The Skinny: Dallas 5, Isles 4 (Shootout)

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 1
Stars 5, Islanders 4 (SO)
 
Ribiero nets the winner
Mike Ribiero scored the only goal in the shootout as the Dallas Stars
surrendered three separate two-goal leads but in the end managed to spoil the
Isles' season and home opener with a 5-4 shootout win before 13,351 at the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Early 2-0 Deficit
While the Isles dominated parts of the opening session, it was Dallas who would
score twice in a 2:07 span to take the advantage after 20 minutes.  Jamie Benn
and Stephane Robidas had the goals for the Stars, who were outshot by the Isles
13-6.
 The first period was marred by a concussion suffered by John Tavares, when he
collided with Adam Burish late in the frame.
Power Display
The Isles power play was a big story in this game, scoring three times,
including twice in the middle period.  James Wisniewski and Doug Weight
sandwiched power play goals around Brendan Morrow's first of two goals on the
night.
Isles Get Even
The third period belonged to the Islanders.  They outshot the Stars 23-5, and
after they fell behind 4-2 on Morrow's 2nd tally, the Isles rallied to tie the
game on goals by Blake Comeau and Matt Moulson.  Moulson's goal knotted the
score with 2:39 left and came on the first of two delay-of-game penalties
assessed to Robidas in a 1:36 span.  A scoreless overtime followed as the Isles
killed a Blake Comeau crosschecking penalty.
Shootout
Kari Lehtonen stopped all three Islanders (Frans Nielsen, PA Parenteau and Matt
Moulson) and Rick DiPietro, making his first start since February 6th, stopped
Brad Richards and James Neal, but Mike Ribiero, who had assisted on two goals in
regulation, connected on the shootout's final shot to give the Stars the two
points.
Hari Kari!
The Isles fired 47 shots on Lehtonen – their highest total in nearly two years
(10/25/2008 vs. Carolina). Lehtonen finished with 43 saves.  DiPietro made 17
saves for the Isles.
Captain, My Captain
Doug Weight made a successful return to the lineup, scoring a goal and adding
two assists.  Weight now has 750 career assists, tying Larry Robinson for 39th
place in NHL history. It was Weight's first 3-point game since December 11, 2007
when he was a St. Louis Blue.   Weight entered the season with the 4th highest
assist total of any active NHL player, trailing only Mark Recchi (922), Nicklas
Lidstrom (809) and Mike Modano (802)
Nino's debut
Islander first round draft pick Nino Niederreiter recorded two shot on goal and
four hits in 11:27 of ice-time.  At 18 years, 1 month, 1 day, he is now the
youngest player to ever appear in a game for the Islanders.
How do you spell what hit me?
James Wisniewski had a goal and an assist , along four shots, three takeaways
and four hits.  Among the four hits was a punishing shot on Dallas' Jamie Benn
that left the young Star woozy.
Special Special Teams
The Isles went 3-8 on the power play and also converted a 5-on-3.  It was the
first time that the Isles had scored three power play goals in a game since
March 15, 2009 in Chicago and the first time that they had done so at home since
Halloween, 2006, also against the Blackhawks.   
40-40 Club
The Isles finished with 47 shots and 42 hits. Newcomer Zenon Konopka led the way
with 7 hits, while Parenteau and Weight each had six shots on goal.  Parenteau
had never had more than four shots in an NHL game.
For Openers
The Isles suffer a shootout loss on Opening Night for the second straight
season.  The Isles are 9-19-10 all-time on opening night, including 2-2-2 when
they open at home.
Cch cch changes
The Isles dressed only four players who played on Opening Night two seasons ago
in New Jersey (Trent Hunter, Jon Sim, Radek Martinek, Doug Weight).  Martinek is
the only defensemen who played in last season's opener to play in this season's,
while Andrew MacDonald was the only defender who played in last season's finale
to play in the opener.
Where's Mike?
The Stars played their second game since Mike Modano left the team to join the
Red Wings. Modano made his NHL debut for the then-Minnesota NorthStars against
the Isles on October 5, 1991. (Dave Chyzowski debuted that same night for the
Isles)
Rare Home Shootout Loss for DiPietro
Rick DiPietro loses for only the second time in twelve career shootouts at the
Coliseum, and breaks a 10-game home shootout win streak.  His only previous
shootout loss on Long Island was on November 23, 2005 against Buffalo.
Season Series Stats          
The season series ends on Opening Night for the second time in club history. 
The Stars have beaten the Islanders four straight times over the last four
years, including once in overtime and tonight's shootout.  This was the
first-ever shootout game between the teams.
Up Next
Monday, October 11 – New York Rangers @ Islanders 1:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30pm), WRHU 88.7FM (1:00)]
The Isles conclude their season-opening homestand as they face the Rangers at
the Coliseum.  It's the first of six meetings between the squads.
The rivals divided six games last season, with the Rangers taking the season
series seven points to six.
Special teams have been a big part of the story in the recent rivalry.  Over the
last 16 games, the Isles are 2-49 on the power play; they've actually scored
five goals while shorthanded in that span against the Rangers.
These games tend to be low-scoring; neither team has scored more than 5 goals
since a 7-4 Islander win at Madison Square Garden on December 3, 2006 – Viktor
Kozlov scored four times for the Isles in that game.
This is the 4th straight season, and sixth time overall that the Isles are
hosting a Columbus Day matinee.  The Isles will be looking for their first win
(0-5-0); they have scored only six goals in the previous five.
Howie Rose and Butch Goring will have the telecast on MSG+. Chris King will have
Islander radio coverage on WRHU.
 
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
 
 
 
 
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick