NYISkinny: Eric Hornick's Blog

Cappy the Fisherman

2012-01-05T23:34:00.001-05:00

I just watched my first fishing show... probably ever. Jack Capuano was the guest on a show called Charlie Moore: No Offense.

Worth a watch at some point to see the Isles head man away from the rink. .... and to see the Isles represented on the brand new NBC Sports Network (fka Versus).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Moulson lighting it up on the road

2012-01-05T16:10:00.001-05:00

Twelve of Matt Moulson's team-leading 18 goals have come on the road this season. ( Only Radim Vrbata and Marian Gaborik have more goals on the road.)

This is a change from the past two seasons where Moulson's scoring prowess was better seen on Coliseum ice. In 2010-11, 21 of his 31 goals were scored at home (Tied-5th at home) while in 2009-10, 16 of his 20 goals were scored on Long Island.

Moulson has scored 14 of his 18 goals in games outside of the division, which is consistent with his first two seasons with the Isles, when he tallied 48 of his 61 goals in non-division games.

With 18 goals in 37 games this season, Moulson is right on pace for 40. Jason Blake is the only Islander to reach 40 this century; Jason did that in 2006-07. No Islander has exceeded 40 since Ziggy Pallfy had 43-48-45 goals over a three-year span in the late 90s.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Tavares #1 ... times 3!

2012-01-05T10:19:00.001-05:00

John Tavares has been named the #1 star of each of the last three Islander games. According to Elias, its the first time an Islander has done this in just over 8 years: Mark Parrish was the #1 Star on December 26-27-29, 2003.

Looking back at those games, Parrish scored the OT winner in a 4-3 win in New Jersey on Boxing Day, then scored the winning goal and added an empty net, both in the third period, of a 3-1 win over Toronto on Long Island the following day. He followed it up by scoring twice on the 29th in a 3-1 win over the Devils at the Coliseum.

The losing goalies in those three games -- Martin Brodeur, Ed Belfour and Martin Brodeur. The winning goalies: Garth Snow, Garth Snow and Garth Snow.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Kevin Poulin posts second cconsecutive shutout

2012-01-05T00:56:00.001-05:00

Kevin Poulin recorded his second straight shutout while Micheal Haley and Rhett Rakhshani each had a goal and an assist as the Sound Tigers recorded three power play goal en route to a 4-0 win over Manchester.

Mike Fornabaio has the numbers in his blog:

http://blog.connpost.com/fornabaio/from-manchvegas-to-atlantic-city-manchester-liveblog/8025/

A few notes from Mike:

Bridgeport 4, Manchester 0, final. Sound Tigers record back-to-back shutouts for the first time in over six years, since Dec. 31, 2005-Jan. 4, 2006.

–Streaks, if you'll permit me a chance to re-check my arithmetic in Base 60: Poulin 138:17, team 140:28.2.

–The Sound Tigers recorded three shutouts in a row once (by three different goalies) and now have back-to-back shutouts four other times.

Poulin is the first Bridgeport goalie to record shutouts in back-to-back games ... Poulin is the third Bridgeport goalie to post shutouts in back-to-back starts

Poulin will likely have a shut at Rick DiPietro's SoundTigers record on Saturday, when Bridgeport visits Portland (he is 17:52 short of Rick's mark).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 4, Carolina 3 (SO)

2012-01-03T23:22:00.001-05:00

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Isles 4, Carolina 3 (SO)

John Tavares had three assists, including yet another one for the highlight reels on the tying goal by Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen and PA Parenteau scored shootout goals as the Islanders rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in front of 13,828 at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

The Scoring:

1st Period

03:40NYI PPG - Matt Moulson (18) - ASST: J. Tavares (19) AND F. Nielsen (13)

04:11CAR Anthony Stewart (6) - ASST: J. Harrison (10) AND A. Nodl (3)

2nd Period

03:13CAR Brandon Sutter (9) - ASST: D. Bowman (3)

3rd Period

04:50NYI PPG - Frans Nielsen (6) - ASST: M. Streit (17) AND J. Tavares (20)

15:46CAR Chad LaRose (10) - ASST: B. Sutter (7)

18:30NYI Kyle Okposo (7) - ASST: J. Tavares (21) AND T. Hamonic (9)

The Shootout:

Isles Parenteau (G), Nielsen (G), Okposo (NG) Carolina Jokinen (G), Staal (NG), LaRose (NG)

The Skinny:

Tavares remains white-hot. He has two goals and five assists in his last three games (all multi-point games). Tavares regained the team point lead with 34; he is 4 assists behind PA Parenteau's team lead. Tavares and Parenteau each have two 3-assist games this season. Tavares/Nielsen/Okposo each have three-game point streaks. Jokinen's shootout tally was his 29^th; he has scored the most shootout goals in NHL history. It's the first time the Isles have won this season after trailing after two periods (1-15-2). The Isles improve to 11-3-3 when scoring first.

The Shots

The Canes outshot the Islanders 17-13 in the first period and 10-6 in the second period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot Carolina 11-10 in the third period and 6-3 in overtime. For the game, Carolina outshot the Isles 40-36.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 14-17-6 overall and are 6-8-3 on the road. The Isles have won three straight games for the first time since October 10-13-15. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 road games, after going 0-5-2 in their first seven away from home. It's the first time that they have earned at least 13 points over a span of 10 road games since going 6-2-2 from 12/21/07-1/22/08.

The Hurricanes are 13-21-7 overall and 9-10-3 at home. The SOL ends a three-game Hurricane home winning streak.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves as he recorded his third straight win for the first time since ending his Sharks career with three straight victories. Nabakov, making his sixth straight start, is now 5-8-0 on the season. The Cane Killer is 7-1-1 in his career against Carolina.

Cam Ward made 33 saves for the Canes.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 2-2 on the power play; the Hurricanes were 0-1. The Isles are 7-15 on the power play over the last six games after going just 1-22 in the previous seven games.

The Isles have killed 14-15 (93.3%) over the last eight games; it is the fewest times that they have been shorthanded in an 8-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.

It's the first time since Opening Night that the Canes have allowed two power play goals in a home game.

2 to 300

Evgeni Nabokov records his 298th career win. He is just two wins shy of becoming the 26^th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins. Among current NHL goalies, only Martin Brodeur, Nikolai Khabibulin and Roberto Luongo have more career wins.

They Said It

John Tavares: "Franzie's goal was big… he did a good job bearing down and putting it in."

They Tweeted It

@StapeNewsday: "I think this Tavares kid has a decent future ahead of him... #Isles"

The Coach on Tavares

"Ever since I've been with the Islanders, he's a guy that's been improving every day, but right now he's really taken this team on his back. His strength on the puck, that's the big thing, his puck protection. He's got the ability to hold the puck a little extra to make plays that he's making."

Leading Ice Men

Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 24:47, four seconds more than Travis Hamonic; Tim Gleason led Carolina with 24:49.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 29 draws; Carolina won 40. Marty Reasoner was the Isles' best, winning six of 9.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders out-hit Carolina 25-19. Travis Hamonic had seven hits while Matt Martin had 5. Martin leads the NHL with 162 hits.

Third Periods

The Isles outscored Carolina 2-1 in the third period; they have outscored the opposition 4-1 in the last three third periods. The Isles have been outscored 42-23 overall in the third period (32-20 excluding empty nets); the 23 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 68-62.

Carolina has allowed 60 third period goals – eight more than any other team in the NHL.

41 to Go

The Isles have scored 9,959 goals in their history (excluding 42 shootout winners), leaving the club 41 shy of 10,000.

Two Over .500

The Islanders improve to two games over all-time NHL .500 (1327-1325-427 in 3,079 games). The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Good Time to Get Going

This was the 3rd game of a five-game stretch against teams currently not holding a playoff spot (and the Isles are 3-0-0). This was the second of three consecutive games against a team that is currently in last place in its division.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 47 goals over the last 17 games (9-6-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 44 goals in their 13 wins (3.39 per game) and 37 goals in their other 23 games (0-17-6; 1.61 per game). In their 17 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.24 per game).

Head of the Class

John Tavares had three points, giving him seven points over the last three games. He now has 155 career points; he is nine points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. (Duchene suffered a knee injury on Thursday and is expected to miss the next month.)

Shootout Specialist

Frans Nielsen converted his third consecutive shootout attempt. Nielsen is 19-32 in career shootout attempts (59.4%). Seven of his shootout goals have been game-deciding goals. Nielsen ranks #1 in NHL history among skaters that have attempted more than 10 shootout attempts with his 59.4% success rate.

Shootout Specialist II

PA Parenteau is now 7-14 in his career in the shootout (50.0%). He has scored four game-deciding goals.

