First time (in a) long time -- penalty minutes

The Isles drew 4 misconduct/game misconduct penalties last night in Philadelphia.  Old-time hockey, indeed.

 

Trent Hunter

Zenon Konopka

Trevor Gillies

Frans Nielsen

 

It's the first time since the famed "goalie fight" game against the Rangers (4/4/1998) that the Isles have had 4 players accumulate at least 10 minutes in penalties in the same game.

 

In that game, seven Isles received at least 10 penalty minutes:

Rich Pilon

Gino Odjick

Trevor Linden

J.J. Daigneault

Mariusz Czerkawski

Zdeno Chara

Tommy Salo

 

The Isles recorded 73 penalty minutes last night (according to the game sheet) or 71 pen mins (according to the stats search on NHL.com)  Either way, it's the 2nd highest total in the NHL this season (Anaheim had 78 vs St. Louis on Oct 11)

 

The Isles had 71 pen minutes against Buffalo on October 13, 2008, but they haven't had more penalty minutes in a game since drawing 129 minutes in the above-referenced goalie fight game.

 

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

The Skinny: Flyers 6, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 11

Philadelphia 6, Islanders 1

 

Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger each scored twice as the Flyers handed the Islanders their fourth straight loss with a 6-1 victory at the recently-renamed Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.  Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves, several of the spectacular variety in the victory for the Flyers as he improves to 5-2-0.  The Flyers maintain their share of first place; they're tied with the Penguins (13 points).

Behind the Eight Ball Early

Kimmo Timonen's goal just 2:36 into play gave the Flyers the early lead and Carter doubled the advantage late in the period with the first of his two goals.  It's the fourth straight game that the Isles have allowed the first goal and the Isles are 0-4-2 this season when allowing the opening goal.

A Flyer Second

With one notable exception, the Flyers dominated the scoreboard in the second period, scoring four goals. Carter's 2^nd goal of the evening made it 3-0 just 2:55 into the second.  Chris Pronger scored two power play goals 4:49 apart, sandwiching a Frans Nielsen 3-on-5 penalty shot goal.  Andreas Nodl scored the other middle session goal for the Flyers.

Nielsen Converts on a Penalty Shot

Midway through the second period, Trent Hunter was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Andrej Meszaros in center ice.  Rick DiPietro was also assessed a minor penalty for leaving the crease, setting up a 2–minute 5-on-3.

Nielsen broke up the power play, was hooked by Chris Pronger, and awarded a penalty shot.  Using his patented shootout move, Nielsen:

·        converted the first attempt of his career, 

·        became the first Islander to score on a penalty shot in Philadelphia (Benoit Hogue had one at the Coliseum vs. the Flyers in 1995),

·        became the first Islander to score on a penalty shot since Ryan Smyth did so in Montreal on March 13, 2007,

·        scored the first 3-on-5 goal for the Isles since April 4, 2008 at Madison Square Garden (Richard Park),  and

·        scored the first 3-on-5 goal in the NHL this season.

Nielsen was one of three players in the NHL to score on a penalty shot tonight (Ryan Callahan and David Booth were the others); it's the first time that's happened in the NHL since December 29, 2007.

It's only the 2^nd time that the Isles have converted on a penalty shot in their last 19 attempts, dating back to a successful try at the Coliseum by Tim Connolly on March 21, 2000.

Scoreless Third

The third period kept the penalty timekeeper and scorer busy.  Zenon Konopka drew 17 penalty minutes and part of his second fight of the evening with Daniel Carcillo.  Trevor Gillies received a rare triple-minor and game misconduct a few minutes later.  With one minute left, Daniel Briere crosschecked Frans Nielsen off a face-off leading to a brief melee.  6-1 Philadelphia. Final.

Two Games in One

The teams combined for 120 penalty minutes (73 for the Islanders).  Three players (Hunter, Gillies and Briere) received game misconducts while Konopka, Carcillo and Nielsen all received ten minute misconducts.  Nielsen, who was the victim of Nielsen's cross-check, had not had as much as a minor penalty in the last 33 games.  He has drawn only 12 minors in 176 previous NHL games.

Six Pack

 Rick DiPietro made 23 saves as the Isles allowed six goals for the first time this season.

