It's just another New Year's Eve

The Isles will host Florida this afternoon.

It's the 17th New Year's Eve game in Islander history, but only the fourth at home.

Overall, the Isles are 9-6-1 on NYE, including a 2-1 record at home.

31-Dec-77 Vs Montreal    2 4 L
31-Dec-82 @ Buffalo    1 5 L
31-Dec-83 @ Minnesota    7 3 W
31-Dec-84 @ Minnesota     3 4 L
31-Dec-85 @ Detroit        5 4 Wot
31-Dec-86 @ New York     3 4 Lot
31-Dec-88 Vs Washington 6 4 W
31-Dec-89 @ Buffalo         4 2 W
31-Dec-90 Vs Quebec       6 3 W
31-Dec-92 @ St. Louis    1 5 L
31-Dec-95 @ Buffalo    5 2 W
31-Dec-97 @ Colorado     1 3 L
31-Dec-98 @ Chicago    0 1 L
31-Dec-02 @ Buffalo     1 0 Wot
31-Dec-03 @ Pittsburgh 6 1 W
31-Dec-07 @ Carolina    4 1 W
31-Dec-08 Vs Florida 2:00   

(The Isles were supposed to play in Chicago on December 31, 1978, but that game was snowed out -- one of only five postponements in Islander history)

In the Isles last home game on NY Eve, Derek King scored four goals, including an empty netter, as the Isles defeated Quebec 6-3 in 1990.

The Isles have ended NY Eve in overtime three times, winning in 1985 (Mikko Makela) and 2002 (Jason Blake) and losing in 1986 (Tomas Sandstrom).

The Isles have won once by shutout (Osgood in 2002) and lost once by shutout (Thibault in 1998).

 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.

Not just bad -- historical

Upon further review, the Islanders record when leading after two periods is even worse that I thought. (They are 8-4-1). The four losses are more than they had in any full season since at least 1995-96.

(The Isles lost only once in each of the two seasons under Nolan when leading after two periods; they lost only once-total when leading after two periods under Laviolette.)

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: Rangers 5, Isles 4

Another day, another Ricky injury. Hunter hurt during the game as well. Oh well... on to the trick.

1. Not a good sign when the Isles lose at MSG -- only their second regulation loss in the last 11 visits (8-2-1).

2. The Isles have now lost 10 straight road games (0-9-1). It's the first time since the 72-73 season that the Isles have lost 10 straight on the road; they lost 15 and 13 straight that season.

3. The Rangers scored 4 goals in the third to erase a 2-1 Isles advantage. The Isles drop to 8-4-1 when they lead after two periods; no other team has lost more than twice in regulation when leading after 2. (The Isles were 22-1-2 last season when leading after 2)

...and a few more

4. Mike Sillinger had the game's first goal, and the only one of the first period. The Isles dropped to a mind-boggling 2-5-1 when leading after 1 period. They are the only NHL team with a losing record when leading after 1; Tampa (6-4-3) is the only other team to have won fewer than 1/2 the games that they led after 20 minutes. (The Isles were 16-3-4 last season when leading after 1)

5. The Isles scored in the last minute of the 2nd period (Okposo) and 3rd (Comrie). Comrie's goal was the third in 2 games with the goalie on the bench. The Rangers got a goal from Gomez in the 2nd period with Lundqvist pulled for a 6th attacker; the Rangers had 45 seconds of delayed penalty time without the Isles gaining control of the puck.

6. Neither team scored on the pp. The Isles were 0-2 and the Rangers were 0-5.

7. There were 4 goals in a 2:47 span from late in the 2nd period to early in the 3rd. Each team scored twice in that stretch.

8. After only one fight (Thompson/Voros) in the first two games, there were two tonight (Fritz/Orr and Comrie/Dawes).

9. Josh Bailey played only 7:34 - only Orr and Fritz played less. If he's not playing here, wouldn't have he been better off playing for Canada in the World Jrs tonight? (Canada beat Germany 5-1).

10. Looking ahead: The Isles host Florida in a New Year's Eve matinee. Florida has owned the Isles of late, winning the last 6 games (one in overtime). The Isles will be looking to end the month with a 2nd win; with the exception of three October's, the Isles have won at least two games in every full month of their history, except for December 1972. The Isles were 1-12-2 that month. (They are 1-10-2 so far this December.) With Howie Rose enjoying some much deserved time off, Jiggs McDonald returns to the Isles booth to call this game and the four that follow it. It's the third straight season that Jiggs has filled in for Howie. Jiggs called Islander games for 15 seasons (1980-81 to 1994-95).

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: Buffalo 4, Isles 3 (Shootout)

A solid effort, two late goals, including one in the final seconds is worth a point, but the shootout goes Buffalo's way. On to the trick:

1. Jeff Tambellini scored a goal! It's NHL goal #5 for Tambellini, his first in 44 games dating back to last February 12. Josh Bailey earned his 9th assist on that goal; he's still looking for his first tally.

2. With the Isles trailing 3-1, the Isles got a pp-goal from Mike Comrie (18:34) and the equalizer from Chris Campoli(19:58). Both goals came with the Isles' net empty.

3. The Sabres needed just two rounds to win the shootout, scoring on both of their shots (Kotalik, Stafford) and stopping Park and Okposo.
Buffalo is now 2-0 in shootouts against the Isles, having also won on Long Island on Turkey Eve, 2005.

and a few more...

4. One night after scoring his 399th and 400th goals, BIll Guerin assisted on the two 6th attacker goals for the Isles.
.
5. Hecht, Pominville and MacArthur had the goals for Buffalo.

6. Trent Hunter had another strong game: 5 shots and 5 hits. Jermey Colliton was recalled to replace Mike Sillinger; he won 8 of 15 draws; his teammates lost 28 of 47.

7. According to the NHL, a shootout loss is still a loss, meaning that the Isles have lost 11 of their last 12 (1-9-2) and have lost 9 straight on the road (0-8-1) since their miraculous victory in Montreal three nights before Thanksgiving. The 9 straight road losses is the longest since a similar streak in 1998 (10 straight winless).

8. How did Derek Roy not get a star? Roy, a forward, played 28:08 (over four minutes more than any other Sabre), and had 8 shots on goal. He also won 15 of 23 draws.

9. The Isles are now 1-1-1 vs. Buffalo this season (1-0-1 on the road). It's the first time since 03-04 that they've earned points in both trips to Buffalo.

10. Looking ahead: the Isles play their third game in four nights on Monday in Manhattan. The Isles have owned the Rangers at MSG for the last several seasons. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 visits:

11-Apr-06 @ New York 3 2 W
3-Dec-06 @ New York 7 4 W
19-Dec-06 @ New York 4 3 W
9-Jan-07 @ New York 5 3 W
5-Mar-07 @ New York 1 2 Lso
19-Nov-07 @ New York 2 1 W
29-Nov-07 @ New York 2 4 L
4-Mar-08 @ New York 4 3 Wso
4-Apr-08 @ New York 4 3 Wso
4-Nov-08 @ New York 2 1 W

The game will air exclusively on Versus. Joe Beninati has the play-by-play. The Isles will be looking to avoid a 10th straight road loss. They've lost 10 straight on the road only twice in their history -- they lost 28 of 29 (1-28-0) on the road between November 26, 1972- March 31, 1973. There were 13 straight losses, a memorable 9-7 win over the Champion Bruins in the Garden, and then 15 more straight losses that season.

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, Leafs 1

If Boxing Day was Bill Murray's Ground Hog Day, the Isles would be in good shape. For the third straight year, the Isles spent Boxing Day at home, and for the third straight year they emerged victorious. On to the trick.

1. The Isles improved to 10 wins, 1 loss (a one-goal defeat to Hartford in 1985) and two ties at home on Boxing Day. (Contrast that with the Canucks -- who are 0-6-2 in their last eight games on Boxing Day at home, and haven't won in BC since 1973! Vancouver trails tonight, as well)

2. Bill Guerin is the 8th American and 79th player overall to reach 400 goals; he had two goals tonight, including one that was erroneously initially credited to Josh Bailey.

3. Kyle Okposo set a career high with his 3rd goal of the season (he had 2 in nine games last season). Okposo, playing his 31st NHL game, recorded the first two point game of his career.

...and a few more

4. Rick DiPietro knocked Billy Smith out of the Isles record books. DiPietro recorded his 14th point (all assists), breaking the record he shared with Smitty (1-12-13). More importantly, DiPietro recorded his first win since February 28th, and the 117th of his career.

5. Jeff Tambellini celebrated his 100th Islander game with an assist. (He has 4-16-20 in 104 NHL games with all points coming as an Islander.) His dad played in 107 games for the Isles (24-25-49).

6. Andy Hilbert broke a bone in his foot blocking a shot in the 2nd period; he did not return. Hilbert has played in every game this season.

7. Oh Canada. Six of the Isles' 11 wins (and 4 of their six home wins) have come against Canadian opponents. The Isles are 6-2 against teams North of the Border this season after going 5-9-1 last season. It's the first time since the lockout that the Isles have won at least six games against Canadian team. Six of the Isles' last seven wins have come against Canadian teams; the seventh was in Buffalo - a city that plays the Canadian anthem before home games.

8. Blake Comeau assisted on both third period goals; it's the first two assist game of his career.

9. The Isles are 7-1-1 in their last 9 and 11-2-1 in their last 14 games against the Leafs on Long Island.

10. Looking ahead: The Isles visit Buffalo on Saturday night. The teams have split two games this season, with the visitor winning on both occasions.

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: Atlanta 4, Isles 2

Some teams are good...some teams are bad... some are downright historical.  The current Isles are falling into that last group, but not for the right reasons... on to the trick.

1.  Ilya Kovalchuk celbrated his 500th NHL game by recording his 500th and 501st career point.

2. The Isles have now lost 10 straight (0-9-1).  It's their first 10 game losing streak since the 1997-98 season when they lost 10 straight (the last was in overtime, but you didn't get a point in those days) and then tied an 11th.  It's the sixth ten-game losing streak in club history.  The club record is 12, done in both 1972-73 (Phil Goyette was fired two weeks after this streak was broken with the famous win in Boston) and 1988-89 (Terry Simpson lost his job eight games into this streak).

3.  The Isles have opened a month winless in 10 games for only the second time in history, and the first time since December 1972.
 
...and a few more....
 
4.  Bryan Little recorded his third two-goal game of the season.
 
5.  Andy Hilbert recorded his 8th goal of the season at 16:48 of the second.  It ended a goal-less streak of 133:20 for the Isles.  Hilbert had eight goals in each of his prior two seasons with the Isles.
 
6.  Sean Bergenheim recorded his first goal in 15 games when he scored shorthanded to tie the game early in the third period.  It was his 2nd shortie of the season.
 
7.  Jeff Tambellini 0-for 43.  Enough said.  Except for this.  21-year-old Brett Sutter, (Darryl's son, and Duane/Brent's nephew) scored in his NHL debut tonight.
 
8.  Josh Bailey 0-for-20.   Two assists in his last 12 games.  Explain again why he's not playing for Windsor... or at least in the World Junior Championships.
 
9.  This is the 10th time in their history that the Isles have gone 10 games without a win. (9 of these were in one season; the 10th straddled the first two seasons in Isles history.)  It's their longest winless streak since an 11 game streak in 1998-99 (0-10-1).  The original Isles suffered through a 15-game winless streak (0-12-3)
 
10.  Looking ahead:  Oh, Canada.  The Maple Leafs come to the Coliseum for Boxing Day on Friday.  The Isles own only ten wins this season -- five are against Canadian opponents (Ottawa 3, Vancouver 1, Montreal 1).  Since winning at MSG on November 4, the Isles are 5-1 against Canadian foes and 1-13-2 against American opponents.  The one win was in Buffalo -- a US border city that plays the Canadian anthem before home games.
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY CHANUKAH!

 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: Nashville 1, Isles 0

Hey, at least they didn't give up a third period goal... and no one was -5. On to the trick.

1. Jason Arnott played in his 1,000th NHL game.

2. Vernon Fiddler scored the game's only goal -- 6:48 into the first period.

3. Pekka Rinne recorded the shutout for Nashville - his third of the season. All three have come this month.

...and a few more.

4. It was the second time this season that the Isles have been shutout (Florida 10/18), and the 15th time in club history that they've been blanked 1-0. (They were last shutout 1-0 by the Panthers on the 25th anniversary cup celebration day last March).

5. Doug Weight missed most of the final two periods with an injury. Without him for most of the night, the Isles lost 38 of 64 face-offs.

6. Blake Comeau, a healthy scratch in Minnesota, played 16:13 more than the man he replaced (Mitch Fritz, who did not get off the bench in Minnesota).

7. It's the second time that the Isles have ever been blanked by the Preds. Tomas Vokoun shut them out on February 13, 2003.

8. The Isles have lost 9 straight (0-8-1) overall and 8 straight on the road (0-8). Their last road point came in the game Ryan O'Byrne put the puck into his own net for the tying goal in Montreal.

9. It's the 4th time in Isles history (and first time in 34 years) that they haven't won any of their first nine games in a month.
They were 0-9-2 to start December, 1972 ... 0-9 to open January, 1973, and 0-9 to begin March, 1974.

10. Up next: The Isles return home on Tuesday to face Atlanta. The Thrashers already hold two victories over the Islanders this season.

It doesn't mean anything but... Jeff Tambellini scored a goal for the third straight AHL game tonight as Bridgeport lost to Binghamton 4-1. Tambellini's conditioning stint is now over. He has 0 goals in his last 42 NHL games and only 4 goals in 102 career NHL games (98 of them for the Islanders).
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.