The Skinny: Isles 2, Penguins 1 (shootout)

What's the result of stopping Sidney Crosby's point streak and beating the
league-leading Penguins?  A very lengthy Skinny.  Enjoy.

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 35
Isles 2, Penguins 1 (shootout)
PA Parenteau scored the deciding goal in the shootout and Rick DiPietro made 37
saves as the Islanders ended Sidney Crosby's 25-game point streak and defeated
the Penguins 2-1 before the largest crowd of the season (14,345) at Nassau
Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  The Islanders are 4-0-1 in their last five at home
and have reached NHL .500 on home-ice (7-7-3).
Bailey Scores First
Following a scoreless first period, Josh Bailey scored his sixth goal of the
season just 34 seconds into the middle period when he converted a rebound of a
Travis Hamonic shot. The Isles thought that they had doubled the advantage later
in the session when Matt Moulson picked up a loose puck and fired it home, but a
quick whistle kept the score at 1-0.
Penguins Get Even
Chris Conner tied the game for Pittsburgh at 16:33 of the second period off a
rebound of a Tyler Kennedy shot; Crosby was not on the ice at the time.  The
second period ended 1-1.
A Penalty Shot?
The Isles had two power plays early in the third and held Pittsburgh without a
shot over a 13:20 span (late second/ early third).  However at 12:59 of the
period, an Islander was called for closing his hand on the puck in the crease,
awarding the Penguins a penalty shot.  Only players on the ice can take the shot
so Dan Bylsma selected shootout specialist Kris Letang.  Letang was stopped by
Rick DiPietro and the game remained tied; Rick has stopped 10-of-12 penalty
shots in his career.  Neither team scored in the final 7:01 of regulation or in
the five minute overtime, setting up a shootout.  The Penguins outshot the Isles
38-26 in the game.
A Shootout Win
Rob Schremp and Kris Letang traded goals in round 1; Frans Nielsen's patented
move gave the Isles a 2-1 lead.  After DiPietro stopped Crosby, Marc-Andre
Fleury stopped John Tavares.  Evgeny Malkin scored for only the 7th time in 23
attempts to send the shootout to an extra frame.  Parenteau scored for the Isles
and DiPietro stopped Mark Letestu for the shootout win.  The Isles win the
shootout 3-2, and win the game, too. 2-1 Final.
Home and Road
The Isles are 10-19-6, 7-7-3 at home.  They are now 6-9-3 under Jack Capuano,
including 5-1-1 in the last seven.  It's their best stretch since a 9-3-1
stretch in late 2009/early 2010. Pittsburgh is 25-11-3, 12-5-2 on the road. The
Penguins lead the NHL with 25 wins, 53 points and 26 road points.

In the Nets
Rick DiPietro improves to 5-6-4 as he makes 37 saves.  With the win, DiPietro
improves to 18-10 all-time in shootouts; it's his first shootout win since
January 16, 2010 against Buffalo.  DiPietro raises his all-time record over NHL
.500; he is now 124-123-33 in his career.
Marc-Andre Fleury, playing his 21st game in a 23 game stretch, made 25 saves; he
is 17-8-2 for Pittsburgh (16-2-2 in his last 20 starts).
Year of the Penalty Shot
There have been 38 penalty shots in the NHL this season, and the Islanders have
been involved in seven of them.  Six have gone the Isles' way as Frans Nielsen
has scored twice (both while the Isles were shorthanded) and the Isles goalies
have stopped 4 opposition tries.  Dwayne Roloson stopped Benoit Pouliot while
DiPietro has stopped Marian Gaborik, Evander Kane, and Letang. Los Angeles'
Dustin Brown has a penalty shot goal against the Isles this season.
This was the 11th penalty shot in an Islander-Penguin game, which is by far the
most for the Islanders against any opponent.  Tim Connolly scored the Isles'
only goal in seven tries; Mario Lemieux has the only Penguin goal in four tries.
DiPietro stopped Evgeny Malkin on a penalty shot in 2007.

Power Plays
The Isles went 0-3 on the power play while the Penguins were 0-2.  In the two
games between the teams this season, the Isles have gone 1-9 (11%) on the power
play while the Penguins are 1-10 (10%).
In the Circle
The Isles won 35 of 67 (52%). John Tavares won 11 of 16 for the Isles; Crosby,
who was 10 of 13 through two periods, won just 6 of 17 in the third period and
overtime.
It's Spelled T-E-A-M
The Isles blocked 28 shots (7 from Malkin alone), including five by Andrew
MacDonald.  MacDonald led all players with 27:44 of icetime (his second highest
total of the season).  Frans Nielsen had four blocks, including a big one when
the Isles were shorthanded in overtime. Matt Martin had seven hits to lead all
players.
Stopping Sidney
For the first time since November 3rd, Sidney Crosby was held off the scorebook.
The Isles not only stopped Crosby's 25-game point streak (26-24-50), they also
ended his five-game goal streak.  It's the third time in the last eight games
that the Isles have held Crosby without a point.  The Kid has 18 points against
the Isles in the other five games.  Crosby has 65 points on the season; the New
Jersey Devils have scored only 62 goals.  This was only the 5th time this season
that he was held without a point.
Crosby played a team-high 26:16, including the first 1:44 and the last 1:51 of
the five minute overtime.
Streaks Stopped
John Tavares' career-best point streak ended at 6 games, while Parenteau's was
stopped at four.  Blake Comeau and Rob Schremp both had three game streaks
stopped.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent
Hunter and Radek Martinek remain out.  With the trade of James Wisniewski to
Montreal, Bruno Gervais returned to the line-up. The Isles have now lost 204
man-games to injury.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 117 games since
joining the team last season.  Frans Nielsen (who missed most of the third
period on Monday in New York), Zenon Konopka, Blake Comeau are the only other
Isles to have played every game this season. Travis Hamonic (who played a career
high 25:08) has now played 15 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest
consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.
Season Series Stats          
The Isles' shootout win breaks a 5-game Penguin winning streak against the
Isles.  This season's series is even at one game and three points each, with
each team holding an extra time win on home ice.  The next two meeting will come
just over a week apart in late January and early February.   Going back to last
season's finale, this was the third consecutive game between the teams to go
beyond regulation (Pittsburgh won the other two with overtime goals).  The Isles
are now 3-0-2 in their last five games at home against Pittsburgh and are 4-1-3
in the last eight at the Coliseum against the Penguins.
Shootout Stats
The Isles have the Penguins' number, at least in the shootout. This was the
eighth shootout between the teams; the Isles are 6-2.  The six wins and
shootouts are by far the Isles most with an individual opponent.  It's the
Isles' first win in four shootouts this season and the Penguins' first loss in
four.
Auld Lang Syne
This was the final home game of 2010.  The Isles end the calendar year with a
3-game home winning streak.  The Isles went 21-13-5 at home in 2010, including
7-7-3 so far this season.
Happy Anniversary
9 years ago today (December 29, 2001):  Alexei Yashin scored in overtime to give
the Isles a 6-5 win over Montreal, improving the Isles' record to 19-11-5-2.

This is the second straight season that the Isles have won in a shootout on this
date, and they are 6-1-0 in their last seven December 29th games. The Isles are
9-10-1 all-time on this date, including Chico Resch's shutout in Washington in
1974.
Up Next
Friday, December 31- Islanders @ Detroit 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
48 hours after beating the best team in the East, the Isles will take on the
Western Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.  It's the first
game of a season-long five game road trip and the only meeting of the teams this
season.
The Isles have blanked Detroit in consecutive meetings.  Joey MacDonald needed
42 saves for a 2-0 win in Detroit on March 27, 2009, while Dwayne Roloson needed
only 16 in a 6-0 blanking at the Coliseum on January 12, 2010.  The Red Wings
haven't scored a goal against the Isles since Henrik Zetterberg capped a
comeback from a 3-0 third period deficit with an overtime goal at the Coliseum
on January 30, 2007.
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

A stat too good to be true...but it is

Entering play tonight, Sidney Crosby is now tied for 314th place on the all-time
NHL point list, 1 point behind Dick Duff and Joe Juneau

So what, you say? Look who he's tied with:

314 Alex Ovechkin 435 283-288-571
315 Sidney Crosby 409 215-356-571

Since the Caps don't play again until Saturday, it will be up to the Isles to
keep this storyline in place for NBC.

(thanks to NHL Winter Classic release for the idea!)

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

Puck the Media Names Their Award Winners

http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/the-best-and-worst-of-hockey-broadcasting-in-2010/#more-6147

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

Conditional pick in Wisniewski deal

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=547572

<<The Islanders will receive a second-round compensatory pick the Canadiens
were due to receive at the 2011 Entry Draft. If the Canadiens make the 2011
Stanley Cup Playoffs and Wisniewski plays in at least 50 percent of the
Canadiens' playoff games, the Islanders will receive the Canadiens' 2012
fifth-round pick; if that pick is unavailable the Islanders will get a
fourth-round pick in 2013. >>

Thanks to Cornell alum Craig Buckser for pointing that out!

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

DeHaan hurt in Canada's easy victory

Canada beat the Czechs 7-2 but from an Isles perspective, the story is Calvin
DeHaan.

DeHaan is the captain of the Oshawa Generals and the team tweeted "Calvin DeHaan
leaves Team Canada game in 2nd Period today, appears to be favouring his left
knee"

Casey Cizikas at least appears healthy; he had an assist in the romp. Brayden
Schenn (Kings) had a goal and four assists; Team Captain Ryan Ellis (Predators)
had a goal and three assists. Zack Kassian (Sabres) was ejected after receiving
a match penalty.

