Saturday January 31

The final day of January brought a plethora of games as 24 teams faced off in a dozen NHL games. Former Islanders are lending their support and did not disappoint helping out in 6 of those tilts. Here is a look at the FI workload:

Washington forward Viktor Kozlov notched a goal and assist on the game winner to help lead the charge as the Capitals doubled up on the visiting Detroit Red Wings for a 4-2 win. Koz snapped a 4 game goal-less/point-less streak and now has 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points on 45 games. For the 3rd consecutive season and 9th time on his career Kozlov has reached the 30+ point mark.


Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik assisted on the Habs' first goal as the Canadiens edged the visiting Los Angeles Kings 4-3. Hamrlik snapped an 8 game point-less streak with the helper and now has 2 goals and 14 assists for 16 points on 48 games.




Recently returned FI Wade Dubielewicz saw ice time in his first game since the Columbus Blue Jackets snatched the free agent up out from under the Isles. Dubie played the final 49 minutes after starter Steve Mason surrendered 3 goals in 11 minutes. Dubielewicz faired only slightly better surrendering 4 goals on 23 shots. He took the loss as the visiting Dallas Stars thumped the Jacks 7-3. Dubie is 0-1-0 to start the season with a 4.88 goals against average and an .826 save percentage.

Red hot winger Jason Blake scored the game winning goal and added an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4. Blake is riding a 4 game goal- and point-scoring streak in which he has racked up 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). He now has 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points on 46 games and has recorded 7 goals in the last 7 starts as well as back-to-back game winners. The winning tally was the 21st of Blake's career. The 20th assist makes it 6 straight seasons in which Blakey has reached the 20+ plateau. The last time Blake had goals in 4 straight games was between October 28-November 4, 2006 while still with the Isles. Scoring the 1st goal for the Pens was winger Miroslav Satan. He now has 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points on 51 games.

Recently recovered center Tim Connolly kept up his good play notching the game winning goal as the Buffalo Sabres blanked the host Phoenix Coyotes 2-0. TimCo has goals in 3 straight games (4) and has 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points on 16 games. The game winner was Connolly's 1st of the season and the 13th of his career. With only 16 games under his belt Connolly is already 7th on the Sabres in goal scoring.


Minnesota d-man Marc-Andre Bergeron had what was possibly his best game of the season and was hardly recognized for it as the Wild edged the host Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in OT. MAB scored the game winning powerplay goal and added another even strength goal and a powerplay helper for a 3 point night. Bergeron now has 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points on 39 games and has reached the 20+ point mark for 5th time on his career. The game winner was MAB's 2nd of the season and the 8th of his career. The 3 point night was a first for Bergeron since December 31, 2007 while still with the Isles. Taking the OT loss for the Canucks was recently embattled backstopper Roberto Luongo who stopped 21 of 24 shots in regulation but only 2 of 3 in OT. Luongo is winless in his last 5 full starts compiled an 0-2-3 record which has dropped him to 11-7-5 on the season. His stats have tumbled as well with his save percentage dropping to 9.16 and his goals against average bloating to 2.51.

Check back for more highlights soon at FIW.