Where is Jamie Arniel?

...to the best of my knowledge he is still a Providence Bruin...which makes him
an exception.

With today's recall of Justin DiBenedetto, the Isles could have three of the
four leading scorers from the 2008-09 Sarnia Sting in the lineup when the face
the Caps in Washington on Tuesday.

DiBenedetto led the team in scoring: 45-48-93
Arniel was 2nd, 32-36-68
Matt Martin was 3rd 35-30-65
Mark Katic led all defensemen, and was 4th: 13-41-54

The Sting went 35-26-4-3 in 2008-09 and lost to Plymouth in the first round of
the playoffs.

DiBenedetto finished the year third in the OHL in scoring, 11 points behind John
Tavares and 1 point behind Chris Terry (Hurricanes organization).

If the only change to tomorrow's lineup is DiBenedetto replacing Rob Schremp,
the average age of the 20 Isles dressed will drop to 24.46 years -- coinciding
to an average birthdate of September 13, 1986. (Andrew MacDonald was born on
9/7/86)

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: Caps 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 63
Capitals 3, Isles 2

Mike Knuble and Alex Semin scored 3:17 apart early in the third period as the
Capitals rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of
16,250 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Okposo Strikes First
The Isles came out strong, recorded the game's first 11 shots, but the game
remained scoreless until Kyle Okposo beat Michael Neuvirth with a wrist shot at
13:48 of the first for the opening session's only goal and Okposo's third goal
of the season. It was Okposo's first goal since scoring twice on February 1st
in Atlanta. The Isles outshot the Caps 14-5 in the first period.

Hamonic Doubles the Lead
Travis Hamonic missed a few shifts in the first period after blocking a shot,
but returned to the game and put the Isles ahead 2-0 just 33 seconds into the
second period. It was Hamonic's third goal of the season.

Laich Gets Washington Back in the Game
A timeout by Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau helped changed the game. Shortly
thereafter, Brooks Laich scored at 9:44 into the middle period to get Washington
on the board and begin the Capitals comeback.

Gets Away in the Third
The Caps gained some energy from the Laich goal but still trailed the Isles 2-1
after two periods. Laich set up Knuble to tie the game at 2:24 of the third.
Alex Ovechkin assisted on Semin's goal at 5:41 that turned out to be the winner.
It's only the 2nd time in 19 games (15-2-2) that the Isles have lost in
regulation a game that they led after 40 minutes. 3-2 Final.

Fight Night
Zenon Konopka fought Mike Hendricks 2:26 into the second period. Konopka leads
the NHL with 224 penalty minutes.

A February to Remember
The Islanders finish February with two 10-goal scorers in Matt Moulson (10-3-13)
and Michael Grabner (10-6-16). It is the second time in club history that the
Islanders have had multiple players score 10 goals in February. In 1982, Bryan
Trottier (17), Brent Sutter (13) and Mike Bossy (11) all reached double digits.
The Isles went 12-1-1 in February 1982 and scored 83 goals.

Strange Stat of the Night
The Caps entered the season with Stanley Cup aspirations, but the Caps needed a
victory tonight to have more points than the Isles over the last three months.
Since December 1, Washington is 16-14-8 for 40 points and the Isles are 18-20-3
for 39 points (18-14-3 since December 16).

Young Get Younger
The Isles defense corps had only 627 games of experience entering the game and
Bruno Gervais (317) had more than half of it. Three of the Isles defensemen
(Travis Hamonic, Ty Wishart and Mark Katic) are NHL rookies; the average age of
the 20 players that dressed was 24.58 years. Back-up goalie Nathan Lawson was
the 3rd oldest Islander in the line-up, behind Zenon Konopka and PA Parenteau.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had four players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Blake Comeau leads the way with 110 points (47-63-110)
· Frans Nielsen has 108 points (32-76-108)
· John Tavares has 106 points (47-59-106). He is the second youngest
player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career points.

· Kyle Okposo goal gives him 106 points as well (42-64-106)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson recorded his 100th career point in Toronto on Tuesday, however his
first ten points came as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.
Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 97 career points, all as an Islander.

Home and Road
The Caps improve to 33-20-10, and are 16-12-3 on the road. The Caps are three
points behind Tampa Bay, but the Lightning have played two fewer games.
The Isles are 23-32-8, and are 12-15-4 at home. They are 19-22-5 under Jack
Capuano, including 18-14-3 in the last 35. The Isles finish February 8-4-1;
it's their first 8-win month since November, 2008.

In the Nets
Michael Neuvirth made 29 saves to beat the Islanders for the 2nd time this
season and improve to 19-10-4 overall. Neuvirth, who allowed five goals for the
first time this season on Friday at the Garden, kept the Caps in the game in the
first period, and stopped the final 16 Islander shots. He is now one win shy of
the Capitals' record for wins (20) by a rookie goaltender, set by Bob Mason in
1986-87. Mason's rookie season would end early on Easter morning on a Pat
LaFontaine goal in the 4th overtime.
Al Montoya made 19 saves, but drops to 3-2-1. He is now 5-3-1 in nine career
starts and 6-3-1 overall.

Power Plays
The Isles went 0-4 on the power play while the Caps were 0-2. The Isles have
not allowed a power play goal in the last three games (6-6) and have killed
13-14 over the last five games. Washington, on the other hand, has now gone a
club-record 39 straight games without scoring more than one power play goal in a
game.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 27 of 57 (47%) face-offs. John Tavares won 13 of 20, while
Zenon Konopka won all four of his draws.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Radek Martinek, and Milan Jurcina
remain out. Trevor Gillies served the eighth game of his nine-game suspension.
The Isles have lost 427 games to injury and 15 games to suspension this
season. Both Nathan Lawson and Rob Schremp were placed on waivers on Saturday
morning, but both players dressed. Schremp was -2 in 13:46 of ice-time.

Missing Milan
The Isles are 0-2-1 in the last three games, and Milan Jurcina has played only
2:18 in that stretch, missing each of the last two games. The Isles have gone
20-13-3 when Jurcina plays and 3-19-5 in the 27 games that he's missed.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 145 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 75-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 43 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Caps lead the season series three games to none, and six points to none.
All three meetings have been decided by a single goal. The teams will meet
again on Tuesday in Washington. The Caps have gone 10-0-1 in the last eleven
games against the Isles but four of the Capital wins have been in overtime or
shootouts.

S-R-O
With the Isles' improved play, attendance has been on the rise, culminating in
the season's first sellout tonight. It is the fifth straight 12,000+ crowd
after only six crowds that large in first 26 games. It is also the third
straight 13,000+ crowds in nearly 2 years (March 5-April 2, 2009 -- six
straight games)

Happy Anniversary
24 years ago today (February 26, 1987): Dale Henry and Neal Coulter were two of
the lesser-known Isles who scored goals in a 5-4 Islander win over Pittsburgh.
Mike Bossy and Pat Lafontaine also tallied; it was the 567th goal out of 573
career tallies for Bossy.

All-time, the Isles are 2-9-5 on this date, including a 0-5-3 record since the
1987 win over Pittsburgh.

Next
Tuesday, March 1 @ Washington 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The home-and-home series concludes on Tuesday as the teams will meet in the
District. The Isles will be looking to avoid a season sweep; the Caps have won
the first three games, all by a single goal.
The only Islander win in the past three seasons over the Capitals came in
overtime on October 30, 2009. Mark Streit scored the winning goal in that game.

And Finally…
Congratulations to the Union College Dutchmen, who won the Cleary Cup by
finishing in first place in the ECAC Hockey League. Guess where "The Skinny"
author went to school. J
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

Moulson and Elias

Elias had this one earlier in the week and I missed it in my travels:

<<MOULSON: FOUR STRAIGHT GOALS OVER LAST TWO GAMES
From Elias: Matt Moulson, who scored the last two goals in the Islanders' 3-0
win against the Kings on Saturday, scored the first two goals in the Isles' 5-1
win over the Panthers on Monday afternoon. (He completed his second career hat
trick with an empty-net goal in the third period against Florida.) Moulson is
only the third player in Islanders history to score four consecutive goals
without a teammate or an opponent scoring a goal. Clark Gillies scored four
straight goals on Feb. 19-20, 1977, and Greg Gilbert did the same on Feb. 16-18,
1988.>>
Bizarre that all three streaks have occurred in February!

