More from Elias on Grabner

From Elias:
<<Grabner's goal was his 16th in 15 games since January 15-the highest goal
total by an NHL rookie over a 15-game span since Teemu Selanne notched 16
goals in 15 games for Winnipeg in 1992-93. The only other Islanders rookie to
do that was Mike Bossy in 1977-78.>>

From Eric:

Selanne actually had several streaks of at least 16 goals in 15 games that
season (he finished with 76 goals in 84 games). He had 17 goals over the final
15 games that season, but actually had two (overlapping) streaks in which he
managed 24 goals in a 15-game span.

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 3 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 57
Isles 4, Sens 3 (SO)

Michael Grabner extended his goal scoring streak to six games, Josh Bailey
scored his first goal of 2011, and Frans Nielsen had the deciding goal in the
shootout as the Islanders won their fourth straight, and improved to 6-2-0 since

the All-Star Break with a 4-3 shootout win over the Senators before 17,565 at
ScotiaBank Place in Kanata, Ontario.
The Butler Did It
The Sens scored the game's only goal in the first period, with Bobby Butler
beating Nathan Lawson for a power play tally.  It's the second goal in as many
NHL games for the Ottawa rookie.  It's the 37th time this season that the Isles
have allowed the opening goal.
Comeau and Shannon Trade Goals
The Isles evened the game at 8:07 of the second period as Blake Comeau scored
for the second straight game since returning from his concussion.  However, Ryan

Shannon's power play goal gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead entering the second
intermission.

Grabner… Again
Grabner tied the game with an unassisted shorthanded tally at 2:48 of the third
as he stole a pass, had the puck slide off his stick on a forehand/backhand
move, and then recaptured the puck and banged it in on a wrap-around. It's his
25th goal of the season, passing Logan Couture for the rookie lead, and his 10th

in the last six games.  Grabner is the first Islander rookie since Patrick
Flatley in 1984-85 to score in six straight games and only the 2nd player in the

entire NHL to do so this season (Daniel Cleary).  Grabner's streak is the
longest by a rookie since Evgeny Malkin had a 6-game stretch in 2006-07. 

While he would have other chances, including one in overtime, Grabner's
multi-goal game streak would end at 3, which shares both the team record (all
players) and NHL rookie record.
Bailey Give the Isles the Lead
Josh Bailey scored at 6:39 off a pass from Grabner for his 7th goal of the
season.  It was his first goal since December 29th against Pittsburgh.  However,

Erik Karlsson tied the game at 15:56.  Erik Kondra, making his NHL debut, earned

an assist. The final four minutes of regulation and all of overtime went
scoreless, setting up the shootout.
A Shootout Win!
Ottawa went first and Alexei Kovalev beat Lawson to give the Sens the lead.  Rob

Schremp beat Brian Elliot with a wrist shot to tie the shootout.  After Lawson
stopped Jason Spezza, Frans Nielsen crossed Elliot up and score on a forehand
move.  Lawson then stopped Butler's shot to cement the victory and keep the Sens

winless in shootouts (0-4).  The Isles are now 3-4 in shootouts.  4-3 (Shootout)

Final.
Grabner's Glory
Grabner now has a 6-game goal streak -- he has ten goals in the last six
games.  Since January 15th, Grabner has 16 goals in the last 15 games, by far
the most of any player in the NHL (Entering play Sunday, no one else had more
than eight).

Without a Fight
Only 9 minor penalties were called.  The Isles have not had a fight in either of

the two games played since their 9-3 victory over the Penguins Friday produced
346 penalty minutes, 183 on the Islanders.  Both marks were club records.
Strange Stat of the Game
The Isles have won their last three road games, despite trailing after two
periods in all three games.  The Isles opened the season going 0-20-2 in games
that they trailed after two periods.
Streaking
The Isles have won three straight road games, all in extra time (two overtimes
and a shootout) for the first time in their history.

The Isles have won 4 straight games for the first time since January 9- 18, 2010

and three straight on the road for the first time since a four game streak from
January 11-22, 2008.
Streak Stopper
John Tavares was held without a point, ending his 5-game point streak and 3-game

goal streak. Frans Nielsen's assist streak ended at three games; he had recorded

six assists during the streak.
The Jurcina Effect
Milan Jurcina led the Isles with 5 shots and with 6 hits. In the 32 games that
he has played, the Isles are 18-11-3.  They are 3-18-4 in the 25 games that he
has missed.
Home and Road
The Isles are 21-29-7, and are 11-16-3 on the road.  The 25 road points are
their highest total through 30 games in the last three seasons. The Isles are
9-5-0 in their last 14 road games for their best road stretch since
February/March 2008 and are 17-19-4 under Jack Capuano, including 16-11-2 in the

last 29.  The Isles are 6-2-0 in February with six games to play; it matches
their most wins in any month this season (6-7-1 in December).
The Sens are 18-30-9 and 9-15-5 at home. Ottawa is 2-13-5 in their last 20 games

overall, and has not won on home ice since Boxing Day.
In the Nets
Nathan Lawson becomes the 6th different Islander to win a game in goal this
season, making 28 saves.  They are the first team since the 2006-07 Los Angeles
Kings to have six winning goaltenders in the same season.  This was his first
game since being injured in Buffalo 3 ½ weeks ago.  The Isles have had a
different goaltender record a victory in each of the last three games (Koskinen,

Montoya [in relief], and Lawson) – that hasn't happened for the Isles since at
least the 1980's.  None of the three had recorded a victory as an Islander prior

to the current 4-game win streak.  Lawson joins Koskinen and Kevin Poulin in
recording their first NHL victories for the Islanders this season.
Brian Elliot made 25 saves for Ottawa.  He is 13-19-8 this season.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-4 on the power play while the Sens were 2-5.  The Isles did
however get a shorthanded goal from Grabner. It's Grabner's second shorty in the

last three games and the Isles' third in the last six games.  Grabner has 3
shorty's this season, one behind Boston's Brad Marchand for the rookie lead. The

Isles now have 8 shorthanded goals on the season; only the Rangers (9) have
more.
In the Circle
The Isles had a difficult night in the circle as they won just 25 of 73 (34%)
face-offs.  No Islander center won more than he lost; Chris Kelly, who was
involved in a mid-ice collision with Andrew MacDonald in the first period, won
13 of 19.  After the game, the Sens traded Kelly to Boston.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, and Jeremy Colliton remain out. Trevor
Gillies and Matt Martin served the second of their nine and four game
suspensions, respectively.  The Isles have lost 381 games to injury and eight
games to suspension this season. With Jack Hillen back in the lineup, Bruno
Gervais was a healthy scratch.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 139 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 69-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 37 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles. 
Grabner Climbing the Rookie Leaderboard
Grabner needs just one goal in the final 25 games to do something no Islander
rookie since Mike Bossy has done—score as many as 26 goals.  His 25 goals equal
David Volek's total in 1988-89 and Trent Hunter's tally in 2003-04. John Tavares

had 24 last season.  Bossy had a club rookie-record of 53 in 1977-78.  Four
rookies have led the Isles in goals: Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73, Mike Bossy -
53 in 1977-78, Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski) and
Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
Season Series Stats         
The team split the season series two games each, although tonight's shootout
loss gives Ottawa 5 points to the Isles' 4.  It is the Isles first win in Ottawa

since November 13, 2008, breaking a 4-game winless streak (0-2-2).
Happy Anniversary
14 years ago today (February 15, 1997):  Claude Lapointe's overtime tally is
the game's only goal as the Isles blanked the Panthers 1-0 before a sellout
crowd at the Coliseum.  It's the first 1-0 overtime win in club history; Tommy
Salo recorded the shutout.
All-time, the Isles are 8-5-2 on this date, including wins in their last three
games (2003, 2007, and 2011)
Up Next
Thursday, February 17 Boston @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Boston Bruins finally visit Long Island as the Isles begin a three-game
homestand.  The teams have met just once this season, a 5-2 Bruin win in
Beantown. 