Carter, again.

Carter finished with two goals and an assist.  He has 38 points (17-21-38) in 34 games against the Islanders, including six game-winning goals.

Who Turned Off the Power?

The Isles lose for the second straight night and were 0-6 on the power play in each game.  Officially, the Flyers were 2-7 on the power play, with Pronger recording both goals.  Pronger now has scored twice in a game 15 times; this was the 6^th time in his career that he did so with a pair of power play tallies.

In the Circle

The Isles lost 38 of 69 draws (45%).  Zenon Konopka won 9 of 14 (65%) while John Tavares won 12 of 20 (60%).

Nine Down, Six to Go

This was the ninth game in a 15 game stretch that finds the Islanders playing 12 on the road and only three at home.  They are now 3-5-1 in the first nine games.  Two games remain on the current road trip; the Isles will host the Flyers next Saturday, before heading to California for three games to complete this stretch.

Missing Men

Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald remain out for extended periods; Rob Schremp, who played for the Sound Tigers on Friday, could be ready to return to the Isles on Wednesday.  Michael Grabner missed his third game with a groin injury while Milan Jurcina missed his first with a hamstring injury suffered Friday.

 Season Series Stats         

The Flyers lead the season series 1 game to none.  The teams will play at the Coliseum next Saturday.  The Isles are 0-10-1 in their last 11 visits to the City of Brotherly Love since a 4-2 win on the penultimate day of the 2006-07 season set up an Easter Epic finish in New Jersey the following day.  Their only point came in an overtime loss two years ago to the day; Jeff Carter's extra session goal gave Martin Biron, then with the Flyers, the victory.

Overall, the Isles are 1-13-3 in their last 17 games against the Flyers.

You Saw it on MSG+

The Flyers' now-eleven game home winning streak against the Isles is three games shy of the longest current streak in the NHL.  Nashville has beaten Columbus and Minnesota has defeated Edmonton 14 straight times.

Happy Anniversary

One year ago (October 30, 2009), Mark Streit scored in overtime to give the Islanders a win over Washington.

Back-to-Back Blues

This was the second of 20 sets of back-to-backs for the Isles this season.  (Only Buffalo (22) and Carolina (21) have more.)  The Isles are 0-1-1 on the front end and 1-1-0 on the back end.  Their next two games will also be played as a back-to-back.

Tough Road Foes

Five of the Islanders' first seven road opponents were in first place when they faced the Islanders.

Out With October

The Isles finish October 4-5-2.  They were 4-4-5 last October.

400 For Radek

Radek Martinek became the 12^th defensemen and 35^th player overall to appear in 400 games as an Islander.  You probably knew that Denis Potvin (1,060) has played in more games than any other Islander defensemen.  But did you know that Stefan Persson (622) was second?

Up Next

Wednesday, November 3rd- Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes 7:00pm

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders begin their third set of back-to-backs when they face Carolina on Wednesday night in Raleigh.  The teams split four games last season, with the Isles earning both a shootout win and an overtime win.

The Islanders will get their first look at Jeff Skinner, who is now the youngest player in the National Hockey League.

The Hurricanes were blanked 3-0 at home on Saturday by Pittsburgh; they finished October with a 5-5-0 record.  The 'Canes will be in Philadelphia on Monday before welcoming the Isles.

 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

 

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

The Skinny: Montreal 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 10

Montreal 3, Islanders 1

 

Alex Auld made 30 saves and Benoit Pouliot scored the winning goal at 7:19 of the third period as the Montreal Canadiens completed a sweep of the home-and-home series with a 3-1 victory over the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum.  The first place Canadiens have won four straight games and are 7-2-1 overall.

Plekanec Extends Streak

Tomas Plekanec scored the only goal of the first period, just 2:42 into play.  With Jon Sims sitting out a roughing penalty, Montreal needed just eight seconds to convert the power play for only their third power play goal of the season.

Big Night for Martin

Matt Martin made his season debut on Thursday in Montreal.  Late in the second period, Martin converted a pass from Frans Nielsen for his first National Hockey League goal.  Martin becomes the 311^th player to ever score a goal for the Islanders.  Moulson, who would fight Hal Gill in the final seconds of the middle sessions, also added eight hits – giving him 14 in just two games.

