Stat Trick: Isles 4, Penguins 1

One team is heading for first place; the other is heading for the golf course -- but it certainly didn't look that way at the Coliseum tonight, did it? On to the trick:

1. Wade Dubielewicz wins his second straight start and is now 5-4 in his last 9 starts (dating back to Xmas). Dubie hasn't allowed more than three goals in any of these starts.

2. Richard Park finally got his 10th goal of the season, scoring for the first time since January. It was his 70th career goal. Last season, Park needed two goals in game 82 to reach double digits.

3. Kyle Okposo and Matthew Spiller each earned their first Coliseum points. It was Spiller's first NHL point since March 28, 2006, and his second (both assists) in 65 career NHL games. Jeff Tambellini also earned an assist tonight--giving him 4 points in 30 NHL games.

and a few more:

4. The Isles cut the Penguins lead in the season series to 4 games to 3 and 8 points to 6.

5. The Isles finish the season 3-2-0 in games televised nationally by Versus, all at home. (Wanna bet they don't air five games from Long Island next season :) )

6. Aided by thousands of tickets distributed in fundraisers, the Isles announced the game as the 11th home sellout. They are 7-3-1 when the Coliseum is soldout. One group won the trip to China by selling over 3900 tickets, including 800 by one family.

7. It was the Isles' first home win in over a month (February 21), ending an 0-5 streak.

8. The Isles pp improved to 7-76 since Valentines Day with a pp goal --the first of Sean Bergenheim's career. The Isles have scored exactly one pp goal in three straight games (First time since Dec 29-Jan 3, when they scored 6 pp goals in a three game span) and five times in the last seven games.

9. Pascal Dupuis' five-game point streak was ended--but by the birth of his third child, and not by the Isles.

10. The Isles won 35 of 55 face-offs; Josef Vasicek was dominant, winning 18 of 21, including one that led to the pp goal.

11. Hart Trophy candidate Evgeni Malkin had a rough night, going -3. Marian Hossa was also -3.

12. Despite the win, the Isles remain 26th (two point behind Columbus and three behind Phoenix). The Coyotes have 6 games to play, the Blue Jackets 7, and the Isles 5.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: School is Out! Flyers 4, Isles 1

As a 12-year old boy, I can vividly remember the Isles losing a playoff series to the Canadiens and hearing Tim Ryan punctuate the last game with the phrase "School is Out" as the Canadiens moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals. For the Isles, school was out on Sunday night as the loss eliminated the Isles from playoff contention. On to the trick:

1. Joey MacDonald made 26 saves in his Islander debut. It was his first NHL goal since losing to Atlanta (for Boston) on March 31, 2007. Remember, MacDonald has a one-way contract for next year; Dubie is not under contract. MacDonald is now 3-8-1 in his NHL career.

2. Miro Satan broke a long goal-less streak with the Islanders' only tally-- his 15th goal of the season came with 4:27 to play. It was Satan's first goal in 14 games -- the Isles went 3-10 in the ten games in between. Satan has scored 20 or more in 10 straight seasons -- he'll need 5 in the final 6 to keep that streak going.

3. The Flyers lead the season series 6 games to 1, and 12 points to 2. They have outscored the Isles 26-13. The Flyers are 13-31 on the pp vs the Isles while the Isles are 3-29 (and have allowed 2 SH goals, too!).

.... and more

4. Martin Biron raises his record to 6-0-0 against the Isles this season, while lowering his GAA to 1.50. He is now 14-4-1 in his career against the Isles.

5. Scott Hartnell's third period goal gives him 7 against the Isles this season (16 against the rest of the NHL).

6. It's the first time that the Flyers have ever won four home games against the Isles in a single season. Last season, the Isles were 4-0-0 in Philadelphia.

7. By being eliminated from the playoffs, the Isles clinch a top-14 draft pick (non-playoff teams pick first). The Isles currently hold the 5th seed entering the lottery, with one more point that St. Louis and three more points than Atlanta. The Isles will finish ahead of St. Louis if the teams tie in points because the Blues will have fewer wins. The Isles are only seven points ahead of Tampa/LA, who share last with 66 points. They are seven points behind Toronto/Chicago, who share 22nd with 80 points.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Time to Stave

According to Webster, "stave off" has been around for nearly four centuries. Funny, I didn't realize that there were playoffs then.