The Bruins have won four of the last five at the Coliseum, with the sole
Islander victory coming on a Frans Nielsen overtime tally in December, 2009.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
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

Howie

If you saw the opening of Sunday's telecast from Buffalo, you heard some strong
words from Howie Rose. He visited with Joe and Evan on WFAN this morning and
said even more... http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio-on-demand/joe-and-evan/#

"For too long there has seemed to be two systems of justice in the NHL...one for
the elite teams... and one for everyone else."

On Mario: "if that's how he feels...sell the team." .... "Matt cooke is employed
by Mario Lemieux...(might have) ruined Marc Savard's career.... he got four
games for what he did to Fedor Tyutin...you could have given him 44 games"

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

NHL release on Grabner

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=552652

Most of the numbers here were previously included in The Skinny.
http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552648

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

Grabner named NHL First Star of the Week

To the surprise of no one, certainly in Islander country, Michael Grabner is
the NHL's First Star of the Week. Drew Stafford was second and Ilya Bryzgalov
was third.

It's the 2nd time in three weeks that Grabner was honored with one of the 3
Stars Awards. He was the 3rd Star two weeks ago.

Grabner scored eight goals and added one assist as the Isles went 3-1-0 this
week. He also was +7.

A couple of other Grabner notes:

I noted yesterday that he had recorded three straight mutli-goal games, becoming
the first Isle since Mariusz Czerkawski (and the only rookie in Islander
history) to do so. Elias noted this morning that the three multi's ties the
club record, shared by 6 others: including Bossy and, Lafontaine (2x). The
three that Elias didn't name were Palffy, Turgeon, and Ray Ferraro.

Grabner's rookie streak ties Bobby Ryan's 5 game streak of 2 seasons ago.
Evgeny Malkin was the last rookie to have a 6-game streak. (10/18-11/1/06)

Elias also noted that Grabner is the first NHL player with three consecutive
multi-goal games since Sidney Crosby in 2009 (Nov. 28-Dec. 3). I have not been
able to track down a 4-game streak yet.

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

Isles-Pens aftermath: Don Cherry/Matt Cooke (last year)

I listened to a segment of "Hockey This Morning" driving to work this morning --
basically every call was about the Isles-Pens and almost all from Islander fans.

There has been a better sense of balance to Lemieux's comments than I originally
thought - even from NHL Network.

As far as I can tell, Mario has not waived Matt Cooke, despite the fact that
Cooke's actions are repeatedly in direct contrast to Mario's statement:

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened
Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to
watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

"The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of
actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

"We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game
and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of
actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary
action.

"If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need
to re-think whether I want to be a part of it."

Cooke's hit on Fedor Tyutin on Tuesday was the latest of a series of
questionable/dirty hits by Cooke, includingthe dreadful attack on Marc Savard
last year. A look back at Don Cherry's comments on that hit is here:
bit.ly/CherryCooke

One of the funny things that came about from Friday's game from an Islander
perspective is that it appeared that a significant number of islander fans were
rooting for the Rangers in their game with Pittsburgh yesterday.

The angelic Penguins, who lead the NHL with 290 minor penalties, 63 major
penalties, 376 total penalties and 1,113 penalty minutes and are one of only 4
teams to draw a match penalty this season have a fairly quiet week. They play
Wednesday in Denver and then don't play again until an NBC tilt in Chicago as
part of "Hockey Day in America" on Sunday. Matt Cooke will return to the
Penguins on Sunday. Unless Mario waives him, of course.

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

The Skinny: Isles 7, Buffalo 6 (ot)

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 56
Isles 7, Sabres 6 (OT)
 
At this point, Michael Grabner could melt all of the snow remaining on Long
Island…he's that hot.  Grabner extended his goal scoring streak to five games,
his multi-goal streak to three games, and became the first rookie in NHL history
to record two hat tricks for two different teams in two separate seasons (he had
one last season for Vancouver) as Grabner's third tally came 2:55 into overtime
as the Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-6 before a sellout crowd of
18,690 at the HSBC Arena.  The Islanders have won three straight games –
equaling their season high and are 5-2-0 since the All-Star Break.
Busy First
Grabner scored on a wrap-around just 40 seconds into play to give the Isles an
early lead with his team-leading 22nd goal.  It's the first time this season
that the Isles have scored in the game's opening minute and the first time that
the Isles scored first in consecutive games since December 23 (New Jersey) and
December 26 (Montreal).
The Sabres responded with goals from Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford 56 seconds
apart before John Tavares evened the back-and forth contest at 12:49 of the
session.  Stafford's second goal, with 2:21 to play, gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead
after one period.
Gerbe and Comeau Trade Goals
The Sabres grabbed the game's only two-goal lead when Nathan Gerbe, who last
month scored twice in five seconds against the Isles, gave the Sabres a 4-2 lead
at 4:31 of the session.  The goal chased Mikko Koskinen and allowed Al Montoya
to set Islander history by becoming the Isles' 6th goaltender to be used this
season.  IT was Montoya's first NHL game since April 9, 2009 when he played for
Phoenix.  Blake Comeau, playing his first game since being injured by a high
check by Pittsburgh's Maxime Talbot scored a key goal with 1:05 to play in the
middle period. It was his 14th goal of the season.

Grabner Goes Multi
Grabner's unassisted tally tied the game 4-4 at 3:00 of the third period.  With
the goal, he became the first rookie in Islander history to record three
consecutive multi-goal games. He is the first Islander with three consecutive
multiple-goal games since Mariusz Czerkawski did so in March/April, 1998.

A Key 5-on-3
Tyler Meyers gave the Sabres a 5-4 lead at 5:26 of the third, but the game
changed..again…with the Isles on a 5-on-3 midway through the period. Two
Islander defenders, Milan Jurcina and Ty Wishart, scored 1:16 apart, first on a
5-on-3 and then on a 5-on-4. It was Wishart's first NHL goal.  However, just 31
seconds later, Stafford completed his league-leading 4th hat trick and after the
Islanders killed the first 1:45 of a Travis Hamonic penalty, the game headed to
overtime.
Grab-Trick!
Grabner's dream week continued when he scored the winning goal to complete his
hat trick at 2:55 of the extra session.  It was his 24th goal of the season,
tying Logan Couture for the rookie lead. He has scored 21 times at even
strength, only Steven Stamkos has more even-strength goals (25 of 40).  It was
the first time an Islander game with at least twelve goals had gone to overtime
since 2002, and the first time since February 28, 1993 (in Hartford) that the
Isles had won an overtime game by a score of 7-6 or higher.  7-6 Final.
Hats Each Way
It's the 10th time that the Isles and their opponent had a hat trick in the same
game:
·        October 14, 1978: Denis Potvin/Darryl Sittler (Toronto)
·        March 30, 1980:  Butch Goring/Real Cloutier (Quebec)
·        October 21, 1982: Bryan Trottier/Ken Houston (Washington)
·        November 29, 1983:  Brent Sutter/Bernie Federko (St. Louis)
·        Jannuary 21, 1989: Pat LaFontaine/Dave Gagner (Minnesota)
·        October 15, 1991: Derek King/Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh)
·        December 10, 1991: Ray Ferraro/Brett Hull (St. Louis)
·        October 23, 1993: Derek King/Sylvain Turgeon (Ottawa)
·        December 3, 2006: Viktor Kozlov (4)/Brendan Shanahan (Rangers)
·        February 13, 2011: Michael Grabner/Drew Stafford (Buffalo)
Grabner's Glory
Grabner has a 5-game goal streak -- 1st by an Islander since Ziggy Palffy
(3/27-4/5/97).  He is the first Islander rookie to have a 5-game goal streak
since Patrick Flatley had a 6-game streak in 1984-85.  Detroit's Dan Cleary had
a six-game goal scoring streak earlier this season; he is the only NHL player
with a longer streak than Grabner, who became the first rookie to score in five
consecutive game since Anaheim's Bobby Ryan did so from 1/17-1/28/09.  Grabner
now has nine goals in the last five games.   Since January 15th, Grabner has 15
goals in the last 14 games, by far the most of any player in the NHL (Entering
play Sunday, no one else had more than eight).  For his efforts, he was named
the NHL Network's Performer of the Night and is a leading candidate for the
NHL's Player of the Week, which will be awarded at noon on Monday.
Without a Fight
The high scoring contest did not include a fight, which was quite a change from
the Isles' game on Saturday which included 346 penalty minutes, 183 on the
Islanders.  Both marks were club records.
Strange Stats of the Game
The Isles have won their last two road games, despite trailing after two periods
in both games.  The Isles opened the season going 0-20-2 in games that they
trailed after two periods.
The Isles have won three times in four days for the first time since March
13-14-16, 2010.
It's Been a Long Time…
…since the Isles scored 16 goals in two games.  They last did so on
1/23-1/26/1993 (8-4 vs Philadelphia, 8-2 vs New Jersey).  (The club record is
18)
..since the Isles scored 19 goals in three games. They also last did that in
January 1983.
…since the Isles scored 22 in 4 and 27 in 5 games.  Both streaks go back to late
in the 1996-97 season.
…won a game that they allowed 6 goals.  They had gone 0-105-2 in their last 107
since beating Hartford in February 1983.
…played in two games in which 25 goals were scored. On 11/12-14/ 1992, the Isles
lost to Philadelphia 8-5 and then beat Buffalo 7-5.  (The club record is 26)
The Jurcina Effect
Milan Jurcina had a goal and assist, both on the power play.  In the 31 games
that he has played, the Isles are 17-11-3.  They are 3-18-4 in the 25 games that
he has missed.
Home and Road
The Isles are 20-29-7, and are 10-16-3 on the road. They are now 16-19-4 under
Jack Capuano, including 15-11-2 in the last 28.  The Isles are 5-2-0 in February
with seven games to play; it is their most wins in any month this season except
for December (6-7-1).
The Sabres are 26-22-6 and 12-12-2 at home.
In the Nets
Koskinen was chased after stopping 10 of 14 shots.  His record remains 2-1-0. 
Montoya stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced to earn the win.  It's already the
third time in 2011 that the Isles have won a game that included a goalie changes
– the other two were due to injury.  Montoya, who turned 26 today, is now 4-1-0
in his NHL career.
Ryan Miller made 19 saves for Buffalo; the Isles scored 17 goals on 107 shots
vs. Miller this season.  It's only the third time in his career that he allowed
seven goals.