Canada is 2-0 in the tourney, with an expected walkover against Norway tomorrow.

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

Wisniewski's place in the Isles history books

Despite all of the offense (21 points in 32 games for a team that has only
scored 78 goals (in 34 games) ), Wisniewski was a -18.

How bad is -18?

It's the lowest +/- rating for any Islander player that has appeared in 38 games
or fewer. (Ken Murray was -21 in 1972/73 and Neil Nicholson was -18 over parts
of three seasons, primarily 1972/73; both played in 39 career games. Nicholson
was -20 through 38 games in 72/73 and 73/74, but played in one game in 77/78 --
a 9-2 Thanksgiving Eve shellacking of the North Stars --and was +2 in that game,
his final one in the NHL)

A -18 rating is 754th out of 760 NHL players this season. Ilya Kovalchuk is
760th, with a rating of -26.

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

Isles Trade Wisniewski...and what's a compensatory pick anyhow?

The Isles announced earlier this afternoon that they have traded James
Wisniewski to Montreal. In exchange, the Isles receive a compensatory 2nd round
pick in 2011 and a conditional 5th round pick in 2012.

The compensatory pick is a real draft pick. It's the pick that Montreal received
for not signing their first round pick from 2006 (David Fischer, who went to
the Univ of Minnesota instead --played 4 years there and is now in the ECHL).
The Canadiens kept his rights until his collegiate eligibility expired and then
received a conditional pick when they could not sign him.

Fischer was the 20th pick in 1st round in 2006, so the compensatory pick
becomes the 20th pick in the 2nd round in 2011. (about 50th overall)
No word yet on what "conditions" would allow the Isles to also receive the pick
in 2012.

Regardless, the Isles surrendered a conditional third-round pick in 2011 to get
Wisniewski (I don't think that I have seen the conditions on that one either)
and now have acquired a second round pick in the same draft for him.

Wisniewski leaves the Islanders with a 6-game point streak (1-5-6) in tact; it's
the longest streak of his career. He also was one of the quad-leading scorers
on the team, tied with Parenteau, Tavares, and Comeau.

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

Finland 4, Swiss 0

FiNAL. Finns take over 1st place in group with 4 points (W, OTL); Swiss have 3
(W, L). Shots were 38-15 in Finland's favor.

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

Finland 1, Swiss 0 (end 1)

Captain Nino trailing after 20 mins. In a shot differential eerily reminiscent
of last night's Isles game, Finns outshot Swiss 18-5. Joonas Nattinen, who
scored against the US on Sunday has the only goal -- he's a 2009 3rd round pick
of the Canadiens.

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

Nice feature on Isles prospect Casey Cizikas

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=547529

Some excerpts:

<<
"What did the coaching staff see in Casey Cizikas that earned him a spot on this
hockey team?"

"Casey is the captain of No. 1 team in Canada," said Cameron. "He's smart,
knows how to get the job done and will do whatever it takes."

Cameron would know since he also coaches Cizikas with the Mississauga St.
Michael's Majors of the Ontario Hockey League. ThReporters wanted to know about
a certain 25-second stretch in the first period when the selfless Cizikas was a
one-man wrecking crew with his team shorthanded and down 1-0 some 12 minutes
into the contest.

Cizikas, 19, was too humble to admit his effort on the penalty kill might have
changed the complexion of the entire game, but only after listening to him
discuss that shift do you begin to realize just how important it was.

"The puck went into the corner and you do what all PK'ers try to do -- try to
buy some time and eat the clock down," said Cizikas. "I had some luck on my
side because they just couldn't get the puck off of me."

Cizikas, who has 16 goals, 36 points and a plus-23 rating in 28 games with
Mississauga this season, was a fourth-round choice (No. 92) of the Islanders in
2009.

But in addition to trying to become an impactful part of the Canadian National
Junior Team, Cizikas has been working hard to get his life off the ice back in
order. During a rugby match in 2007, it was alleged that a Cizikas tackle led
to fatal brain injuries suffered by 15-year-old Manny Castillo. Cizikas was
charged with manslaughter, and on July 6, 2009, he was sentenced to one year of
probation and 100 hours of community service. The incident is something Cizikas
won't soon forget.

"I know for a fact (Cameron) lost time with his family so he could be there for
me," Cizikas told AOL Fanhouse. "I couldn't ask for anything more from a person
in my lifetime than what Dave Cameron has done for me."
>>

At some point, maybe Cameron, himself an Islander draft pick (135th overall in
1978), will have another footnote in Islander history. Another, you ask?
Cameron and Bob Lorimer were traded to Colorado in 1981. At the entry draft two
springs later, the Isles collected their piece of that trade- a draft choice by
the name of Pat LaFontaine.

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

Nielsen practices

Frans Nielsen is practicing with the Isles today. He has the 2nd longest
consecutive game streak among current Isles: 110. (Matt Moulson has played in
all 116 games since joining the Isles)

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: Rangers 7, Isles 2

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 34
Rangers 7, Isles 2
Long Island native Matt Gilroy scored twice—his first goals since November 28,
2009 and the Rangers bombed 52 shots on Dwayne Roloson as they defeated the
Islanders 7-2 in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square
Garden.  The loss breaks the Islanders' three game winning streak and
season-high five-game point streak (4-0-1).
Early Omen
Gilroy's first goal came just 44 seconds into the contest; the puck was
deflected in off Rob Schremp's stick.  It was the earliest goal allowed by the
Isles in a game this season.
The Isles Rebound with 2 in 1:52
The Isles grabbed the lead as Schremp and PA Parenteau scored 1:52 apart.  James
Wisniewski, John Tavares, Blake Comeau and Mark Eaton earned assists on the
goals.  Parenteau, Wisniewski, Tavares, and Comeau each have 21 points to share
the team lead in points.
Gaborik Evens It
Marian Gaborik tied the game with a power play goal at 19:09 of the first. It
was his 10th goal of the season and 12th in 19 career games against the Isles. 
The Rangers outshot the Isles 18-12 in the opening period.
Rangers Score Two In the Second
After Henrik Lundqvist made a big save on John Tavares midway through the
period, Gilroy and Brian Boyle scored six minutes apart to give the Rangers the
lead.   It was the 13th goal of the season for Boyle, who had only 12 goals in
106 NHL games prior to this season.  The Rangers dominated the shot clock 18-4
in the second period.

… and Three More in the Third
Brandon Dubinsky scored 4:14 into the third to make in 5-2; former Islander
Ruslan Fedotenko and rookie Derek Stepan (goal in four straight games) scored
1:29 apart to cement matters.  7-2 Final.
Home and Road
The Rangers are 21-14-2; 9-8-2 at the Garden.  The Rangers have played better at
home of late, and are 7-3-1 in their last 11 at home. The Isles are now 9-19-6,
3-12-3 on the road.  The Isles won consecutive overtime games on the road
earlier this season, but they failed in their attempt to win consecutive road
games in regulation for the first time since January 16-22, 2008.

In the Nets
Dwayne Roloson was named the Player of the Week earlier in the day, and made 45
saves.  However, he allowed seven goals for the fourth time in his career.  He
has still stopped 151 of 161 shots (93.8%) over the last four games.  Henrik
Lunqvist made 18 saves for the Rangers; he saw only one shot in the first 7
minutes of the opening period, one shot in the first 11 minutes of the second
period, and one shot in the first 18 minutes of the third.  Lundqvist is now
20-9-5 vs. the Isles.
52 Shots Against…
…are the most against the Isles this season and the most vs. the Isles since
Toronto had 61 last November 23rd.  Every Ranger had at least one shot on goal. 
The 52 shots are the third highest in the NHL this season; Florida had 55 in a
loss to Atlanta on November 3rd and St. Louis had 53 in a win over Anaheim on
October 11th.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-2 on the power play while the Rangers were 2-4.  In the four
games between the teams this season, the Rangers have gone 6-15(40%) on the
power play while the Isles are 2-10 (20%).

In the Circle
The Isles won 25 of 55 (45%). John Tavares was the Isles best, winning 9 of 18
(50%).  As Chris King pointed out during the Islander post-game, Brian Boyle won
9 of 10 over two periods, and 9 of 13 overall for the Rangers.
Not Exactly 7th Heaven
The seven Ranger goals equal the most against the Isles this season; Carolina
scored seven on November 3rd. It's the first time that the Isles have allowed at
least seven goals to the Rangers since a 9-2 Ranger win on Valentine's Day,
1992.
Streaks Alive
Despite the loss, John Tavares and James Wisniewski each extended their
career-best point streaks to 6 games, tied (with others) for the 3rd longest
active streak in the NHL;  Sidney Crosby has a point in 24 straight while Ryan
Kesler has earned points in seven straight games.  Parenteau now has his second
4-game streak of the season (also a career high), while Comeau and Schremp
extended their point streaks to three.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent
Hunter and Radek Martinek remain out.  Trevor Gillies replaced Bruno Gervais in
the line-up as the Isles went with 12 forwards for the first time in three
games. The Isles have now lost 196 man-games to injury.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 116 games since
joining the team last season.  Frans Nielsen, Zenon Konopka, Blake Comeau are
the only other Isles to have played every game this season. James Wisniewski is
the only Islander defenseman to not miss a game due to injury this season; he
has played the most consecutive games on defense for the Isles: 32.
Season Series Stats            
The Rangers lead the season series three games to one, and six points to two.
 The season series will conclude in Montreal on February 10th.  The Isles have
lost three straight at the Garden, including two this season.  The teams will
next play at the Garden on March 15th before ending their season series on Long
Island on March 31st.
Happy Anniversary
11 years ago today (December 27, 1999):  Roberto Luongo records his first NHL
shutout, and only shutout as an Islander, as he makes 34 stops in a 3-0 win over
Boston.
The Isles have played on this date in five straight seasons, and lost them all
(0-4-1).  They are 4-9-4 all-time on this date.
Up Next
Wednesday, December 29- Pittsburgh @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
If the Atlanta Thrashers do not stop it on Tuesday, Sidney Crosby will bring HBO
and a 25-game point streak to the Coliseum on Wednesday for their final game
before the Winter Classic and the Islanders' final home game of 2010. 

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Penguins won in
overtime on October 15th.  While the Penguins will carry a 5-game winning streak
over the Isles into the game, each of the last two have been in overtime and
four of those games were in Pittsburgh.  The Isles are 2-0-2 in their last four
games at home against Pittsburgh and are 3-1-3 in the last at the Coliseum
against the Penguins.
And Finally…
Regular readers of The Skinny will note that there was a scoring change after
last evening's game.  An assist credited to Wisniewski was later given to
Tavares.
 
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

Updating last night's Skinny

"The Skinny"
 
UPDATE
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 33
Isles 4, Montreal 1
 
As Rob Carlin mentioned before tonight's game, there was a scoring change after
last night's game, as James Wisniewski lost an assist and John Tavares gained
one.  Tavares thus extends his point streak to 5 games but Wisniewski loses his
assist streak.  Wisniewski also has a 5 game point streak entering tonight's
game.
The Isles enter the game with quad-scoring leaders as Wisniewski, Tavares, Blake
Comeau and PA Parenteau all have 20 points.
 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: Isles 4, Canadiens 1

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 33
Isles 4, Montreal 1
Dwayne Roloson made 38 saves for his third win in as many starts as the
Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in front of a blizzard crown of
3,136 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  The three straight wins matches
the season high set in October, while the Isles have now earned points in a
season-high five straight games (4-0-1).
3,136 Very Special Fans
In a game played in a blizzard, many ticketholders elected not to attend.  3,136
did –the second smallest announced attendance in islander history.  Under
similar circumstances on February 8, 1994, 2,966 attended an Islander-Sabre
game.  All ticketholders for tonight's game, whether they attended the game or
not, can exchange their ducats for another game.  See the Islander website for
details.
Comeau Grabs the Lead
The Isles scored first as Blake Comeau became the first Islander with 20 points
on the season, as he beat Carey Price 11:04 into play for the opening session's
only goal. It was Comeau's second goal in as many games; it's the second time
this season that he has scored in consecutive games.
Grabner Doubles the Advantage
Montreal got off to a good start in the second period, but a Jack Capuano
timeout seemed to calm matters 3 ½ minutes in.  While Montreal outshot the Isles
16-7 in the middle session, it was the Isles who had the only goal.  Michael
Grabner scored on a breakaway for his 8th goal of the season.  The Isles also
had a goal waved off earlier in the session; video review could not conclusively
determine that the puck fully crossed the goal line after a price misplay.
Max Pays for His Crime
Montreal's Max Pacioretty, a Connecticut native, was ejected after being called
for boarding early in the third period and the Isles made him pay, with two
power play goals on the ensuing major penalty.  P.A. Parenteau and James
Wisniewski each scored a goal and had an assist on the two goals scored just
2:20 apart.  It's the first time since October 27th that the Isles have scored
two power play goals in a game, and the first time since October 11th that they
had done so in a single period.  Wisniewski's goal came on a 5-3.
Tomas Plekanec ruined the shutout with his 11th goal of the season (3rd against
the Isles), but not the evening – at least from an Islander perspective, who
outscore their opponent in the third period for the second straight game and
record their third straight win. 4-1 Final.
Home and Road
The Isles are now 9-18-6, 6-7-3 at home. The Canadiens are 20-14-2, 8-9-0 on the
road. With the win, the Isles now hold a four point lead over New Jersey; the
Isles have also played two fewer games.

In the Nets
Dwayne Roloson makes 38 saves for his third straight win; he has allowed two
goals or fewer in 10 of his 18 starts.  Roloson played three games this week,
stopping 106 of 109 shots (97.2%).  He should merit consideration for the NHL
Player of the Week, which will be announced at noon on Monday.  Carey Price made
21 saves for Montreal.
Roloson has allowed just one goal in each of the last three games; it's the
first time that the Isles have allowed one goal or fewer in three consecutive
games since a four-game stretch from March 7-14, 2006. (Rick DiPietro was in
nets for all four of those wins.)
Nobody Leads the Wiz
James Wisniewski now leads the Isles in assists (18) and points (21).  He also
leads in power play assists (11) and power play points (14). Wisniewski now has
an assist in five straight games for the second time this season. 

Power Plays
The Isles went 2-8 on the power play against a Canadiens squad that had killed
57/62 on the season in road games, and had over 14 minutes of power play time. 
They have now tallied six times in the last seven games with the extra man. The
Canadiens went 0-2 on the power play the Isles have killed six straight over the
last two games. 

In the Circle
The Isles had a good night in the circle, winning 34 of 61 (56%). John Tavares,
who had his four game point streak stopped, was dominant in the circle, winning
14 of 20 (70%).  Jeff Halpern was the Canadiens' best, winning his first six
draws, and finishing 6 of 10 overall.
Protecting the Lead
The Isles are 8-3-0 when scoring first and are 7-1-2 when leading after two
periods.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, and
Trent Hunter remain out.  Rick DiPietro was activated from IR and Matt Martin
returned from his two-game suspension, so Nathan Lawson and Jesse Joensuu were
returned to Bridgeport. With Radek Martinek still banged up, Bruno Gervais and
Jack Hillen were in the line-up as the Isles dressed 7 defensemen for the second
time this season.  Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch.  The Isles have now
lost 190 man-games to injury.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson was injured on a high hit by Anton Volchenkov in the first period
on Thursday but dressed tonight.  Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has
played in all 115 games since joining the team last season.  Frans Nielsen,
Zenon Konopka, Blake Comeau are the only other Isles to have played every game
this season. James Wisniewski is the only Islander defenseman to not miss a game
due to injury this season; he has played the most consecutive games on defense
for the Isles: 31.
Season Series Stats            
The Canadiens still lead the season series two games to one, and four points to
two.  The season series will conclude in Montreal on February 10th.  The Isles'
win tonight was their first in regulation over Montreal since February 24,
2007.  The Isles had gone 3-11-1 in the interim, but all three of their wins
were in overtime or shootouts.  Montreal had gone 6-0-1 in their last seven
visits to Long Island.
Happy Anniversary
1 year ago today (December 26, 2009):  Kyle Okposo tallies in overtime as the
Isles beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. It's the fourth time an
Islander has scored on Boxing Day in overtime—more than any other day in their
history.  Benoit Hogue (1993), Mark Parrish (2003) and Mike Comrie (2007) are
the other OT goal scorers.
The Isles have played on this date in seven straight seasons, and have now won
five straight on Boxing Day (6-1-0 in the last seven).
The Isles are 16-7-2 on December 26th in their history, and have now earned more
points on this date than any other (33 on December 17th).
Up Next
Monday, December 27- Islanders @ Rangers 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles head to Manhattan to battle the Rangers for the fourth time this
season.  The Isles defeated the Rangers in October, but the Rangers swept a
home-and-home earlier this month. 

Okposo's overtime goal last December 26th was the Isles' last one at MSG.  The
Rangers have blanked the Isles in each of the last two games on Garden ice.
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

Snow and a Rare Sunday Home Game

The Isles are entertaining Montreal tonight in only the 57th Sunday home game of
their 38 season history.

Most of these games have been afternoon games; of the four Sunday games the
Isles will play this season, tonight marks the only night game.

The Isles played two Sunday home games in 1973 (one in January and one in
December); they then played only one other Sunday night home game until 1990.
That game was played on March 26, 1978 -- the Isles defeated Minnesota 6-3 on
Easter Sunday. (Yes, the holidays were early that year) The ironic portion of
that -- the game was originally scheduled to be played on February 7, 1978 --
but became the first home game in Isles history to be postponed due to a
blizzard.

The Isles have had only five games in their postponed due to weather -- none
since 1993.

SCHEDULED PLAYED LOCATION SCORE REASON
Dec. 26, 1975 Feb. 6, 1976 Detroit L 4-3 Snow
Feb. 7, 1978 Mar. 26, 1978 NYI (vs. Minn.) W 6-3 Snow
Dec. 31, 1978 Jan. 22, 1979 Chicago W 2-1 Snow
Jan. 21, 1979 Feb. 14, 1979 Buffalo L 2-1 Snow
Mar. 13, 1993 Mar. 14, 1993 NYI (vs. Pitt.) L 3-2 Snow

The Isles were originally scheduled to play Washington on March 14, 1993, but
since Pittsburgh was in town and the Capitals were not, the Isles faced
Pittsburgh. The Isles-Caps game was played on March 25th.

This will be the second straight December that the Isles have hosted a blizzard
game against Montreal. The Canadiens blanked the Isles under similar
circumstances last December 19.

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

Niederreiter, Swiss win Opener

It took Nino Niederreiter 27 seconds to equal his point total in 9 NHL games
with the Isles earlier this season.

Nino was credited with an unassisted goal at 9:21 of the first period and then
added an assist 27 seconds later as Switzerland built a 4-0 lead after one
period, and hung on to defeat Germany 4-3. Both of his points came on the power
play.

Of the 22 players on the Swiss team, only 4 are younger than Nino -- one by only
a matter of days.

