Tavares and the goalies

Elias has this gem this morning: John Tavares got the Islanders off to a good
start with two goals and an assist in the first period. It was the first time
that an Islanders player has scored three points in any period since Dec. 31,
2007, when defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron had two goals and an assist in the
second period of a game at Carolina.

If Rick DiPietro does not dress on Thursday, the Isles would dress two goalies
who have never won a game for the Isles. (Remember, DiPietro was credited for
the win in Calgary.) That's not unprecedented -- in fact off the top of my
head, I can think of 13 previous occasions. (There may be others)

In October 2001, Chris Osgood and Garth Snow made their Islander debuts in the
same season, so on opening night in Tampa, neither had played a game for the
team. Just last season, the Isles opened 0-3-3, meaning that for the first 7
games neither Dwayne Roloson nor Marty Biron had a previous NYI win.

Going back in time, the Isles won their 2nd game in history, meaning neither
Gerry Desjardins nor Billy Smith had a victory to their credit in an Isles uni
for games 1 or 2.
In 1993-94, Ron Hextall and Jamie McLennan made their Isles' debuts together;
the Isles lost their first two games that season, so neither had a win at the
start of games 1, 2, or 3.

You may have thought of the 2008-09 season as a possibility, because DiPietro
appeared in only 5 games, and the other three netminders used by the Isles
played in that season and no other. However, DiPietro served as the backup in
the first few games, including Joey MacDonald's first Isles win.

If the Isles were to dress Lawson and either Kevin Poulin or Mikko Koskinen on
Thursday, they would dress two goalies with a combined total of 0 NHL wins.

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