Power Plays
The Isles went 2-6 on the power play and killed all three Sabre power plays. 
It's the first time since 12/31-1/3 that the Isles have scored multiple pp goals
in consecutive games.
In the Circle
The Isles won 38 of 67 (57%) face-offs.  John Tavares won 11 of 16 for the Isles
while Jochen Hecht lost 10 of 15 for Pittsburgh.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Jeremy Colliton and Nathan Lawson
remain out. The Isles have now lost a league-leading 376 man-games to injury. 
Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin served the first of their nine and four game
suspensions, respectively. Jack Hillen was scratched with a lingering effect
from Friday's game while Blake Comeau played for the first time in eight games.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 138 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 68-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 36 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.  
Grabner Climbing the Rookie Leaderboard
Grabner needs just two goals in the final 26 games to do something no Islander
rookie since Mike Bossy has done—score as many as 26 goals.  David Volek had 25
in 1988-89 and Trent Hunter had 25 in 2003-04. John Tavares had 24 last season.
Bossy had a  club rookie-record of 53 in 1977-78.   Four rookies have led the
Isles in goals: Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73, Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78, Trent
Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski) and Kyle Okposo-18 in
2008-09.
Season Series Stats          
The Isles win the season series three games to one (and six points to three). 
They won both games in Buffalo for the first time since 2003-04.
Happy Anniversary
29 years ago today (February 13, 1982):   Bryan Trottier scored five straight
goals as the Isles pounded the Flyers 8-2 at the Coliseum.  It's the second
5-goal game of Trottier's career; no Islander has done so since.  Trottier also
had a club-record four goals in the second period.
 All-time, the Isles are 8-5-1 on this date, including wins in their last four
games (2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011)
Up Next
Tuesday, February 15 Islanders @ Ottawa 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders conclude the season series with the Ottawa Senators as they play
the Sens for the 2nd time in 11 days.  The Sens have won two of the first three,
but the Isles defeated Ottawa 5-3 on February 5th.  The Isles will be looking
for their first win in Ottawa since November 13, 2008, having gone 0-2-2 in the
last four.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
 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