ESPN 30 for 30

ESPN is running a new documentary series in honor of their 30th anniversary.  The first two editions have already aired and (for different reasons) they may be of interest to Isles fans.

 

The Kings Ransom is about the Gretzky trade.

 

Re-airings:

Thursday Oct 15   10pm ESPN Classic

Sunday Oct 25        8pm ESPN Classic

Thursday Oct 29 7:30pm ESPN 2

Friday Dec 11     3:30pm ESPN

 

 

"The Band that Wouldn't Die" is about the Baltimore Colts band that continued to play long after the team was moved to Indianapolis and the role that the band had in bringing the Ravens to Baltimore.

 

Re-airings:

Thursday Oct 15     9pm ESPN 2

Thursday Oct 15   11pm ESPN Classic

Monday Oct 19      7pm ESPN 2

Wednesday Oct 21 8pm ESPN 2

Sunday Oct 25        9pm ESPN Classic

Sunday Nov 8         9pm ESPN Classic

 

Both are worth checking out.
 

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

Stat Trick errata

I read, and repeated, in yesterday's trick that Ryan Smyth was making his first appearance against the Isles at the Coliseum.  My apologies --Smyth did play (and even scored) in last year's game against Colorado.

 

 

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

Stat Trick: Los Angeles 2, Isles 1

There would be no disappointment in overtime or a shootout this time.  For the first time this season, an Islander game ended after 60 minutes.  When it was over, the Isles were still winless.  On to the trick....

 

1.  Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty had the goals for the Kings.  Both players have had at least a point in all five Kings games.

 

2.  Kopitar's goal came on the power play.  It was the first power play goal allowed by the Isles this season.  They had been the only team in the NHL not to allow a power play tally, and came after ten consecutive successful penalty kills by the Isles.

 

3. Matt Moulson avoided the shutout by beating his good friend Jonathan Quick with 1:55 to play.  It ended an Isles' scoreless streak totalling 87:17.

 

... a few more...

 

4.  John Tavares was on-ice for Moulson's goal, but was held without a point for the first time in his NHL career.

 

5.  The Isles have now lost four consecutive games by a single goal, matching the club record, set three times previously.

 

6.  The Kings have had the Isles' number for some time now.  The Isles haven't beaten the Kings at all since February 15, 2003 (three losses, a shootout loss, and a tie), and haven't beaten the Kings on Long Island since October 27, 1998 (four losses, a shootout loss, and a tie).

 

7.  The Isles out-hit Los Angeles 19-2 in the first period and 34-22 for the game.  Andy Sutton led the way with seven hits.

 

8. Ryan Smyth played on Long Island for the first time as an ex-Isle.  He led all King forwards with 22:05 of ice-time and assisted on Kopitar's goal.

 

9.  The Isles are winless through four games for the first time since opening the 2000-01 season 0-3-1.  It's the fourth time in their history that they've gone winless in the season's first four games (1973, 1995, 2000).  The club record is seven games, held by the 1973-74 team.  That team, Al Arbour's first, opened 0-3-4.

 

10.  The Isles have played a Columbus Day matinee in four of the last five seasons.  They've lost four, scoring one goal in each game.  The Isles are 0-5 in their history in home Columbus Day games.

 

Up next:  The Isles head to Buffalo Friday for the front-end of the season's first set of back-to-backs.  The Isles were 2-1-1 against the Sabres last 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

Stat Trick; Boston 4, Isles 3 (SO)

It's been said that three-goal leads are the hardest to defend.  The Islanders proved it tonight in Boston, dropping a 4-3 decision in a shootout.  On to the trick...

 

1.   The good:  The Isles dominate the better part of the first 52 minutes, grabbing a 3-0 lead on second period tallies by Jon Sim, Radek Martinek, and John Tavares.

 

2.  The bad:  Boston scores three times in the final 8:01 to force a shoot-out.  Marc Savard, Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick score in a 5:27 span to even the score.

 

3.  The ugly:  The B's get shoot-out goals from Blake Wheeler and Marc Savard (only his third in fourteen career attempts) while Robbie Schremp has the only response for the Isles to give the Bruins an improbable victory.

 

...and a few more...

 

4. Tuukka Rask makes thirty-save saves for Boston, while Dwayne Roloson stops twenty-seven for the Isles.  Roloson hasn't made a save in five shootout attempts over the two games, allowing four goals and having a fifth shot hit the post.

 

5.  The Isles played without Trent Hunter (placed on IR) and Doug Weight.  Both aggravated (or re-aggravated) injuries suffered in the pre-season during the game in Ottawa.

 

6.  The Isles went 1-7 on the power-play but failed on a 1:37 5-on-3.  The Bruins were 0-5 with the man advantage.  The Isles have killed all ten opponent power plays this season and are the only team in the NHL not to allow a power-play goal.  The Isles have had 17 power plays and been short only ten times this season.

 

7.  Tavares and Hunwick each had a goal and an assist; they were the only players with two points in the game.

 

8.  All three Isles games have gone to overtime.  It's the first time that's happened since October 21-28, 2006.  The Isles have lost three straight overtime games for the first time in their history.  It's also the first time that the Isles have played three consecutive overtime games to open the season, and the second time that the Isles have been tied through sixty minutes (two ties in 1975) in their first two road games.

 

9.  The Isles have now lost seven straight to Boston (0-6-1).  That last happened from 1993-1995, when they also lost seven straight (the final seven games of a ten-game winless (0-8-2) streak against Boston).

 

10.  Tavares is the first rookie to reach five points; he shares the rookie lead in both goals (2) and assists as well (3).  He also had a good seat for Richard Park's shoot-out attempt.

 

Up next:  The Isles return home to face the Kings in a Columbus Day matinee (Monday/2pm/MSG+).  It will be interesting to see what retaliation if any the Islanders have for Sean O'Donnell, who served a five game suspension after incurring a match penalty when he cross-checked Matt Martin.

 

The Isles haven't beaten the Kings on Long Island since Tommy Salo blanked Los Angeles 1-0 on October 27, 1998.  The Kings have visited Long Island five times since, winning four (including last year in a shoot-out) and tying once. 

 

Trivia: Who scored the only goal in that October 1998 victory?

 

Trivia Answer: The current coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Joe Sacco.  (One of six goals he scored in an Islander uniform.)

 

 

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

Stat Trick: Sens 3, Isles 2 (OT)

So what kind of fan are you?  Are you the type that notes the Isles are on pace to go winless (0-0-82) or the type that notes the Isles are on pace finish with 21 more points than last season.    On to the trick....

 

1.  Matt Fisher scored 32 seconds into overtime to give the Sens a 3-2 win in their home opener.  Peter Regin and Matt Carkner (first NHL goal) had the other goals for Ottawa.

 

2.  Kyle Okposo's first goal of the season was a thing of beauty for the Isles. The Olympic team candiate now how 21 goals in 76 NHL games.

 

3.  Matt Moulson scored his first goal as an Islander on a third period power play.  Moulson also assisted on Okposo's goal to give him three points in first two games with the squad, after going 6-4-10 in 29 preivous NHL games over two seasons with Los Angeles.

 

... and a few more

 

I got to 4. before I even mentioned John Tavares.  The rookie assisted on Moulson's goal to give him three points in two NHL games.  He had four shots on goal, and four others blocked by Ottawa, in 19:46 of ice-time.  Both Tavares and Okposo were on-ice for the final four goals of the game.

 

5.  The Sens, helped by their only two power plays, had 12 of the game's final 13 shots to finish with a 28-25 edge.  Jon Sim had the Isles' only shot after Moulson tied the game 5:29 into the third.  Ottawa finished 0-2 on the powerplay, while the Isles were 1-4.

 

6.  The Isles fall to 9-20-8 in their first road game of the season.  It's the first time that they've ever opened a road season with an OT loss, offsetting a 1985 OT win in Los Angeles in a road (and season) opener.  Do you recall who scored the OT goal in that 1985 game?  Answer is below my signature.

