Stat Trick: Isles 4, New Jersey 0

For the second time in less than a week, one of the top teams in the NHL over the past 15 years came into the Coliseum and were overwhelmed, and shutout, by the Islanders.  Today it was New Jersey's turn, as the Isles blanked the Devils 4-0.  On to the trick:

1. As he did in the 6-0 shutout win on Tuesday over Detroit, Matt Moulson scored in the game's second minute to give the Isles the lead.  Moulson's goal was at 1:07, four seconds earlier than it was on Tuesday.  After Richard Park had a goal disallowed due to the referee losing site of the puck, Mark Streit extended his point streak to four games by scoring his third goal in four games to give the Isles a 2-0 lead just 3:44 into play. It was the second time in as many games that an apparent goal by Park had been waved off. Kyle Okposo assisted on the Streit goal, extending his point streak to six games; he also has a six-game streak to start the season.  Okposo now has five point streaks of at least five games in his career.

2.  Josh Bailey and Moulson scored 2:23 apart late in the second period to double the Isles' advantage to 4-0 after two periods, and chase future Hall-of-Famer Marty Brodeur to the bench for the second time in as many Coliseum visits. Bailey's goal gave him 25 points on the season, matching his rookie campaign total, while Moulson, who recorded his third multi-goal game of the season, now has 19 goals.  Moulson's 19 goals are one more than Kyle Okposo scored last season, when he led the club with 18 goals. Moulson now has 25 career goals, in just 78 NHL games.

3.  Former Islander Yann Danis handled 14 shots flawlessly in the third, but the Devs couldn't solve Rick DiPietro.  DiPietro stopped 20 shots in the game for his first shutout, and first winning streak, since blanking Tampa Bay on February 20, 1988.  It was the 15th shutout of DiPietro's career; only Chico Resch (25) and Billy Smith (22) have more as an Islander.

...a few more...

4. Andy Sutton had another big game for the Isles, assisting on the final goal, while going +3 and addding five hits and five blocked shots.  It was the 100th assist of Sutton's career. Jack Hillen was also +3.

5. The Isles outshot New Jersey 46-20.  It is their most shots in any game since getting 60 vs. Carolina on October 25, 2008 and the most shots that the Islanders have had on goal in a game that they won by shutout since totalling 48 shots while blanking the Devils 7-0 on February 22, 1987-- Okposo, Bailey and Taveres were not even born when that game was played. Eleven of the Islanders' 46 shots were on the power play; New Jersey did not generate a shot on goal in two power plays.  It's the second straight game that the Isles have generated 11 shots on goal on their power play.

6.  The Isles improve to 9-2-1 in their last 12 games, matching their best 12 game streak since ending calendar year 2003 with an identical mark.  The Isles actually went 10-2-1 over the final 13 games in December 2003.

7.  The Isles have three shutouts this season, matching the total in each of the last two seasons.  DiPietro joins Biron and Roloson with one shutout each.  It's the third time that the Isles have gotten a shutout from three different goalies in the same year.  Felix Potvin, Roberto Luongo and Steve Weekes each had one blank in the 1999-2000 season;  Eric Fichaud (1 shutout), Tommy Salo (4) and Wade Flaherty (3) turned the trick in 1997-98.  The last five Islander shutouts have been recorded by five different goalies.

8. The Isles improve to 6-1-0 in 2010.  Their last five wins have all been against teams ahead of them in the overall standings. The Isles have won four straight overall, and five straight at home.  Of their five home wins, three have been by shootout, and two have been by shutout.  It's the second 4-game win streak of the season (previously done October 27-November 2nd) and the club's first five-game win streak since winning six straight from March 2 - March 25, 2006.  The Isles are now 22-19-8 (52 points); they were 12-29-5 (29 points) on MLK Day, 2009.  The Isles are now just seven points away from last year's total of 61 points.  They are 13-8-2 at home; they have recorded more than 28 points in the first 23 home games only once in the last 20 seasons (30 points in 2003-04).

9. John Tavares has six shots on goal (one shy of his season/career high).  He now has 16 shots in the last three games after having only 22 shots in the prior 15 games.

10.The Isles have scored first in all three games of the season series, but the home team has won all three games between the teams this season.  The Isles will look to even the season series with New Jersey when the Devils return to Long Island on Saturday.  The Isles have dominated the series between the teams on Long Island in recent years, going 6-1-1, including wins in the last three home games vs. New Jersey.

Up next: The Isles head to Pittsburgh to battle the Stanley Cup Champions on Tuesday night.  The Isles are 1-0-1 vs. Pittsburgh this season, with both games having been played on Long Island.  However, the Isles have lost five straight (and eight of nine) games in Pittsburgh.

 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

First round draft picks in same season.