Sacre Pou –liot

The Isles had the better of play for most of the third period, but Benoit Pouliot converted a beautiful pass from Jeff Halpern to give the Canadiens the lead.  Travis Moen deflected Brian Gionta's shot with less than two minutes to play for the final margin.  3-1 Montreal. Final.

Streak-Busters

James Wisniewski was held without a point for the first time as an Islander, ending an official 5-game point scoring streak.  "The Wis" led all players with 28:35 of ice-time and finished with six shots on goal and five takeaways.

John Tavares and Matt Moulson both saw point streaks end as well.  Tavares was held pointless in a game that he finished for the first time this season, ending a 5-game point streak.  Moulson's streak ended at 4.

Alex Auld Stands Tall

Alex Auld has played for eight different NHL teams since the lockout.  This was his first appearance for the Canadiens as Carey Price had played in Montreal's first nine games.  It is Auld's second career win against the Isles (2-3-1) and his first since 2006.  Dwayne Roloson made 22 saves for the Isles but was the losing goaltender in both halves of the home-and-home, dropping his record to 2-3-0 on the season.

First Goal's a Key

The Isles are 4-1-0 when they score first and 0-3-2 when their opponent does so.

Fit to Be Tied

The Isles have been tied heading to the third period in six of their first ten games (2-3-1).

Fifteen to One

After scoring 15 goals in their first three home games, the Isles were held to just one.

Drop to Third

The Flyers beat the Penguins 3-2, while the Rangers lost as home to Carolina 4-3.  The Flyers' win ties Pittsburgh for the Division lead with 11 points, one ahead of the Islanders and two ahead of the Rangers.  The Devils also won on Friday, so they now have seven points.  The Isles suffer their first home regulation loss.  They are 2-1-1 at home and 4-4-2 overall. 

Power Out for One Night

The Isles were stopped on six power plays, including a 1:43 5-on-3 advantage, ending a streak of six straight games in which the power play had scored at least once.  The Isles have 13 power play goals in their first ten games; they had only 12 in their first 18 games last season. The Isles now have had 52 power play opportunities; only Pittsburgh has had more.  The penalty killers allowed one goal in two times short; the Isles have killed 26 of 29 (89.7%) over the last seven games. 

In the Circle

The Isles lost 34 of 57 draws (40%).  Zenon Konopka dropped 11 of 17 (35%) after winning 12 of 17 in Montreal.

Eight Down, Seven to Go

This was the eighth game in a 15 game stretch that finds the Islanders playing 12 on the road and only three at home.  They are now 3-4-1 in the first eight games.  The Isles now play six of the next seven on the road; their only remaining home game in this stretch is on November 6.

Missing Men

Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald remain out for extended periods; Rob Schremp recorded an assist for the Sound Tigers in their overtime win in Manchester on Friday.  Schremp had 4 shots and was +1.  Michael Grabner missed his second game with a groin injury. Milan Jurcina suffered a hamstring injury during the game and will not play on Saturday in Philadelphia, so Bruno Gervais, who made his season debut as a forward tonight, will likely return to the backline tomorrow. 

Season Series Stats          

The Canadiens lead the season series 2 games to none.  The teams will play at the Coliseum again on Boxing Day (December 26).  Montreal is 6-0-1 in their last seven trips to Long Island, with the only Islander points (1-6-0) in that stretch coming in a shootout win last April.

Happy Anniversary

The Isles last win on this date was against Montreal, but it came in 1997.  Since then, the Isles are 0-4-1 on this date.

Nino

Nino Niederreiter was returned to Portland of the WHL on Thursday.  He played for the Winterhawks on Friday night and was involved in a brawl early in the second period.    Nino also had an assist as the Winterhawks improved to 11-2-0-1 with a 4-2 win over Kelowna.

 Up Next

Saturday, October 30- Islanders @ Philadelphia Flyers 7:00pm

[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders are in Philadelphia on Saturday night as they complete their second set of back-to-backs on the season.  The Isles defeated Colorado two weeks ago, so they are 1-0-0 on the back-ends.