It seems like the only time I ever hear the word stave is when a sports team is one game away from elimination-- usually in the playoffs--which we know will not feature the Isles this season.

After what happened last season, it would be ironic if the Isles were eliminated on Easter Sunday. But that is what will happen with a regulation loss in Philadelphia on Sunday.

If the Isles lose in regulation, the Flyers will have 86 points while the most that the Isles could finish with is 85. Boston would have 84 points and still hold 8th, but the Isles would be eliminated.

Here's how:
Boston has 84 in 75 games
Buffalo has 81 in 75 games
Toronto has 80 in 76 games

...but Boston has two games left with both Buffalo and Toronto. If the Bruins lost all 4, it would be Bos 84, Buf 85, Tor 84....but Buffalo and Toronto also have a game to play against each other, which guarantees that at least one of the 3 teams would finish with at least 86.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Devils 1

Two weeks from now, the Isles may remember tonight as a night that cost them draft position. Ten years from now, hopefully Islander fans will remember tonight as a night that a young hopeful scored his first NHL goal. On to the trick:

1. Kyle Okposo recorded his first point, an assist, on a first period goal by Blake Comeau. But with Travis Zajac sitting in the penalty box late in the third period, Okposo recorded his first goal, his first power play goal...and as it would turn out... his first game winner as well.

2. The win snaps a 6-game losing streak and a 4-game road losing streak. Each of the last 3 Islander wins have been on the road.

3. The Islanders had lost 10 of 12 coming in-- a streak that started with the only Devil win in the season series. The Isles win the series at the Rock 3 games to 1, and lead the overall series 6 games to 1 and 12 points to 3. The Devils scored only two goals in the three Isles wins combined in New Jersey

...and a few more

4. The Isles have 30 points since the lockout against New Jersey- more than any opponent (26 vs the Rangers is 2nd). All-time, the Isles have earned 238 points vs KC/Col/NJ -- far and away more than any other opponent (214 vs Rangers) It's the 2nd time in three years that the Isles have won 6 games against the Devils.

5. Guerin (playing his 1,100th NHL game), Spiller, and Vasicek were involved in three separate fights.

6. Dubielewicz is now 2-0 head-to-head against Martin Brodeur and 3-0 against the Devils.

7. The Isles were outshot 35-16; the Devils had 72 tries on goal to the Isles 30. The Isles blocked 24 of those 72 attempts, including 6 by Radek Martinek. Martinek also led the Isles with 25:40 of ice-time.

8. The Isles extended their lead in the Hummer Metro Challenge. The Isles now have 20 points to the Rangers 17 (the Devils were eliminated in January and have only 6 points). The Isles will play their final three games against the Rangers/Devils while the Rangers have 4 games to play against the Isles/Devils.

9. The Isles lost ground to Atlanta in the lottery. Atlanta blew a 3-1 lead in the third and lost to the Caps 5-3 tonight as Alex Ovechkin recorded #59-60.

9. The Devils are 1-7-4 vs the Isles and Rangers but are 41-18-3 against the rest of the NHL. The Devils' record against the Rangers/Isles is the only thing separating the team from the top spot in the Conference.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

AO

I shorted him 2 assists tonight.  He now has 102 points.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Draft watch

The Isles loss, coupled with St. Louis' shootout win in Montreal moves the Isles into the 4th seed for the draft.  Both teams have 71 points, but the Blues have played one fewer game.

 

The Isles loss, coupled with the Flyers win lowers the Isles tragic number for playoff elimination to 6.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.

Sad but true

Goals in March:

 

Islanders as a team:  13 in 9 games (A 14th goal is credited for a shootout win)
Alex Ovechkin: 10 in 9 games 

 

The Isles have scored at least 2 goals three times this month.... so has Ovechkin. AO recorded his league-leading 58th goal and 100th point of the season on an empty net goal tonight in Nashville.

 

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.