Monday December 22

As you we rapidly approach the NHL's Christmas break there are still games aplenty to talk about. Monday night featured 4 tilts with Former Islanders making contributions in each of those outings. Here is a look at the FI workload:

The noteworthy FI duo in Pittsburgh, Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, are chipping in consistently for the Penguins. It was no different as the Pens took down the host Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in OT. Satan recorded the primary assist on the Pens' 1st goal. Satan now has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points on 33 games. He has 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) over the last 5 contests. For the 13th time in his 13 season career Satan has reached the 25+ point mark. Fedotenko contributed a secondary helper on the 2nd Pittsburgh tally. Fedo has 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points on 31 games. He has averaged a point-per-game over the last 9 outings with 4 goals and 5 assists notching nearly half his season's points in less than 1/3rd the time.

Toronto winger Jason Blake has kept up his recent spat of good play. Blake assisted on the 2nd Toronto goal as the Maple Leafs tore the host Atlanta Thrashers apart 6-2. Blake has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) over the last 3 games and 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) over the last 8. He now has 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points on 29 games. After a slow start in which he managed on 10 points in the first 21 contests Blake has turned it on as of late seemingly in response to two healthy scratches he received from Toronto coach Ron Wilson. As well, Toronto has found its offense recently with 31 goals over those last 8 competitions.

It was a rare contribution as Edmonton defenseman Jason Strudwick received the assist on the Oilers' first goal as they beat the visiting Phoenix Coyotes 4-2. Strudwick has 4 assists on 27 games and snapped a 10 game point-less streak with the helper. Thanks to a fight with the 'Yotes' Daniel Carcillo, Strudwick also reached a milestone passing the 700 penalty mark in his 515th career game. Phoenix center Olli Jokinen snapped a 4 game point-less streak with a powerplay helper on the Coyotes' 2nd goal. O-Jok has 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points on 28 games. It has be a surprisingly inconsistent season for Jokinen who was saddled with a shoulder injury and has yet to really find a consistent run. His season high points streak is 4 games which is surprising since he managed a run of that much or larger 5 times last season with the Panthers, a team that was considerably poorer offense than this incarnation of the Coyotes.

It was another rare defensive offensive contribution as Vancouver's Rob Davison notched a primary assist on the Canucks' 3rd goal as they downed the visiting Anaheim Ducks 4-3. The assist was Davison's 1st of the season on 11 games. With the helper Davison snapped an 18 game point-less run dating back to March 18 while he was still with the Isles. That game was of course Davison's infamous 200 foot knuckleball against Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala - one of the sloppiest goals in the history of hockey. For Davison's last helper you would have to go back to February 28 or another 9 games prior to his March 18 goal.

Check back soon for more updates and recaps at FIW.