Thursday January 10

With 11 games up for grabs on Thursday it was a busy night around the NHL. Former Islanders are tipping in their help as they can. Let us take a peek at the FI happenings:

* Olli Jokinen might not have scored a point in the last 3 games but he helped Florida win on Thursday night. Jokinen scored the decisive goal in the 3rd round as the Panthers downed the host Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 in SO.

* Jim Dowd assisted for the 3rd straight game as the Philadelphia Flyers mounted a comeback, then slaughtered the New York Rangers 6-2 at Madison Square Garden. Ever since being put on waivers Dowd has turned up his offensive effort. With 3 points in 3 games, Dowd has 5 (2 goals, 3 assists) on 33 games this season. It is the first time he has had points in 3 straight games since December 15-18, 2005 while he was with the Chicago Blackhawks.

* Bryan Smolinski, back for the first time since December 6, assisted on the final goal as the Montreal Canadiens routed the host Boston Bruins 5-2. Hampered by an injury for over a month, Smolinski has 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) on 29 games.

* Mark Parrish's goal streak may have come to an end but his point streak kept going in a close one between Minnesota and host Detroit that resulted in a 6-5 Wild SO win. Parrish had 2 assists, including one of the game tying goal with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. He has 21 points (12 goals, 9 assists) on 40 games. He is currently riding a 7 game point scoring streak in which he has notched 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points. Taking the OT loss was Red Wing's goalie Chris Osgood who had his worst performance of the season, yet failed to record the loss in the regulation category. Ozzie stopped 23 of 28 shots. He still owns a 19-2-2 record with an impressive 1.82 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. He still owns the best goals against average but his save percentage dropped to 4th in the NHL.

* St. Louis defenseman Eric Brewer assisted on the opening goal of the game as the Blues knocked off the visiting Dallas Stars 4-2. Brewer has 10 points (1 goal, 9 assists) on 36 games.

* FI teammates Robert Nilsson and Denis Grebeshkov had goal and assist nights as the Edmonton had a rare offensive explosion as the Oilers beat the visiting Phoenix Coyotes 5-2. Nilsson, first star of the game, is having a breakout season. He currently has 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) on 35 games. With the netter, Nilsson snapped a 12 game goal-less streak. The goal was Grebeshkov's first of his young career. He has 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) on 38 games this season. It was also the first multi-point night of Grebeshkov's NHL tenure. With the points, Grebeshkov snapped a 17 game point-less streak.

* Roberto Luongo was saddled with the loss as the typical Vancouver scoring glut resulted in the Canucks dropping in a 3-1 decision to the host San Jose Sharks. Luongo stopped 28 of 31 shots. He currently holds a 20-13-3 record with a 1.99 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

* Derek Armstrong assisted on the game winning goal as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. Armstrong 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) on 45 games. He snapped a 5 game point-less streak with the helper.

Check back soon for more updates.