1995-96 was the last SEASON that 8 different first rounders appeared for Isles:
Brett Lindros -18 games
Todd Bertuzzi -76 games
Darius Kasparaitis -46 games
Scott Lachance-55 games
Dean Chynoweth-14 games
Brad Dalgarno -18 games
Derek King -61 games
Patrick Flatley -56 games

I have not had the opportunity yet to verify that five of them appeared in the same yet.
As many as 9 Isles 1st round picks have appeared in a game in the same season (several times from the mid 80's-thru 89-90).

Thanks, Roger.
 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

College hockey

How about those Union College Dutchmen?  My alma mater, the only major Division I program unbeaten in its own league, is now in sole possession of first place in points as well after beating RPI...again and seeing Cornell tie St. Lawrence.

  ECAC
  Team GP  W-L-T Pts. GF-GA
1 Union 10 7-0-3 17 37-22
2 Cornell 11 7-2-2 16 38-20
3 Quinnipiac 13 7-6-0 14 42-35
  Yale 10 6-2-2 14 43-33
5 Colgate 11 6-4-1 13 38-37
6 St. Lawrence 10 5-3-2 12 29-24
7 Rensselaer 10 5-5-0 10 31-24
8 Harvard 10 3-5-2 8 27-34
9 Brown 10 3-6-1 7 30-43
  Princeton 12 3-8-1 7 28-46
11 Dartmouth 9 2-7-0 4 25-32
  Clarkson 10 1-7-2 4 20-38

 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
  ECAC
  Team GP  W-L-T Pts. GF-GA
1 Union 10 7-0-3 17 37-22
2 Cornell 11 7-2-2 16 38-20
3 Quinnipiac 13 7-6-0 14 42-35
  Yale 10 6-2-2 14 43-33
5 Colgate 11 6-4-1 13 38-37
6 St. Lawrence 10 5-3-2 12 29-24
7 Rensselaer 10 5-5-0 10 31-24
8 Harvard 10 3-5-2 8 27-34
9 Brown 10 3-6-1 7 30-43
  Princeton 12 3-8-1 7 28-46
11 Dartmouth 9 2-7-0 4 25-32
  Clarkson 10 1-7-2 4 20-38

Stat Trick: Isles 3, Buffalo 2 (shootout)

Trent Hunter scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout as Rick DiPietro earned his first victory since 2008 with a 3-2 shootout victory over Buffalo at the Coliseum.  It's the fourth straight home win for the Isles --their longest home win streak since 2007.  On to the trick:

 

1.. The Sabres had the better of play early, but John Tavares put the Isles on the board 5:38 into the first period with his 17th goal of the season.  Tavares leads all rookies in goals, is tied with Matt Moulson for the club lead and is tied with Matt Duchesne for the point lead.  Kyle Okposo assisted on the goal, extending his point streak to five straight games.

 

2. The Isles dominated the middle session, outshooting Buffalo 21-6, but each team scored a goal 21 seconds apart.  Sean Bergenheim scored to give the Isles a 2-0 lead at 16:33 of the second period, but Matt Grier replied 21 seconds later for Buffalo.  It was the first Sabre goal in 166:42 at the Coliseum, dating back to Columbus Day 2008.

 

3. The Isles appeared to take a 3-1 lead in the third period but a Richard Park goal was waved off due to a controversial call against Andy Sutton for impeding Ryan Miller's ability to play the puck,  Drew Stafford then tied the game just before the mid-way point, eventually sending the game to overtime and the shootout.

 

...a few more...

 

4.  Ryan Miller was superb in the Buffalo net, particularly in the second period.  He finished with 36 saves.  DiPietro, playing his first home game since December 26, 2008, recorded his first victory since that date as well.  DiPietro improved to 17-9 in career shootouts, stopping 5 of 8 Sabres in the shootout.  The Isles did get to Miller in the shootout, scoring four times with Rob Schemp, Matt Moulson and Tavares scoring before Hunter's game deciding goal.

 

5. With Bergenheim and DiPietro both appearing in the same game, the Isles had five of their own first round draft picks in action tonight.  It's the first time since at least the 1995-96 season that as many as five Islander first round picks have appeared for the Islanders in the same game.  In 1995-96, eight former first rounders appeared for the Isles in at least one game.

 

6. The Isles are now 5-1-0 in 2010 and are 5-1-0 in their last six at home.  They have killed 16 of 17 in the last six games at home.

 

7. Tim Connolly assisted on Grier's goal to extend his assist streak to five games and his points streak to eleven games.  The point streak is the longest active streak in the NHL.  Josh Bailey had his six-game assist streak, and seven-game point streak stopped.

 

8. With the win, the Isles reach 50 points in jsut 48 games (21-19-8). they didn't reach the 50 point mark until their 66th game last season.    They are one point ahead of the 2006-07 team's pace.  The Isles take over 8th place from Montreal; the Isles have a game in hand.  The Isles are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games; it's their best 11-game stretch since also going 8-2-1 in late February/early March 2007.

 

9.  While the Isles did not score on the power play, they did have ten shots on goal over their last two power plays.  The Isles won 30 of 59 draws; a vast improvement from losting 39 of 47, as they did in Buffalo earlier this year.