The Swiss have round-robin games on Tuesday/Thursday before facing the US in
their final round robin game on New Years' Eve. The NY Eve gave will be shown
on NHL Network.

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 off to good start at World Jrs

It took Nino Niederreiter 27 seconds to equal his point total in 9 NHL games
with the Isles earlier this season.

Nino was credited with an unassisted goal at 9:21 of the first period and then
added an assist 27 seconds later.

The Swiss lead Germany 4-2 midway through the third period.

Of the 22 players on the Swiss team, only 4 are younger than Nino -- one by only
a matter of days.

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

Brock Nelson stars in World Junior Tuneup

<<Team USA wins final exhibition game

Brock Nelson (Minneapolis, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) scored two first-period
goals, as the U.S. National Junior Team topped Norway, 6-1, here tonight before
an overflow crowd at Jamestown Savings Bank Arena.

Tonight's game was the last of three pre-tournament games designed to prepare
the U.S. National Junior Team for the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation
World Junior Championship, which will take place Sunday (Dec. 26) through Jan.
5 in Buffalo, N.Y.>>

The US plays its first game at 8 pm Sunday; Canada plays Russia at 4:00 Sunday.

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

Elizabeth Turgeon was born the summer before her dad took the Isles on a magical
ride, all the way to the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals. Thursday evening, her all too
short life ended in tragedy. Heartfelt condolences to the Turgeon family.



(Copy of original story has been removed by request of the Denver Channel.)

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26263674/detail.html

The Skinny: Isles 5, Devils 1

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 32
Isles 5, New Jersey 1
Josh Bailey scored two first period goals and Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves as
the Islanders spoiled Jacques Lemaire's return to the bench, defeating the
Devils 5-1 before 13,312 at the Prudential Center in Newark.  The Isles sweep a
set of back-to-backs for the first time this season and extend their point
streak to four, matching the season high set in October.

A Bailey Period
Josh Bailey had two great chances against the Lightning on Wednesday.  In the
first 5:39 on Thursday, he had two goals, converting a Jamie Langenbrunner
giveaway for the first goal and then adding the Isles' first power play goal on
the road since November 4th in Ottawa.  It's the second time in his NHL career
that Bailey has scored twice in a game; he also scored twice on March 21, 2009
in Ottawa.
Tavares Makes it 3-0
John Tavares then made it 3-0 for the Isles with his 10th goal of the season
coming at the 11 minute mark of the opening session as he converted a rebound of
a Travis Hamonic shot.   Tavares has now five points in the last four games
(2-3-5); it's his second streak of at least four games this season (5-game
streak in October). The Devils called timeout and then settled down but the
opening session ended 3-0 Isles, with New York holding an 8-6 shot advantage.
Rollie's Time
The remainder of the game belonged to Dwayne Roloson; the Isles were outshot
29-6 over the final two periods.  Travis Zajac got the Devils on the board early
in the second period but any hopes for a Devils comeback were short-circuited
when Frans Nielsen scored on the rebound of a Bailey shot while the Isles were
shorthanded midway through the second period. Bailey's three point game was the
second of his career (1/9/2010 in Phoenix). Blake Comeau scored early in the
third period to complete the scoring.  5-1 Final.

Home and Road
The Isles are now 8-18-6, 3-11-3 on the road. The Devils are 9-23-2, 5-9-2 at
home. With the win, the Isles now hold a two point lead over New Jersey; the
Isles have also played two fewer games. The Devils were held to one goal for the
fourth straight game (all losses); they are 1-9-0 in their last 10.
In the Nets
Dwayne Roloson makes 34 saves for the second straight night; he has allowed two
goals or fewer in 9 of his 17 starts.  The Isles finally scored more than two
goals for him.  They had scored 2 goals or fewer in 12 straight Roloson starts
(1-10-1).   Martin Brodeur, who has never had a losing season in the NHL, drops
to 5-16-1.  It's the first time in his career that he has played a complete game
and allowed at least five goals on fewer than 17 shots.
Streakbusters
The Isles outscored the Devils 1-0 in the third period. This ends a streak of 29
consecutive games in which they did not outscore their opponents in the final
period.  This is the longest such streak in NHL history; the previous high was
23 by St. Louis in 2001 and Montreal in 2002.
The Isles also break a 12-game road winless streak (0-10-2), winning for the
first time since October 18th in Tampa. It's their first regulation road win
since March 9th in Vancouver, ending a 22-game streak in which the opposition
gained at least one point (19-0-3 vs. the Isles)
The Isles sweep a set of back-to-backs for the first time since March 13-14,
2010. 

The Isles were held to 14 shots, fewest since April 7, 2009 in Carolina.  It's
the first time that the Isles have scored at least 5 goals on 16 shots or fewer
since scoring 5 on 15 shots on October 20, 2003 vs. Toronto.  It had not
happened on the road they scored five goals on 16 shots on November 30, 1990 at
the Meadowlands.
Power Plays
The Isles scored on their only power play attempt.  They have now tallied four
times in the last six games with the extra man. The Devils went 0-4 on the power
play; it's the first time in five games that the Isles have not allowed a power
play goal.
SHG!
Nielsen's goal is his third shorthanded goal of the season, and the first time
he has scored shorthanded while not attempting a penalty shot.  It's the 4th
shorthanded goal of the season for the Isles (Milan Jurcina has the other) and
the 3rd allowed by New Jersey.  He is the first Islander since Sean Bergenheim
in 2008-09 to have at least three SH goals in a season.
As Seen on MSG+2!
Nielsen is the first Islander since Shawn Bates to score at least three
shorthanded goals in a season on the road. Bates managed four in 2002-03,
scoring in Philadelphia, Florida, Tampa and Toronto.
In the Circle
The Isles had a tough night in the circle, winning 26 of 56 (46%). Zenon Konopka
won 9 of 13.  Travis Zajac won 10 of 17 for the Devils.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent
Hunter and Rick DiPietro remain out.  With Radek Martinek still banged up, Bruno
Gervais and Jack Hillen returned to the line-up as the Isles dressed 7
defensemen for the first time this season.  Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch
while Matt Martin missed the second of his two-game suspension.  The Isles have
now lost 184 man-games to injury.
Moulson Hurt
The Isles played most of the game with only ten forwards as Matt Moulson was
injured on a high hit by Anton Volchenkov in the first period and did not
return.  Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 114 games since
joining the team last season.  Frans Nielsen, Zenon Konopka, Blake Comeau are
the only other Isles to have played every game this season. James Wisniewski is
the only Islander defenseman to not miss a game due to injury this season; he
has played the most consecutive games on defense for the Isles: 30.
Dropping the Gloves
Zenon Konopka had two fights, with Adam Mair in the first period and with Dave
Clarkson late in the game.  Konopka now had eleven fights; only George Parros
(12) has had more.
Season Series Stats            
The Isles lead the season series two games to none, and four points to zero.
 The next meeting will be on January 17th, an MLK Day matinee as the Coliseum. 
The win is the Isles' first in Newark since March 21, 2008; they had gone 0-6-0
under Scott Gordon in New Jersey over the past two seasons, and were outscored
26-8.  It's the first time the Isles have ever tallied five times at The Rock;
they last scored five in New Jersey on November 2, 2006 at the Meadowlands.
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago today (December 22, 1978):  In one of the memorable games of Bryan
Trottier's career, Bryan tallies five goals and three assists as the Isles pound
the Rangers 9-4 at the Coliseum.  Trottier's six points in the second period set
an NHL record for points in a period.

In their history, the Isles are 14-10-2 on this date.
Up Next
Sunday, December 26- Montreal @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles play their traditional Boxing Day game when they entertain Montreal on
Sunday.  It's the third meeting of the season between the teams; the Canadiens
swept a home-and-home from the Isles in October that dropped the Isles' record
to 4-4-2.
If you have been following Isles Tuesday Night Trivia on Twitter/Facebook, you
already know that the Isles have won four OT games on Boxing Day – more than any
other day in their history.
And Finally….
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!  Have a happy and safe holiday.
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

Marcus Vinnerborg

No, he's not some Swedish Islanders prospect. He's scheduled to be one of
tonight's referees. Vinnerborg is the first European-trained official in the
NHL; he debuted in a game in Dallas last month.

He created a minor stir earlier in the month when Johan Franzen shook his hand
on-ice after a game -- apparently the idea was Franzen's and Vinnerborg didn't
know what to do so they shook. (There are 6 prominent Swedes on Detroit's
roster)

The Devils have two Swedes on their active roster (Johan Hedberg and Mattias
Tedenby) while the Isles have none, although Frans Nielsen did play in the
Swedish Elite League.

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

Devils fire MacLean; Lemaire back...again.

<<(Newark Star Ledger)

Devils fire coach John MacLean
Published: Thursday, December 23, 2010, 9:52 AM Updated: Thursday, December
23, 2010, 10:30 AM
By Steve Politi/Star-Ledger Columnist

John MacLean's short and rocky tenure as Devils coach has come to an end, The
Star-Ledger has confirmed.

MacLean, who coached the injury-riddled team to an NHL-worst 20 points and
9-22-2 record, is expected to be replaced on an interim basis by former coach
Jacques Lemaire, an NHL official confirmed.

The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the
decision.

The news was first reported by Canadian radio station CKAC.

MacLean was introduced as coach in June, replacing Lemaire, who retired after
the 2009-10 season following the Devils' first-round playoff loss to the
Philadelphia Flyers.

MacLean's first season as an NHL head coach got off to an inauspicious start as
the Ilya Kovalchuk contract saga extended into September. Despite Kovalchuk's
presence, the Devils have scored a mere 59 goals this season, easily the lowest
total in the league.

