Wednesday November 21

Wednesday was a big night around the NHL with 22 teams in motion across 11 games. Competition is really heating up early in the season. Former Islanders keep making their contributions to their respective teams' efforts. Let us look at the FI happenings:

* Two Montreal FIs helped the Canadiens down the Islanders 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday night. Center Bryan Smolinski had 2 assists and defenseman Roman Hamrlik assisted on the game winner to help lead Les Habs. Smoke now has 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) on 21 games this year. Offensively-inclined d-man Hamrlik continued to puff up his numbers. In 21 games he has 11 points on 2 goals and 9 assists.

* Carolina forward Jeff Hamilton continues to help his team despite their recent shortcomings. Hamilton had a powerplay assist on the second Hurricanes goal in their 6-3 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Only 22 games into the season, Hammy has 15 points on 5 goals and 10 assists. He has been especially effective on the powerplay notching 11 of his points (4 goals, 7 assists) with the man advantage.

* Teammate FIs Olli Jokinen and Richard Zednik are a little one-two punch right now for the Florida Panthers. They were at it again on Wednesday as they both assisted on the insurance powerplay goal as the Panthers downed the host Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. Zed now has 12 points on 7 goals and 5 assists. The powerplay point was his 4th of the season (2 goals, 2 assists on the man advantage). Only 23 games into the season, O-Jok has 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. An impressive 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) have come on the powerplay.

* Viktor Kozlov found the scoresheet again assisting on the lone Washington goal (a powerplay tally) in the Capitals' 5-1 loss to the visiting Atlanta Thrashers. Ending a 3-game point-less streak, Kozlov now has 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) on 21 games this season. Kozlov has posted half of those assists (5) on the man advantage.

* Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood had to face only 12 shots over 60 minutes of play to post a 3-0 shutout over the visiting St. Louis Blues. The Redwings' backup man continued to shine improving to 10-1-1 on the year. Yet again his already great numbers kept getting better as he upped his save percentage to .930 and lowered his goals against average to 1.65. He is only 1 win behind his total from last season. His gaa is leading the league while his save percentage is good enough for fourth overall.

* Two games after scoring his first goal and point in almost forever, Rangers' defenseman Jason Strudwick notched his first assist of the season. On 16 games this season, Strudwick now has 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist). The assist came on the game winner as New York downed the host Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.

* Mike York helped power the Phoenix offense as the Coyotes downed the visiting Los Angeles Kings 4-1. York opened the scoring in the first and then notched the game winning, powerplay tally in the second to help carry the Coyotes. York now has 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) on 17 games. The goals ended a 4 game point-less streak. It was also York's first multi-goal night since December 6, 2005 when he posted a 5 point night while he was still with the Islanders. Additionally, Los Angeles center Derek Armstrong assisted on the lone Kings' goal. Armstrong has yet to tickle the twine but has 9 assists this season on 21 games.

Check back soon for more FIW updates.