight points to zero).  Three of the games have been decided by a 2-1 score.  The Flyers own nine 2-1 wins over the Isles all-time; three occurred in the Isles' first two seasons; three in the next 34 seasons, and three in the last four meetings between the squads.  The teams will meet again on March 9th in Philadelphia and on April 1st at the Coliseum.

10. The Panthers win the season series three games to one (and seven points to three). The Isles have lost seven straight in Sunrise (0-6-1) and have only three victories in Florida in the last seven seasons.

Up next: The Isles will have three days off to try and find their offense.  The road trip concludes on Thursday in Tampa Bay as they begin a final stretch of six games in eleven days leading up to the Olympic break.  The Lightnning lead the season series 2-0, winning 4-0 in Tampa and 4-2 on Long Island in a 17-day span in December.
 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