Tuesday December 16

There were an impressive 9 games on the NHL schedule on Tuesday night. Former Islanders made contributions in only 3 of those tilts but the events were newsworthy. Here is a look at the FI night:

Washington forward Viktor Kozlov recorded the secondary assist on the Capitals' 3rd goal as they survived an Islanders' comeback for a 5-4 OT victory. Kozzer now has 5 goals and 13 assists for 18 points on 27 games. He has had notched assists in 2 straight games and has 4 assists over his last 4 starts. Kozlov is tied for 4th on the team in helpers and currently sits 5th on the team in points.


It is rare for a player who recorded no tangible goals, assists, wins or saves to secure the first star honor but Toronto winger Jason Blake did just that. Blake scored a controversial spin-o-rama goal in the 4th and final frame of the SO as the host Maple Leafs downed the New Jersey Devils 3-2. To see the goal follow this link to the Yahoo! Puck Daddy blog which has the high definition version from the NHL Network. It is hard to tell why there is any controversy considering Blake was following the rule book and, well, it was a pretty awesome goal.

A pair of FIs recorded points as the Calgary Flames doubled up on the host St. Louis Blues for a 6-3 victory. Flames' defenseman Adrian Aucoin scored the first of 2 insurance goals to secure the win. Aucoin has 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points on 31 games. Rumor has swirled around Aucoin recently that he is being used as trade bait by the Flames who are looking to shake things up a little bit. Also getting involved was winger Todd Bertuzzi who recorded the secondary assist on the closing goal. Bert has 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points on 31 games. Bert has 5 assists over the last 6 games but has not scored a goal in 19 competitions! That lack of goal-scoring has to be gnawing away at Bertuzzi.

Check back soon for more news, scores and updates at FIW.