It's their first visit of the season to the recently renamed Wells Fargo Center.  The Isles are just as happy to see the name Wachovia Center disappear as the Isles have not had a lot of success against the Flyers, particularly in Philadelphia, in recent years.

The Isles are 0-9-1 in ten visits to the City of Brotherly Love since a 4-2 win on the penultimate day of the 2006-07 season set up an Easter Epic finish in New Jersey the following day.  Their only point came in an overtime loss two years ago to the day; Jeff Carter's extra session goal gave Martin Biron, then with the Flyers, the victory.

The Isles defeated Philadelphia 6-4 on April 1 at the Coliseum, ending a 15-game losing streak to the Flyers (0-12-3).

With their win over Pittsburgh on Friday, the Flyers will enter play with a share of first place in the Atlantic Division.  This will be the Isles' seventh road game of the season; their opponent has had at least a share of first place five times.

Coach Gordon announced at his post-game press conference that Rick DiPietro will be in goal for the game; Radek Martinek will become the 35^th player to appear in 400 games as an Islander.

 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

 

 

 

 

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

Correction: Isles are 2nd in PP opportunities; Pittsburgh has 54.

 

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

League Leaders

A couple of decades ago, I used to enjoy hearing Ed Westfall came attention to the Chrysler "League Leaders".   If he were to do it tonight, there would be several Islanders in prominent roles.

Wisniewski: Tied/1st -- points by defensemen, 11
                   2nd -- points per game (all players) 1.57 
                   1st -- points per game (defensemen) 1.57
                   1st -- power play assists - 9
                   Tied/5th -- asssists - 9
                   1st -- assists per game (all players) 1.29
                   1st-  power play points-- 10  (only 4 TEAMS have 10 pp goals)

Tavares:  Tied/7th -- goals 6
               1st -  goals per game  1.00
               Tied/1st -- pp goals 4

 
Parenteau  Tied/3rd --PP assists - 5
                 Tied/3rd -- PP points -7

Roloson    10th -- Goals Against Average - 2.23

Team        Tied/1st -- PP goals - 13
                1st -- PP opportunities -46
                3rd -- PP efficiency  28.3%
                9th -- Penalty kill 85.7%

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

Alex Auld

Alex Auld is expected to make his Canadiens' debut on Friday and face the Isles for the 6th time in his career.

 

Auld defeated the Isles 4-1 in 2006 while with the Canucks, but lost a shootout to Rick DiPietro later in 2006, while playing for Florida.  In November, 2008, Auld was in net for three games against the Isles; the Isles defeated Ottawa 3 times in a 17 day span.
 

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

Kabanov to Maine

...and in English:  http://www.lewistonhockey.com/article/maineiacs-acquire-kabanov-from-wildcats

 

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

Kabanov is a Maineiac

Literally.

Traded today from Moncton to Lewiston.

(Pardon my French)

Kirill Kabanov échangé aux MAINEiacs

Jeudi 28 octobre 2010

RDS.ca

Les MAINEiacs de Lewiston ont acquis le Russe Kirill Kabanov des Wildcats de Moncton.

 

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

Nino returned

The Isles have announced that they have returned Nino Niederreiter to Portland of the WHL.  Nino should have a shot at a Memorial Cup run as the Winterhawks are 10-2-0-1 and are the #1 ranked team in the WHL.

He'll likely get his old number back (22).  Wonder why he didn't wear it here.  :)

 

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

Oops

Minor error in last night's Skinny.  The Tavares paragraph should read as follows:

 

Tavares Extends Point Streak to 5 – Matches Career High

Just 13 seconds into the 3^rd period, John Tavares deflected a Wisniewksi shot to cut the Montreal advantage to 3-2.  It was the Isles' second power play goal of the evening and gives Tavares a five-game point scoring streak for the second time in his NHL career.  Tavares leads the Islanders in goals with six.  Four of his 6 goals have come on the power play, tying Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson for the NHL lead.

 

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

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 9

Montreal 5, Islanders 3

Three James Wisniewski shots from just inside the blue line produced three goals for the Islanders, but it was not enough at the Bell Centre in Montreal as the Canadiens defeated the Isles 5-3 in the front end of a home-and-home, before the customary sellout crowd of 21,273.  The first place Canadiens have won three straight games and are 6-2-1 overall.

