Holy Roli! Stat Trick: New York Isles 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3 (OT)

Dwayne Roloson made a franchise record (and career high) 58 saves as the Islanders beat the Leafs, 4-3 in overtime at the Air Canada Centre.  With the win, the Isles complete the franchise record-tying seven-game road trip with a 3-2-2 record.  On to the trick:

1. Roloson's 58 saves broke the club record of 56, set by Rick DiPietro in a shootout loss to the Rangers in 2007.  The 61 shots allowed by the Islanders broke a club record that had stood for 37 years and one day—the Isles allowed 60 shots to the Flyers on November 22, 1972. 

The 58 saves broke Roloson's personal mark of 53 (set in a 2001 game for Minnesota against Boston) in a regular season game.  Roloson made 54 saves in a double-OT playoff loss to Detroit in 2007.

2. The Isles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second period on goals by Jeff Tambellini (seventh goal in 15 games), Matt Moulson (team-leading 11th) and Sean Bergenheim (shorthanded), all in a span of 3:13.

3.  Toronto got back into the game with a Phil Kessel second period tally (his 6th in 10 games as a Leaf, and one of his 12 shots on goal) and third period goals by Wayne Primeau and Niklas Hagman.  That set the stage for the overtime winner by Josh Bailey--his third goal in as many games.  Bailey had never scored in consecutive NHL games prior to this streak.

...a few more...

4.  Trent Hunter extended his point streak to seven games, matching a career high.  Hunter has a single point in each game (3-4-7) and has nine points in his nine NHL games this season..  John Tavares, in his NHL debut in his hometown, and Kyle Okposo were both held off the scoresheet for the third straight game.

5.  The Isles improve to 9-8-7 with the victory and 4-6-5 on the road.  All but one of their road victories have been overtime wins.  The Isles continue to be far ahead of last season's pace.  The Isles have 25 points in 24 games; they recorded their 25th point in game 35 last season.  They also have 13 points in 15 games; they had only 12 points in their first 24 road games last year.

6. Bergenheim's goal came with the Islanders shorthanded.  It was the Isles' third "shorty" of the season.  The Isles are one of three NHL teams not to allow a shorthanded goal.  Six of Bergenheim's 33 career goals have been scored scorehanded.  All three of Bergenheim's goals this season have come in the last eight games.

7. Vesa Toskala made only 12 saves before he was chased.  However, Jonas Gustavsson, who faced only six shots in 27:26 is charged with the OT loss.

8. Lots of strange stats in this one.  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. 

The Leafs played only 15 players regularly—John Mitchell left injured after playing 4:!7 while Garnet Exelby and Colton Orr played just over eight minutes...combined.  Mark Streit was a +3, but Freddy Meyer and Brendan Witt (playing his first game in nine days) were -3.  Bruno Gervais had 2 assists, 4 blocks, and was +2, but he was also charged with 6 giveaways.

9. The Isles had only two power plays, and failed to score on either.  They are now 0-16 in their last four games, after going 5-11 in the first three games of the trip.  The penalty kill did well, shutting down all six Leaf attempts and scoring a shorthanded goal.  The Isles have killed 26 of the last 29 and killed 27 of 32 on the trip.

10. It's the third straight overtime game between the teams—the Leafs won both contests last season. The Isles are now 3-3 this season in games decided by an overtime goal, while the Leafs are 0-5. The Isles will be back in Toronto on December 9. 

Up next: The Isles play their first home game in 18 days when they entertain Philadelphia in the traditional Thanksgiving Eve game.  The Isles have hosted a Thanksgiving Eve game every year since 1995 except for 1999 (did not play) and 2004 (lockout). 

The Isles are 6-3-3 in those 12 games, but have lost two straight, including last year's 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh in a game the Isles led 3-0 in the final seconds of the middle period.  

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