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson has 18 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 12 of them. He has now been on-ice for 42 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 28 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson is now 12 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.

On The Road, and Early

Matt Moulson's goal was his 12th on the road -- only Marian Gaborik (13) and Radek Vrbata (13) have more. It is also the sixth time he has scored the first goal of the game; only Evander Kane (7) has more. Among Islanders, Michael Grabner is second in road goals (5); no other Islander has scored first more than twice. 19 of Moulson's 79 goals as an Islander have been the first goal of a game.

Missing Men

Al Montoya (concussion) and Mike Mottau (upper body injury) were scratched. David Ullstrom, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 180 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the sixth straight game.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 201 games since joining the team. He is the 93^rd skater in Islander history to appear in 200 games. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander since Richard Park played in 221 games from October 2006- February 2009. Travis Hamonic has now played 99 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.

List Time

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 636

2. Nikolai Khabibulin 327

3. Roberto Luongo 324

4. Evgeni Nabokov 298

5. Miikka Kiprusoff 293

Career Goals, Active Players

13. Patrik Elias 348

14. Brian Rolston 339

15. Dany Heatley 336

Career Goals as an Islander

34	Wayne Merrick	81
34	Dave Scatchard	81
36	Marty McInnis	79
36	Matt Moulson	79
38	Miroslav Satan	78
42	Alan Kerr	69
43	Brad Isbister	67
44	John Tavares	66
45	Jude Drouin	64

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)

61	Jeff Norton	282
62	Steve Thomas	275
63	Frans Nielsen	274

68	Pierre Turgeon	255
69	Jude Drouin	250
70	Josh Bailey	248
71	Brendan Witt	247
71	Brad Isbister	247
73	Sean Bergenheim	246

91	Tom Fitzgerald	205
92	Matt Moulson	201
93	Billy Carroll	200
94	Ralph Stewart	199
95	John Tavares	198
96	Mark Streit	193
97	Tom Kurvers	192
97	Todd Bertuzzi	192

Career Points as an Islander

46	Miroslav Satan	166
47	Oleg Kvasha	156
48	John Tavares	155
48	Alan Kerr	154
50	Roman Hamrlik	153
51	Michael Peca	142
52	Dave Lewis	141
53	Robert Reichel	140
54	Frans Nielsen	139
54	Bryan Smolinski	139

Season Series Stats

The Islanders lead the season series one game to none (and two points to one). The Isles and Canes will play three times in January and then conclude their season series on February 18^th.

Carolina has earned at least a point in thirteen straight games against the Isles (10-0-3); the Isles win tonight ends a 6-game Cane winning streak against the Isles.

Where Have I Heard That Name Before?

Rookie Carolina Head Coach Kirk Muller is 5-8-3 in his first sixteen games behind the Carolina bench.

Happy Anniversary

9 years ago tonight (1-3-02): Mark Parrish recorded his third (and final) career hat trick as an Islander as the Isles pounded the Bruins 8-4 at the Coliseum.

Overall, the Isles are 7-9-3 on this date, having gone 4-1-2 in the last seven.

As Seen on MSG+

Highest Point Percentage vs. Isles –minimum 15 starts

Cam Ward 14-2-2 .833 (updated to include this game)

Marty Biron 21-4-1 .827

MA Fleury 17-4-4 .760

Ed Belfour 17-4-6 .741

Ken Dryden 13-4-2 .737

Jocelyn Thibault 12-3-4 .737

On The Farm

Kevin Poulin made 28 saves as the Sound Tigers got 2012 off to a good start with a 4-0 win over Worcester on Monday. Bridgeport is 13-17-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers begin a four-game road trip in Manchester, NH on Wednesday.

Up Next

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6th ISLANDERS AT ANAHEIM 10:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 9:45pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The road trip continues on Friday as the Islanders search for their first four-game winning streak since February as they head to the Pond and face the Ducks. The teams did not play at all in calendar year 2011; it will be the first meeting of the squads since an Islander 5-3 win on December 16, 2010 jump-started the Islanders to a solid three-month run.

The Isles played twice in Anaheim in 2010, and lost both games by a single goal (including once in overtime). Those are the only Islander games in Anaheim since Mike York was credited with the shootout winner in 5-4 win on October 11, 2006 – the first win as an Islander coach for Ted Nolan.

While the Isles have not faced the Ducks this season, they have faced their coach. The Isles rallied for a 5-3 win over the Caps on November 5^th at the Coliseum. Just over two weeks later, Bruce Boudreau was replaced as Capitals coach.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

DiPi, Mottau injured and returned home

2012-01-03T18:28:00.001-05:00

Both Rick DiPietro (lower body) and Mike Mottau (upper body) have returned to LI and will be examined here tomorrow (according to several sources, including the Isles).

As Arthur Staple notes -- unclear how either injury occurred and whether it's Rick's knee or groin that's affected.

Staple notes that the Isles will call up an additional defenseman from Bridgeport for the western portion of the trip. He notes that Dylan Reese is the most likely candidate. However, if there remain six healthy defensemen, the recall would not be "emergency" so Reese would be subject to waivers if the Isles try to return him to Bridgeport later on in the season.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

No time for Isles to be Special

2012-01-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

I've noted in the past several editions of The Skinny that the Isles have been in a rather historical stretch of shorthanded infrequency. "The Isles have killed 13-14 (92.9%) over the last seven games; it's the fewest times they have been shorthanded in a 7-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's."

This is found in the season to date numbers as well--on both the power play and penalty kill:

Isles have had the fewest number of power plays in the NHL : 119, which is three fewer than Phoenix and six fewer than Dallas.

However, Isles have also been shorthanded only 118 times - tied with Columbus for the 2nd fewest. San Jose has been short 111 times.

The 237 times combined is two more than San Jose for the lowest total in the NHL. It is 97 times (combined) fewer than Philadelphia, who have been involved in 334 power plays, for and against this season.

Through 573 games this season, the average NHL game has featured 7.4 PP/game. The average Islander game is noticably less: 6.6

The Isles are on pace to have 271 power plays and 269 penalty kills; they had 302 PPs and 310 PKs last season.

271 would be the fewest pp's the Isles have had in a full season since they 268 in an 80-game schedule in 1982-83.

269 would be the fewest pk's the Isles have had in a full season since they were short 261 times in 1972-73 and 262 times in 1973-74; however, both of those seasons were 78 games long, meaning that they are currently on pace to be shorthanded fewer times than any year in their history.

The Isles are also the 6th-least penalized team in the league (10.4 PIM per game). The club record is 11.3 pen mins per game, set in 1972-73, and equaled in 2009-10.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Elias on the Isles' December

2012-01-03T09:57:00.001-05:00

from the Elias geniuses:

From Elias: Matt Moulson recorded one goal and two assists in the Islanders' 4-1 win over the Oilers on Saturday afternoon. Moulson led the Islanders with 18 points in December (9 goals, 9 assists), just ahead of P.A. Parenteau (16) and John Tavares (15), who each contributed a goal and an assist to the Isles' victory against Edmonton. Moulson's 18 points were the most in one calendar month by an Islanders player since March 1998, when Zigmund Palffy scored 18 points. December 2011 was also the first month in which three different Islanders each scored at least 15 points since March 1994, when Pierre Turgeon (23), Steve Thomas (18) and Derek King (17) all did so.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit

my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

It's January 1st -- Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T19:38:00.001-05:00

...and it's a Happy one for the Isles, as they are not scheduled today.

Why does that make it happy? Well, the Islanders have played seven games on New Year's Day...and lost them all:

1-Jan-77	Vs	Vancouver	1	5	L
1-Jan-83	@	Pittsburgh	1	2	L
1-Jan-92	@	Washington	5	8	L
1-Jan-94	Vs	Hartford	3	4	L
1-Jan-02	@	Washington	2	3	L
1-Jan-04	@	Ottawa	0	1	L
1-Jan-07	@	Buffalo	1	3	L

Other than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, two days in which the Isles have never played, January 1st is the only day between October 3rd and April 18th that the Isles have not earned a single standings point.

The only other day that's really close: December 1st. Isles have played eight times on that day, losing seven. The only time they earned a point was on 12/1/00 -- a scoreless tie with New Jersey.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Additional Skinny Point

2011-12-31T18:30:00.001-05:00

#1 Overall, Times Three

Each of the last three #1 overall picks played in this game, with John Tavares skating for the Isles with Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins skating for the Oilers. It's the first time since 1990 that the last three #1 picks, all forwards, played in the same game. In the 1990-91 season, Minnesota (with Mike Modano) faced Quebec (with Owen Nolan and Mats Sundin).

In 2005-06, Washington and Pittsburgh played games with Alex Ovechkin playing for Washington and Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby playing for Pittsburgh.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 4, Oilers 1

2011-12-31T18:24:00.001-05:00

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 36

Isles 4, Oilers 1

John Tavares was named the game's first star for the second straight game and Matt Moulson added a goal and two assists as the Islanders completed a sweep of the Alberta teams as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 in front of 13,807 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The win continues the Islanders' home-ice dominance over the Western Conference as they are 14-1-7 since November 2009 in home-ice games against the West.

The Scoring:

1st Period

03:44NYI PPG - John Tavares (13) - ASST: P. Parenteau (25) AND M. Moulson (13)

12:58EDM Sam Gagner (4) - ASST: C. Potter (10) AND A. Sutton (3)

17:55NYI Matt Moulson (17) - ASST: J. Tavares (18) AND K. Okposo (9)

2nd Period

03:19NYI PPG - PA Parenteau (7) - ASST: M. Moulson (14) AND F. Nielsen (12)

04:05NYI Matt Martin (4) Wrist - ASST: J. Bailey (8) AND M. Grabner (6)

3rd Period - NONE

The Skinny:

Ken Morrow was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame prior to the game. PA Parenteau's assist gives him 25 on the season; he remains seven assists ahead of John Tavares for the team lead. Parenteau now also has a team-leading 32 points; he is one point ahead of both John Tavares and Matt Moulson. The Isles stopped Jordan Eberle's six game point streak (5-3-8) and held ex-mate Ryan Smyth without a point to end his three-game streak (2-1-3). The Isles scored on three consecutive shots late in the first period and early in the second. Matt Martin was named the game's #3 star; in addition to his goal, Martin drew two penalties on Ben Eager that both resulted in power play goals for the Isles.

The Shots

The Oilers outshot the Islanders 11-7 in the first period and 10-6 in the second period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot Edmonton 16-8 in the third period. Each team finished with 29 shots.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 13-17-6 overall and are 7-9-3 at home. It's the first time that the Islanders have won consecutive games on Coliseum ice since October 10-13-15.

The Oilers are 15-19-3 overall and 5-13-1 on the road. The Oilers end 2011 having dropped seven of eight.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves as he recorded his second straight win for the first time since ending his Sharks career with three straight victories. Nabakov, making his fifth straight start, is now 4-8-0 on the season.

Devyn Dubnyk made 25 saves for the Oilers but drops to 4-9-0.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 2-3 on the power play; the Oilers were 0-4. The Isles are 5-13 on the power play over the last five games after going just 1-22 in the previous seven games.

The Isles have killed 13-14 (92.9%) over the last seven games; it's the fewest times they have been shorthanded in a 7-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.

Passing Hexy

Evgeni Nabokov records his 297th career win, passing Ron Hextall for 26^th place on the all-time list. He is just three wins shy of becoming the 26^th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins. Among current NHL goalies, only Martin Brodeur, Nikolai Khabibulin and Roberto Luongo have more career wins.

They Said It

Assistant Coach Scott Allen: "You have to give a lot of credit to Matt Martin in joining those first two penalties."

They Tweeted It

@Schultz88 "I already posted the #NYIPB Goal of the Year nominees, but I think JT and MM just submitted an entry at the deadline."

The Coach

"He's playing extremely well," Isles coach Jack Capuano said of Tavares. "He's strong on the puck, and his skills speak for themselves. He's playing with a lot of desire and determination right now."

Leading Ice Men

Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 22:12; Corey Potter led Edmonton with 22:26.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders out-hit Edmonton 28-20. Travis Hamonic had six hits while Matt Martin and Tim Wallace each had four.

Giving Up the Body

The Isles also blocked 15 shots, led by four from Steve Staios, who returned the line-up for the first time since December 13^th.

Puck Pursuit

The Isles were credited with 21 takeaways, with 14 players recording at least one. Edmonton had only four.

Third Periods

The third period was scoreless; the Isles have been outscored 12-6 in the third period over the past nine games. The Isles have been outscored 41-21 overall in the third period (31-18 excluding empty nets); the 21 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 66-61.

Best v West

The Isles improve to 14-1-7 in their last 22 home games against the Western Conference (with their only regulation loss being on December 15^th against Dallas). The Islanders are 3-1-2 in home games against the West this season, with games remaining against Detroit, Nashville and Los Angeles. Overall, this season the Isles are 5-2-4 vs. the West and 8-15-2 against the East. Since the start of last season, Matt Moulson ranks 2^nd among Eastern Conference players in goals against the Western Conference—only Steven Stamkos has more.

44 to Go

The Isles have scored 9,956 goals in their history (excluding 41 shootout winners), leaving the club 44 shy of 10,000.

Over .500

The Islanders end 2011 one game over all-time NHL .500 (1326-1325-427 in 3,078 games). The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Good Time to Get Going

This was the 2^nd game of a five-game stretch against teams currently not holding a playoff spot (and the Isles are 2-0-0). Each of the next two games (at Carolina and at Anaheim) is also against a team that is currently in last place in its division.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 44 goals over the last 16 games (8-6-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 41 goals in their 12 wins (3.42 per game) and 37 goals in their other 23 games (0-17-6; 1.61 per game). In their 17 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.24 per game).

Head of the Class

John Tavares had two points for the second consecutive game to give him 152 career points; he is six points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. (Duchene suffered a knee injury on Thursday and is expected to miss the next month.)

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson has 17 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 11 of them. He has now been on-ice for 41 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 27 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson is now 13 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 25 of 50 (50%) face-offs. Frans Nielsen was the Islanders' best, winning 9 of 14. The Isles had 21 defensive zone face-offs and only 11 offensive-zone face-offs.

Welcome Back Steve

Steve Staios returned after missing seven games with a concussion.

Missing Men

Al Montoya (concussion), Micheal Haley (hand) and Mike Mottau were scratched. David Ullstrom, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 174 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the fifth straight game.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 200 games since joining the team. He is the 93^rd skater in Islander history to appear in 200 games. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander since Richard Park played in 221 games from October 2006- February 2009. Travis Hamonic has now played 98 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.

List Time

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 636

2. Nikolai Khabibulin 327

3. Roberto Luongo 324

4. Evgeni Nabokov 297

5. Miikka Kiprusoff 293

Career Goals, Active Players

13. Patrik Elias 348

14. Brian Rolston 339

15. Dany Heatley 336

Career Goals as an Islander

36	Marty McInnis	79
37	Miroslav Satan	78
37	Matt Moulson	78
39	Claude Lapointe	76
42	Alan Kerr	69
43	Brad Isbister	67
44	John Tavares	66
45	Jude Drouin	64

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)

62	Steve Thomas	275
63	Frans Nielsen	273

68	Pierre Turgeon	255
69	Jude Drouin	250
70	Brendan Witt	247
71	Brad Isbister	247
71	Josh Bailey	247
73	Sean Bergenheim	246

92	Billy Carroll	200
92	Matt Moulson	200
94	Ralph Stewart	199
95	John Tavares	197
96	Tom Kurvers	192
96	Todd Bertuzzi	192
96	Mark Streit	192

Career Points as an Islander

47	Oleg Kvasha	156
48	Alan Kerr	154
49	Roman Hamrlik	153
50	John Tavares	152

Season Series Stats

The Islanders win the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Isles have had lots of success on Coliseum ice against the Oilers; in fact Edmonton had not won here since 1999. The Islanders have won all six meetings on Long Island since, including once by shootout. The six games match the Islanders' longest current home winning streak as they have also won the last six games against Colorado.

Happy Anniversary

9 years ago tonight (12-31-02): Jason Blake scored 1:36 into overtime for the game's only goal as the Islanders blank the Sabres 1-0 in Buffalo.

Overall, the Isles are 12-7-1 on this date, having gone 6-0-1 in their last seven New Year's Eve games.

As Seen on MSG

The Isles have killed their last 32 penalties on New Year's Eve in those last seven games. Going back an eighth game (a 1-0 loss), the Isles have killed 35 straight on New Year's Eve.

Auld Lang Syne

This was the final game of 2011. The Isles were 32-37-13 in 2011, including 13-17-6 so far this season. The Isles end the calendar year with a 17-20-6 mark at the Coliseum, including 7-9-3 in the 2011-12 campaign. The 32-37-13 mark for the year represented the Isles' best calendar year since 2007.

Auld Lang Syne II

The Islanders had three players score at least 30 goals in 2011: Grabner and Moulson each had 36 while John Tavares scored 31. The Isles last had at least three players with 30 goals in a calendar year in 1993: Pierre Turgeon (53), Steve Thomas (40), Benoit Hogue (36) and Derek King (35) were the four players who did it that year.

