Stat Trick: Devils 2, Isles 1

33 years ago this month, JP Parise's OT goal clinched a playoff series. Tonight, Zach Parise's OT goal, also in the opening minute of overtime, clinched a playoff spot for the Devils. On to the trick:

1. Parise's goal gives him a team leading 4 goals and 8 points against the Isles this season. He has career highs in goals, assists and points this season (32-34-66). Parise had eight shots on goal.

2. The Devils outshot the Isles 47-22 tonight and 266-199 on the season, but the Isles outscored NJ 21-14, and won the season series 6 games to 2 and 13 points to 3.

3. Trent Hunter had 8 hits for the Isles, while Josef Vasicek's goal was his 5th of the season against NJ.

Around the League:

WHO CLINCHED TONIGHT?
EASTERN CONFERENCE

Montreal Canadiens clinched the Northeast Division tonight with their win over Ottawa

New Jersey Devils clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth tonight with their win over the Isles

WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Detroit Red Wings (idle) can clinch the Presidents' Trophy tonight:
* If San Jose gets one or no points against Los Angeles. (game still in progress)

#6
Colorado Avalanche can clinch a Western Conference playoff berth tonight:
* If they beat Vancouver (game still in progress)

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.

Lucky 13

With tonight's results, the Isles are locked into 13th place in the East. Tampa could still finish with an identical record, but the Isles won the season series. The Isles can not catch either Florida or Toronto, who both earned points this evening.

The Isles will have either the 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th seed in the draft lottery.

They will finish ahead of Phoenix only if the Isles sweep the Rangers and the Coyote lose their final 3. They will finish ahead of Colmbus only if the Isles earn three more points in their final 2 games than Columbus earns if their three remaining games. The Isles remain three points ahead of St. Louis, and the Blues will have to beat the Isles on points since the Isles will win more games.

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: Pittsburgh 3, Isles 1

The Penguins moved into the top spot in the East while the Isles ensured themselves a top-11 seed in the draft lottery. On to the trick.

1. It was some night for Jarku Ruutu, who had the winning goal while shorthanded, and two assists. George Laraque had a goal, an assist, but missed the Gordie Howe hat trick by not being involved in one of the two fights.

2. Each team had five full power plays (10:00 of pp time) but neither team could score with the extra man.

3. The Penguins won the season series 5 games to 3 and 10 points to 6,

...a few more.

4. The Isles were out-shot 29-28, but it wasn't Sean Bergenheim's fault. He had seven shots by himself, and was +1.

5. The Isles had another good night on draws, winning 33 of 54. Jeremy Colliton won all five that he took and Richard Park won 12 of 18.

6. The Isles finish March with a 2-6 road record, including six losses in the final 7.

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.

Top 11 seed

When the Islanders were eliminated from the playoffs last weekend, they guaranteed themselves a top-11 seed in the draft lottery.

With tonight's results, it's now a top 11 seed.

The Isles have 75 points and the most that they can finish with is 83.
They can't catch Washinton now or Nashville. While they can get even in points with Edmonton, the Oilers are guaranteed to finish with more wins.

Both of the teams behind the Isles in the East got points tonight as Atlanta won and Tampa lost in OT. The Thrashers now have 72 points and the Lightning 69. Remember, those teams have two games remaining with each other.

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 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.