Kohn an AHL- All-Star

Info on the defensemen rumored to repalced Sutton if Andy is suspended.

<<Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-BRIDGEPORT, CT -- The American Hockey League has announced that Bridgeport Sound Tigers defenseman Dustin Kohn has been added to the Canadian team roster for the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic, to take place Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 18 and 19, in Portland, Maine.

Kohn replaces Bridgeport teammate Mark Katic, who will miss the event due to injury.

"It's an honor to be selected," Kohn said. "It's unfortunate that Mark can't go but I'm excited to have the opportunity to participate."

A second-round draft choice of the New York Islanders in 2005, Kohn has recorded two goals and 15 assists in 44 games for Bridgeport this season. The 22-year-old native of Edmonton, Alta., has already matched his career high for points and set a new personal mark for assists in a season.
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Kohn was -2 with one shot in the All-Star Game, played yesterday, as Canada rallied from a 9-5 third period deficit to win in a shootout.

One thing is for certain; he'll need a new number if he makes his NHL debut tomorrow.  He wears #5 for the Sound Tigers.

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: Pittsburgh 6, Isles 4

It was too much Evegeny Malkin and too much Sidney Crosby tonight at Mellon Arena as the Penguins blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads but recoverd to defeat the Isles 6-4.  On to the trick:

1.  Crosby scored the only goal of the first period and Malkin scored early in the second period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.  Malkin's goal came after Roloson was given a delay of game penalty for smothering the puck.  After Kyle Okposo was stopped on a penalty shot, a Bill Guerin power play goal gave the Pens a 3-0 advantage midway through the 2nd period.

2. Andy Sutton and Freddy Meyer scored 1:42 apart in the second period, but Crosby scored his second goal in between the goals by the two defenders to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.  It was his 32nd goal of the season, tying Patrick Marleau for the league lead. 

3. Trent Hunter scored 48 seconds into the third to get the Islanders close and when Richard Park scored at 7:11, it looked like the Isles might party like it was 1980.  It was the 96th goal of Hunter's Islander career, breaking a tie with David Volek and Mikko Makela for 25th place all-time.  However, the Penguins got the winning goal from Malkin on a power play and Malkin then completed his hat trick with an empty netter, also on the power play.  The empty-netter came after Sutton was ejected for a boarding penalty with less than three minutes to play.

... a few more...

4. Crosby was credited with a point on each goal, six in all (although television replays appeared to indicate that he didn't touch the puck on the final point).  It was the second six-point game of his career (12-13-2006 vs. Philadelphia).. The Kid now has 52 points in 28 games against the Isles while Malkin has 32 point in 25 games vs. New York.  Malkin's hat trick was his 2nd against the Isles; the Penguins have totaled six hats against the Isles in the last four seasons.

5. The Penguin power play, which has struggled for most of the season, connected four times (including once into an empty-net).  It was the first time that Pittsburgh has scored, or the Isles have allowed, four power play goals in a game this season.

6.  Okposo was stopped on a penalty shot for the second time in his career; he was stopped by Marty Brodeur in last season's opener.  Doug Weight was stopped on a penalty shot earlier this season; the Isles have failed on their last six attempts and on 17 of their last 18 attempts. The only success in that sequence came from Ryan Smyth in the game that Rick DiPietro was hurt in Montreal in a collision with Steve Begin.

7.  This is the first time that the Islanders have lost this season when scoring at least four goals (12-1-2). The ten goals scored by the two teams were the most in an Islander road game since losing 9-2 in Pittsburgh in December 2008.

8.  The Isles are now 3-14-1 in divisional road games under Scott Gordon, with all three wins coming at Madison Square Garden.  They are pointless in their last six trips to Pittsburgh (0-6-0) and in ten of their last ten (1-9-0).  The six-game losing streak matches their longest ever in Pittsburgh, set between March, 1988 and November, 1989.  They are two games shy of their longest winless streak in Pittsburgh, set in their first eight games ever in Pittsburgh (between 1972 and 1975) and equalled in 1988-89.

9.  The Penguins out-hit the the Isles 25-19 and won 41 of 60 face-offs. Crosby and Jordan Staal combined to win 32 of 44 draws, while Rob Schemp and Frans Nielsen combined to lose19 of 23. Dwayne Roloson finished with 23 saves for the Isles while Brent Johnson stopped 31.

10. The Penguins lead the series two games to one, and four points to three.  The Isles return to Pittsburgh on February 8th, and the teams then meet twice in the season's final three games.  I wonder if those games will mean anything to Pittsburgh.  Hey, it worked for the Jets!
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

More shutout stuff

The last times:

Isles had 2 shutouts in a three game stretch at home -- that one's easy:  2/21/09 - 2/28/09 vs NJ and Buf for Yann Danis
Isles had 2 shutouts in a three game span (or less) - - Back to back 12/23-26/06 vs Columbus and NYR (DiPietro)

Both Islander goalies dressed for a game were coming off shutouts:  1/24/81  (Resch blanked Calgary 5-0 on Jan 20 and Smith shutout Detroit 3-0 on Jan 22 as both opponents seemed almost as concerned with keeping Bossy from 50 in 50 than actually scoring)  Bossy reached 50-in-50 on 1/24/81.

--------------
The Isles enter tonight's game looking to do some things they haven't done in a loooooooooong time (if at all):

Isles have not had shutouts in consecutive games by different goalies since 1/20-22/81.
Isles last had shutouts on consecutive calendar days: NEVER

 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 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