Some teams struggle to get leads. For the New York Islanders, the hard part is keeping them.
The Islanders were three games over .500 in mid-December, but have dropped below the break-even mark largely because they can't put opponents away. The Isles had a two-goal lead in each of their first three post-Christmas games, but lost each one, allowing 14 unanswered goals in the process.
But their problems were nothing new. As of Jan. 4, the Islanders had lost seven games in which they led by two goals. On two other occasions, they blew 2-0 leads in the third period but won the game in a shootout. And on two other occasions, they allowed an opponent to tie the game in the final 90 seconds, then won the game in overtime (Nov. 1 vs. Boston) or a shootout (Dec. 9 vs. Edmonton).
Despite all their problems holding leads, the Isles actually went more than two full seasons before failing to get a point in a game in which they led after two periods. New York led 3-2 entering the third period in Buffalo on Dec. 26, but allowed four unanswered goals and lost, 6-3. It was the first time since Dec. 22, 2002, that the Isles had failed to get a point when leading after 40 minutes. They had been 56-0 with eight ties and an overtime loss before the loss in Buffalo, then made it 2-for-2 when Ottawa scored twice in the third period for a 4-3 win.
Four years ago, the Kings became the only team to sweep the three New York-area teams in 2001-02, beating the Islanders (3-0), Devils (3-2), and Rangers (4-0) in a five-day span in the first week of January 2002. The Florida Panthers came to the New York area this week as the 41st team to play all three teams in succession, but lost the first game of their swing in New Jersey and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision Wednesday night on Long Island. They end the trip in Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Eleven teams, including the Vancouver Canucks three times, won two of the three games. Fifteen visitors, including the Panthers in October 2003 and the Vancouver Canucks in February 2004, lost two of three games. Six others were 1-1-1, two were 0-2-1, and one went 0-1-2. No one has gone 2-0-1, though the Calgary Flames were 2-0 before losing to the Rangers in overtime in 2003-04.
The Canucks are one of four teams to lose three in a row on their swing through the Big Apple and suburbs. That happened in 1991-92, but the Canucks didn't go home empty-handed: That Vancouver team is the only visiting club ever to play four consecutive games in the New York area -- and after losing to the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders, they went back to Madison Square Garden and left with a 3-3 tie.
The worst showing by a visiting team on a tour of the New York area came in 1982-83, the Devils' first season in New Jersey: The Quebec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche) were thumped 5-1 by the Rangers, 6-1 by the Islanders, and 6-2 by the Devils from Jan. 7-10, 1983.
In all, 16 franchises have made at least one swing through all three New York teams. This year's swing was the fifth by the Panthers, more than any team except the Canucks, who've done it eight times.
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Manny Legace and the Red Wings almost always end the calendar year in style, with 31 victories on New Years Eve in team history.
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Party time -- The Detroit Red Wings know how to do their part to give their fans a Happy New Year, The Wings' 5-2 victory over Columbus on Dec. 31 was their fifth straight win on New Year's Eve. They're 8-1-2 in their last 11 year-ending games, and this season's win was the 31st in franchise history on Dec. 31, by far the most by any NHL team (the Rangers, second with 21, lost 4-3 in overtime at Pittsburgh).
Unhappy New Year -- The Atlanta Thrashers performed a rare feat when they beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Jan. 1. The Caps, who've played at home on New Year's Day for 15 consecutive seasons, had been 8-2-3-1 in their 14 previous New Year's outings. The Thrashers were the first Eastern Conference team to beat the Caps on New Year's Day since Ottawa left the nation's capital with a 4-3 victory in 1999.
Second-night jitters -- The second night of back-to-back games has not been kind to the Florida Panthers. The Cats have won only once in nine second games; they dropped to 1-6-2 after Wednesday night's 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders. The Panthers have also struggled on the front end of back-to-backs: they're 3-6-0 in the first games. The bad news: They have seven more back-to-back pairs remaining, including this weekend in New York and Washington.
Saturday nights all right for winning -- The Ottawa Senators have been dynamite all season -- they improved to 28-7-3 with a 3-1 win in Washington on Wednesday night -- but they've been almost flawless on Saturdays. The Senators take an 8-0-1 into Montreal this Saturday -- their only loss was in overtime at Calgary on December 10. Dominik Hasek has been almost perfect: He's 6-0-0 and has allowed just five goals in six games.
Though they've won 28 of their first 38 games, the victory in Washington was a rarity for the Senators. It was only the second time they won while scoring less than four goals ?-the other was a 3-2 shootout victory over Toronto on opening night.
The circle goes around -- The Tampa Bay Lightning had missed 15 consecutive penalty shots before Vincent Lecavalier scored in Monday night's 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders. The last previous time a Lightning player had scored on a penalty shot was almost nine years earlier, when Rob Zaumner scored on Jan. 11, 1997, also against the Islanders.