December

The Isles finish December with a record of 6-6-2. The 14 points are the most that the Islanders have recorded this season and their most in any December since 2007. The Isles are 219-226-64 in 509 all-time December games. They have earned 502 points in December, second only to the 529 that they have earned in March.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 1-8-0-0 in their last nine games after falling 3-2 in Norfolk on Friday. Bridgeport is 12-16-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers visit Wilkes Barre-Scranton for a 5:00 game on New Year's Eve.

Up Next

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3rd ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The Islanders open up 2012 with the first game of a three-game road trip as the visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. It's the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Isles and Canes will play three times in January and then conclude their season series on February 18^th.

Carolina has dominated the season series in the last three seasons. The Isles have won only twice in that span (2-9-1), with one win in overtime and the other in a shootout. Carolina has won the last six meetings, including once in overtime – the Isles have been outscored 25-10 in the six games.

Cam Ward, who was credited with a goal on December 26^th against New Jersey, has nine of Carolina's ten wins against the Isles over the last three seasons.

And Finally…

Have a happy and safe new year! THANKS FOR READING!

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Morrow trivia

2011-12-31T11:08:00.001-05:00

In honor of Ken Morrow entering the Islanders Hall of Fame, some Morrow Q&A.

Enjoy.

1. Q Ken Morrow scored three playoff overtime goals as an Islander. Who were the opponents?

A Los Angeles (1980), Edmonton (1981) Rangers (1984)

2. Q Who was the starting Islander goaltender for Ken Morrow's NHL debut?

A On March 1, 1980 the starting goalie was Richard Brodeur (later to face the Isles in 1982 Stanley Cup finals); it was his only home start as an Islander.

3. Q (Warning--this one is hard) Who is the only player besides Ken Morrow to play for Bowling Green, the Islanders, and in the Olympics. (Hint: appeared in Olympics after he played for Isles)

A Greg Parks ( who played in 23 games for Isles in early 90s and then for Canada in 1994 Olympics)

4 Q Morrow is one of 2 defensemen who played for Bowling Green and then had a lengthy career that included a stint with the Isles. Who's the other?

A Garry Galley played 1149 NHL games -- the final season of which was for the Isles.

5 Q Morrow's first NHL goal came in the playoffs and is one of the most important goals in Isles history. Who was the opponent and goaltender?

A On April 11, 1980, Morrow scored in overtime of game 3 of the playoffs vs Los Angeles (and Mario Lessard). (The best-of-5 series was tied 1-1 at the time; had the Isles lost the game history would likely be totally different.)

6 Q In the first week of his NHL career, Morrow received a lengthy standing ovation in what opposing rink?

A The Spectrum (in Philadelphia) -- becoming one of the few opponents to ever recognized in that manner.

7 Q What Cup feat does Morrow share with Bob Nystrom, Mike McEwen and Mike Bossy (and nobody else)?

A They scored the final goal in each of the 4 Stanley Cup clinchers. Morrow's went into an empty net.

8 Q Morrow's arrival allowed the Islanders to make a trade to acquire Butch Goring -- the final piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle. What two players went to LA?

A Dave Lewis and Billy Harris

9. Q Morrow is one of 4 former Islander players to win the Lester Patrick Award. Who are the others?

A Reed Larson, Brian Mullen and Pat Lafontaine. (Arbour and Torrey are also so honored; there also is a Tom Fitzgerald who has been honored, but he is NOT the former Islander player)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles 40in40--#28

2011-12-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Isles 40 in 40 -- #28

In honor of the Isles 40th anniversary year, I've put together a list of the Top 40 moments in club history. I'll go through them throughout the season, bit by bit.

April 2, 1993-- Turgeon's 50th OTs Rangers at MSG

If you're an Islander fan old enough to remember the team having success in the playoffs, but are under 30, then 1993 is your year of memories.

What you may not remember is that coming into April that spring, a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in three seasons was far from a certainty. Check out the NHL's Patrick Division standings on the morning of April 2nd:

Patrick Division	W-L-T	Pts
Pittsburgh	51-21-6	108
Washington	39-30-7	85
New Jersey	38-33-6	82
Islanders	36-33-6	78
NY Rangers	33-31-11	77
Philadelphia	28-37-11	67

The Isles thus had a one-point lead over the Rangers for the final playoff spot, with each team having seven games to play, as they met for the final time in the regular season, at Madison Square Garden.

The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two goals 2:07 apart. Derek King scored on a 5-on-3 at 18:25 of the first

... and Vlad Malakhov doubled the advantage early in the second period with this goal:

However, Ed Olczyk brought the Rangers within one late in the second period and Glenn Anderson tied the game on a power play at 8:26 of the third.

The Islanders were awarded a power play with 1:43 to play but could not convert, thus sending the game into overtime. This was still several years before the loser points contaminated the standings so neither team was assured of anything when the extra session began.

Pierre Turgeon had come into the game with 49 goals and was still looking for #50 as overtime play began. With less than 90 seconds remaining in the extra session Turgeon took a pass from Brad Dalgarno in the slot and beat Ranger goalie Mike Richter for the overtime winner...and his 50th goal.

Here is the video of the entire overtime--the audio is the MSG feed with Sam Rosen and John Davidson. (If you'd like to skip to the goal start at about 7:00)

You can see Jiggs' call as part of this highlight reel (recorded at a lower quality)

Turgeon thus joined Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Pat Lafontaine as the only Islanders to score 50 goals in a season -- no Islander has done it since. Pierre would finish the regular season with 58 goals; only Mike Bossy has ever scored more for the Isles.

Turgeon would be honored as the 1992-93 SportsChannel Islanders Most Valuable Player in a ceremony prior to the final regular season game:

As it turned out, Turgeon's goal essentially decided the final playoff spot. The Rangers would win only one more game that season while the Isles would go 40-37-7, finishing with an identical record as the Devils. A tie-breaker placed the Isles third, where they would go on to eliminate Washington in large part due to Ray Ferraro's overtime escapades (see #32), and the Devils fourth, where they would lose to the Penguins...setting up the opportunity for David Volek to end Pittsburgh's run...with another moment on the Isles 40in40 list.

However, Moment #28 belongs to #77, the best player...on the Islanders best team of the 1990s.

The List to Date:

#28--April 2, 1993-- Turgeon's 50th OTs Rangers at MSG
#29--October, 2001 -- Isles Start Laviolette Era 9-0-1-1
#30--November 23, 2009-- Roloson sets franchise record with 58 saves
#31--December 20, 1985 and January 28, 1986--Potvin Passes Orr.. Twice

#32 --April 22-24, 1993-- Ferraro OT's the Caps... twice

#33 -- June 26, 2009 -- Islanders Select John Tavares
#34 -- May, 1982-- Bossy leads the Isles to 3rd Stanley Cup
#35 -- January 6,1981 --With Bossy Chasing 50, Tonelli Lights Up the Leafs
#36 -- January 18, 1973 -- Expansion Isles Beat the Champs
#37 -- November 28, 1979 -- Billy Smith is credited with a goal
#38 -- December 23, 1978 -- Trottier re-writes the record book
#39 -- February 11, 2011 -- Isles pound Pens 9-3
#40 -- Summer 2001 -- Isles hire Laviolette, trade for Peca and Yashin, claim Osgood.

Honorable Mention:

March 16, 2010 -- Tavares' 5-point game.

February 13, 2011 -- Grab-Trick.

March 31, 1990 -- Uwe, Uwe.

Like any of these lists, my #2 may be your #20...

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

TV/DVR alert

2011-12-30T20:20:00.001-05:00

Isles/Edmonton telecast on Saturday is on MSG (not MSG+). Channel 71 on Cablevision LI -- check listings elsewhere. Pre-game begins at 12:30.

(This was incorrect in the Skinny last night.)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Congrats to Michael Grabner

2011-12-30T19:52:00.001-05:00

...who made a big announcement this evening via twitter. (@Grabs40)...

Had a great dinner and now I am officially in lock down..at least @HeatherLynn40 said yes. #likegreens? #abouttime yfrog.com/ke88gtpj

Let's see how long it lasts haha..over under in Vegas is 5 years.. #grinditout #prisontime @MMoulson @HeatherLynn40 @bookerT2116

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles 40 in 40 -- #29

2011-12-30T15:46:00.002-05:00

Isles 40 in 40 -- #29

In honor of the Isles 40th anniversary year, I've put together a list of the Top 40 moments in club history. I'll go through them throughout the season, bit by bit.

October, 2001 -- Isles Start Laviolette Era 9-0-1-1

If you have been watching HBO's 24/7 Countdown to the Winter Classic these past three weeks then you have had a chance to see former Islander coach Peter Laviolette, and perhaps reflect back on his first eleven games as Islander coach, 11 games that led to, as Howie Rose once described it, "The Islanders Renaissance Year".

After an emotional pre-season due to the tragedies of 9-11, the Islanders opened the season with a four-game road trip. Mark Parrish scored twice in the third for a season-opener come-from behind win in Florida; Chris Osgood blanked the Panthers in game 2. After the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 6-3 win in Pittsburgh, Parrish's hat trick gave him eight goals in four games as the Isles beat the Devils in New Jersey.

With Islander Country going crazy, the team returned home and had a pair of third period leads before Luc Robitaille tied the game and Steve Yzerman beat them in overtime. The first goal at home that season was scored by Oleg Kvasha. Listen to Howie!

The Isles rebounded to defeat Carolina three times in a four-game stretch. Who can forget Radek Martinek's celebration after his overtime goal completed a sweep of a home-and-home with the Panthers? The Isles FINALLY raised Bryan Trottier's number to the Coliseum rafters before a 2-2 tie with San Jose extended the streak to 6-0-1-1. Vincent Damphousse's second goal of the game with just seconds to play earned the deadlock.

Consecutive overtime wins over Carolina and Dallas then followed, with Mariusz Czerkawski and Michael Peca scoring the winners;

Here's Peca's goal:

Czerkawski then had the winning goal in a 3-2 win over Florida that closed out October with a 9-0-1-1 record.

Some of the notes I wrote after that 9-0-1-1 start:

The Isles raise their record to 9-0-1-1. It’s the best 11-game start in Isles history [18 points in first 10 in 81-82 and 82-83.]
It’s the first 9-win month since February, 1994 and the first 20 point month since the Stanley Cup Champs went 9-3-2 in March, 1984.
The Isles have 20 points in 11 games, their best 11 game stretch since Dec 28, 1989-Jan 19, 1990 [a win, a loss and a 9 game win streak].
The Isles’ 9th win last year came in their 30th game on December 15 vs. Toronto. Two seasons ago, they had only 9 wins in October-November-December COMBINED.
The Isles’ 10th win last season came on December 19 vs. Carolina…in their 32th game. It was their last win before Christmas.
Isles earned at least a point in all 5 October home games [3-0-1-1]. It’s the first time since October, 1982 they’ve opened a season by getting a point in each October home game.

The Islanders would go on to make their first playoff appearance since 1994 and a memorable playoff series with Toronto. (Shawn Bates will get his own moment from that series later in this series.)

Relive highlights of the season here:

(Note the statistician credit 4 minutes in :) )

Laviolette would coach the Islanders only two seasons and then move on to coach Carolina to a Stanley Cup before joining the Flyers. His two years with the Isles will never be forgotten, and his first 11 games earn him #29 on the Isles 40 in 40 list.

The List to Date:

#29--October, 2001 -- Isles Start Laviolette Era 9-0-1-1
#30--November 23, 2009-- Roloson sets franchise record with 58 saves
#31--December 20, 1985 and January 28, 1986--Potvin Passes Orr.. Twice

#32 --April 22-24, 1993-- Ferraro OT's the Caps... twice

Honorable Mention:

March 16, 2010 -- Tavares' 5-point game.

February 13, 2011 -- Grab-Trick.

March 31, 1990 -- Uwe, Uwe.

Like any of these lists, my #2 may be your #20...

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 3, Flames 1

2011-12-30T01:34:00.001-05:00

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Isles 3, Flames 1

John Tavares scored a highlight reel goal for the winning score and the Islanders had one of their best all-around efforts of the season as they defeated the Calgary Flames 3-1 in front of 14,819 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The win continues the Islanders' home-ice dominance over the Western Conference as they are 13-1-7 since November 2009 in home-ice games against the West.

The Scoring:

1st Period 01:11 CGY Tim Jackman (1) - ASST: T. Kostopoulos (5) AND B. Morrison (7)

2nd Period 03:04 NYI Andrew MacDonald (3) - ASST: P. Parenteau (23) AND J. Tavares (17)

3rd Period 03:20 NYI John Tavares (12) - ASST: K. Okposo (8)

19:17 NYI EN - Brian Rolston (4) ASST: P. Parenteau (24) AND F. Nielsen (11)

The Skinny:

The Isles improved to 3-14-3 when allowing the first goal and to 2-11-2 when they trail after 20 minutes. Tim Jackman's goal was his first in 62 games; Brendan Morrison recorded his 600^th point on the play. Flames coach (and former Islander captain) Brent Sutter has 99 wins with the Flames. Andrew MacDonald now leads all Islander defensemen in goals (3); the Isles have won all three games that he has scored in this season, and five straight dating back to last season. MacDonald's goal ended a 92:34 scoring drought for the Isles. PA Parenteau's two assists give him 24 on the season, tying him for 12^th place in the NHL; he is seven assists ahead of John Tavares for the team lead. Parenteau now also has a team-leading 30 points; he is one point ahead of Tavares and two points ahead of Matt Moulson. Blake Comeau had two shots on goal in 11:35 in his return to Long Island.

The Shots

The Flames outshot the Islanders 9-8 in the first period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot Calgary 14-9 in the second period. Each team had 12 shots in the third period. For the game, the Isles outshot Calgary 34-30.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 12-17-6 overall and are 6-9-3 at home. It's the Islanders' first regulation victory since December 6^th, and raises their record to 3-6-1 in their last 10.

The Flames are 18-16-4 overall and 8-11-2 on the road. The loss breaks a four-game Flame winning streak.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves as he records his first win in his last 11 starts (1-8-0 with two no decisions). Nabakov, making his fourth straight start, is now 3-8-0 on the season.

Miikka Kiprusoff made 31 saves for the Flames but drops to 17-12-2.

Hammer Time

Travis Hamonic was +3 for the Isles; he had a +4 game against the Rangers late last season – the only prior time that he was at least +3.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-1 on the power play; the Flames were 0-2. The Isles are 3-9 on the power play over the last four games after going just 1-22 in the previous seven games.

The Isles have killed 36-42 (85.7%) over the last 15 games. The Isles have been shorthanded only ten times over the last six games; it's the fewest times they have been shorthanded in a 6-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.

Rare Trip to the Sin Bin

Matt Moulson was assessed a double minor for roughing when he went after Calgary's Lee Stempniak, who had shouldered Kyle Okposo in the head. Moulson had only one minor penalty prior to tonight.

Catching Hexy

Evgeni Nabokov records his 296th career win, tying Ron Hextall for 26^th place on the all-time list. He is four wins shy of becoming the 26^th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins. Among current NHL goalies, only Martin Brodeur, Nikolai Khabibulin and Roberto Luongo have more career wins.

They Said It

"To be honest, the Tavares line dominated us," said Brendan Morrison. "Whoever they played against, they dominated. It's pretty much the reason they won the game."

They Tweeted It

@BComptonNHL A thing of beauty there by Tavares to give #Isles a 2-1 lead.

The Coach

Ninety-one (Tavares) tonight was real strong; it was a highlight goal that he got,"

Leading Ice Men

Andrew MacDonald led the Islanders with 22:15; Jay Bouwmeester led all players with 25:45.

T-E-A-M

The Islanders out-shot Calgary 34-30; 16 different Islanders had at least one shot, including five from John Tavares. The Isles out-hit the Flames 28-15; 12 different Isles had at least one, including seven from Matt Martin and five from Travis Hamonic. The Isles also blocked 19 shots, led by five from Andrew MacDonald.

Third Periods

The Islanders outscored Calgary 2-0 in the third period, reversing a recent trend that had seen the Isles outscored 12-4 in the third period over the prior seven games. The Isles have been outscored 41-21 overall in the third period (31-18 excluding empty nets); the 21 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 65-57.

Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back Empties

The Isles clinched the game on the Rolston empty-netter. It was the fourth straight game that had an empty-netter. The Isles have scored three empty-net goals and have allowed a league-leading 10. The Isles allowed only ten empty-netters all last season.

Best v West

The Isles improve to 13-1-7 in their last 21 home games against the Western Conference (with their only regulation loss being two weeks ago against Dallas). The Islanders are 2-1-2 in home games against the West this season, with games remaining against Edmonton, Detroit, Nashville and Los Angeles. Overall, this season the Isles are 4-2-4 vs. the West and 8-15-2 against the East.

Big Crowd Goes Home Happy

The Isles improve to 3-5-0 this season with home crowds over 14,000. The team should be getting used to the bigger crowds, as attendance is up 28.8% through nineteen home dates, as compared to last season. It was the largest crowd to see the Flames on Long Island since the 2000-01 home opener (16,297).

48 to Go

The Isles have scored 9,952 goals in their history (excluding 41 shootout winners), leaving the club 48 shy of 10,000.

Back to .500

The Islanders regain all-time NHL .500 (1325-1325-427 in 3,077 games). It's the second time this season that the Isles have fallen below .500 only to regain it the next game. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Time to Get Going

The win over Calgary is the first of five consecutive Islander games against teams currently not holding a playoff spot. Each of the next three games (Edmonton, at Carolina and at Anaheim) is against a team that is currently in last place in its division.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 40 goals over the last 15 games (7-6-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 41 goals in their 12 wins (3.42 per game) and 37 goals in their other 23 games (0-17-6; 1.61 per game). In their 17 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.24 per game).

Head of the Class

John Tavares, who gave back an assist that he was erroneously given in New York last week, had two points to give him 150 career points; he is four points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. (Duchene suffered a knee injury in Colorado's game tonight; he will be re-evaluated tomorrow.) Tavares is the 50^th player in Islander history to record 150 career points.

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson has 16 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 10 of them. He has now been on-ice for 40 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 26 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson remains 14 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 32 of 66 (48%) face-offs. Marty Reasoner was the Islanders' best, winning 5 of 9. The Isles had 28 offensive zone face-offs and only 16 defensive-zone face-offs.

Trailing Early

The Isles allowed a goal on the first shot for the seventh time this season. The Isles are 2-3-2 when they allow a goal on the first shot. It was also the fifth time that the Isles have allowed a goal in the first five minutes. They are 1-4-2 in those situations this season.

Welcome Back Brian

Brian Rolston returned after missing four games and recorded his 339^th career goal into an empty-net. He is 14^th among active players in goals and breaks a tie with Phil Housley for 141^st on the all-time list.

Missing Men

Al Montoya (concussion), Micheal Haley (hand) and Steve Staios (concussion) were scratched. David Ullstrom, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 168 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the fourth straight game.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 199 games since joining the team. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander since Richard Park played in 221 games from October 2006- February 2009. Travis Hamonic has now played 97 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.

List Time

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 635

2. Nikolai Khabibulin 327

3. Roberto Luongo 325

4. Evgeni Nabokov 296

5. Miikka Kiprusoff 293

Career Goals, Active Players

13. Patrik Elias 348

14. Brian Rolston 339

15. Dany Heatley 336

Career Goals as an Islander

36	Marty McInnis	79
37	Miroslav Satan	78
38	Matt Moulson	77
39	Claude Lapointe	76
42	Alan Kerr	69
43	Brad Isbister	67
44	John Tavares	65
45	Jude Drouin	64

Career Games as an Islander

62	Steve Thomas	275
63	Frans Nielsen	272

68	Pierre Turgeon	255
69	Jude Drouin	250
70	Brendan Witt	247
71	Brad Isbister	247
72	Josh Bailey	246
73	Sean Bergenheim	246

92	Billy Carroll	200
93	Matt Moulson	199
94	Ralph Stewart	199
95	John Tavares	196
96	Tom Kurvers	192
97	Todd Bertuzzi	192
98	Mark Streit	191

Career Points as an Islander

47	Oleg Kvasha	156
48	Alan Kerr	154
49	Roman Hamrlik	153
50	John Tavares	148

Season Series Stats

The Islanders win the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Isles are 5-1-0 since the lockout against the Flames, including 3-0-0 at the Coliseum.

Happy Anniversary

1 year ago tonight (12-29-10): With the HBO cameras rolling, PA Parenteau scored the deciding goal in the shootout and Rick DiPietro made 37 saves as the Islanders ended Sidney Crosby's 25-game point streak and defeated the Penguins 2-1 at the Coliseum.

Overall, the Isles are 10-10-1 on this date, having won seven of their last eight on this date.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 1-7-0-0 in their last eight games after falling 2-1 in Norfolk on Wednesday; Bridgeport is 12-15-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers play again in Norfolk on Friday before visiting Wilkes Barre-Scranton for a 5:00 game on New Year's Eve.

Up Next

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31st EDMONTON AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM
[MSG (Islanders Game Night at 12:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The Islanders conclude their two-game homestand against the Alberta teams as they host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday in the only meeting of the season between the two teams. Ken Morrow will be honored in pre-game ceremonies as he is inducted into the Islanders Hall of Fame.

The Isles have had lots of success on Coliseum ice against the Oilers; in fact Edmonton had not won here since 1999. The Islanders have won all five meetings on Long Island since, including once by shootout.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

My hockeythisweek appearance

2011-12-29T23:32:00.001-05:00

Listen to internet radio with hockeythisweek on Blog Talk Radio

Thanks to the hockeythisweek gang for having me as a guest this evening prior to the Isles-Flames game!

I joined them for the first 1/3rd of their show -- enjoy.

Goalies who scored

2011-12-28T23:26:00.001-05:00

Cam Ward became the 10th NHL goalie to be credited with a goal, thanks in no small part to Ilya Kovalchuk. The ten have combined for 12 goals, with Martin Brodeur and Ron Hextall each doing it twice. The complete list (from wikipedia) is below:

Name	Nationality	Team	Season	Date	Opposing team	Final score	Notes
Billy Smith	CAN	New York Islanders	1979–80	November 28, 1979	Colorado Rockies	4–7	OG
Ron Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1987–88	December 8, 1987	Boston Bruins	5–2	SOG
Ron Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1988–89	April 11, 1989	Washington Capitals	8–5	SOG, SHG
Chris Osgood	CAN	Detroit Red Wings	1995–96	March 6, 1996	Hartford Whalers	4–2	SOG
Martin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1996–97	April 17, 1997	Montreal Canadiens	5–2	SOG
Damian Rhodes	USA	Ottawa Senators	1998–99	January 2, 1999	New Jersey Devils	6–0	OG
Martin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1999–2000	February 15, 2000	Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	OG, GWG
Jose Theodore	CAN	Montreal Canadiens	2000–01	January 2, 2001	New York Islanders	3–0	SOG
Evgeni Nabokov	RUS KAZ	San Jose Sharks	2001–02	March 10, 2002	Vancouver Canucks	7–4	SOG, PPG
Mika Noronen	FIN	Buffalo Sabres	2003–04	February 14, 2004	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–4	OG
Chris Mason	CAN	Nashville Predators	2005–06	April 15, 2006	Phoenix Coyotes	5–1	OG
Cam Ward	CAN	Carolina Hurricanes	2011–12	December 26, 2011	New Jersey Devils	4–2	OG

What's amazing is how many have had a connection with the Isles.
Billy Smith is (of course) the only Islander goalie to be credited with a goal.
Jose Theodore's goal was an empty netter against the Isles.
Ron Hextall, Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov all scored and later played for the Isles. (Nabokov currently has 1 fewer career win than Osgood)
While Damian Rhodes was technically never an Islander, he was part of the trade that brought Bryan Berard to Long Island and sent Wade Redden to Ottawa. (Rhodes went from Toronto to Ottawa)

Ward already has his name scattered through the Isles' record book, as he is 14-2-1 against the Isles (including 5-0-0 in the last 5, 9-0-1 in the last 10 and 14-1-1 since losing his third NHL start to the Islanders in 2005.. Two games particularly come to mind: On October 25, 2008 the Isles fired a club record 60 shots at Ward, but fell 4-3 when Ward stopped Doug Weight on a penalty shot with 7/10th of a second remaining in the third. Late that season, in Carolina, Ward beat the Isles 9-0 -- the most one-sided loss (and shutout) in club history.

Perhaps, Ward will someday follow the path of several of the other scoring goalies and eventually play for the Isles. Ward by the way will celebrate his 7th birthday on February 29th (you'll refer to him as being 28), meaning that he was born on February 29, 1984- the day Pat Lafontaine and Patrick Flatley debuted for the Islanders in a game in Winnipeg.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Rangers 3, Isles 0

2011-12-27T00:21:00.001-05:00

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Rangers 3, Isles 0

Carl Hagelin scored twice and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots as the Rangers blanked the Islanders 3-0 in front of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden. It's Lundqvist's 4th career shutout of the Islanders and his 38th overall.

The Scoring:

1st Period: NONE

2nd Period

05:14NYR Carl Hagelin (5) - ASST: R. Callahan (12) AND M. Del Zotto (16)

3rd Period

06:32NYR Carl Hagelin (6) - ASST: M. Del Zotto (17) AND R. Callahan (13)

17:32 NYR EN - Marian Gaborik (22) - ASST: A. Stralman (5)

The Skinny:

Marian Gaboirk's empty-net goal gives him goals in five straight games (7 goals); he leads the NHL with 22 goals. Michael Del Zotto was +3 and leads all NHL defensemen at +25. Matt Moulson and John Tavares each saw their four game point streaks end; they also saw point streaks in games against the Rangers end at five and six games respectively. Hagelin has six goals in his first 16 games, including a pair of two-goal games.

The Shots

The Rangers outshot the Islanders 12-7 in the first period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot the Rangers 12-10 in the second period. Each team had 9 shots in the third period. The Islanders had long stretches without shots in both the first and second period. They were outshot 20-8 over the first half of the game before outshooting the Rangers 20-11 the rest of the way.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 11-17-6 overall and are 5-8-3 on the road. The Isles are 2-6-1 in their last 9. The six games under NHL -.500 matches a season low.

The Rangers are 22-8-4 overall and 11-3-2 at home. New York has won five straight.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves but sees his record drop to 2-8-0. Nabakov is winless in his last 10 starts (0-8-0 with two no decisions).

Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for the Rangers as he improved to 15-7-4 on the season. He is 23-11-5 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play; the Rangers were also 0-3. The Isles are 3-8 on the power play over the last three games after going just 1-22 in the previous 7 games.

The Isles have killed 34-40 (85.0%) over the last 14 games. The Isles have been shorthanded only eight times over the last five games; it's the fewest times they have been shorthanded in a 5-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.

Stuck at 295

Evgeni Nabokov has 295 career wins (27^th all-time). He is one career win behind Ron Hextall and is five wins shy of becoming the 26^th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins.

They Said It

Evgeni Nabokov: "We just need to simplify our game a little bit. I don't think we need to change a lot, I think we need to simplify. We have quite a bit of turnovers and we just have to find a way to play hard… We have to come out with swagger… We have to come out with the mentality that we can win, that we are going to work hard and at the end of the night, see what will happen

They Tweeted It

@PeterBotte: "Micheal Haley, he's like Woody Woodpecker. He's an instigator." Haley fought Stu Bickel in the first period for his second NHL fight of the season. Haley left the game after the fight and did not return. He will be evaluated on Tuesday.

The Coach

"I thought Nabby played well. He gave us a chance."

Leading Ice Men

Travis Hamonic led the Islanders with 24:57; Ryan Mc Donagh led all players with 26:49.

Heavy Hitters

Each team was credited with 31 hits. Matt Martin had seven hits and Travis Hamonic had six hits for the Isles while Anton Stralman had six hits for the Rangers.

Third Periods

The Islanders were outscored 2-0 in the third period; the Isles have been outscored 12-4 in the third period over the last seven games and have been outscored 41-19 overall in the third period (31-17 excluding empty nets); the 19 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 64-56.

Back-to-Back-to-Back Empties

The Isles allowed an empty net goal for the third straight game and have allowed a league-leading 10. The Isles allowed only ten empty-netters all last season.

51 to Go

The Isles have scored 9,949 goals in their history (excluding 41 shootout winners), leaving the club 51 shy of 10,000.

Under .500

The Islanders drop below all-time NHL .500 (1324-1325-427 in 3,076 games). Prior to today, they had been below NHL .500 for only 1 day since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 37 goals over the last 14 games (6-6-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 38 goals in their 11 wins (3.45 per game) and 37 goals in their other 23 games (0-17-6; 1.61 per game). In their 17 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.24 per game).

Shutouts

The Isles were shutout for the 7^th time this season. Nobody else has been shutout more than four times. The 2007-08 Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils were the last teams to be shutout seven times before New Years. The 2000-01 Isles were also shutout seven times by New Year's Day.

Head of the Class

John Tavares remains stuck on 149 career points; he is points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close.

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson has 16 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 11 of them. He has now been on-ice for 40 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 27 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson remains 14 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 25 of 50(50%) face-offs. John Tavares was the Islanders' best, winning 9 of 11; Derek Stepan 8 of 15 for the Rangers.

Missing Men

Al Montoya (concussion), David Ullstrom (concussion) and Steve Staios (concussion) were scratched. Brian Rolston, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 161 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the third straight game.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 198 games since joining the team. Travis Hamonic has now played 96 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.

Season Series Stats

The Rangers lead the season series 3 game to one (six points to two). The Isles have lost six straight at Madison Square Garden – their longest stretch since losing seven straight from 1983-1985.

The teams have two meetings left: on February 24^th at the Coliseum, and on March 11^th at Madison Square Garden.

Happy Anniversary

18 years ago tonight (12-26-93): Benoit Hogue scores 2:28 into overtime as the Islanders, despite having only 17 shots on goal, defeat Buffalo 4-3.

The Islanders have never played on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In part due to that, December 26th is the 2nd busiest day in Isles history; the Isles have played 26 games on this date, going 16-8-2. (The Isles played their 27^th December 23 game on Friday.) Tonight's loss ended a streak of 5 straight wins on Boxing Day; it was also the Isles' first defeat in five Boxing Day matchups with the Rangers (4-1-0)

Auld Lang Syne

This was the final road game of 2011. The Isles end the calendar year with a 14-17-7 mark, including 5-8-3 so far this season.

On The Farm

Tomas Marcinko scored with 4:26 to play as the Sound Tigers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Connecticut Whale at Webster Bank Arena. The win breaks a six game losing streak; Bridgeport is 12-14-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers begin a three game in four day road trip on Wednesday in Norfolk as they play the first of consecutive games against the Admirals.

Up Next

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29th CALGARY AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The Islanders return home to begin a two-game homestand against the Alberta teams as they host the Calgary Flames on Thursday night in the only meeting of the season between the two teams. The Flames are also in their 40^th season as a franchise as they entered the NHL with the Islanders in 1972-73.

This is the only meeting of the season between the teams and will mark the return of former Islander Blake Comeau. It's only the sixth meeting of the teams since the lockout, and only Calgary's third trip to Long Island since 2004. The Islanders won each of the two home games by 3-2 scores, and are 4-1-0 in the five games overall.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Sad news on former Islander Dave Scatchard

2011-12-26T19:57:00.001-05:00

From Kevin Dupont in the Boston Globe:

After the lockout, Dave Scatchard had a very brief stay in Boston, only 16 games in 2005-06. Today, he is 35 years old and out of the game for good, concussion-like symptoms forcing him to retire over the summer when, he said, an MRI revealed five spots on his brain. He told the Toronto Star recently that he suffers memory problems, gets dizzy when pushing his children on swings, and experiences postconcussion symptoms whenever his heart rate goes above 135 beats per minute.

"When I was a young guy,'' Scatchard told the Star, "I loved seeing big hits like `Don Cherry's Rock 'em, Sock 'em' [videos]. Now, every time I see a big hit or see a player lying on the ice, my stomach just turns.''

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles 40 in 40 -- #30

2011-12-26T07:11:00.000-05:00

Isles 40 in 40 -- #30

In honor of the Isles 40th anniversary year, I've put together a list of the Top 40 moments in club history. I'll go through them throughout the season, bit by bit.

November 23, 2009 -- Roloson sets franchise record with 58 saves

The Islanders' game in Toronto on November 23, 2009 was an event before it was even played. After all, it was John Tavares' first game in his hometown.

However, by the end of the night, the Tavares story was reduced to a footnote. THE Story was Dwayne Roloson.

The Isles, playing a club record-tying 7th consecutive road game, had taken a 3-0 lead with a 3-goal in 3:13 outburst in the second period. Jeff Tambellini, Matt Moulson, and Sean Bergenheim tallied for the Isles in that stretch.

However, it was not enough as the Leafs kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting.

Phil Kessel got the Leafs on the board in the second period with his only goal on twelve shots during the game. Wayne Primeau and Niklas Hagman would beat Roloson in the third period and that would send the game to overtime.

Josh Bailey would be the hero in overtime, beating relief goaltender Jonas Gustavsson for his third goal in as many games.

However, none of Bailey's heroics would have been possible without Dwayne Roloson's efforts.

Roloson faced 61 shots, the most ever against the Islanders, and finished with a club-record 58 games. It's the most saves by any goaltender since March 21, 1991 (Ron Tugnutt, playing for Quebec, made 70 saves against Boston that night -- he faced 19 shots from Ray Bourque). It's also the most by a winning goalie in 28 years. Mario Lessard made 65 saves for the Kings in a win over Minnesota on March 24, 1981. The Kings were out-shot 68-19 in that game. (As of Christmas 2011, no goalie has faced as many shots as Roloson did since then.)