Note that is a slightly different record than the one John Tavares tied last
season. Tavares joired Mariusz Czerkawski and Bryan Trottier as the Islanders
who had scored five consecutive team goals (with goals from the opposition mixed
in).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Flyers 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 62
Flyers 4, Isles 3 (OT)

As it has been for the past week, it was the Matt and Montoya Show for the
Islanders again. This time however, it was Matt Martin scoring twice in the
third period, including the game-tying goal with 28 seconds to play. However,
Andrej Mezaros scored with 18 seconds to play in overtime to spoil a 39-save
effort by Al Montoya as the Flyers defeated the Islanders 4-3 at the Wachovia
Center before a crowd of 19,776. With the overtime defeat, the Isles fall to
8-4-1 in the last 13 games. The Isles are 0-10-2 in their last 12 trips to
Philadelphia.

Frans Strikes First
The Isles tallied the only goal of the first period as Frans Nielsen tallied at
9:03 of the first for his 8th goal of the season and only his 3rd goal of the
season at even strength.

Flyers Get Two in the Second
Mike Richards and James van Riemsdyk scored in the middle session to give the
Flyers the lead.

Carter Gives the Flyers a 3-1 Lead
Jeff Carter made it 3-1 Philadelphia at 5:05 of the third to give the Flyers a
two-goal advantage.

Martin Gets Isles One Point… but Philly Gets Two
Matt Martin got one goal back 86 seconds later; Micheal Haley earned the first
assist of his career on the play. Martin would then tie the game at 19:42 with
his 4th goal of the season and send the game to overtime. Andrew MacDonald
earned an assist on the goal to extend his assist streak to three straight
games. Alas, Mezaros' goal would give the Flyers the overtime victory and keep
the Isles winless in Philadelphia since April 2007. 4-3 (overtime) Final.

Quiet Game
Unlike the Isles' last game with the other Pennsylvania team, there were only
two minor penalties called in the entire game- one on each team.

As Seen on MSG+: Two with Ten
We noted on Tuesday that the Islanders now have two 10-goal scorers this month
in Matt Moulson (10-3-13) and Michael Grabner (10-5-15). With thanks to Elias,
MSG noted that it is the second time in club history that the Islanders have had
multiple players score 10 goals in February. In 1982, Bryan Trottier (17),
Brent Sutter (13) and Mike Bossy (11) all reached double digits. The Isles went
12-1-1 in February 1982 and scored 83 goals.

Strange Stats of the Night
No Islander that played in this game played in the Islanders' last victory in
Philadelphia on April 7, 2007. Trent Hunter is the only player still with the
organization who played in that game. The Isles won all four games in
Philadelphia that season; Radek Martinek and Rick DiPietro played in at least
one of them, as did Bruno Gervais, who was the only player in tonight's game to
have a previous win in Philadelphia as an Islander.
Matt Martin was +3 for the Isles while Sean O'Donnell was +3 for the Flyers.
Two Flyers, Darroll Powe and Matt Carle, went -3.

Young Get Younger
The Isles defense corps had only 621 games of experience entering the game and
Bruno Gervais (316) had more than half of it. The Flyers dressed five players,
including three defensemen, who had more experience than the Isles. Three of
the Isles defensemen (Travis Hamonic, Ty Wishart and Mark Katic) are NHL
rookies; the average age of the 20 players that dressed was 24.56 years.
Back-up goalie Nathan Lawson was the 3rd oldest Islander in the line-up, behind
Zenon Konopka and PA Parenteau.

Home and Road
The Flyers improve to 40-15-6, and are 20-8-3 at home. The Flyers now have a
9-point lead over Tampa in the race for the number one seed in the East, and
took over first place in the NHL, pending the outcome of Vancouver's late night
game.
The Isles are 23-31-8, and are 11-17-4 on the road. They are 19-21-5 under Jack
Capuano, including 18-13-3 in the last 34. The Isles are 8-4-1 in February with
one game to play; it's their first 8-win month since November, 2008.

In the Nets
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves to beat the Islanders for the 4th time this
season and improve to 24-9-4 overall.
Al Montoya made 39 saves, but drops to 3-1-1. He is now 5-2-1 in eight career
starts and 6-2-1 overall.

Power Plays
The Isles went 0-1 on the power play while the Flyers were also 0-1.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 of 53 (49%) face-offs. Frans Nielsen split 18 draws, while
Josh Bailey went 6-6.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight and Rick DiPietro remain out. Radek Martinek missed his
2nd game with an upper body injury while Milan Jurcina missed his first game
with a groin injury. Trevor Gillies served the seven game of his nine-game
suspension. The Isles have lost 419 games to injury and 15 games to suspension
this season. Mark Katic played 15:37 in his NHL debut. Jesse Joensuu and Jeremy
Colliton were returned to Bridgeport. Rob Schremp got back in the lineup, played
17:55, had five shots on goal, and was a +1.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 144 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 74-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 42 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Flyers lead the season series four games to none, and eight points to one.
The last three meetings have all been decided by a single goal. The teams will
meet again on March 26th at the Coliseum, before the Isles finish their regular
season in Philadelphia on April 9th. The Isles are 0-10-2 in their last 12
trips to Philadelphia and 1-15-4 in their last 20 games against the Flyers.

Happy Anniversary
4 years ago today (February 24, 2007): Frans Nielsen records the first goal and
first assist of his career as the Islanders defeat Jaroslav Halak and the
Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at the Coliseum.
All-time, the Isles are 5-6-3 on this date, including a scoreless tie with
Boston in 2004.

Up Next
Saturday, February 26 Vs Washington 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders return home to face the Capitals in the first of a home-and-home
series with Washington; the teams will meet in the District on Tuesday. The
Caps have won the first two games this season, both by scores of 2-1.
In the "it depends on how you look at it" department, the Isles are 6-2-4 in
their last 12 at home against Washington, although the Caps have won five
straight on Long Island (including three in overtime).

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Young Get Younger

With Mark Katic in the lineup tonight, the 20 Islanders that I would expect to
dress (excluding Rob Schremp) are an average age of 24.50 as of today. That
works out to an average birthdate of 8/25/1986 -- 13 days older than Andrew
MacDonald (ie MacDonald, not McDonald, is of average age on this team).

Katic gives the Isles 5 players younger than 22 -- he is 1 day younger than Matt
Martin.Bailey, Tavares, and Hamonic are the other under 22's on the active
roster.

This gorup is significantly younger than the roster that the Isles had in early
January, at the time of Poulin's recall.

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; Leafs 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 61
Leafs 2, Isles 1

Phil Kessel scored an unassisted goal with less than five minutes to play and
James Reimer made 28 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Islanders 2-1
before 19,459 at Air Canada Center as they handed the Isles only their 4th loss
in twelve games since the All-Star Break. The Leafs are 7-2-2 in their last 11
games.

MacArthur Gives Leafs the Lead
Clark MacArthur scored the only goal of the opening session, beating Al Montoya
midway through the session for his 18th goal of the season. The Islanders lost
Milan Jurcina with a groin injury in the first period after he was hit by Mike
Brown. He did not return.

Moulson Gets It Back
If the first half of the month belonged to Michael Grabner, the second half has
belonged to Matt Moulson. The Islanders' leading goal scorer tallied on the
power play at 8:09 of the second period for his 27th goal of the season and
sixth in the last three games. He is the 12th player in the NHL to score 27
goals this season. Moulson also extended his point streak to four games; Andrew
MacDonald earned the only assist. The Isles have now scored 65 second period
goals, and allowed 65 goals in the middle session as well.

Kessel Wins it
Phil Kessel scored an unassisted tally with 4:41 to play in regulation for his
23rd goal of the season. It would turn out to be his 4th game-winning goal of
the season. Kessel has nine goals in 18 career games against the Islanders. The
Leafs are 7-3-2 in games tied after 40 minutes while the Isles are 5-9-3. 2-1
Final.

A Pair of Misconducts
There were no fighting majors in the game but both Travis Hamonic and Zenon
Konopka drew misconducts. Hamonic now has 87 penalty minutes, which leads all
Islander defensemen by a wide margin while Konopka's 219 penalty minutes lead
the NHL.

Two with Ten
Matt Moulson (10-3-13) joins Grabner (10-5-15) as Islanders with ten goals this
month. John Tavares is 5-11-16 in February.

Trio Grande (with Apologies to Bossy, Trottier and Gillies)
They don't even play on the same line, but Moulson (27), Grabner (25) and
Tavares (23) have combined for 75 goals – one of the highest totals for three
teammates this season:
· Vancouver: Kesler/D Sedin/Burrows 82 (entering Tuesday game with
Montreal)
· Anaheim:Perry/Ryan/Selanne 77
· Philadelphia: Briere/Carter/Giroux 76
· Isles: Moulson/Grabner/Tavares 75
· Tampa: Stamkos/St Louis/Lecavalier 73
The three have combined for 4 hat tricks (2 for Tavares, 1 for Grabner and
Moulson). It's the first time that the Isles have had four hat tricks in the
same season since they had five hat tricks in the 2002-03 season.

Streak Stopper
By scoring only once, the Isles end a 9-game streak in which they had scored at
least three goals in each game. It's their longest such streak since they
scored at least three goals in 10 straight games from February 27 to March 17,
1994.

Strange Stats of the Night
The loss is the 1,300th in Islander history (1306-1300-415). The loss ends an
Islander three-game road winning streak, with all three wins coming in either
overtime or a shootout.

Border Crossing
This was the final game outside of the US for the Islanders this season. The
Islanders were 3-4-0 in Canada this year, with all three wins coming in overtime
or shootouts.

Home and Road
The Leafs improve to 26-27-7, and are 14-11-6 at home.
The Isles are 23-31-7, and are 11-17-3 on the road. They are 19-21-4 under Jack
Capuano, including 18-13-2 in the last 33. The Isles are 8-4-0 in February with
two games to play; it's their first 8-win month since November, 2008.

In the Nets
James Reimer made 28 saves to beat the Islanders for the 2nd time this season
and improve to 9-4-2.
Al Montoya made 23 saves, but drops to 3-1. He has allowed only six goals on
110 shots in his four appearances (1.41 GAA, 94.5 save percentage). He is 5-2
in seven career starts and 6-2 overall.

Power Plays
The Isles went 1-6 on the power play while the Leafs were 0-3.

In the Circle
Continuing a recent trend, the Islanders struggled in the faceoff circle, as
they won 21 of 55 (38%) face-offs. Zenon Konopka won 6 of 10 for the Isles but
Josh Bailey went 0-7.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Radek
Martinek missed the game with an upper body injury. Trevor Gillies served the
six game of his nine-game suspension. The Isles have lost 410 games to injury
(the equivalent of five players missing all 82 games) and 14 games to suspension
this season. Rob Schremp was a healthy scratch.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 143 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 73-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 41 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Leafs lead the season series two games to one, and five points to two, with
the teams splitting the season series in Toronto. The final meeting of the
season series will be at the Coliseum on March 8th.

Happy Anniversary
With Jiggs filling in for Howie this week, it seems appropriate to have an Eddie
Westfall anniversary fact.
36 years ago today (February 22, 1975): Ed Westfall scores the second (and
final) hat trick of his Islander career as the Isles beat Montreal 7-6 at the
Forum. It's the Isles' first-ever win in Montreal and their only win there in
regular season play in their first six seasons. Billy MacMillian scored the
winning goal, breaking a 6-6 tie with 5:25 to play. Buried in the agate of that
game—minor penalties to David Lewis and Billy Smith at 7:52 of the second period
for an altercation with current Ranger general manager Glen Sather (who received
a double minor on the play).
All-time, the Isles are 10-4-3 on this date with their loss in Toronto ending a
five game unbeaten streak on this date (4-0-1) that went all the way back to
1990!

Up Next
Thursday, February 24 @ Philadelphia 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The road trip concludes on Thursday in Philadelphia. The Wachovia Center has
been an unfriendly place for the Islanders in recent years; Scott Gordon never
won there (0-6-1) and the Isles are 0-10-1 in their last 11 visits since a win
on the penultimate day of the season set up the Easter Epic in 2007.

The Flyers have won all three games this season, but both Coliseum meetings have
been one-goal games. The Flyers defeated the Islanders 6-1 in Philadelphia in
October with Frans Nielsen's shorthanded penalty shot goal being the only
Islander tally.

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

Grabner ice-time

Grabner led all Isles forwards with 21:34 of ice-time, including 5:54 of power
play time. Grabner has only 37:10 of pp time on the entire season.

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 5, Florida 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 60
Isles 5, Panthers 1

For the second straight game, it was the "Matt and Montoya Show". Matt Moulson
took over the club lead by tallying three times for his second career hat trick,
and Al Montoya made 20 saves and came within 9:26 of a second consecutive
shutouts as the Islanders beat the Florida Panthers before the third-largest
crowd of the season (13,729) at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The
Isles improve to 8-3-0 since the All-Star Break as they beat the Panthers for
the first time this season.

Two for Moulson in the First
Moulson scored two goals 7 ½ minutes apart in the opening session. Travis
Hamonic earned assists on both goals, while PA Parenteau and John Tavares also
had helpers. Less than a minute after Moulson's second goal, the Panthers'
Stephen Weiss was ejected for a vicious elbow against Radek Martinek.

Martinek Strikes Back
Martinek responded to the elbow by scoring with just three seconds left on the
major power play to give the Isles a 3-goal advantage early in the second
period. Josh Bailey upped the lead to 4-0 at 6:41 of the session when he beat
Tomas Vokoun.

Santorelli Breaks the Shutout
Midway through the 3rd period, Mike Santorelli scored his 17th goal of the
season to break Montoya's shutout. Montoya had not allowed a goal in his first
110:34 as an Islander starter.

MatTrick
Matt Moulson hit the empty net at 17:23 of the third to complete his hat trick
and take over the club lead in goals with 26, one more than Michael Grabner and
three more than John Tavares. The Isles are the only NHL team that has three
players with at least 23 goals. Moulson's 26 goals leave him tied for 12th in
the NHL. 5-1 Final.

Hamonic Drops the Gloves
Travis Hamonic was ruled to be the instigator of a fight with Steve Bernier in
the second period. Hamonic, who finished with 21 penalty minutes, now has 77
penalty minutes, which leads all Islander defensemen by a wide margin.

Strange Stat of the Game
Matt Moulson and John Tavares have combined for 49 goals this season after
combining for 54 a year ago. The 103 goals over two seasons are eight more than
a more heralded set of linemates (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) have managed
for the Hawks in the same period. (Thanks to Islander fan Neil Mairs for the
idea.)

Trio Grande (with Apologies to Bossy, Trottier and Gillies)
They don't even play on the same line, but Moulson (26), Grabner (25) and
Tavares (23) have combined for 74 goals – one of the highest totals for three
teammates this season:
· Vancouver: Kesler/D Sedin/Burrows 82
· Anaheim:Perry/Ryan/Selanne 77
· Philadelphia: Briere/Carter/Giroux 75
· Isles: Moulson/Grabner/Tavares 74
· Tampa: Stamkos/St Louis/Lecavalier 73
The three have combined for 4 hat tricks (2 for Tavares, 1 for Grabner and
Moulson). It's the first time that the Isles have had four hat tricks in the
same season since they had five hat tricks in the 2002-03 season.