 

10.  The teams split the season series two games each, with Buffalo taking five points to the Islanders' four.   The Isles have now won three straight at home over Buffalo. The Isles are now 6-5-4 against the Northeast Division this season, with five games still to play.

 

Up next:  The Devils make their first of two visits to Long Island in six days, when they play the Islanders Monday in a holiday matinee.  The Devils have won both games of this year's season  series, but the Islanders own a two-game home winning streak over New Jersey.  It's the 9th time that the Isles are hosting an MLK matinee -- the Isles are 2-3-3 in the prior eight.

 

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

Bailey's streak

Josh Bailey heads into tonight's game with Buffalo with a 6-game assist streak.

 

He's the first Islander to record an assist in six straight games since Roman Hamrlik did so in 2000-01.

 

The last Islander to have a seven game assist streak is Robert Reichel, who did so in the first seven games of the 1997-98 season.

 

The club record is 9, last done by Tom Kurvers in 1991-92. 
 

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 piece of history from Tuesday night

While the Isles were destroying the Red Wings Tuesday night, the Rangers and Devils played a scoreless tie into a New Jersey shootout victory (according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 96 shots on goal for the Rangers/Devils were the most ever in a scoreless game.).

 

Thus, all three goalies (Roloson, Brodeur, Lundqvist) were credited with shutouts.  It's the first time since the Devils moved to New Jersey in 1982 that all three New York teams recorded shutouts on the same day.

 

(Thanks to Ed G for the idea to check it out!)

 

BTW--the Rangers were shutout at home by Ottawa on Thursday night, dropping them to 8-2-4 in their last 14 games.  They've been shutout three times in that stretch (0-2-1); all at MSG.  Their current scoreless streak is 144:03 overall and 126:05 at home.

 

 

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

Brooks: Isles in market for Kovalchuk???

Isles could trade for Thrashers star forward

 

1:25 PM, January 14, 2010 ι By LARRY BROOKS

The other team in town is big-game hunting. Islanders' GM Garth Snow has checked in with the Thrashers about the availability of marquee all-star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk, leaving the message with Atlanta GM Don Waddell that the team intends to be in the mix if the impending unrestricted free agent is placed on the trade market, The Post has learned from a well-placed source.

 

Kovalchuk, who is believed seeking a 12-year contract in the neighborhood of $120 million, has stated his preference to finish his career in Atlanta, but the cash-poor Thrashers' ownership may be unable or unwilling to commit to a deal that, in essence, comes close to equaling the value of the franchise.

 

If Waddell concludes he will be unable to sign Kovalchuk, the Thrashers would presumably look to move the 26-year-old goal-scoring machine in what likely would be a rental deal, though the Islanders most certainly do have the cap space to accommodate such a long-term contract.

 

Kovalchuk, who has 26 goals and 24 assists in 39 games this season, has recorded 323 goals and 284 points in 584 career games, all of which have been played with the Thrashers. He is among the league's most high-profile athletes.

 

The Islanders, who sent a No. 1 and two prospects to Edmonton to pull off a rental deal for Ryan Smyth at the 2007 trade deadline for a No. 1 and two prospects, have a plethora of young assets throughout the organization-with some currently on the Island-that could put them into prime position to acquire Kovalchuk.

 

The NHL trade deadline is March 3, but deals are expected before the Feb. 12-28 Olympic roster freeze goes into effect.

 

It is believed that while the club would quarantine NHL emerging talents John Tavares and Josh Bailey, Snow would be willing to part with this year's first-rounder in addition to presenting a "One from Column A/One from Column B menu" that could feature Oshawa defenseman Calvin de Haan; Brandon defensemen Travis Hamonic; Saskatoon defenseman Jyri Niemi; Russian winger Kirill Petrov, currently playing for Almetivsk; and 22-year-old winger Jesse Joensuu, currently playing for AHL Bridgeport.

 

Snow declined comment when reached by phone this morning by The Post.

 

Acquiring Kovalchuk would give the Islanders a huge boost on the ice in their effort to make the playoffs, it would give them a marquee box office attraction and a presence in New York sports they currently do not have.

It is unknown whether Kovalchuk, who is expected to receive a huge offer from the KHL should he reach July 1 unrestricted free agency, would be willing to sign a long-term deal with the Islanders if one were offered.

 

There is, however, no question that Kovalchuk's presence on the Islanders would increase their value as club owner Charles Wang seeks either a new venue or a buyer for his team.

 

Interestingly, the Islanders were in position to select Kovalchuk with the first-overall pick of the 2001 draft by finishing with the NHL's worst record in 2000-01. At that time, Kovalchuk expressed enthusiasm at the prospect at playing on Long Island.

 

But the Thrashers, who'd finished third from the bottom, won the lottery and thus moved up to first overall. GM Mike Milbury then traded the second overall pick plus Zdeno Chara to the Senators for Alexei Yashin.

 

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