Injuries have also debilitated the team. Goalie Martin Brodeur has battled
elbow injuries and has played in only 23 games this season. Zach Parise, the
Devils' leading goal-scorer in each of the past four seasons, played in just 12
games before sustaining a torn meniscus in his right knee that required surgery.
He won't return until February. The Devils have also sustained multiple
injuries to their defense, which has allowed 103 goals this season, also near
the bottom of the league.

MacLean has been a member of the Devils coaching staff for nine seasons,
including seven as an assistant coach with the Devils and one as head coach of
the AHL affiliate in Lowell, Mass. In Lowell, last season, he led the team to
the best record in club history.

Lemaire, a two-time Jack Adams Award winner with a career coaching record of
588-441-124-60, will take over behind the Devils bench for the third time. He
won the Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 1995, but right now the 65 year old's
charge will be to lead the Devils out of the basement of the Eastern
Conference.

The Devils have not missed the postseason since the 1995-96 season (during
Lemaire's first tenure as coach) but are 18 points out of the No. 8 spot in the
Eastern Conference heading into tonight's games.
It is unclear if Lemaire will be behind the bench tonight for the Devils when
they face the Islanders, who also have just 20 points this season but with a
better goal differential than the Devils, losers of three straight.
>>

The Devils had 103 points under Lemaire last season, but they were essentially a
.500 hockey team after Xmas.

Lemaire is the first coach to have three separate reigns with the Devils; Tom
McVie, Lou Lamiorello and Larry Robinson each had two. it's the 5th time since
2000 that New Jersey has made an in-season coaching change.

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: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 (overtime)

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 31
Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 (overtime)
Dwayne Roloson needed it. John Tavares, too. In the end both earned what they
needed as Tavares' overtime goal, his first in ten games, gave Roloson his first
victory since October 18th as the Islanders rallied for a 2-1 win over the
Lightning before 7,324 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Isles
conclude their three-game homestand with a record of 2-0-1.
Ryan Malone…again
Noted Islander nemesis Ryan Malone had the only goal of the first period,
connecting with Trevor Gillies in the penalty box. It was Malone's 10th goal of
the season and 8th on the power play. Malone now has scored 18 of his 144
career goals against the Isles. Tampa outshot the Isles 16-3 in the opening
session; Josh Bailey, playing his first NHL game since November 21st had the
Isles best chance of the session. The Isles went the final 14 minutes of the
period without a shot on goal.
PA Ties It
The Islanders started to get the better of the play in the second period. With
13 seconds left in the session, they were rewarded when PA Parenteau took a pass
from Tavares and beat Dan Ellis to knot the score. It was PA's second goal in
the last three games, and his 6th of the season. The Isles outshot Tampa 10-9 in
the second period. A scoreless third period, with the same 10-9 shot margin
sent the game into overtime.

Overtime is Our Time
With 97 seconds left in the extra session, Tavares beat Ellis for the winning
goal—his first since November 24th. James Wisniewski earned his club leading
16th assist; he and Tavares now share the team lead with 18 points. Tavares has
now 4 points in the last three games (1-3-4); it's the first time since he had a
5-game point streak in October that he has recorded points in consecutive games.
He also has had six shots on goal in each of the last two games. 2-1 Final.
… Particularly Against Tampa
The Isles have played four overtime games against Tampa in the last four seasons
and have won them all:
8-Dec-07 @ Tampa Bay 3 2 Wot
16-Oct-08 @ Tampa Bay 4 3 Wot
21-Oct-10 @ Tampa Bay 3 2 Wot
22-Dec-10 Vs Tampa Bay 2 1 Wot
Mike Sillinger, Trent Hunter, Matt Moulson and now John Tavares had the winning
goals.
Home and Road
The Isles are now 7-18-6, 5-7-3 at home. The Lightning are 19-10-5, 9-8-3 on the
road. With the win, the Isles get even in points with New Jersey and they have
played two fewer games. The OT loss breaks Tampa's four game win streak, but the
Lightning have still earned points in six straight (4-0-2). Tampa could have
tied Washington for the Southeast Division lead with a win; instead they tie
Atlanta for second place.
In the Nets
Dwayne Roloson makes 34 saves to record his first win since October 18th. It's
the 12th straight game that the Isles have scored 2 goals or fewer in a Roloson
start (1-10-1). Dan Ellis drops to 9-5-5 on the season; he finished with 26
saves.
Third Period Streak Continues
The third period was scoreless. They have now gone 29 consecutive games without
outscoring their opponents in the final period. This is the longest such streak
in NHL history; the previous high was 23 by St. Louis in 2001 and Montreal in
2002.
Power Plays
The Isles had only two power play attempts and failed to score for the first
time in four home games. They are 3-61 with the extra man in the last 17
games. The Lightning went 1-6 on the power play; the Isles have allowed a PP
goal in four straight games, killing 17 of 22 in that stretch.
In the Circle
The Isles had a tough night in the circle, winning 28 of 62 (45%). Zenon Konopka
won 9 of 14. Former Islander Nate Thompson won 10 of 13 for Tampa.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight and
Trent Hunter remain out. Rick DiPietro has been placed on injured reserve with
soreness in his knee. Mark Eaton returned to the line-up; Bruno Gervais and Jack
Hillen were healthy scratches while Matt Martin missed the first of his two-game
suspension. The Isles have now lost 177 man-games to injury.
At Least They Have Their Health
Two former Islanders, Nate Thompson and Sean Bergenheim, are among 10 Lightning
players who have played every game this season. While no Islander defensemen
has played every game (Wisniewski has missed only two games due to a
suspension), Tampa has five defensemen who have played at least 33 of their 34
games.
A First for Almost Everything…
The Isles won for the first time this season when:
· Allowing the first goal (1-15-3)
· Trailing after the first period (1-13-3)
· Trailing after the second period (1-12-1)
… A Second For Tavares
John Tavares recorded his second overtime goal of the season; he scored his last
overtime goal in Roloson's last win (in Toronto in October). He is the 14th
player in Islander history to score multiple overtime goals.
Jurcina Steps Up
Milan Jurcina led the Isles with seven hits and also blocked three shots. The
Isles are 2-0-1 since he returned to the lineup and are 6-4-3 in the 13 games
that he has played.
Mighty Mac
Andrew MacDonald earned assists on both goals; it's the first multiple-point
game of his career. He was +2 on the night, and is now +1 on the season. Matt
Moulson and Tavares were also +2; it's the first multiple "plus" rating of the
season for either player.
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series two games to one, with each team earning four
points. The final meeting is March 22nd in Tampa Bay. The Isles are 9-6-0 in
the last 15 games against Tampa Bay.
Happy Anniversary
27 years ago today (December 22, 1983): John Tonelli, Butch Goring and Anders
Kallur all score shorthanded as the Isles beat Washington 6-1. It's the first
of three times in Islander history that they have scored three shorthanded goals
in a game.

In their history, the Isles are 10-6-1 on this date.
Up Next
Thursday, December 23- Islanders @ Devils 7:00pm
[MSG+2 (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles head to Newark for the first time this season as they face the Devils
on Thursday night at the Prudential Center. With their win tonight, the Isles
(20 points in 31 games) climbed over the Devils in the Eastern Conference
standings.
The Devils have 33 fewer points than they had on this date a year ago. They
were 26-8-1 at the time, and led the entire NHL with 53 points.
The Isles lead the season series one game to none, blanking the Devils at the
Coliseum on Black Friday. However, the Isles have gone 0-6-0 the past two
seasons at the Rock, and have been outscored 26-8 in those games.
The Isles will be looking to break a 12-game road winless streak (0-10-2). In
the last ten of these games, they have scored only nine goals (and have been
shutout three times). This will be the back-end of the 7th set of back-to-backs
for the Isles; they are 1-3-2 on back ends so far this season.
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

Bailey's Back

Mike Fornabaio has some great numbers on Bailey's stint in Bridgeport.

http://blog.connpost.com/fornabaio/bye-kid/5322/

Assuming he plays tonight, he would need to clear waivers (not happening) to
play again in B'port. (Injury rehab being an exception)

It will be interesting to see if the Bailey who returns is the same Bailey who
started the season with the Isles with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. He was
injured in game 6 (in Toronto) and counting that game has no points in his last
13 NHL games.

Mike notes that Sound Tigers were 6-2-1-2 with him; he had 6 goals / 11 assists
in those 11 games, which Mike jokes "makes him Bridgeport's all-time leader in
points per game at 1.55". Bailey had points in his last 8 games with the Sound
Tigers.

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

Cizikas, DeHaan both score as Canada swamps Swiss in World Jr tuneup

Canada beat Switzerland 8-0 in Oshawa on Monday night.

The Isles have two prospects on Team Canada::
Casey Cizikas had a goal and an assist
Team Canada assistant captain Calvin de Haan added a goal.

From TSN:
"It was an unbelievable feeling. I got a standing ovation there for a bit, and
it feels great," said de Haan, who pointed to his parents in the crowd after
scoring Canada's seventh goal late in the second period. "It was just a great
feeling."

From the Montreal Gazette::
"
OSHAWA, Ont. — It took the better part of five minutes to repair the damage
Casey Cizikas had inflicted on the corner boards, where a loosened stanchion
required the careful hands of helmeted arena workers who, really, were lucky
they only had to fix one pane of glass at the end of the first period.
Cizikas had pasted another faceless Switzerland jersey into the wall Monday
night, an exclamation point to a barrage of pent-up Canadian energy that was
also a grander signal of intent heading toward the world junior hockey
tournament. "
Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Canada+spreads+scoring+around+against+Swiss/4005791/story.html#ixzz18itQ3fPi"

It appears that Nino Niederreiter did play for the Swiss but obviously did not
score.

The tournament opens in Buffalo on Sunday.

 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

Bolts recall Desjardins

With Nathan Lawson still with the Isles, there is a possibility of a goalie with
even less NHL experience to be in the nets for the Lightning when Tampa visits
on Wednesday.

From the Lightning:
<<

Lightning Recall G Cedrick Desjardins From Norfolk
Monday, 12.20.2010 / 9:10 AM
Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled goaltender Cedrick Desjardins (SHE-DRIHK
deh-ZHAHR-dai) from the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League today,
Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. Desjardins joins
the Lightning with Norfolk on a break until December 26.

"With Norfolk having a week off we thought it was a good opportunity to have
Cedrick join us for a few days to work with Frantz Jean and practice with our
team," Yzerman said. "Whether he sees any playing time will be Guy Boucher's
decision."

Desjardins, 6-foot, 192 pounds, has played in 18 games with the Admirals this
season, posting an 12-5-1 record with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .900
save percentage. He is 8-1-0 in his previous nine decisions with a .909 save
percentage. Desjardins is tied for fourth in the AHL for wins.

Last season he led the AHL in goals-against average, ranked second in
shutouts, fourth in wins and was tied for sixth in save percentage. His
success earned him an appearance in the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic, in which he
was named top goaltender during the skills competition, as well as landed him
on the 2010 AHL Second All-Star Team following the season.

A native of Edmunston, New Brunswick, Desjardins played in 128 QMJHL games
with the Rimouski Oceanic and Quebec Remparts during his junior career,
posting a 67-47-4 record. In 2006, he helped backstop Quebec to the CHL's
Memorial Cup by posting a 3-1 record with a .926 save percentage en route to
being named top goaltender and to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team. Desjardins
also aided the Oceanic, along with Sidney Crosby, to the 2005 Memorial Cup
where they fell to the London Knights.

Desjardins went undrafted and was signed as a free agent by Montreal on March
7, 2008.>>

Mike Smith suffered an apparent leg injury in this morning's skate (Tampa hosts
Atlanta tonight), which increases the possibility of Desjardins seeing game
action.

One interesting note on Desjardins - -two years before playing with Sidney
Crosby in the Memorial Cup (Lightning coach Guy Boucher was an assistant coach
on that squad), Desjardins went 1-18-0 for Rimouski.

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

Bissonette to torment another NY team?

From "BizNasty"s twitter feed:

"Staying @ same hotel as the NY Jets in Pittsburgh. Since Troy is out, I will
stop the offence. Crank calls to Mark Sanchez room all night."

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: Phoenix 4, Isles 3 (shootout)

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 30
Coyotes 4, Isles 3 (shootout)
Michal Hanzal scored the tying goal with 88 seconds to play in regulation and
the Coyotes converted on all three shootout attempts as Phoenix rallied for a
4-3 win over the Islanders before 8,433 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial
Coliseum.  Hanzal's heroics helped spoiled the NHL debut of Nathan Lawson in the
Islander net; Lawson was looking to become the first Islander goaltender since
Roberto Luongo in 1999 to win in his National Hockey League Debut.
Vrbata Scores First
The Isles dominated stretches of the first period, outshot Phoenix 19-8, yet
found themselves on the short end of a 1-0 score.  Radim Vrbata's 7th goal of
the lead, on a Coyote power play, gave Phoenix the lead at 6:57 of the opening
session.
The Islanders had two brief 5-on-3's and two lengthy 4-on-3's during the
session, but failed to score on the power plays.  The 19 shots were a season
high for the opening period; the Isles had had 13 shots or fewer in every
previous first period this season.
Isles Grab the Lead in the Second
The Isles scored twice in a 5:29 span of the middle period to grab the lead. 
Jesse Joensuu scored his second goal of the season off a great play by John
Tavares.  James Wisniewksi also added an assist.  The "Wiz" leads the Isles in
assists (15) and is now tied with Matt Moulson for the team point lead (17).
Joensuu then set up Michael Grabner to give the Isles the lead.  Grabner's goal,
which was confirmed by video review, was his 7th of the season, which is 3rd on
the team; only Tavares (8) and Moulson (11) have more goals.  Grabner moved into
a tie for 7th place among all NHL rookies in goals.  It's the second multi-point
game of Joensuu's career.
Back and Forth Third
Wojtek Wolski tied the game off a great pass from Shane Doan at 4:03 of the
third, but Rob Schremp's power play goal 2:19 later regained the lead for the
Isles.  Schremp now had six goals in 16 games this season. Schremp also has a
point in seven of the last nine games; the Isles were shutout in the other two
games.    The Isles killed off a penalty to Jack Hillen called at 15:16 of the
third, but at 18:32, Michal Hanzal buried the rebound of Vrbata's shot to tie
the game at 3. 

Shootout Time
Following a scoreless overtime, which included the Isles killing a penalty, the
Coyotes earned the extra point in the shootout.  Phoenix shot first and Shane
Doan beat Lawson; Frans Nielsen converted for the 12th time in 22 career
attempts to even the shootout, but Vrbata, who hit both goalposts in overtime,
converted a backhander to put Phoenix ahead 2-1 in the shootout.  Schremp's
attempt skimmed off the goal post and Kyle Turris buried his try to give the
Coyotes the victory.  4-3 (shootout) Final.
Home and Road
The Isles are now 6-18-6, 4-7-3 at home. The Coyotes are 15-9-7, 9-5-3 on the
road. With the overtime point, the Isles close within two points of New Jersey
and they have played two fewer games.  Phoenix matches their season-high six
games over .500, and improve to 1-1-1 on their six game road trip.
Shootout Stats
This was the second shootout ever between the squads; the Isles won the shootout
in Glendale this past January.  The Isles are 0-3 in shootouts this season (0-2
at home) while Phoenix is 2-3.  It's the first time that the Isles have lost
three consecutive shootouts in the same season; they lost four consecutive
shootouts over two seasons in 2009.
In the Nets
Nathan Lawson made his NHL debut.  He is the 39th goalie in Islander history and
the first since Rick DiPietro in 2001 to start his NHL debut.  Lawson made 32
saves.  Jason Labarbera finished with 41 saves and he improves to 3-3-1 on the
season.
Lots of Shots
It's the third time this season that the Isles have had at least 40 shots
(0-1-2). Over the last 3 ½ seasons, the Isles have had at least 40 shots
eighteen times, with 17 of those times occurring at home.  Lots of shots have
not equated to lots of success; the Isles are 5-8-5 in those games.
John Tavares had seven of the Islander shots, matching a career high.
As Seen on MSG+
The Isles were outscored 2-1 in the third period.  They have now gone 28
consecutive games without outscoring their opponents in the final period.  This
is the longest such streak in NHL history; the previous high was 23 by St. Louis
in 2001 and Montreal in 2002.
Power Plays
The Isles were 1-8 on their power play; the eight attempts matched a season high
set on Opening Night. They have now scored a power play goal in three
consecutive home games.  However, they are still 3-59 with the extra man in the
last 16 games.  The Coyotes went 1-7 on the power play.  The 15 combined
attempts also matched the season high, set on Opening Night.
In the Circle
The Isles had a strong first two periods in the circle, winning 28 of 47; they
won 37 of 73 face-offs overall (51%). Zenon Konopka won 7 of 11.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter, Mike Mottau and Mark Eaton
remain out. Rick DiPietro missed the game with soreness in his knee; Bruno
Gervais was a healthy scratch.  The Isles have now lost 171 man-games to injury.
Phoenix, on the other hand, has lost only 26 man-games.
Fight Night
Trevor Gillies fought Paul Bissonette in the first period; it was Trevor's 7th
fight and Bissonette's 5th.  Bissonette has an interesting statistical oddity—he
has 5 major penalties and no minor penalties this season.
Scoring Three
The Isles scored three goals for the second straight game.  It's the first time
in 20 games that the Isles have scored at least three goals in consecutive games
(3 games: October 23-29, 2010).
Season Series Stats          
This was the only meeting of the season between the squads.  The Coyotes win on
Long Island for the first time since October 29, 2002 (this was only their third
trip in that span); The Isles are 4-2-3 in nine home games against the Coyotes
since they relocated from Winnipeg in 1996.
Happy Anniversary
26 years ago today (December 18, 1984):  John Tonelli recorded the third (and
final) hat trick of his Isles career, leading the Isles to a 7-4 win over
Winnipeg.
The Isles hadn't played on this date since 2003; they are 1-2-4 in their only
seven December 18th games since Tonelli turned his trick.
Up Next
Wednesday, December 22- Lightning @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles conclude their homestand when they face Tampa for the third time this
season.  The Isles won in Tampa on a long-delayed video review in overtime in
October that raised their record to 4-1-2; they lost to Tampa 4-2 on November
17th in Jack Capuano's first game as interim head coach.
The Lightning are 18-10-4 on the season; they are 9-2-2 at home and 9-8-2 on the
road.
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

Nathan Lawson NHL debut

Nathan Lawson is expected to do something tonight that no Islander has done
in nearly ten years -- start his first NHL game as the Islanders goaltender.

Rick DiPietro was the last to do it  -on January 27, 2001 vs Buffalo (losing to
future teammate Martin Biron)

Wade Dubielewicz and Peter Mannino both made their NHL debuts for the Isles, but
both did so in relief.  Dubie earned a win on 3/25/04 in Philly, replacing Garth
Snow after one period, while Mannino saw mop-up duty on 11/28/08 in Boston.

 
 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

Former Isles radio producer Joel Blumberg passes suddenly

Very sad to see this note - I saw Joel Tuesday night as he worked what was
likely his final remote -- a charity event hosted by former Isles PR guru Eric
Mirlis.
Joel leaves a wife and a teenage daughter.
<<Veteran broadcaster Joel Blumberg, 64, dies
Originally published: December 17, 2010 11:19 PM
 
Joel Blumberg of East Meadow, a longtime sports radio broadcaster, producer and
engineer, died Friday, apparently of a heart attack suffered while on the 3:09
p.m. Long Island Rail Road train from Babylon to Penn Station. He was 64.

 
Blumberg had acted as engineer and producer of radio broadcasts for many local
sports teams, including the Islanders, Rangers, Knicks and St. John's
basketball. For many years, he was the play-by-play man for Manhattan College
basketball games.
>>

 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

Isles lower price of Family Fun Packs

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=66405&navid=DL|NYI|home

Family Fun Packs now starting at $99.

Four (4) Tickets
Four (4) Food vouchers
(hot dog + soda / pretzel + soda / popcorn + soda
Four (4) $10 Dave & Buster's Power Cards

For select games only, including tomorrow night.

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: Isles 3, Ducks 2

The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 29
Isles 3, Ducks 2
In their first 28 games, the Isles had scored only 12 first period goals. In a
span of 99 seconds of Game 29, they scored three more. The goaltending of Rick
DiPietro made it hold up, as the Islanders broke a six-game losing streak with a
3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks before 7,659 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial
Coliseum. The loss, coupled with a Dallas overtime loss, knocked the Ducks out
of first place in the Pacific Division
Isles Fine in 99
The Isles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period. PA Parenteau scored on the
power play at 15:06; Blake Comeau scored 28 seconds later, and Matt Moulson
completed the trio at 16:45.
Parenteau's goal, his 5th of the season, was his 4th power play tally of the
season, tying John Tavares for the club lead in that category. Comeau's goal,
his 6th, was his third in four December home games, while Moulson extended his
club lead with his 11th goal of the season.
The three quick goals were enough to chase Curtis McElhinney, who shutout the
Isles last month in Anaheim. It's the first time this season that the Isles
have scored three goals in the first period.
Lupul/Blake Team Up to Make It Close
Joffrey Lupul and Jason Blake each scored one goal and assisted on another to
help get Anaheim back in the game. Lupul scored in the waning seconds of a
power play midway through the second period, while Blake's even strength tally,
his first in nine games and the 4th of his career against the Isles, brought the
Ducks within one goal just 1:30 into the third. The Ducks mode their stars
trying to even the game; Corey Perry played over 10 minutes in the third and
Ryan Getzlaf played nearly as much, but the Isles were able to hang on. 3-2
Final.
Home and Road
The Isles improve to 6-18-5, 4-7-2 at home. The Ducks are 17-14-4, 6-8-3 on the
road. It's the first regulation loss in six games for Anaheim, ending a 4-0-1
stretch (including 3-0-1 in extra time).
In the Nets
Rich DiPietro made 27 saves as he improves to 4-6-4 on the season. McElhinney
falls to 2-3-1 on the season as he was pulled for the second straight start; he
allowed all three goals on just 12 shots. Jonas Hiller replaced McElhinney and
made 17 saves in relief as he appeared in his 14th straight game

Finally a Three Goal Lead
The Isles three goal outburst gave them their first three goal lead since a 5-2
win over Colorado on October 16th – exactly two months ago. It was their first
three-goal first period since April 1st against Philadelphia.
Ducks Struggle in First, Too
Both the Isles and Ducks now have -11 differentials in the first period. The
Isles have scored 15 and allowed 26, while Anaheim has scored 18 and allowed 29.
Power Plays
The Isles were 1-3 on their power play; their goal, on their first opportunity
gave them power play goals in consecutive attempts at home. However, they are
still 2-51 with the extra man in the last 15 games. The Ducks went 1-5 on the
power play
In the Circle
The Isles had a strong night in the circle as they won 34 of 62 face-offs (54%).
Zenon Konopka took more face-offs than he had recently and had great success,
winning 18 of 24.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mike Mottau remain out.
Mark Eaton missed his second game of the season with a groin injury. Radek
Martinek returned after missing two games while Milan Jurcina saw his first game
action after missing 18 games. Bruno Gervais was a healthy scratch. Rhett
Rakhshani and Dylan Reese have been returned to Bridgeport.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, extended his streak to 111 games. He
has not missed a game as an Isle. Frans Nielsen, Zenon Konopka and Blake Comeau
are the only other Isles to have played every game this season. James Wisniewski
has now played the most consecutive games on defense for the Isles: 25.
Two Fight Night
Trevor Gillies fought Sheldon Brookbank in the first period; Matt Martin battled
George Paros in the second period.
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series with each team winning at home. The Isles are
6-2-2 in their last ten games against Anaheim, with both Duck wins coming in
overtime.
Still Over .500
The win raises the Islanders' all-time record to 1289-1287-413 in 2,989 games.
The Isles' all-time record has been .500 or better since they were 178-178-83 on
January 16, 1978. The Isles will play their 3,000th regular season game in
Chicago on January 9th.
Happy Anniversary
30 years ago today (December 16, 1980): Bob Bourne and Anders Kallur score
shorthanded goals 17 seconds apart as the Isles beat Winnipeg 6-2. It's the
fastest two shorthanded goals in Islander history.
The Flyers defeated the Islanders in each of their first two seasons on this
day, by scores of 2-1 and 4-0. Since then, December 16 has been a very
favorable night for the Isles, with the Isles earning points in 11 of the last
12 (7-1-4).
Up Next
Saturday, December 18- Coyotes @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The homestand continues Saturday as the Islanders face Phoenix for the only time
this season. The Isles won in a shootout in Glendale last season, after riding
Yann Danis to a victory in Phoenix' last Coliseum visit in March 2008.
The Isles are 4-2-2 in eight home games against the Coyotes since that relocated
from Winnipeg in 1996; they are 4-2-0 in their last six games overall against
Phoenix.

The Coyotes have already lost in New Jersey and New York (in a shootout) on this
trip. With regular goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov suffering from the flu on
Thursday, Phoenix was forced to dress Manhattanville College Director of Game
Operations Tom Fenton at Madison Square Garden as the backup to Jason Labarbera.
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

A little experience can't hurt

With Radek Martinek (415 games) and Milan Jurcina (329) returning to the line-up
tonight, Isles are adding two defensemen who each have played more NHL games
than any of the six who played on Monday in Nashville:

In fact, their total of 744 NHL games nearly equals the sextet's total of 796.

Gervais 293
Wiseniewski 280
Hillen 127
MacDonald 62
Resse 26
Hamonic 8

Jurcina has missed 18 games; the Isles were 1-14-3 in those 18.

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

Isles try to avoid .500 for 1st time in nearly 33 years

It was January 16, 1978.

The Islanders defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 at the Coliseum to even their
all-time (regular season) record at 178-178-83. That was nearly 33 years, and
over 2500 regular season games ago. The Isles won 5-2 two nights later in
Minnesota, and went over .500 for the first time in their history.

They have been over NHL .500 ever since. The Isles enter tonight's game, the
2989th in franchise history, having earned 2,989 points. Their record is
1288-1287-413. The Isles need a win tonight to avoid being a .500 team.
Otherwise, on Saturday, they will play only the third game in their history as a
.500 team. They were 178-178-83 in 1978, and they were 1-1-0 after the first
two games they ever played.

Four times in their history, the Isles have been 71 games under .500 -- most
recently after losing in Toronto on December 28, 1974, dropping their record to
44-115-33.

They have also been 199 games over .500 -- more recently on October 22, 1988,
when a 7-3 win over Quebec raised their record to 642-443-198. They would go
3-20-1 in their next 24, and have never approached +199 since.

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

More on Casey

*
http://www.mississauga.com/sports/article/917139--casey-will-shuffle-off-to-buffalo

*

*

* Gary McCarthy
* Dec 15, 2010 - 9:41 AM
Casey will shuffle off to Buffalo

Forward Casey Cizikas and goaltender J.P. Anderson of the Mississauga St.
Michael's Majors now know what they'll be doing over the Christmas holidays.

Cizikas, the captain of the Ontario Hockey League's Majors, will be in Buffalo
as a member of Team Canada, competing for a gold medal at the World Junior
Hockey Championships that begin on Boxing Day.

Anderson, meanwhile, will at home celebrating the holidays with family members
and watching the world tournament on television.

Cizikas has been selected as one of 13 forwards on Team Canada's final 22-man
roster for the prestigious international tournament.

Anderson, who by his own admission didn't have a great evaluation camp this
week, was one of nine players notified early this morning that he was being
released by Team Canada, which will be coached this year by Dave Cameron, the
head coach and general manager of the Majors.

"I could have been a little better but this has been a good experience,"
Anderson said last night after allowing a pair of goals in Team Canada's 6-2
exhibition victory over a team of university all-stars at the MasterCard Centre
in Etobicoke.

"Sometimes things go the way you want and sometimes they don't," said Anderson,
who stopped nine of 11 shots after replacing Mark Visentin of the Niagara
IceDogs for the second half of last night's game.

"It's such a short period of time (three days) to show what you've got. You
have to come in here and earn your place. If you have an off-day, it shows up
in a hurry."
When asked to rate his performance during the evaluation camp, Anderson said he
thought a 'B' rating would be generous.

"I have pretty high expectations of myself," said Anderson, who tops all
netminders in the OHL with a 2.29 goals-against average.

He was beaten out for a spot on Team Canada by Visentin, who is second to
Anderson in goals-against in the OHL, and Olivier Roy of the Acadie-Bathurst
Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Calvin Pickard of the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds was also
released.

While Anderson was getting one last opportunity to make Team Canada with his
appearance in last night's game, Cizikas was among 10 players who watched from
the sidelines. He joined the likes of Ryan Ellis, Jared Cowen, Calvin de Haan,
Zack Kassian, Brayden Schenn, Louis Leblanc and Ryan Johansen as interested
onlookers.

"I did my best," said Cizikas.

"I learned a lot from this," he continued, adding that the excitement of playing
for Team Canada would be enormous.

Cizikas has shown a lot of upside to his game this year with the Majors.

He has speed, he's not afraid to go into the tough areas of the ice to fight
for the puck, he's a play-maker and he's a top penalty killer.

Three of his 16 goals this season were short-handed markers. He also scored a
short-handed goal for the OHL All-Stars against Russia in the Subway Super
Series game in Sudbury last month, which the OHL won 2-1 in a shootout.

Team Canada's remaining 22 players will practice at the MasterCard Centre this
morning to prepare for a series of exhibition games against international
teams.

Team Canada plays Switzerland in Oshawa next Monday. The Canadian team will
then take on Sweden the following night at the Air Canada Centre before closing
out the exhibition schedule on Thursday against Finland in Kitchener.

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

Cizikas makes TEAM CANADA; Coach Cameron

According to Mississauga.com, Islander prospect Casey Cizikas has been selected
to Team Canada for the World Jr. Championships that begin next week. Cizikas
certainly helped his cause by scoring the winning goal in last night's red/white
scrimmage. Cizikas was selected by the Isles with the 92nd pick in 2009 after a
much-publicized accident led to a manslaughter conviction.

Cizikas, 19, has 16 goals and 20 assists in 28 games this season. He will be
coached by Dave Cameron, who is also his coach with the Mississauga St.
Michael's Majors.

If the name Dave Cameron sounds familiar to Islander fans, it should.

Cameron was an Islander draft pick, selected 135th overall in a generally
forgettable 1978 draft for the Isles (Steve Tambellini was the only player the
Isles drafted that year that later played a significant role in the NHL).

Three years later, Cameron was part of one of Bill Torrey's genius trades.
Torrey sent Cameron and defensemen Bob Lorimer to Colorado in October 1981. His
compensation: Colorado (by then,New Jersey)'s first pick, third overall in
1983. The Isles used that pick to select Pat Lafontaine.

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: Nashville 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 28
Predators 5, Isles 0
Rookie Anders Lindback made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout as the
Nashville Predators blanked the Islanders 5-0 before a crowd of 14,314 at the
Bridgestone Arena. The Islanders have lost six straight while the Preds improve
to 6-0-2 in their last eight games.
Preds Grab the Lead
Sergei Kostisyn scored the only goal of the opening session at 11:15 into the
first to give Nashville the advantage as he deflected home a shot from Cody
Franson. It was Kostisyn's 4th goal of the season.
2 in 2:09
Patric Hornqvist and Jerred Smithson scored 2:09 apart early in the second
period to make it 3-0.  It was the first of two goals on the evening for
Hornqvist.
2 More in Third
Hornqvist scored with 6:05 remaining in regulation to make it 4-0; Nick Spaling,
playing his 50th NHL game, added a 5-on-3 goal with 1:25 to play for his first
NHL goal.  5-0 Final.

Home and Road
The Predators improve to 15-8-6, 7-1-5 at home. The Isles are 5-18-5, 2-11-3 on
the road.  The 15 points in 28 games represents their worst record through 28
games since 1972-73 (3-22-3 for 9 points).
The Isles are 0-10-2 in their last 12 on the road and 1-17-3 in their last 21
overall.  The Isles have not won in regulation in their last 22 on the road
(3-15-4), dating back to their victory in Vancouver on March 9th.
In the Nets
Anders Lindback made 28 saves; he has stopped 50 shots in consecutive shutouts
against the Panthers and Isles. He is now 7-1-2 on the season with a 2.18 GAA
and a .931 save percentage.  It's the 5th shutout of the season for Nashville;
only Boston (6) has more.  Dwayne Roloson made 21 saves for the Isles.

Blanked on the Road
The Isles were shutout for the third time this season; all three have been on
the road (at Anaheim, at New York).  Since the start of the 2008-09 season, the
Isles have been blanked 14 times, with all but one  (12/19/09 vs Montreal)
happening on the road.
5 Allowed               
The Isles have allowed five goals in each of their last three games.  It's the
first time since March, 2009 that they have allowed at least five goals in three
straight games (in the same season).
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on their power play; they are 1-48 with the extra man in the
last 14 games.  The Preds' PP, which had scored only 12 goals all season, went
2-4.
In the Circle
The Isles had a strong night in the circle as they won 33 of 56 face-offs (59%).
Zenon Konopka won 9 of 12 while John Tavares won 10 of 14.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Milan Jurcina, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mike
Mottau remain out. Radek Martinek missed his 2nd game with soreness after
blocking a Zdeno Chara shot on Thursday, while Mark Eaton missed his first game
of the season with a groin injury. Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, extended his streak to 110 games.  He
has not missed a game as an Isle. Frnas Nielsen, Zenon Konopka Blake Comeau are
the only other Isles to have played every game this season. With Eaton missing
the game, James Wisniewski has now played the most consecutive games on defense
for the Isles: 24.
Reese/Rakhshani Recalled
Dylan Reese was recalled from Bridgeport to replace the injured Eaton.  Reese
played 15:25 in his 7th Islander game of the season and was -2.
Rhett Rakhshani made his NHL debut, and saw 11:44 of action.  Rakhshani is the
6th player to wear #49 in Isles history, following Robert Petrovicky, Drew Fata,
Eric Godard, Vlad Orszagh and Matt Fritz.  At the time of his recall, Rakhshani
was leading all AHL rookies, as well as all Sound Tigers, with 24 points
(10-14-24).
Season Series Stats          
This was the only meeting of the season between the teams.  The Predators have
won five straight from the Isles in Nashville, dating back to a Garth
Snow-backstopped win in April, 2002.  They have shutout the Isles three times in
those five games, using three different goalies (Tomas Vokoun, Pekka Rinne, and
Lindback).  The Preds have now shutout the Isles one more time than either
Toronto or Vancouver, both of whom have been facing the Isles since 1972.
Slump Stats
The Isles are 1-17-3 in their last 21 games.  It's their fewest points in a 21
game stretch since going 2-18-1 over 21 games from December 27, 1972- February 4
1973.  It's the first time that the Isles have earned just one win in a 21-game
stretch since they won once in a 28-game span in the 1972-73 season.
Chasing .500
The loss drops the Islanders' all-time record to 1288-1287-413 in 2,988 games.
  The Isles' all-time record has been .500 or better since they were 178-178-83
on January 16, 1978.  The Isles will play their 3,000th regular season game in
Chicago on January 9th.
Happy Anniversary
7 years ago today (December 13, 2003):  Garth Snow stopped 18 shots as the Isles
blanked Atlanta 4-0.  It was the 16th (and final) shutout of Snow's career.
 Rick DiPietro would then record the next 13 shutouts in Islander history.
18 years ago today (December 13, 1992):  In one of four neutral site games in
Islander history, the Isles defeat Edmonton 4-1 in the first NHL regular season
game played in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Steve Thomas and Tom Fitzgerald each
scored twice in the only Islander "home" win not played at the Nassau Veterans
Memorial Coliseum.  Today, the Oilers' AHL farm club is located in Oklahoma
City.
 Overall, the Isles are 7-7-4 on this date.
Up Next
Thursday, December 13- Ducks @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders return home to entertain Anaheim on Thursday.  It's the second
meeting of the season between the teams; Curtis McElhinney stopped 27 shots and
Saku Koivu had the game's only goal as the Duck defeated the Isles 1-0 on
November 16 at the Pond in Anaheim.
Since 2001, the Isles are 5-2-2 vs. Anaheim, with both Ducks wins coming by
shutout.
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

Number 49, Rhett Rhakshani, #49

Rhett would become the 6th Islander to wear #49.

The others:
Robert Petrovicky
Eric Godard
Drew Fata
Vlad Orszagh
Mitch Fritz

Petrovicky also wore #39 (he needed two uniform #'s for his one season, 11 game
Islander career.) He is the last player to wear #39 prior to Rick DiPietro.

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

Rhett to debut in South?

Frankly Scarlett, it looks like Rhett Rakhshani may be joining the Islanders.

The 22 year old is leading Bridgeport in scoring (10-14-24 in 27 games) and has
been scratched from this afternoon's Sound Tigers game in Worcester.
Rakhshani's 24 points places him

tied for 24th in AHL scoring; he is the leading rookie scorer in the AHL.

Playing with Josh Bailey, Rakhshani has been hot of late, with 3 goals and 6
assists in four December games.

Rakhshani played 4 seasons with the University of Denver before joining
Bridgeport late last season. He would be the 4th 2006 draft pick to play for
the Isles (Okposo, Joensuu, MacDonald). Fellow 2006 draft choice Robin Figren
would be the highest goal scorer (9) left on the Sound Tigers if Rhett is
recalled.

Bailey, btw, is 3-8-11 in 7 games with Bridgeport (entering this afternoon's
game). He is also a team-leading +5.

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