It's Been a Long Time Since…
…the Isles had such a lengthy streak of scoring at least three goals in a game.
Since being blanked in Pittsburgh on February 2nd, the Isles have scored at
least three goals in each of their last nine games. The last time the Isles
managed at least three goals in 9 straight games came in a ten game streak from
February 27 to March 17, 1994.
…the Isles allowed only one goal in a two-game stretch. It last happened on
October 31-November 2, 2009 when the Isles shutout Buffalo 5-0 and beat Edmonton
3-1.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had four players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Blake Comeau leads the way. His assist gives him 110 points
(47-63-110)
· Frans Nielsen's assist gives him 107 points (36-71-107)
· John Tavares' assists gives him 106 points (47-59-106). He is the
second youngest player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career
points.

· Kyle Okposo has 105 points (41-64-105)
Two injured players (Trent Hunter and Mark Streit) are the only others on the
current roster to have recorded 100 points in an Islander uniform.

Passing Duchene
With his two assists tonight, Tavares now has 106 career points, four more than
Matt Duchene. No other member of the 2009 draft class has more than 60 NHL
points. He is 5-11-16 in the 11 games since the All-Star Break.

Home and Road
The Isles are 23-30-7, and are 12-14-4 at home. They are 19-20-4 under Jack
Capuano, including 18-12-2 in the last 32. The Isles are 8-3-0 in February with
three games to play; it's their first 8-win month since November, 2008.
The Panthers fall to 25-27-7, and are 13-16-1 on the road.

In the Nets
Al Montoya improves to 3-0 on the season, making 20 saves. He has allowed only
four goals on 85 shots in his four appearances (1.23 GAA, 95.3 save
percentage). Montoya has allowed only three goals in his five career wins as a
starter. He is 5-1 in six career starts and 6-1 overall. The 21 shots allowed
by the Isles are their fewest allowed at home since allowing 20 to New Jersey on
January 18, 2010.
Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves for Florida, including 14 in the first period, when
the Isles outshot Florida 16-3.

Power Plays
The Isles went 1-5 on the power play while the Panthers were also 1-5.

In the Circle
The Isles won 24 of 47 (51%) face-offs. Zenon Konopka won 9 of 14 for the
Isles.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Trevor
Gillies served the fifth game of his nine-game. The Isles have lost 401 games
to injury and 13 games to suspension this season. With Matt Martin back in the
lineup, Bruno Gervais and Rob Schremp were healthy scratches.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 142 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 72-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 40 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Panthers still lead the season series two games to one, with the teams
splitting the season series on Long Island. The final meeting of the season
series will be in Sunrise, Florida on March 19th.

Happy Anniversary
17 years ago today (February 21, 1994): Ron Hextall became only the second
goaltender in Islander history to record consecutive shutouts as he blanked
Washington 4-0.
All-time, the Isles are 9-11-0 on this date. They have won their last five on
February 21st (all at home), by a combined score of 18-3.

Up Next
Tuesday, February 22 @ Toronto 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders head to Toronto for the first game of a two-game road trip. It's
the third meeting of the teams this season; John Tavares scored in overtime to
give the Isles a 2-1 win in Toronto back on October 18th; the Leafs defeated the
Isles 5-3 two weeks ago at the Coliseum in the game in which Kevin Poulin
suffered a season-ending injury in warm-ups.

The Leafs enter the game four points ahead of the Islanders.

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

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 3, Los Angeles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 59
Isles 3, Kings 0

Al Montoya made 35 saves, including 17 in the second period, to become the first

goaltender in Islander history to record a shutout in his first start with the
team; Frans Nielsen scored a shorthanded goal and Matt Moulson potted two goals
against his brother-in-law as the Islanders blanked the Los Angeles Kings 3-0
before a crowd of 13,119 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Isles'
win is their fifth in six games, as they hand Los Angeles their first regulation

loss since January 20th, ending an 11-game King streak (8-0-3).

An Early Shorty
Kyle Okposo took a hooking penalty 4:04 into play, but it was the Islanders who
would score on the ensuing power play as Nielsen converted a pass from Michael
Grabner for his 7th goal of the season. It's the league-leading 5th shorty for
Nielsen, who has scored more shorthanded goals than any Islander since Shawn
Bates potted six in 2002-03. Nielsen, who also shares the league lead in
shorthanded points, is two shorties away from the Islander club record, set 30
years ago by Bob Bourne.

Bragging Rights
Matt Moulson hit the post in the first period, but beat Jonathan Quick in both
the 2nd and 3rd periods for the game's other goals. Moulson is now tied for 2nd
place on the team with 23 goals; no other NHL team has three players with at
least 23 goals. Linemates PA Parenteau and John Tavares assisted on both goals.

Montoya Perfect
Al Montoya made 35 saves to match his uniform and record the shutout. It was
Montoya's 5th NHL start and first since April 9, 2009. Montoya, who also
recorded a shutout in his first NHL start, has allowed only two goals in his
four career wins as a starter. He is 4-1 in five career starts and 5-1
overall. 3-0 Final.

Konopka keeps on Fighting
Zenon Konopka was involved in the game's only fight, battling with Kyle
Clifford. The NHL's most penalized player now has 205 minutes. He is the first
Islander since Rich Pilon (291 in 1997-98) to reach 200 and the first forward
since Mick Vukota (237 in 1993-94). Konopka is only the 6th player in Islander
history to post a 200 penalty minute season (Ken Baumgartner - 2x, Brian
Curran-1x, Garry Howatt-3x, Pilon-2x and Vukota-6x).

Strange Stat of the Game
It's the second time this season that the attendance was 13,119. The same
attendance was announced for the January 17th game against New Jersey.

It's Been a Long Time Since…
…the Isles had such a lengthy streak of scoring at least three goals in a game.

Since being blanked in Pittsburgh on February 2nd, the Isles have scored at
least three goals in each of their last eight games. The last time the Isles
managed at least three goals in 8 straight games came March 11-25, 2004. They
have not had a longer streak since scoring at least three goals in 10 straight
games from February 27 to March 17, 1994.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had four players record their 100th career point, all of them

in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Blake Comeau leads the way with 109 points (47-62-109)
· Frans Nielsen's goal gives him 106 points (36-70-106)
· Kyle Okposo has 105 points (41-64-105)
· John Tavares' two assists tonight also give him 105 points (47-58-105).

He is the second youngest player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record
100 career points.
Two injured players (Trent Hunter and Mark Streit) are the only others on the
current roster to have recorded 100 points in an Islander uniform.

Passing Duchene
With his two assists tonight, Tavares now has 105 career points, one more than
Matt Duchene. No other member of the 2009 draft class has more than 60 NHL
points. Tavares recorded his 5th multi-point game of February. He is 5-10-15
in the 10 games since the All-Star Break.

50-50
John Tavares now has 51 points (23-28-51) on the season. He is now tied-21st in

the league in both goals and points. Tavares is the first Islander to have
consecutive 50 point seasons since Alexei Yashin, Miro Satan and Jason Blake all

did so in 2005-06 and 2006-07. He is the first Islander to do so in his rookie
and sophomore seasons since Vladimir Malakhov did so in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Home and Road
The Isles are 22-30-7, and are 11-14-4 at home. They are 18-20-4 under Jack
Capuano, including 17-12-2 in the last 31. The Isles are 7-3-0 in February with

four games to play; it's their first 7-win month since January, 2010.
The Kings fall to 32-23-4, and are 15-14-3 on the road. The Kings have one game

left on their lengthy road trip, after which they will play 14 of their final 22

at Staples Center. The loss ended a 9-game Kings point streak on the road,
which was the second longest streak in team history.

In the Nets
Al Montoya records the shutout in his first start as an Islander, improving to
2-0 on the season. He has allowed only three goals on 65 shots in his three
appearances (1.33 GAA, 95.4 save percentage). It's the Islanders' second
shutout of the season (DiPietro shut out New Jersey on November 26th). The
Isles' last seven shutouts have been recorded by six different goaltenders.
The Isles finally beat Jonathan Quick, who had allowed only 5 goals in beating
the Isles four straight times. Quick is 26-15-2 this season.

Power Plays
The Isles went 0-2 on the power play while the Kings were 0-3. The Isles scored

shorthanded for the 9th time this season, including three times in the last five

games and four times in the last eight games. It's the first time since early
in the 2008/09 season that the Isles have scored shorthanded goals with such
frequency.

In the Circle
The Isles won 28 of 57 (49%) face-offs. John Tavares won 9 of his first 10 and
ten of 14 overall. Michal Handzus won 10 of 15 for Los Angeles.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Trevor
Gillies served the fourth game of his nine-game suspension while Matt Martin
served the final game of his four-game suspension. The Isles have lost 393
games to injury and twelve games to suspension this season. With Ty Wishart back

in the lineup, Bruno Gervais was a healthy scratch.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 141 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 71-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 39 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series, with each team winning on home-ice. The
Isles recorded their first win at home over Los Angeles since Tommy Salo blanked

the Kings 1-0 on October 27, 1998; Joe Sacco had the game's only goal. The
Isles had gone 0-5-1 in their last six games against the Kings at home, as well
as 0-5-2 in their last seven vs LA overall. In the Isles' last win over Los
Angeles (3-2 in LA on February 15, 2003), Garth Snow was in goal and Peter
Laviolette was the Islander coach.

Happy Anniversary
32 years ago today (February 19, 1979): Mike Bossy records his 100th career
goal, in only his 129th game to set an NHL record for the fastest 100 goals as
the Islanders pounded the Kings 8-3.
All-time, the Isles are 12-4-0 on this date, including shutout wins in 1983,
1994, 2003 and now 2011.

Up Next
Monday, February 21 Florida @ Islanders 1:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 12:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
It's a President's Day matinee as the Islanders host the Panthers in their final

Monday game of the season (3-3-0). The teams have met twice before this season
and the Panthers have won both games. Back on October 23rd, three John Tavares
goals erased Florida leads, but Radek Dvorak had the game-winner in what was the

first game of a 14-game Islander winless streak. The Panthers also beat the
Isles, 4-1 at the Coliseum in the 12th game of that streak.
The Panthers beat Tampa in a shootout on Saturday, and will head to Long Island
six points ahead of the Islanders.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Boston 6, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 58

Bruins 6, Isles 3

 

Boston scored 5 goals on 18 shots against Nathan Lawson as they rode a fast start to a 6-3 win over the Islanders before a crowd of 12,478 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  The Bruins' win breaks both their three-game losing streak and the Islanders' four games winning streak.

Down 3 in the First

The Bruins have been a good first period team all season, and they grabbed a 3-goal lead before the Islanders even had two shots on goal. Blake Wheeler's wrister eluded Lawson just 1:50 into play, Mark Recchi deflected a puck in off his skate and Gregory Campbell scored on a tip-in as the Bruins led 3-0 by the 9:05 mark.  Boston is now +21 in the first period while the Isles are -19.  It's the 38^th time this season that the Isles have allowed the opening goal (7-27-4).  Boston has won all 19 games that they have had a 3-goal lead this season.

Recchi's goal was his 574th career tally, passing Islander legend Mike Bossy for 19^th place all-time. Recchi, the active leader in goals, assists, points and games, scored his first goal since turning 43 earlier this month.  Chris Chelios was the last player to score a goal beyond his 43^rd birthday, on March 20, 2008.  Mark Messier was the last forward to score a goal after age 43, doing so one day Igor Larionov became the only other forward since at least 1988 to do so.

Lots of Goals in the 2nd

It seems like everything was going in early in the second.  David Krejeci made it 4-0 Boston 55 seconds into the period but John Tavares got the Isles on the board 55 seconds later.  Tyler Seguin scored at 2:48 to chase Lawson, but Josh Bailey scored for the second straight game and extended his point streak to four games, at 5:36.  Blake Comeau assisted on both Islander goals in the period; he has points in all three games since recovering from his concussion (2-2-4).

The Isles were hit with a too many men on the ice penalty at 7:10; it was their 10^th bench minor on the season – only Tampa (11) has more.  Milan Lucic made them pay with a power play tally seven seconds later.  The Isles carried the offense for most of the middle period, recording 21 shots, but trailed 6-2 after 40 minutes.

Tavares Tallies Again

 John Tavares had a chance to get the Isles within three early in the third but slid the puck across the streak; later in the session he beat Tuukka Rask for his second goal of the night.  Tavares now has 23 goals on the season, one shy of his rookie year total.  Alas, the Isles could get no closer.  6-3 Final.

Grabner Stopped

Michael Grabner, who leads all rookies in goals with 25, had his six-game goal scoring streak stopped, despite recording four shots on goal. The streak was the longest by an Islander rookie since Patrick Flatley in 1984-85 (also six games) and matched Detroit's Daniel Cleary for the longest streak in the NHL this season. Grabner's streak is the longest by a rookie since Evgeny Malkin had a 6-game stretch in 2006-07. 

Since January 15th, Grabner has 16 goals in 16 games, by far the most of any player in the NHL (Entering play Thursday, no one else had more than nine).

Milestone for Konopka

Zenon Konopka was involved in the game's only fight, battling with Adam McQuaid.  Konopka received seven penalty minutes on the play, giving the NHL's leader an even 200 minutes. He is the first Islander since Rich Pilon (291 in 1997-98) to reach 200 and the first forward since Mick Vukota (237 in 1993-94).  Konopka is only the 6th player in Islander history to post a 200 penalty minute season (Ken Baumgartner - 2x, Brian Curran-1x, Garry Howatt-3x, Pilon-2x and Vukota-6x).

Strange Stat of the Game

Micheal Haley out-hit the Bruins…all by himself.  He had 9 of the Isles' 21 hits; Boston was credited with just four hits.

It's Been a Long Time Since…

…the Isles had such a lengthy streak of scoring at least three goals in a game.  Since being blanked in Pittsburgh on February 2^nd, the Isles have scored at least three goals in each of their last seven games.   The Last time the Isles managed at least three goals in 7 straight games came March 11-25, 2004, when they scored at least three goals in eight straight games.

Growing Up Together

The Islanders have had four players record their 100^th career point, all of them in Islander uniforms, this season.

·        Blake Comeau leads the way.  His 2 assists tonight gives him 109 points (347-62-109)

·        Frans Nielsen has 105 points (35-70-105)

·        Kyle Okposo also has 105 points (41-64-105)

·        John Tavares' two goals  tonight gives him 103 points (47-56-103)

Two injured players (Trent Hunter and Mark Streit) are the only others on the current roster to have recorded 100 points in an Islander uniform. 

Passing Duchesne

With his two goals tonight, Tavares now has 103 career points, one more than Matt Duchesne.  No other member of the 2009 draft class has more than 60 NHL points.  Tavares, who scored eight goals over eight games from December 31-January 15, now has five goals in his last five games.

Home and Road

The Bruins are 32-19-7, including a sparking 17-7-4 record on the road.

The Isles are 21-30-7, and are 10-14-4 at home.  They are 17-20-4 under Jack Capuano, including 16-12-2 in the last 30.  The Isles are 6-3-0 in February with five games to play; it matches their most wins in any month this season (6-7-1 in December).

In the Nets

Nathan Lawson stopped 13 of 18 shots before being chased early in the second period.  Al Montoya allowed only one goal over the final 37:12, making 15 stops.  Each of his two appearances for the Islanders has come in relief; he has allowed three goals on 30 shots in those two games.

Tuukka Rask improved to 6-11-1 for Boston, including 2-3 in five appearances since January 13^th.

Power Plays

The Isles went 0-1 on the power play while the Bruins were 1-2. 

In the Circle

The Isles had another difficult night in the circle as they won just 17 of 53 (32%) face-offs.  No Islander center won more than he lost; Patrice Bergeron won 13 of 18 for Boston.

Missing Men

Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season. Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin served the third of their nine and four game suspensions, respectively.  The Isles have lost 386 games to injury and ten games to suspension this season. With Bruno Gervais back in the lineup, Ty Wishart was a healthy scratch.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 140 games since joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have played every game this season; his 70-game streak includes the final 12 games last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 38 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.  

Season Series Stats          

The Bruins lead the season series two games to none (and four points to 0). The Isles are 2-9-1 in their last against Boston, including 1-5-0 at home.  The teams will meet again on Long Island on March 11^th before finishing the season series in Boston in early April.

Happy Anniversary

19 years ago today (February 17, 1992):   Tom Fitzgerald scored in overtime to give the Isles a 5-4 win over Winnipeg in the first-ever President's Day matinee at the Coliseum.  It's the only one of his 25 goals as an Islander to be scored in overtime.

 All-time, the Isles are 5-10-3 on this date, going 0-2-2 in four games since a 1999 win in Pittsburgh.

Up Next

Saturday, February 19 Los Angeles @ Islanders 7:00pm

It has been a long time since the Islanders beat the Kings – Eight years and four days (as of Saturday).  Los Angeles, who defeated the Isles 5-1 in November in Scott Gordon's final game, has won six straight over the Isles; New York is 0-5-2 in the last seven against the Kings.

Matt Moulson's brother-in-law (Jonathan Quick) has been in the nets for each of the last four meetings of the teams, and has won them all.

[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]

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

Butch Goring; "The Seed"

A couple of people asked me about the nickname Denis ("Bear") Potvin used for Butch Goring on Tuesday night.

This story, from the archives of the LA Times explains: 

articles.latimes.com/1985-10-22/sports/sp-12424_1



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

Most goals by an Islander rookie; More Grabner Stuff

I've been mentioning for the last week or so that Grabner is closing in on
Islander royalty. With his next goal, he will have more goals than any Islander
rookie since Mike Bossy had 53 in 1977-78.

He will also have more goals than all but three rookies in Islander history.
While Bossy is safe, perhaps Harris or even Trottier is not.

1. 53 Bossy 1977-78
2. 32 Trottier 1975-76
3. 28 Harris 1972-73

T4 25 Gillies 1974-75
T4 25 Volek 1988-89
T4 25 Hunter 2003-04
T4 25 Grabner 2009-10

Grabner will be looking to extend his goal streak to 7 games on Thursday. No
player in the NHL has had a 7-game streak this season. (Dan Cleary is the only
other player who has had a 6-game streak this season.) Steven Stamkos had the
only 7-game streak last season (Feb 13-Mar 11), scoring 9 goals in the process.
Alex Ovechkin was the last rookie to have a 7-game streak (2005-06).

Since the lockout, Washington's Mike Green is the only player to have a steak
longer than 7 games (8 games from 1/27-2/14/09) which would mean a Grabner goal
on Thursday would give him a share of the longest streak by a forward since the
lockout.

Grabner is also looking to tie Mike Bossy's club rookie record of 7, set
11/13-11/26/77. Bossy scored 11 goals in the 7 games. While Elias noted that
he did it twice that season, his other seven game streak, from 2/2-2/25/78, was
a streak in which he scored in 7 straight games that he played -- however he
missed four games during that stretch, which under current scoring rules would
have interrupted the streak.

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 from Elias on Grabner

From Elias:
<<Grabner's goal was his 16th in 15 games since January 15-the highest goal
total by an NHL rookie over a 15-game span since Teemu Selanne notched 16
goals in 15 games for Winnipeg in 1992-93. The only other Islanders rookie to
do that was Mike Bossy in 1977-78.>>

From Eric:

Selanne actually had several streaks of at least 16 goals in 15 games that
season (he finished with 76 goals in 84 games). He had 17 goals over the final
15 games that season, but actually had two (overlapping) streaks in which he
managed 24 goals in a 15-game span.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 3 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 57
Isles 4, Sens 3 (SO)

Michael Grabner extended his goal scoring streak to six games, Josh Bailey
scored his first goal of 2011, and Frans Nielsen had the deciding goal in the
shootout as the Islanders won their fourth straight, and improved to 6-2-0 since

the All-Star Break with a 4-3 shootout win over the Senators before 17,565 at
ScotiaBank Place in Kanata, Ontario.
The Butler Did It
The Sens scored the game's only goal in the first period, with Bobby Butler
beating Nathan Lawson for a power play tally.  It's the second goal in as many
NHL games for the Ottawa rookie.  It's the 37th time this season that the Isles
have allowed the opening goal.
Comeau and Shannon Trade Goals
The Isles evened the game at 8:07 of the second period as Blake Comeau scored
for the second straight game since returning from his concussion.  However, Ryan

Shannon's power play goal gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead entering the second
intermission.

Grabner… Again
Grabner tied the game with an unassisted shorthanded tally at 2:48 of the third
as he stole a pass, had the puck slide off his stick on a forehand/backhand
move, and then recaptured the puck and banged it in on a wrap-around. It's his
25th goal of the season, passing Logan Couture for the rookie lead, and his 10th

in the last six games.  Grabner is the first Islander rookie since Patrick
Flatley in 1984-85 to score in six straight games and only the 2nd player in the

entire NHL to do so this season (Daniel Cleary).  Grabner's streak is the
longest by a rookie since Evgeny Malkin had a 6-game stretch in 2006-07. 

While he would have other chances, including one in overtime, Grabner's
multi-goal game streak would end at 3, which shares both the team record (all
players) and NHL rookie record.
Bailey Give the Isles the Lead
Josh Bailey scored at 6:39 off a pass from Grabner for his 7th goal of the
season.  It was his first goal since December 29th against Pittsburgh.  However,

Erik Karlsson tied the game at 15:56.  Erik Kondra, making his NHL debut, earned

an assist. The final four minutes of regulation and all of overtime went
scoreless, setting up the shootout.
A Shootout Win!
Ottawa went first and Alexei Kovalev beat Lawson to give the Sens the lead.  Rob

Schremp beat Brian Elliot with a wrist shot to tie the shootout.  After Lawson
stopped Jason Spezza, Frans Nielsen crossed Elliot up and score on a forehand
move.  Lawson then stopped Butler's shot to cement the victory and keep the Sens

winless in shootouts (0-4).  The Isles are now 3-4 in shootouts.  4-3 (Shootout)

Final.
Grabner's Glory
Grabner now has a 6-game goal streak -- he has ten goals in the last six
games.  Since January 15th, Grabner has 16 goals in the last 15 games, by far
the most of any player in the NHL (Entering play Sunday, no one else had more
than eight).

Without a Fight
Only 9 minor penalties were called.  The Isles have not had a fight in either of

the two games played since their 9-3 victory over the Penguins Friday produced
346 penalty minutes, 183 on the Islanders.  Both marks were club records.
Strange Stat of the Game
The Isles have won their last three road games, despite trailing after two
periods in all three games.  The Isles opened the season going 0-20-2 in games
that they trailed after two periods.
Streaking
The Isles have won three straight road games, all in extra time (two overtimes
and a shootout) for the first time in their history.

The Isles have won 4 straight games for the first time since January 9- 18, 2010

and three straight on the road for the first time since a four game streak from
January 11-22, 2008.
Streak Stopper
John Tavares was held without a point, ending his 5-game point streak and 3-game

goal streak. Frans Nielsen's assist streak ended at three games; he had recorded

six assists during the streak.
The Jurcina Effect
Milan Jurcina led the Isles with 5 shots and with 6 hits. In the 32 games that
he has played, the Isles are 18-11-3.  They are 3-18-4 in the 25 games that he
has missed.
Home and Road
The Isles are 21-29-7, and are 11-16-3 on the road.  The 25 road points are
their highest total through 30 games in the last three seasons. The Isles are
9-5-0 in their last 14 road games for their best road stretch since
February/March 2008 and are 17-19-4 under Jack Capuano, including 16-11-2 in the

last 29.  The Isles are 6-2-0 in February with six games to play; it matches
their most wins in any month this season (6-7-1 in December).
The Sens are 18-30-9 and 9-15-5 at home. Ottawa is 2-13-5 in their last 20 games

overall, and has not won on home ice since Boxing Day.
In the Nets
Nathan Lawson becomes the 6th different Islander to win a game in goal this
season, making 28 saves.  They are the first team since the 2006-07 Los Angeles
Kings to have six winning goaltenders in the same season.  This was his first
game since being injured in Buffalo 3 ½ weeks ago.  The Isles have had a
different goaltender record a victory in each of the last three games (Koskinen,

Montoya [in relief], and Lawson) – that hasn't happened for the Isles since at
least the 1980's.  None of the three had recorded a victory as an Islander prior

to the current 4-game win streak.  Lawson joins Koskinen and Kevin Poulin in
recording their first NHL victories for the Islanders this season.
Brian Elliot made 25 saves for Ottawa.  He is 13-19-8 this season.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-4 on the power play while the Sens were 2-5.  The Isles did
however get a shorthanded goal from Grabner. It's Grabner's second shorty in the

last three games and the Isles' third in the last six games.  Grabner has 3
shorty's this season, one behind Boston's Brad Marchand for the rookie lead. The

Isles now have 8 shorthanded goals on the season; only the Rangers (9) have
more.
In the Circle
The Isles had a difficult night in the circle as they won just 25 of 73 (34%)
face-offs.  No Islander center won more than he lost; Chris Kelly, who was
involved in a mid-ice collision with Andrew MacDonald in the first period, won
13 of 19.  After the game, the Sens traded Kelly to Boston.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Trevor
Gillies and Matt Martin served the second of their nine and four game
suspensions, respectively.  The Isles have lost 381 games to injury and eight
games to suspension this season. With Jack Hillen back in the lineup, Bruno
Gervais was a healthy scratch.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 139 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 69-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 37 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles. 
Grabner Climbing the Rookie Leaderboard
Grabner needs just one goal in the final 25 games to do something no Islander
rookie since Mike Bossy has done—score as many as 26 goals.  His 25 goals equal
David Volek's total in 1988-89 and Trent Hunter's tally in 2003-04. John Tavares

had 24 last season.  Bossy had a club rookie-record of 53 in 1977-78.  Four
rookies have led the Isles in goals: Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73, Mike Bossy -
53 in 1977-78, Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski) and
Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
Season Series Stats         
The team split the season series two games each, although tonight's shootout
loss gives Ottawa 5 points to the Isles' 4.  It is the Isles first win in Ottawa

since November 13, 2008, breaking a 4-game winless streak (0-2-2).
Happy Anniversary
14 years ago today (February 15, 1997):  Claude Lapointe's overtime tally is
the game's only goal as the Isles blanked the Panthers 1-0 before a sellout
crowd at the Coliseum.  It's the first 1-0 overtime win in club history; Tommy
Salo recorded the shutout.
All-time, the Isles are 8-5-2 on this date, including wins in their last three
games (2003, 2007, and 2011)
Up Next
Thursday, February 17 Boston @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Boston Bruins finally visit Long Island as the Isles begin a three-game
homestand.  The teams have met just once this season, a 5-2 Bruin win in
Beantown. 

The Bruins have won four of the last five at the Coliseum, with the sole
Islander victory coming on a Frans Nielsen overtime tally in December, 2009.
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

Howie

If you saw the opening of Sunday's telecast from Buffalo, you heard some strong
words from Howie Rose. He visited with Joe and Evan on WFAN this morning and
said even more... http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio-on-demand/joe-and-evan/#

"For too long there has seemed to be two systems of justice in the NHL...one for
the elite teams... and one for everyone else."

On Mario: "if that's how he feels...sell the team." .... "Matt cooke is employed
by Mario Lemieux...(might have) ruined Marc Savard's career.... he got four
games for what he did to Fedor Tyutin...you could have given him 44 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

NHL release on Grabner

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=552652

Most of the numbers here were previously included in The Skinny.
http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552648

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

Grabner named NHL First Star of the Week

To the surprise of no one, certainly in Islander country, Michael Grabner is
the NHL's First Star of the Week. Drew Stafford was second and Ilya Bryzgalov
was third.

It's the 2nd time in three weeks that Grabner was honored with one of the 3
Stars Awards. He was the 3rd Star two weeks ago.

Grabner scored eight goals and added one assist as the Isles went 3-1-0 this
week. He also was +7.

A couple of other Grabner notes:

I noted yesterday that he had recorded three straight mutli-goal games, becoming
the first Isle since Mariusz Czerkawski (and the only rookie in Islander
history) to do so. Elias noted this morning that the three multi's ties the
club record, shared by 6 others: including Bossy and, Lafontaine (2x). The
three that Elias didn't name were Palffy, Turgeon, and Ray Ferraro.

Grabner's rookie streak ties Bobby Ryan's 5 game streak of 2 seasons ago.
Evgeny Malkin was the last rookie to have a 6-game streak. (10/18-11/1/06)

Elias also noted that Grabner is the first NHL player with three consecutive
multi-goal games since Sidney Crosby in 2009 (Nov. 28-Dec. 3). I have not been
able to track down a 4-game streak yet.

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-Pens aftermath: Don Cherry/Matt Cooke (last year)

I listened to a segment of "Hockey This Morning" driving to work this morning --
basically every call was about the Isles-Pens and almost all from Islander fans.

There has been a better sense of balance to Lemieux's comments than I originally
thought - even from NHL Network.

As far as I can tell, Mario has not waived Matt Cooke, despite the fact that
Cooke's actions are repeatedly in direct contrast to Mario's statement:

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened
Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to
watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

"The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of
actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

"We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game
and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of
actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary
action.

"If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need
to re-think whether I want to be a part of it."

Cooke's hit on Fedor Tyutin on Tuesday was the latest of a series of
questionable/dirty hits by Cooke, includingthe dreadful attack on Marc Savard
last year. A look back at Don Cherry's comments on that hit is here:
bit.ly/CherryCooke

One of the funny things that came about from Friday's game from an Islander
perspective is that it appeared that a significant number of islander fans were
rooting for the Rangers in their game with Pittsburgh yesterday.

The angelic Penguins, who lead the NHL with 290 minor penalties, 63 major
penalties, 376 total penalties and 1,113 penalty minutes and are one of only 4
teams to draw a match penalty this season have a fairly quiet week. They play
Wednesday in Denver and then don't play again until an NBC tilt in Chicago as
part of "Hockey Day in America" on Sunday. Matt Cooke will return to the
Penguins on Sunday. Unless Mario waives him, of course.

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 7, Buffalo 6 (ot)

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 56
Isles 7, Sabres 6 (OT)
 
At this point, Michael Grabner could melt all of the snow remaining on Long
Island…he's that hot.  Grabner extended his goal scoring streak to five games,
his multi-goal streak to three games, and became the first rookie in NHL history
to record two hat tricks for two different teams in two separate seasons (he had
one last season for Vancouver) as Grabner's third tally came 2:55 into overtime
as the Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-6 before a sellout crowd of
18,690 at the HSBC Arena.  The Islanders have won three straight games –
equaling their season high and are 5-2-0 since the All-Star Break.
Busy First
Grabner scored on a wrap-around just 40 seconds into play to give the Isles an
early lead with his team-leading 22nd goal.  It's the first time this season
that the Isles have scored in the game's opening minute and the first time that
the Isles scored first in consecutive games since December 23 (New Jersey) and
December 26 (Montreal).
The Sabres responded with goals from Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford 56 seconds
apart before John Tavares evened the back-and forth contest at 12:49 of the
session.  Stafford's second goal, with 2:21 to play, gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead
after one period.
Gerbe and Comeau Trade Goals
The Sabres grabbed the game's only two-goal lead when Nathan Gerbe, who last
month scored twice in five seconds against the Isles, gave the Sabres a 4-2 lead
at 4:31 of the session.  The goal chased Mikko Koskinen and allowed Al Montoya
to set Islander history by becoming the Isles' 6th goaltender to be used this
season.  IT was Montoya's first NHL game since April 9, 2009 when he played for
Phoenix.  Blake Comeau, playing his first game since being injured by a high
check by Pittsburgh's Maxime Talbot scored a key goal with 1:05 to play in the
middle period. It was his 14th goal of the season.

Grabner Goes Multi
Grabner's unassisted tally tied the game 4-4 at 3:00 of the third period.  With
the goal, he became the first rookie in Islander history to record three
consecutive multi-goal games. He is the first Islander with three consecutive
multiple-goal games since Mariusz Czerkawski did so in March/April, 1998.

A Key 5-on-3
Tyler Meyers gave the Sabres a 5-4 lead at 5:26 of the third, but the game
changed..again…with the Isles on a 5-on-3 midway through the period. Two
Islander defenders, Milan Jurcina and Ty Wishart, scored 1:16 apart, first on a
5-on-3 and then on a 5-on-4. It was Wishart's first NHL goal.  However, just 31
seconds later, Stafford completed his league-leading 4th hat trick and after the
Islanders killed the first 1:45 of a Travis Hamonic penalty, the game headed to
overtime.
Grab-Trick!
Grabner's dream week continued when he scored the winning goal to complete his
hat trick at 2:55 of the extra session.  It was his 24th goal of the season,
tying Logan Couture for the rookie lead. He has scored 21 times at even
strength, only Steven Stamkos has more even-strength goals (25 of 40).  It was
the first time an Islander game with at least twelve goals had gone to overtime
since 2002, and the first time since February 28, 1993 (in Hartford) that the
Isles had won an overtime game by a score of 7-6 or higher.  7-6 Final.
Hats Each Way
It's the 10th time that the Isles and their opponent had a hat trick in the same
game:
·        October 14, 1978: Denis Potvin/Darryl Sittler (Toronto)
·        March 30, 1980:  Butch Goring/Real Cloutier (Quebec)
·        October 21, 1982: Bryan Trottier/Ken Houston (Washington)
·        November 29, 1983:  Brent Sutter/Bernie Federko (St. Louis)
·        Jannuary 21, 1989: Pat LaFontaine/Dave Gagner (Minnesota)
·        October 15, 1991: Derek King/Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh)
·        December 10, 1991: Ray Ferraro/Brett Hull (St. Louis)
·        October 23, 1993: Derek King/Sylvain Turgeon (Ottawa)
·        December 3, 2006: Viktor Kozlov (4)/Brendan Shanahan (Rangers)
·        February 13, 2011: Michael Grabner/Drew Stafford (Buffalo)
Grabner's Glory
Grabner has a 5-game goal streak -- 1st by an Islander since Ziggy Palffy
(3/27-4/5/97).  He is the first Islander rookie to have a 5-game goal streak
since Patrick Flatley had a 6-game streak in 1984-85.  Detroit's Dan Cleary had
a six-game goal scoring streak earlier this season; he is the only NHL player
with a longer streak than Grabner, who became the first rookie to score in five
consecutive game since Anaheim's Bobby Ryan did so from 1/17-1/28/09.  Grabner
now has nine goals in the last five games.   Since January 15th, Grabner has 15
goals in the last 14 games, by far the most of any player in the NHL (Entering
play Sunday, no one else had more than eight).  For his efforts, he was named
the NHL Network's Performer of the Night and is a leading candidate for the
NHL's Player of the Week, which will be awarded at noon on Monday.
Without a Fight
The high scoring contest did not include a fight, which was quite a change from
the Isles' game on Saturday which included 346 penalty minutes, 183 on the
Islanders.  Both marks were club records.
Strange Stats of the Game
The Isles have won their last two road games, despite trailing after two periods
in both games.  The Isles opened the season going 0-20-2 in games that they
trailed after two periods.
The Isles have won three times in four days for the first time since March
13-14-16, 2010.
It's Been a Long Time…
…since the Isles scored 16 goals in two games.  They last did so on
1/23-1/26/1993 (8-4 vs Philadelphia, 8-2 vs New Jersey).  (The club record is
18)
..since the Isles scored 19 goals in three games. They also last did that in
January 1983.
…since the Isles scored 22 in 4 and 27 in 5 games.  Both streaks go back to late
in the 1996-97 season.
…won a game that they allowed 6 goals.  They had gone 0-105-2 in their last 107
since beating Hartford in February 1983.
…played in two games in which 25 goals were scored. On 11/12-14/ 1992, the Isles
lost to Philadelphia 8-5 and then beat Buffalo 7-5.  (The club record is 26)
The Jurcina Effect
Milan Jurcina had a goal and assist, both on the power play.  In the 31 games
that he has played, the Isles are 17-11-3.  They are 3-18-4 in the 25 games that
he has missed.
Home and Road
The Isles are 20-29-7, and are 10-16-3 on the road. They are now 16-19-4 under
Jack Capuano, including 15-11-2 in the last 28.  The Isles are 5-2-0 in February
with seven games to play; it is their most wins in any month this season except
for December (6-7-1).
The Sabres are 26-22-6 and 12-12-2 at home.
In the Nets
Koskinen was chased after stopping 10 of 14 shots.  His record remains 2-1-0. 
Montoya stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced to earn the win.  It's already the
third time in 2011 that the Isles have won a game that included a goalie changes
– the other two were due to injury.  Montoya, who turned 26 today, is now 4-1-0
in his NHL career.
Ryan Miller made 19 saves for Buffalo; the Isles scored 17 goals on 107 shots
vs. Miller this season.  It's only the third time in his career that he allowed
seven goals.

Power Plays
The Isles went 2-6 on the power play and killed all three Sabre power plays. 
It's the first time since 12/31-1/3 that the Isles have scored multiple pp goals
in consecutive games.
In the Circle
The Isles won 38 of 67 (57%) face-offs.  John Tavares won 11 of 16 for the Isles
while Jochen Hecht lost 10 of 15 for Pittsburgh.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Jeremy Colliton and Nathan Lawson
remain out. The Isles have now lost a league-leading 376 man-games to injury. 
Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin served the first of their nine and four game
suspensions, respectively. Jack Hillen was scratched with a lingering effect
from Friday's game while Blake Comeau played for the first time in eight games.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 138 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 68-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 36 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.  
Grabner Climbing the Rookie Leaderboard
Grabner needs just two goals in the final 26 games to do something no Islander
rookie since Mike Bossy has done—score as many as 26 goals.  David Volek had 25
in 1988-89 and Trent Hunter had 25 in 2003-04. John Tavares had 24 last season.
Bossy had a  club rookie-record of 53 in 1977-78.   Four rookies have led the
Isles in goals: Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73, Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78, Trent
Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski) and Kyle Okposo-18 in
2008-09.
Season Series Stats          
The Isles win the season series three games to one (and six points to three). 
They won both games in Buffalo for the first time since 2003-04.
Happy Anniversary
29 years ago today (February 13, 1982):   Bryan Trottier scored five straight
goals as the Isles pounded the Flyers 8-2 at the Coliseum.  It's the second
5-goal game of Trottier's career; no Islander has done so since.  Trottier also
had a club-record four goals in the second period.
 All-time, the Isles are 8-5-1 on this date, including wins in their last four
games (2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011)
Up Next
Tuesday, February 15 Islanders @ Ottawa 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders conclude the season series with the Ottawa Senators as they play
the Sens for the 2nd time in 11 days.  The Sens have won two of the first three,
but the Isles defeated Ottawa 5-3 on February 5th.  The Isles will be looking
for their first win in Ottawa since November 13, 2008, having gone 0-2-2 in the
last four.
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