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The Skinny: Carolina 3, Isles 2 (Carolina leads series 3-0)

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 3 Carolins 3, Isles 2 Carolina Leads Series 3-0 Sebastian Aho scored...

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Boston 2 (overtime)

Frans Nielsen's mother had never seen him play an NHL game.  Saturday night, not only did she get to see him play, she got to see him play hero.  Nielsen's overtime goal gave the Isles a 3-2 win over the Bruins.  On to the trick:

1.  John Tavares had been the only Islander to score in the last three games, but it was Rob Schremp who gave the Isles the early lead with a power play tally.  It was the fifth consecutive Islander goal that was scored on the power play, and the first goal for Schremp in the NHL.

2.  Michael Ryder tied the game for Bsotn before the first period was over, and when David Krejci scored midway through the second  the Bruins has a 2-1 lead.

3.  Matt Moulson tied the game with 5 1/2 minutes to play in the middle session.  It was Moulson's 15th goal of the season, tying Tavares for the club lead.    Moulson's goal was the tenth that the Isles had scored in the last five games -- Moulson and Tavares combining for nine of them. 

...a few more...

4.  After a scoreless third period, Nielsen wasted little time in overtime, scoring just 24 seconds in, to give the Isles the win. It was the Isles' earleist overtime goal since Tom Poti scored 23 seconds into overtime to beat Carolina on October 21, 2006.  (For the statistically-obsessed, this is the 3rd time that the Isles have won a game exactly 24 seconds into overtime -- Pierre Turgeon won a game in 1993 and Bob Bourne scored the first regular season OT goal in moden NHL history in 1984.)

5.  Dwayne Roloson made 17 saves in the third period alone, and 30 on the game to pick up the win.  Tim Thomas faced only 19 shots, stopping 16.  Roloson, who attended UMass-Lowell, improves to 5-2-1 in his career against the Bruins.  It was Roloson's tenth win of the season, marking the eighth straight season (and ninth time in his career) that he has reached double digits in win.

6.  The Isles played most of the game with only five defensemen, following a first period injury to Jack Hillen.  Mark Streit played 29:08 to lead all players while Freddy Meyer and Bruno Gervais both played over 24 minutes.  While Streit and Gervais has higher ice-time totals in previous games this season, it was the first time Meyer had played over 19 minutes, let alone 24.

7.  Shawn Thornton played 11:45, less than any other Bruin, yet led the team in hits (5) and shots (5).

8.  Roloson has now won five straight Coliseum starts and is 6-0-2 in his eight starts as an Islander at the Coliseum.  He's allowed only nine goals on 145 shots in those five starts  (5-0-0, 1.80 GAA, 93.8%)

9.  The Isles improve to 7-3-2 at home.  They earned only sixteen points in their first 21 games last season.

10.  The Isles lead the series two games to one, and five points to three.  The final meeting will be on March 6th. The Isles have now won two straight over Boston after going 0-6-1 in the previous seven.

Up next:  The Isles welcome Florida to the Coliseum on Monday.. The Isles won both Coliseum match-ups last season and are 5-1-1 in the last seven at home against the Panthers.  Florida won the only previous meeting in a shoot-out, capping a game in which neither team could hold a two-goal lead.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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