By Eric Hornick
Game 25
Flyers 3, Isles 2
Andreas Nodl and Daniel Briere scored 2:42 apart in the third period as the
Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a 2-1 deficit for a 3-2 win over the Islanders
on Mascot Day at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Flyers Score First
The first period was scoreless for nearly 14 minutes before Matt Carle tipped
one by Dwayne Roloson to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. The Flyers outshot the
Isles 8-4 in the first period; the Isles have totaled only seven first period
shots in their last two games.
Comeback Time
Following a scoreless period in which the Isles outshot the Flyers 15-9, the
Isles grabbed the lead with two goals 36 seconds apart early in the third
period. Jon Sim deflected in PA Parenteau's shot for his first NHL goal of the
season at 5:12; Frans Nielsen beat Sergei Bobrovsky at 5:48 for his first goal
in 13 games; he now has points in five of his last six games. It was Sim's
first goal in his last 19 games since scoring in last season's finale.
Following the Nielsen goal, Flyer coach Peter Laviolette called timeout, hoping
to change momentum. It worked.
Nodl Evens It
With the Isles nursing a 1-goal lead, Matt Moulson took an offensive zone
penalty at 9:37. The Isles killed almost the entire penalty before Andreas Nodl
grabbed a rebound off of an Andrew MacDonald blocked shot and evened the game at
11:34. It was Nodl's second big goal against the Isles this season; he had the
winning goal in the teams' match-up last month. Three of his nine career goals
have been scored against the Isles. It was only the 3rd power play goal for the
Flyers in their last 44 attempts.
Briere Wins It
While Nodl has caused havoc for the Isles this year, Daniel Briere has been
doing it for years. He recorded his 14th career goal at 14:16 and it would turn
out to be the game-winning goal. 3-2 Final.
Home and Road
The Flyers improve to 17-7-4, 7-2-3 on the road. The Isles are 5-15-5, 3-6-2 at
home. The Isles are 1-6-1 in their last 8 at home and 1-14-3 in their last 18
overall.
In the Nets
Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to record his third victory over the Isles this
season. The Flyer rookie is 14-4-2 on the season.
Dwayne Roloson made 27 saves, but falls to 2-11-1 on the season. Since
starting the season 2-1-0, Roloson is 0-10-1, despite having a 2.74 GAA and 90.4
save percentage in that stretch.
Power Plays
Each team had four power plays and the Flyers' power play goal was a big part of
the difference in the game. The Isles were 0-4 on their power plays (including
a 28 second 5-on-3) while the Flyers were 1-4. The Isles have now gone 38
attempts without a power play goal, covering their last two chances against
Philadelphia on November 6th and the eleven games since. The penalty killers
have allowed five goals in their last 29 times short, covering seven games.
This is the second longest streak without a power play goal in club history.
The 1972-73 squad had a twelve game drought without a power play goal. The
Isles will need a power play goal in Boston on Thursday to avoid matching that
mark.
In the Circle
The Isles won only 24 of 59 face-offs (40%). Jesse Joensuu won all four that he
took, but no other Isle had a winning record in the circle. Claude Giroux won 7
of 10 for Philadelphia.
Missing Men
Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Milan Jurcina, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mike
Mottau remain out. Dylan Reese and Bruno Gervais were scratched. Some positive
news on the injury front: both Okposo and Jurcina have resumed skating.
A First for Eaton
Mark Eaton earned an assist on Frans Nielsen's goal. Eaton's assist leaves San
Jose's Marc Edouard Vlasic as the only NHL'er to have played all of his team's
games without recording a point. It was his first point as an Islander; his
last point had come against the Isles (for Pittsburgh) in last season's finale.
Season Series Stats
The Flyers continue to dominate the season series, having won all three games by
a combined score of 11-4. The teams won't face other against until February
24th in Philadelphia and then will meet twice in the season's final seven games
(including game 82, which will be in Philadelphia on April 9th). The Isles are
1-15-3 in their last 19 against Philadelphia, with the Flyers earned 36 of 38
possible points in that span.
Attendance Note
The attendance of 7,773 was the smallest at an Islander game since November 7,
2000, when an announced crowd of 6,528 saw the Islanders defeat Nashville on
Election Night.
Slump Stats
The Isles are 1-14-3 in their last 18 games. It's their fewest points in an 18
game stretch since going 2-16-0 over 18 games late in the 1995-96 season. It's
their fewest wins in that stretch since winning once in a 20-game stretch late
in the 1989-90 season.
Happy Anniversary
21 years ago today (December 5, 1989): Mark Fitzpatrick made 32 saves as the
Isles blanked Buffalo 3-0 at the Coliseum. This was the middle of three
shutouts for Fitzpatrick in a 10-day period; they were his only three shutouts
as an Islander.
The Isles have played nine games since then on December 5th. Today's loss makes
them 0-7-2 in that stretch on this day.
Up Next
Thursday, December 9- Islanders @ Boston 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders head to Boston on Thursday night to face the Bruins. It's the
first meeting of the teams this season; each team won twice last season (once in
regulation and once in OT/so).
It's been over a year since the Isles visited Boston; they went 1-0-1 in two
trips early last season.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment