Thursday November 29

Action was hot on Thursday as 14 teams faced off in 7 highly competitive tilts. Former Islanders were there, yet again, providing push for many teams looking to dominate as the mid-season roars on. Involved in every game, FIs contributed with 3 goals, 5 assists and 2 wins in net (including a shutout). Let us take as look at FI workload from the night:

* Jason Blake assisted on the opening goal as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the host Atlanta Thrashers 4-2. With 26 games down, Blake has 18 points on 2 goals and 16 assists.

* Only 3 games returned from an injury that had sidelined him since late October, Martin Straka helped the New York Rangers down the visiting Islanders 4-2. Straka assisted on the first and final goals of the game. He snapped a 6 game point-less streak and improved to 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) on 10 games this season.

* If Dominik Hasek retired tomorrow the Detroit Redwings would actually become a better team! Chris Osgood continued his amazing form on Thursday as the host Redwings downed the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. Ozzie stopped 21 of 23 shots to improve to an amazing 12-1-1 on the season.

* Zdeno Chara has struggled offensively so far this season as he attempts to captain Boston back into the playoffs. On Thursday night no struggle appeared to be there as the Bruins downed the host Florida Panthers 4-3. Chara opened the scoring with his 2nd of the season and added a powerplay goal, his 3rd, in the second period to power the Bruins' offense. He received first star of the game credits and now has 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists) on 23 games this year. Olli Jokinen added the too-little-too-late goal with 30 seconds remaining in regulation for the Panthers. O-Jok is a powerhouse right now for Florida with 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) on 26 games this year.

* Randy Robitaille ended his recent offensive woes as the Ottawa Senators lost in a last-second shocker to the visiting Nashville Predators 6-5. Robitaille assisted on the second Sens goal to snap a 10 game point-less streak. He has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) on 15 games this season. Robitaille is still mired in an 11 game goal-less streak.

* Todd Bertuzzi assisted on the first of four consecutive Ducks goals as Anaheim dropped the host Calgary Flames 4-1. With 4 assists in his last 4 games, Bert now has 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) on 12 games this year.

* Roberto Luongo is now on fire! Luongo stopped 26 shots as the Vancouver Canucks blanked the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0. He now has 3 straight shutouts for the first time in his career. His current shutout streak stands as 195 minutes and 34 seconds. With the win, Luongo improved to 12-9-2 and his flashing the brilliance that made him a Vezina Finalist last season. In the process, Luongo has dropped his goals against average (2.18) and raised his save percentage (.922). Over the last 3 games, Luongo has 79 straight shots.

Check back soon for more FIW updates.