Stat Trick: Isles 6, Detroit 0. Party Like it's the Early 1980's!

The Islanders won four Stanley Cups in the early 1980's; the Red Wings finished near the bottom of the League in all four of those years. Since then, Detroit has finished in first place 15 times, and won four Stanley Cups, while the Islanders, well..you know.  Maybe the times are changing as the Islanders dominated Red Wings 6-0 at the Coliseum.  On to the trick:

 

1.  Deuces were wild for the Isles as they scored twice in each period, got two goals by Rob Schremp, got two goals by their defense, and battered two Red Wing goalies in nearly doubling Detroit in shots (31-16).

 

2.  Matt Moulson scored the game-winning goal just 1:11 into play to re-take the team goal scoring lead with 17.  Schremp scored the next two goals, both at even strength.  It was Schremp's first even strength goals as an Islander and his third two-point game in the last four games.  Mark Streit scored a power play goal (for the seocnd straight game) late in the second period to give the Islanders a four-goal bulge.

 

3.  Kyle Okposo and Richard Park scored in the third period to complete the scoring.  Okposo's goal was his fourth in as many games, and his fifth in the last nine games. 

 

...a few more...

 

4.  Dwayne Roloson could have used a lounge chair at times, particularly in the second period when he faced only two shots. He stopped 16 shots for his first shutout since December 13, 2008 and the 24th of his career. It's the second time in his career he's blanked the Red Wings.  He has won four straight starts, is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, and is now 18-7-6 on the season.

 

5.  The Isles blank the Red Wings for the second straight game; Joey MacDonald shutout Detroit late last season.  The Red Wings were blanked for the seventh time this season.  The Isles have not allowed a goal to Detroit in 120:00, daying back to a Henrik Zetterberg overtime goal on January 30, 2007.   However, it's the first time the Islanders have shutout the Wings on Long Island in nearly 34 years!   Chico Resch blanked Detroit 1-0 on January 13, 1976; Clark Gillies had the game's only goal.

 

6. It's the first time that the Isles have shutout the same opponent in consecutive games since blanking Atlanta on December 13, 2003 and January 24, 2004.  The 16 shots are the fewest allowed by the Islanders in any game since holding Atlanta to ten shots on February 16, 2008; it's the fewest shots that the Isles have allowed in a shutout since blanking Buffalo on 13 shots on October 11, 2003 (also by a 6-0 score).

 

7.  Josh Bailey earned an assist on Okposo's goal, extending his assist streak to six games, and his point streak to seven games.  Bailey is closing in on the Islander club record for consecutive games with an assist.  The record is 9, done eight times by seven players.  Tom Kurvers, in 1991-92, was the last Islander to have a 9-game assist streak.  Bailey finished with 25 points in his rookie season; he has 23 this season with 34 games still to play.

 

8.  The Isles improve to 7-2-1 in their last ten games, matching their best ten game streak since late-February, 2008.  The blowout win ends a club record-tying streak of eight consecutive games that were decided by one goal or less. 
 

9. With five even-strength goals, all by the Islanders, there were some interesting +/- notes.  Gervais, who scored for the first time since March 25, 2009, and Freddy Meyer were both +3. Andrew MacDonald (+7) and Frans Nielsen (+12) came into the game leading Islander defenders and forward in +/-, but were the only Isles not on the ice for at least one even-strength goal, although Nielsen was on the ice for a power play tally.  Detroit's Derek Meech was a -5 while future Hall-of-Famer Niklas Lidstrom was not on ice for an even-strength goal.

 

10. This was the only meeting of the teams this season... unless they meet in the Stanley Cup Finals, of course.  The Wings have made the finals six times, winning four, since the Isles last won a playoff series.

 

Up next:  the homestand continues on Saturday with the final meeting of the year with Buffalo.  The home team has won all three meetings of the teams this season, including a Martin Biron Halloween shutout.  The Isles have shutout the Sabres in each of the last two meetings of the teams at the Coliseum.

 

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

One more Roloson note

Rollie the goalie is now 17-7-6 as an Islander, meaning that he's won 56.7% of his starts.

 

Only two other goalies in Islander history have won at least 50% of their starts: 

 

Roland Melanson 77 of 134 (56.6%)

Chico Resch 157 of 282 (55.7%)
 

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: Isles 5, Phoenix 4 (shoot-out)

Some games are stranger than others.  When you get a hockey game where one team kills a five minute power play only to find themselves shorthanded for an addiitonal 2:52 because they did not have a man in the penalty box.  When you get a game where one team plays with an extra man for 9:58 of consecutive play to build a 4-1 lead, blows that lead in the third period, and then wins in a shootout, you have one strange game.  On to the trick:

 

1. This one started innocently enough.  With the Isles having killed 20 of 22 coming into the game, Ed Jovanovski scored just three minutes into the game on the power play.  However, the Isles tied the game on Blake Comeau's first goal in seven games with 2 1/2 minutes to play in the period.

 

2. The game changed in the final seconds of the first period, when Jovanovski was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing John Tavares.  Before the delayed penalty could be asssessed, Kyle Okposo scored for the third straight game to give the Isles the lead heading to the first intermission.  It was Okposo's ninth goal of the season; eight have been scored on the road..  While the Islanders did not score on the ensuing power play, Phoenix did not have a player in the penalty box and thus played shorthanded for an additional 2:52, ending only when Martin Hanzal took another penalty.  When former Islander Adrian Aucoin joined him in the penalty box, the Isles finally converted on the power play as Mark Streit and Josh Bailey scored power play goals.  It was Streit's first goal in 27 games and the first by an Islander defensemen since December 17th. Bailey's goal completed the first thiree-point game of his career; he had six points on the road trip and now has a 6-game point streak (4-6-10) and a 5-game assist streak.  He's the first Islander to have an assist in five straight games since Doug Weight did so October 20-November 1, 2008; no Islander since the NHL lockout has had a longer streak.

 

3. While the Isles carried the 4-1 led into the third period, but for the sixth time this season, could not hold a three-goal lead.  The Coyotes tied the game with three goals in a 3:43 span.  Paul Bissonnette scored to get Phoenix back in the game; Taylor Pyatt and Peter Mueller then scored power play goals to even the contest.  It was the 99th career goal for Pyatt, and only the 2nd goal in 37 games for Mueller, who was chosen with the pick right before Okposo in the 2006 Entry Draft.  Neither team scored in the final 10:46 of regulation or in the overtime, setting the stage for  the Islanders to win in a shootout.

 

.... a few more...

 

4. Each team scored in the first and third rounds of the shootout with Robert Lang and Lauri Korpikoski scoring for Phoenix and Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey responding for the Islanders.   It was the fifth goal in seven career shootout attempts for Nielsen. After five shooters were stopped, Matt Moulson secured the extra point for the Islanders with his first career shootout goal.

 

5. Dwayne Roloson made 25 saves for the Islanders to record his third straight win and was voted the game's number one star.  He stopped 21 shots over the third period and overtime, and probably earned some support for his play in negating three attempted icings by Phoenix that would have allowed the Coyotes to get back to full strength after the Jovanovski penalty.  Roloson is now 6-0-1 in his last seven starts.  The win was his 17th of the season, tying Jamie McLennan 14th place on the all-time Islander list.

 

6.  Ilya Bryzgalov allowed four goals on 15 shots before being pulled midway through the contest.  Jason Labarbera stopped the final 15 shots for Phoenix.  Bryzgalov, who has allowed 12 goals in his last three starts, is 1-2-2 in six appearances since being named to the Russian Olympic team.

 

7.  John Tavares, who has scored only once in 14 games, was credited with an assist on Streit's goal, but replays indicated that the assist should belong to Doug Weight.  Weight played in his 1,200th NHL game; he's the 82nd player in NHL history to reach that mark.

 

8.  Despite their inability to hold leads, the Isles improved to 16-1-3 in games that they lead after two periods. The Isles have been outscored 55-26 in the third period this season.  The 29-goal differential ties Carolina for the worst differential in any period this season.

 

9. The win breaks a six-game losing streak for the Islanders in the back-end of back-to-backs (0-5-1).

 

10.  This was the only meeting of the teams this season.  It's only the second win in ten games in Arizona for the Islanders (2-6-2).  The Isles are 6-2-1 in their last nine games overall and are 4-1-1 in their last six road games.  It's the first time that the Isles have earned nine points over six road games under Scott Gordon, and matches their best road six-game streak since going 5-0-1 over six games early in the 2006-07 campaign that produced their last playoff berth.

 

Up next:  The Isles return home to entertain Detroit on Tuesday.  It's the first of game of a stretch in which the Isles will play six out of seven games at home, with a road game in Pittsburgh separating two three-game homestands.  It been a looooooong time since the Red Wings lost a game on Long Island.  Barry Richter scored the winning goal in a 3-1 Islander victory on February 27, 1999.  That game was marred by a vicious incident in which Sergei Federov eventually received a five-game suspension for slashing Zdeno Chara's neck, rendering the Islander defensemen briefly unconscious.  Detroit has made only five visits since then, winning four (twice in overtime) and tying once. In fact, this will be only the second Red Wing visit to the Coliseum since 2002.  Henrik Zetterberg scored in overtime on January 30, 2007.
 

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: Dallas 4, Isles 3

Rick DiPietro made 24 saves in his first appearance in an NHL game in 53 weeks, but it was not enough as Dallas broke the Islanders' two-game win streak with a 4-3 win at American Airlines Center.  On to the trick....

 

1. Toby Petersen was the first to score against DiPietro when he tipped home a shot from Trevor Daley at the 4:44 mark of the first period.  The Isles tied it 2:32 later on a Josh Bailey goal, following a Marty Turco misplay.  Kyle Okposo scored in the final minute of the first period to give the Isles the leadafter twenty minutes.  It was Kyle's eighth goal of the season; the Isles had earned points in all seven games that he scored in prior to tonight.

 

2.  The second period was even more sloppy than the first and tDallas scored three times.  Lou Erikkson, Brendan Morrow and Brad Richards had the goals for the Stars.  Richard's goal was his 600th NHL point. Frans Nielsen had the only goal for the Islanders, off another Turco miscue.

 

3.  The Isles had some chances in the third period, particularly in the final minute with DiPieto on the bench, but could not find the tying goal which was somewhat surprising since the Isles have played a league-leading 16 overtime games while the Stars have played 15.  The Isles outshot Dallas 7- 3 in the third period, but the Stars held the overall advantage, 28-22.

 

...a few more...

 

4.  DiPietro was credited with an assist on Bailey's goal, extending his club record for goaltender assists and points to 16.  DiPietro now has an assist in each of his last three NHL games -- which have been played in three different calendar years (12/26/08, 1/2/09, 1/8/10).

 

5. The first two periods were penalty-free.  The Stars had one power play in the third period, while the Islanders had two.  Neither team converted on the power play.

 

6. Eriksson and Richards both scored one goal and assisted on the goal scored by the other.  Josh Bailey also had a goal and an assist for the Islanders.  Bailey, playing some of the best hockey of his career, now has an assist in four straight games and a point in five straight games (3-4-7). Krystofer Barch led all players with eight shots (in just 6:56 of ice time).

 

7. The Isles lost for the first time in 2010 (2-1-0) while the Stars, who had been outscored 12-3 in their first three Janaury games,  won for the first time in the New Year (1-3-0).

 

8. The Isles fall to 4-2-1 in their last seven games; all seven games have been decided by one goal.  The seven consecutive games decided by one goal or less ties the club single-season record, set in October-November, 2001 and equaled in November 2007.  The Isles played eight consecutive games  decided by one goal, over two seasons in 2000 (the final six games of 1999-2000 and the first two games of the following season).

 

9. John Tavares hit the post in the final minute, but was held without a point for the 12th time in the last 13 games [1-0-1].

 

10. This was the only meeting of the season between the squads.  The Stars have beaten the Islanders three straight times, dating back to an Islander shutout win in Dallas in November, 2006.

 

Up next:  The road trip concludes in Phoenix on Saturday night as the Islanders conclude their tneth sey of back-to-backs (2-6-1).  This will be the Islanders' tenth game in Arizona, and they have won only once in the previous nine [1-6-2].  On Feburary 13, 2004, the Islanders defeated the Coyotes 5-2.  Trent Hunter scored twice in that game as the Islanders rallied from a 2-0 deficit.  Rick DiPietro earned the win, and also assisted on Hunter's empty-net goal.
 

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

Murray: Lighthouse density = Manhattan

libn.com

<<Murray: Lighthouse density equals Manhattan
Thu, Jan 7, 2010

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray said the density proposed for the $3.8 billion Lighthouse redevelopment of Nassau Coliseum and its parking lots is "like the upper west side" of Manhattan.

Murray addressed more than 100 members of the Long Island Board of Realtors Thursday at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho and told them that Lighthouse developer Charles Wang has a new political leadership to contend with, which she intimated was in favor of scaling back the project.

The town has yet to complete its environmental review of the plan to build a new hockey arena, hotel, retail shops and residences on 77 acres in Uniondale. Wang who also owns the New York Islanders, has hinted he might move the team if the Lighthouse project doesn't go forward.
>>
 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

With Okposo, every goal's a big goal

Kyle Okposo has only scored 7 goals this season, but it it seems like every goal has been a big goal, it's because they have been.

The Isles are 5-0-2 in the games that he has scored. 

He has connected for 4 game-winning goals (in Colorado, in OT at MSG, in OT at Carolina, and against the NYR at the Coliseum in October).  He also scored a 3rd period goal to force overtime in Florida on November 14th, a tying goal in Washington on October 30th, and a goal to bring the Isles within one in Ottawa on October 8th.

Eight of Okposo's 27 career goals (29.6%) have been game-winners. No other player in Islander history has scored as many as eight GWG on fewer career goals (Berard had 8 on 31).  No other player in Islander history has scored at least eight goals with a higher percentage of game winning goals (Berard 25.8%, Parrish 21.2%).

Ironically, two players who were considered to be clutch in their Islander days have the lowest percentage of game-winners (with at least 8 GWG).  Ten of Ray Ferraro's 116 goals were GWG (8.6%) while only eight of Duane Sutter's 121 (6.6%) were game winners.  Both players had higher GWG percentages in the playoffs as Islanders.

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: Isles 3, Colorado 2

Kyle Okposo scored his 7th goal of the season with just 3:17 to play as the Islanders earned their first win in Colorado since 1999 by defeating the Avalanche, 3-2.  On to the trick:

1. Chris Stewart scored on the power play less than three minutes into the game to give the Avs the lead with his 13th goal of the season, but Jon Sim celebrated his 400th NHL game by scoring for the third straight game to even the score at 1-1 late in the first period.  It was the fourth goal in the last five games for Sim, who has twice scored 17 goals in an NHL season.

2. The second period featured a highlight reel goal from Rob Schremp as he gloved down a pass and batted it behind Craig Anderson.  It was the third goal of the season for Schremp.  All three of his goals have come on the power play; he has three of the last four Islander power play goals.  Schremp also assisted on Sim's goal to give him his first multi-point game as an Islander (he had a two-assist game for Edmonton 13 months ago).  John Tavares (8), Nicolas Bergfors (8) and Matt Duchesne (4) are the only NHL rookies with more power play goals than Schremp.

3. The Avalanche tied the game in the third period on a goal by Matt Hendricks at 9:37 of the third.  The Avalanche dominated much of the period, but the Isles got a huge save from Dwayne Roloson off of Matt Duchesne on a power play early in the period,  and Okposo then converted for the winner at 16:43.  Okposo continues his penchant for scoring in the clutch; four of his seven goals this season and eight of his 27 career NHL goals
have been game-winners..

... a few more...

4.   The Isles are 4-1-1 in their last six games; all six have been decided by one goal.  The Isles improved to 4-12-4 when allowing the first goal of the game.

5.  The Isles are back to NHL .500 with an 18-18-8 record.  It's the first time since they were 11-11-7 after being shutout in Tampa on December 5th that they have reached NHL .500 and he first time that they have been at .500 this late in the season since going 32-32-7 in the first 71 games of the 2007-08 season.

6.  The Isles have the New Year off to a good start.  They are 2-0-0 in January; believe it or not, it's the first time since 1990 that the Isles have opened a calendar year with two consecutive victories.

7.  The Isles improved to 8-10-6 on the road.  Their 22 road points are one more than they managed all last season.  They are now 2-6-2 in ten visits to Denver against the Avalanche; it's their first win in Denver since November 19, 1999, when they defeated Colorado by an identical 3-2 score.  This was the only meeting of the teams this season.

8. Three Islanders extended point streaks.  Josh Bailey now has a 4-game streak with two goals and three assists, while Sim (3-0-3) and Schremp (2-2-4) each have three-game streaks.

9.  Roloson, who finished with 30 saves, is 5-0-1 in his last 6 games, allowing just 13 goals in the six games.  Roloson recorded his 16th win, passing Wade Flaherty and tying him with Wade Dubielewicz for 15th place on the all-time Islander win list.  He has 101 fewer wins as an Islander than Rick DiPietro, who dressed for an NHL game for the first time in just over a year. Craig Anderson made 32 saves for Colorado.

10.  It was the first meeting between Duchesne and #1 overall pick John Tavares.  Duchesne had four shots,  three of which resulted in remarkable saves by Roloson, but finished -1 when he was on-ice for the winning goal.  Tavares had only one shot on goal, but was +1.

Up next:  Could Rick DiPietro make his season NHL debut this weekend?  The road trip continues on Friday in Dallas, with the Islanders making their first trip to Texas since November 15, 2006.  DiPietro will remember that game; he shut out the Stars 3-0 that night for his 7th career shutout.  The Isles are 2-0-1 in their last three in Dallas; their last loss there was on March 23, 2001, with Brett Hull notching the winning goal.  The final game of the trip will be Saturday in Phoenix.

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