 Darche Scores First

Mathieu Darche scored the game's first goal, 13:19 into play as the Islanders fell behind for the second straight game.    With PK Subban sitting out a penalty, Travis Moen converted a great pass from Tomas Plekanec to give Montreal a 2-0 lead late in the first period.  It was Montreal's first shorthanded goal of the season and the first allowed by the Isles in 27 games, dating back to January 28^th in Carolina.

Wisniewski!

Just 1:22 after Moen's goal, James Wisniewski got the Isles on the board in the final minute of the first period with a power play tally. Wisniewksi now has a point in all seven games he has played for the Islanders.

Plekanec Expands the Lead

Tomas Plekanec recorded his 10^th career goal against the Isles 7:33 into the second period to make it 3-1 in favor of Montreal.

Mr. Moen, Meet Zenon

Travis Moen took a boarding penalty midway through the second period with a dangerous hit on Wisniewski.  The Canadiens killed the minor penalty but when Moen exited the penalty box, he ran right into Zenon Konopka.  The game's only fight ensued.  It was Konopka's 4^th fight of the season; he now has 26 penalty minutes on the season.  After Konopka headed to the penalty box, Wisniewksi came by the penalty box to salute his mate.

Tavares Extends Point Streak to 5 – Matches Career High
Just 13 seconds into the 3rd period, John Tavares deflected a Wisniewksi shot to cut the Montreal advantage to 3-2. It was the Isles’ second power play goal of the evening and gives Tavares a five-game point scoring streak for the second time in his NHL career. Tavares leads the Islanders in goals with six. Four of his 6 goals have come on the power play, tying Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson for the NHL lead.

Halpern Doubles the Lead but Rollie Stops Pouliot

Montreal regained a 2-goal lead at 6:56 as Jeff Halpern's shot appeared to be deflected into the goal by Islander defensemen Mark Eaton.  Fifteen seconds later, Benoit Pouliot was pulled down by Radek Martinek and was given a penalty shot.  Dwayne Roloson stopped him to keep the lead at two.  It was the fifth penalty shot in the NHL this season and second against the Isles.  The Isles have stopped both attempts this season and 28 of 41 all-time opponent penalty shots.  Roloson has stopped 8 of 11 penalty shots in his career.

One Last Gasp…

Doug Weight deflected Wisniewski's shot behind Carey Price to draw the Isles within one with 7:04 to play.  It was the 2^nd goal of the season for the Islander captain, who was playing in his 98^th game with the team.  Andrei Kostisyn hit the empty net to settle matters.  5-3 Montreal. Final.

Every Day Carey

Carey Price made 18 saves to improve his record to 6-2-1.  He is 2-0-2 in four career starts against the Isles.  The Canadiens are one of three teams – Dallas (Kari Lehtonen) and Edmonton (Nikolai Khabibulin) are the others – to use only one goaltender this season. Might Alex Auld make his season debut on Friday at the Coliseum?   Roloson finished with 30 saves for the Isles, but falls to 2-2-0 on the season.

First Goal's a Key

The Isles are 4-1-0 when they score first and 0-2-2 when their opponent does so.

Shot Shortage

The Isles have been held to 25 shots or fewer in 6 of their last 7 games.  Since firing 47 against Dallas on Opening Night, the Isles have averaged 25.5 shots per game.

Mr. October

Ten of Tavares' 30 career goals have been scored in October.  He now has 15 career power play goals – 13 of them have been scored on the road.

The Wiz is the Word

James Wisniewksi now has 2 goals and 9 assists on the season.  The 11 points tie John-Michael Liles for the lead among all defensemen.  Both Wisniewksi and Liles have recorded a point in every game that they have played this season. James has recorded two assists in consecutive games; his 3 points tonight match his career high (set  4 times previously). Ten of Wisniewski's points have been on the power play; he leads the entire NHL in both power play assists (8) and power play points.

Still 2nd

With the Rangers and Penguins also suffering regulation losses, the Isles remain in second place in the Atlantic- one point behind Pittsburgh. The Isles are 2-3-1 on the road and 4-3-2 overall. 