In addition to the 61 shots on goal, the Leafs missed the net 27 times, and had 28 shots blocked by the Islanders -- a total of 116 attempts at goal.

To give you a good sense of the game, check out this "Game in Six Minutes" that was produced by Leafs TV. It's Joe Bowen and Greg Millen on the call.

"I was seeing the puck well. You've got to give the guys credit. They had a lot of shots, but for the most part they were to the outside. They gave me the opportunity to see things."
-- Dwayne Roloson

Roloson's heroics earn him #30 on the Isles 40 in 40 list.

The List to Date:

#30--November 23, 2009-- Roloson sets franchise record with 58 saves
#31--December 20, 1985 and January 28, 1986--Potvin Passes Orr.. Twice

#32 --April 22-24, 1993-- Ferraro OT's the Caps... twice

Honorable Mention:

March 16, 2010 -- Tavares' 5-point game.

February 13, 2011 -- Grab-Trick.

March 31, 1990 -- Uwe, Uwe.

Like any of these lists, my #2 may be your #20...

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles 40in40 -- coming soon

2011-12-25T23:57:00.001-05:00

Monday morning in fact-- Dwayne Roloson's biggest night as an Islander is deserving of a moment. It's #30 on the 40in40.. look for it Monday!

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Leafs 5, Isles 3

2011-12-24T01:42:00.000-05:00

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 33

Maple Leafs 5, Isles 3

Clarke MacArthur scored a goal and added an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to defeat the Islanders 5-3 in front of 12,432 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Madison Square Garden. The Isles hit the Christmas break 2-4-1 in their last seven games.

The Scoring:

1st Period 01:43 TOR Clarke MacArthur (10) - Assists: T. Connolly (10) & D. Phaneuf (17)

04:22 TOR PPG - Nazem Kadri (2) - Assists: M. Grabovski (8) & J. Gardiner (9)

11:15 TOR Carl Gunnarsson (1) - Assists: T. Connolly (11) & C. MacArthur (6)

15:45 NYI Kyle Okposo (6) - Assists: M. Mottau (2) & J. Bailey (7)

2nd Period 00:40 NYI PPG - Frans Nielsen (5) - Assists: M. Moulson (12) & P. Parenteau (21)

08:59 TOR SHG - Joey Crabb (6) - Assists: T. Bozak (17)

3rd Period 10:30 NYI John Tavares (11) - Assists: P. Parenteau (22) & T. Hamonic (7)

19:51 TOR EN - Joffrey Lupul (16) - Assists: P. Kessel (21)

The Skinny:

Moulson and Tavares each extended their point streaks to four games; Moulson has an assist now in 4 straight games as well. Parenteau extended his point streak to 3 and the three members of the Isles' top line now share the scoring lead with 28 points. Tavares now has 7 points (5-2-7) in 9 games against the Leafs. Gunnarsson's goal was his first in 42 games, dating back to last March. Okposo's goal was the 50^th of his career; one more than Michael Grabner. The Islanders have scored a power play goal in the opening minute of the 2^nd period in two straight games; it was Nielsen's first goal since November 15^th. Phaneuf's assist was his 200^th in the NHL. Crabb's six goals have come in six different games and the Leafs have won all of them.

The Shots

The Leafs outshot the Islanders 10-8 in the first period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot the Isles 12-9 in the second period and 13-8 in the third period.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 11-16-6 overall and are 6-9-3 at home. The Isles have lost their last three home games in regulation time and are 0-3-1 in their last four at home. The 15 points in their first 18 games at home is the fewest since 2002-03, when they playoff-bound team had only 14 points in their first 18 home games.

The Leafs are 18-13-4 overall and 10-8-0 on the road. The Leafs are 9-10-3 since opening the season 9-3-1.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves but sees his record drop to 2-7-0. He is now 3-1-1 in his career against the Leafs. Nabakov is winless in his last 9 starts (0-7-0 with two no decisions).

James Reimer made 30 saves for the Leafs as he improved to 7-3-3 on the season. He is 3-0-1 in his career against the Isles.

Coach Wilson

The Leafs coach recorded his 637^th career win; he is now 29-9-8 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 1-2 on the power play (while allowing a shorthanded goal); the Leafs were 1-1. The Isles are 3-5 on the power play over the last two games after going just 1-22 in the previous 7 games.

The Isles have killed 31-37 (83.7%) over the last 13 games. The Isles have been shorthanded only five times over the last four games; it's the fewest times they have been shorthanded in a 4-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.

First Time in Long Time

Nielsen's power play goal was the 4^th power play goal of his career. The other three all came in the final month of the 2008-09 season.

Stuck at 295

Evgeni Nabokov has 295 career wins (27^th all-time). He is one career win behind Ron Hextall and is five wins shy of becoming the 26^th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins.

They Said It

Howie Rose: "That's odd…are they calling Tavares for a dive… this is really, really strange....I'm shocked by that."

They Tweeted It

@koshantorontosun (Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun) "People going nuts here with Tavares also in box after Lupul cross-check to face. Diving call on Tavares was bad."

The Coach

"Johnny's not the type of player who is going to dive… after watching the replay, clearly a high stick."

Leading Ice Men

Mark Streit led all players with 24:04, but was -3. Gunnarsson led the Leafs with 23:15. For the second straight game, John Tavares played exactly 21:52. He likely would have played more had he not been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct-diving penalty late in the game that took away an Islander power play and made the coaching staff irate.

Will Giants-Jets be as Hard-Hitting as Isles-Leafs?

After a slow start, the Isles out-hit the Leafs 35-24 as every Islander but Andrew MacDonald was credited with at least one hit. PA Parenteau had five hits for the Isles while Keith Aulie had seven hits for the Leafs.

Nifty 50

Okposo is the 52^nd player to record 50 goals as an Islander. He joins Moulson (77) and Tavares (64) as the only current Islanders to have scored at least that many in an Islander jersey.

Third Periods

Each team scored once in the third period; the Isles have been outscored 10-4 in the third period over the last six games and have been outscored 39-19 overall in the third period (30-17 excluding empty nets); the 19 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 63-56.

Back-to-Back Empties

The Isles have allowed nine empty net goals, passing Colorado for the NHL lead. The Isles allowed only ten empty-netters all last season.

51 to Go

The Isles have scored 9,949 goals in their history (excluding 41 shootout winners), leaving the club 51 shy of 10,000.

Back to .500

The Islanders drop back to all-time NHL .500 (1324-1324-427 in 3,075 games). They have been below NHL .500 for only 1 day since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 37 goals over the last 13 games (6-5-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 38 goals in their 11 wins (3.45 per game) and 37 goals in their other 22 games (0-16-6; 1.68 per game). In their 16 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.31 per game).

Head of the Class

John Tavares' goal, his third in the last 21 games, gives him 149 career points, and keeps him four points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close.

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson now has 16 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 11 of them. He has now been on-ice for 40 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 27 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson remains 14 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 22 of 47(47%) face-offs. Frans Nielsen was the Islanders' best, winning 7 of 12; Tyler Bozak won 11 of 16 for Toronto.

Missing Men

Al Montoya (concussion), David Ullstrom (concussion) and Steve Staios (concussion) were scratched. Brian Rolston, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 154 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the second straight game.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 197 games since joining the team. Travis Hamonic has now played 95 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.

Season Series Stats

The Leafs lead the season series 1 game to none (two points to zero). The team will play a back-to-back home-and-home on January 23^rd and 24^th with the Isles hosting the second of the two games. Despite the loss, the Isles are 14-4-2 in their last 20 games against the Leafs at the Coliseum.

Happy Anniversary

33 year ago tonight (12-23-78): Bryan Trottier records the first two five-goal games in his career as the Islanders pound the Rangers 9-4 before a sellout crowd at the Coliseum. The Islanders scored seven times and recorded 13 assists in the middle period, setting team records for goals, assists and points in a period that all stand today.

The Islanders have never played on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In part due to that, December 23^rd is the busiest day in Isles history; the Isles have played 27 games on this date, going 14-11-2. (The Isles will play their 26^th December 26 game on Monday.)

On The Farm

Bridgeport has dropped six straight and is 11-14-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers are off until Boxing Day, when they'll entertain the Baby Rangers (Connecticut Whale) while the Isles are visiting their parents at Madison Square Garden.

Up Next

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26th ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The Islanders will return to Madison Square Garden for the second time in less than a week as they will face the first place Rangers. The Rangers have won four straight and took over first place in the Atlantic with their victory over Philadelphia on Friday.

The Rangers lead the season series two games to one. The Isles have lost five straight at Madison Square Garden – their longest stretch since losing seven straight from 1983-1985.

And Finally…

Merry Christmas!

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick