Sunday February 10

It was a freakish night around the NHL as Former Islander Richard Zednik was slashed on the neck by the skate of teammate and fellow FI Olli Jokinen. The blade of Jokinen's skate cut Zednik's carotid artery nearly severing the vein that delivers fresh blood to the brain. Zed was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery. As of Monday morning he was in stable condition at a Buffalo hospital. We wish him a quick and speedy recovery. We here at FIW were sadly reminded of the freak accident that nearly caused the loss of Bryan Berard's eye during the 1999-2000 season while with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In other news, there were 8 games on the schedule on Sunday night. Teams are battling for important points in the standings. Let us take a look at the FI efforts from a scary night around the league:

* Martin Straka had an assist and Stephen Valiquette took an OT loss as the New York Rangers fell to the Washington Capitals 3-2. Straka has 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points on 42 games. He snapped a 3 game point-less streak with the helper. With the OTL Valiquette fell to 4-3-2 on the season. He has an impressive .915 save percentage and a nice 2.19 goals against average in his first full season of backup work.

* Mathieu Schneider scored a goal and assisted on the game winner as the Anaheim Ducks beat the host Detroit Red Wings 3-2. Schneids has 8 goals and 20 assists for 28 points on 43 games. Chris Osgood took the loss in net for Detroit stopped 16 of 19 shots. Ozzie fell to 22-5-2 on the season with an impeccable 1.99 goals against average and a .921 save percentage with 3 shutouts. It was the first time Osgood has had consecutive regulation losses since March 25-31, 2006, a span of 53 games, nearly 2 years without such an occurrence!

* Michael Peca had 2 powerplay assists and new teammate Dick Tarnstrom notched his first point with Columbus as the Blue Jackets lost in SO to the visiting Los Angeles Kings 3-2. Peca has 25 points (4 goals, 21 assists) on 43 games. He has 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists) on the man advantage. It is the first time since the before the lockout that Peca has scored 25 points on a season. The last time he did it was 2003-04 while still with the Isles. Peca also was stopped on his SO attempt in the 3rd round. Playing in his first game with the Jackets since being traded from Edmonton, Tarnstrom scored his first point assisting on the game tying goal. He has 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points on 30 games. It was his 2nd powerplay assist of the season.

* Defenseman Eric Brewer assisted on the game tying powerplay goal as the St. Louis Blues fell to the visiting Minnesota Wild 2-1. Brewer has 1 goal and 14 assists for 15 points on 49 games. He has 5 assists on the man advantage. Over the last 4 games, Brewer has 4 assists.

* Branislav Mezei continued his recent strong play with the opening goal of the game as the Florida Panthers fell to the host Buffalo Sabres 5-3. Mezei has 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points on 45 games. He has scored half those points (1 goal, 1 assist) over the last 2 competitions. Olli Jokinen scored the 2nd Florida goal with 58 seconds remaining the 2nd period. He has 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 points on 58 games. That is a whole lot of 58. He is currently running at a point per game pace.

* Mike York assisted on the Coyotes' 2nd goal as the Nashville Predators doubled up on host Phoenix for a 6-3 win. York has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) on 50 games.

* Roberto Luongo stopped 16 of a meager 18 shots as the Vancouver Canucks beat the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in SO. Luongo also stopped all 3 shots he faced in the SO to improve to 24-18-6 on the season with a .922 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average. FI teammate Trevor Linden was stopped on his attempt in the 3rd round of the SO.

Check back soon for more updates here at FIW.