Shorthanded Goals Are Killers

The Isles allowed their first shorthanded goal of the season.  The Islanders are 0-8-1 in the Scott Gordon era when they allow a shorty (and 0-9-1 since they won in a shootout at Madison Square Garden in a March 4, 2008 game).

Power(ful) Play

With two goals tonight, the Isles have now scored on the power play in six straight games. It's the first time since March 22-31, 2007 that they have managed that.  The Isles now have 13 power play goals in their first nine games that the Isles scored on the power play; they had only 12 in their first 18 games last season.  The 13 goals are the most in the NHL.  The penalty killers were perfect on all 3 chances; the Isles have killed 25 of 27 (92.6%) over the last six games, including 14 of 15 (93.3%) on this road trip.  Montreal is now 2-32 on their power play (6.3%) this season.

Half Full

The Isles finished the road trip going 6-17 on the power play and 14-15 on the penalty kill, yet were 2-2-0 on the trip.  The Isles scored only 5 even-strength goals in the four games.

In the Circle

The Isles lost 31 of 59 draws (47%).  Zenon Konopka had won 12 of 17 (71%).

Seven Down, Eight to Go

This is the seventh game in a 15 game stretch that will find the Islanders playing 12 on the road and only three at home.  They are now 3-3-1 in the first seven games.  The Isles head home for a Friday game with Montreal, before playing six of the next seven on the road; their only other remaining home game in this stretch is on November 6.

How Many First Place Teams Can They Face?

Of the Isles first six road games, they have faced a first place team four times.  Pittsburgh and Florida are the only teams that the Isles have faced on the road that were not in first place when the Isles faced them.  Two of those teams, Montreal and Tampa, now share the Conference lead with 13 points.

Missing Men

Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald remain out for extended periods; Rob Schremp began practicing with the team this week.  Josh Bailey returned to the line-up after missing two games with a hip injury and saw over 19 minutes of ice time.

Season Series Stats          

The Canadiens lead the season series 1 game to none.  The teams will play at the Coliseum on Friday and again on Boxing Day (December 26).  The Isles are 0-2-1 in their last three games in Montreal.

Happy Anniversary

The Isles defeated the Rangers 3-2 on this date in 1973 for their first ever win against their rivals.  Recent years have been less successful; the Isles have played four times in the last six years on October 27^th and dropped them all.

Nino

Nino Niederreiter played 14:28 in his 9^th NHL game.  The Isles will need to decide before he plays in another game whether or not they want to return him to Portland of the WHL. 

 Up Next

Friday, October 29- Montreal Canadiens @ Islanders 7:00pm

[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRHU 88.7FM]
It's the back-end of the home-and-home as the Canadiens visit Long Island for the first time this season.  It's the first time in 10 years that the teams are playing home-and-home; the Isles won identical 2-1 decisions on October 27-28, 2000.

The Isles will be looking to record a power play goal for the seventh straight game – they last did that as part of an eight game streak from March 13-28, 2002.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

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

Wang in contract to sell.... Plainview property

Wang's Plainview property, considered for casino, selling to home builder

Originally published: October 27, 2010 12:09 PM
Updated: October 27, 2010 1:52 PM
By RANDI F. MARSHALL  randi.marshall@newsday.com

New York Islanders owner Charles Wang is in contract to sell his 144 acres of Plainview property to home builder Michael Dubb, of The Beechwood Organization, Dubb confirmed Wednesday.

A week ago, Newsday reported that the Shinnecock Indian Nation was considering the Plainview land as a potential casino site. Dubb said he and Wang have been in talks for several months, adding that he was aware that the Shinnecocks were also on Wang's radar screen.

"To Charles' credit, he had options," Dubb said. "He possibly could have made a deal with the Shinnecocks but I think he wanted to do what he viewed as a more responsible use for the property."

Michael Picker, who oversees Wang's real estate holdings, was not immediately available for comment.

Dubb said he hopes to build a "lifestyle community" similar to the Meadowbrook Pointe project he built in Westbury. While that project is only for people 50 and older, Dubb said he hopes the Plainview project would be for a mix of ages and housing types.

But while Dubb said he would prefer to build housing at the site, he would not rule out any other possibilities - including a casino.

"My first desire is to create a lifestyle community that will be an asset to the neighborhood - and an asset to Nassau County," Dubb said. "In the event we can't succeed at that, we would consider all other options."

But building at Plainview has been a challenge in the past. In 2003, Wang proposed an extensive mixed-use development there, to be called Old Plainview, but four years later he pulled the project amid community objections.

Dubb said he hopes to hold meetings with civic leaders and the community before even designing the project, in an effort to avoid the same fate.

"I'm really not making any plans or decisions until I have input from the community stakeholders," he added.

But Dubb said he did hope to keep the project simpler, without the many different uses, such as a hotel, shops and office space, that Wang had originally proposed.

 

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

Is this the end of the line for the Devils?

It's October 26, 1983.  The New York Islanders are still Stanley Cup Champions.  Chris Chelios is in training with the US Olympic Team -- he won't be a Montreal Canadien for another 4 months. The Baltimore Orioles are World Champions of baseball, having won the title ten days earlier.

 

And the New Jersey Devils are shutout by Al Jensen in Washington, 2-0, to drop their record to 1-8-0.

 

That's the last time that the Devils had a worse record through nine games than the 2-6-1 the team currently sports.  New Jersey is last in the Eastern Conference and the only team in the NHL 4 ganes below the league's version of .500.

 

The Devils have scored 15 goals in 9 games (1.67 per); they've allowed 17 goals in nine 2nd periods (1.89 per).  They're 0-4-1 at home and just 2-28 on the power play overall.  Heck, they can't even count to 18 -- dressing fewer players multiple times due to cap issues. Did I mention that a player with 16 years and 74 games left on a contract at the center of those cap issues was a healthy scratch on Saturday?

 

In a word, the Devils are a mess.

 

The Devils have gotten off to slow starts before.  With Kovalchuk, Parise, Zajac, Elias and Marty the potential is certainly there to turn it all around. 

 

Come April, the Devils, as usual, may be laughing at all of us.  Or they may be reminding locals of the 1991 New York Mets.

 

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 hats x 2

Thanks to EJ Hradek, who picked up my note from yesterday's blog on the back-to-back 3 hat trick days.
 
Link to EJ's blog:   http://es.pn/9V8UXa  

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

The Skinny on all of those hat tricks

If you were following me on Twitter late last night, you would have learned that 3 hat tricks on back-to-back nights is a rare occurrence in the NHL.  In fact, it happened for the first time since 1988.

 

Here are the only three occurrences since the 1980-81 season:

 

John Tavares         10/23/2010              NYI           @     FLA            L      3     0     3

Alexander Semin   10/23/2010              WSH                 ATL            W     3     0     3

Brad Richardson   10/23/2010              LAK           @     COL           W     3     0     3

 

Steven Stamkos    10/22/2010              TBL           @     ATL            W     3     1     4

Rene Bourque       10/22/2010              CGY          @     CBJ            W     3     1     4

Daniel Alfredsson 10/22/2010              OTT          @     BUF           W     3     0     3

 

 

Tony Tanti              3/13/1988                VAN                  BUF           L      3     0     3

Ray Sheppard        3/13/1988                BUF          @     VAN          W     3     1     4

Bernie Federko     3/13/1988                STL            @     LAK            L      3     1     4

 

Hakan Loob           3/12/1988                CGY                  BUF           W     3     3     6

Craig Janney          3/12/1988                BOS          @     QUE          W     3     0     3

Peter Ihnacak            3/12/1988                TOR                  CHI            W     3     1     4

 

Pat Verbeek           2/28/1988                NJD                   MNS          W     4     0     4

Rick Vaive              2/28/1988                CHI                   PIT             W     3     1     4

Dan Quinn              2/28/1988                PIT            @     CHI            L      3     0     3

 

Kirk Muller             2/28/1988                NJD                   MNS          W     3     2     5

Rick Tocchet          2/27/1988                PHI            @     LAK            W     4     1     5

Bob Gainey            2/27/1988                MTL                  WPG         W     3     0     3

Geoff Courtnall         2/27/1988                BOS                  MNS          W     3     0     3

 

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