 

7. It's the first time in their history that the Isles have gone 0-0-2 through two games.

 

8. Pascal Leclaire made twenty-three saves to earn the OT win for Ottawa while Martin Biron made twenty-five stops in his Islander debut.  Both goalies made huge saves -- Leclaire on John Tavares in the second period; Biron on Alexei Kovalev in the third.

 

9.  The Isles are 2-1-1 in their last 4 trips to Ottawa, after having gone 1-11-1 in their previous thirteen trips.

 

10. Mark Streit led the Isles in ice-time with 27:16, while Tim Jackman (6:49) was the only Isle to play less than ten minutes.  Anton Volchenkov led the Sens with 22:45 and led all players with six blocked shots.

 

Up next: The Isles head to Boston to meet the up-and-down Bruins (7:00 Saturday, MSG-Plus/94.3).  The B's were spanked at home by Anaheim 6-1 tonight.  The Bruins have beaten the Isles six straight times, all in regulation. 

 
 

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

 

 

TRIVIA ANSWER:  Bryan Trottier scored only one overtime goal in a regular season game as an Islander.  It came in the 1985-86 season opener in Los Angeles.  Trottier also had one overtime goal in the playoffs for the Islanders --against the Rangers in 1982.

Botta on deHaan

Here's the story that I was referring to:  http://bit.ly/3216bV
 

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

Stat Trick: Penguins 4, Isles 3 (Shootout)

It was almost a perfect debut for John Tavares.  But the champs are champs for a reason, and Pittsburgh rallied to tie the Isles and then beat them in a shootout.  For the first time in season 37, on to the trick:

 

1. John Tavares had a goal on two shots in his NHL debut and also added an assist.  Both of his points came on the power play.  He played 22:05 and won 9 draws and lost 10.  Tavares is the 18th Islander, and first since Jesse Joensuu to score in his NHL debut.  Joensuu did it  last season. 

 

2. Linemate Okposo was the only forward to play more than Tavares (22:18)  Along with Matt Moulson, the trio combined for 4 points and 11 shots on goal.

 

3.  Dwayne Roloson made his Isles debut, stopping 39 shots.  He had to be at his best in the 3rd period and overtime, stopping 20 of 22.

 

...a few more

 

4.  The Isles fail to win on Opening Night (nothing new there; the Isles are 9-19-9 on Opening Night and have won only once in the last 7 season openers) and in the home Opener (after 5 straight home Opening wins).

 

5.  The Opener was a sellout for the 8th time in the last 9 seasons.  (Only 2006 vs Boston failed to sell-out)  It's the earliest in October that the Isles have ever played a home game and only the 3rd time that they opened this early in the month (10/3/97 at MSG, 10/2/00 at TB)

 

6. Sidney Crosby had a goal, an assist and a shootout goal for the Pens, who beat the Isles for the 7th time in the last 8 meetings (including three shootouts, two won by the Pens and one, last President's Day, by the Isles)  Evgeny Malkin seemed to have a quiet game, but assisted on the tying goal and finished +2.
 

7.  Brendan Witt had 8 blocked shots, and two hits -- including one that led to a frst period fight with  Jay McKee.  The Isles blocked 29 shots in all.

 

8. All three Isles goal scorers (Hunter, Streit and Tavares) also added an assist.  Fedotenko and Crosby had 1 and 1 for the Pens.

 

9.  It's the first time that the Isles have ever opened a season against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion.  Bill Guerin was briefly honored during a first period timeout.

 

10. This year's goalie tandem of Roloson (167) and Biron (199) have 366 career wins.  Last year's duo (excluding DiPietro) started the season with a total of 6 (three each).  (366/ 6 =61   -- with the 61 matching the Isles' point total last season.

 

Up next: Tavares will play his first road game in hockey-mad Ontario as the Isles visit Ottawa Thursday.  The Isles took 3 of 4 from Ottawa last 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