Monday November 17

There were a handful of games on tap Monday night as 10 teams battled for points. Former Islanders gave valiant efforts in 2 of those tilts. Here is a look inside the numbers:

On NHL Draft Day in 2000 the Islanders shipped off goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers to usher in the Age of Rick DiPietro as the face behind the mask but in front of the net. Since then Luongo's path has taken him from overworked task master in South Florida to workhouse goalie for the Vancouver Canucks. Since Luongo no longer plays in the Eastern Conference last night was a rare matchup against his original squad as the Isles hosted the Canucks. Luongo stopped 34 of 35 shots through OT and 2 of 3 in the SO but all was for nought as the Islanders walked away with the 2-1 SO victory. Luongo is now 10-5-2 on the season with a .928 save percentage (wow!) and a 2.14 goals against average (double wow!). He also leads the league with 5 shutouts (triple wow!) but got no offensive support in the final 64 minutes of ice time after his team staked him to a 1-0 lead in the first 49 seconds of play. Luongo has not faired well against the Islanders with a 5-10-2-3 (W-L-T-OTL) record on his career.

Toronto winger Jason Blake snapped a 6 game goal-less stretch with a tally late in the 1st period as the Maple Leafs fell to the visiting Boston Bruins 3-2. Blake now has 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) on 17 games this season. It has been a struggle early on this season for Blake who has twice been scratched by coach Ron Wilson. Blake, who has been the subject of trade rumors, is mired in 7th on the team in points.


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