The Skinny: Nashville 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 28
Predators 5, Isles 0
Rookie Anders Lindback made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout as the
Nashville Predators blanked the Islanders 5-0 before a crowd of 14,314 at the
Bridgestone Arena. The Islanders have lost six straight while the Preds improve
to 6-0-2 in their last eight games.
Preds Grab the Lead
Sergei Kostisyn scored the only goal of the opening session at 11:15 into the
first to give Nashville the advantage as he deflected home a shot from Cody
Franson. It was Kostisyn's 4th goal of the season.
2 in 2:09
Patric Hornqvist and Jerred Smithson scored 2:09 apart early in the second
period to make it 3-0.  It was the first of two goals on the evening for
Hornqvist.
2 More in Third
Hornqvist scored with 6:05 remaining in regulation to make it 4-0; Nick Spaling,
playing his 50th NHL game, added a 5-on-3 goal with 1:25 to play for his first
NHL goal.  5-0 Final.

Home and Road
The Predators improve to 15-8-6, 7-1-5 at home. The Isles are 5-18-5, 2-11-3 on
the road.  The 15 points in 28 games represents their worst record through 28
games since 1972-73 (3-22-3 for 9 points).
The Isles are 0-10-2 in their last 12 on the road and 1-17-3 in their last 21
overall.  The Isles have not won in regulation in their last 22 on the road
(3-15-4), dating back to their victory in Vancouver on March 9th.
In the Nets
Anders Lindback made 28 saves; he has stopped 50 shots in consecutive shutouts
against the Panthers and Isles. He is now 7-1-2 on the season with a 2.18 GAA
and a .931 save percentage.  It's the 5th shutout of the season for Nashville;
only Boston (6) has more.  Dwayne Roloson made 21 saves for the Isles.

Blanked on the Road
The Isles were shutout for the third time this season; all three have been on
the road (at Anaheim, at New York).  Since the start of the 2008-09 season, the
Isles have been blanked 14 times, with all but one  (12/19/09 vs Montreal)
happening on the road.
5 Allowed               
The Isles have allowed five goals in each of their last three games.  It's the
first time since March, 2009 that they have allowed at least five goals in three
straight games (in the same season).
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on their power play; they are 1-48 with the extra man in the
last 14 games.  The Preds' PP, which had scored only 12 goals all season, went
2-4.
In the Circle
The Isles had a strong night in the circle as they won 33 of 56 face-offs (59%).
Zenon Konopka won 9 of 12 while John Tavares won 10 of 14.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Milan Jurcina, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mike
Mottau remain out. Radek Martinek missed his 2nd game with soreness after
blocking a Zdeno Chara shot on Thursday, while Mark Eaton missed his first game
of the season with a groin injury. Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, extended his streak to 110 games.  He
has not missed a game as an Isle. Frnas Nielsen, Zenon Konopka Blake Comeau are
the only other Isles to have played every game this season. With Eaton missing
the game, James Wisniewski has now played the most consecutive games on defense
for the Isles: 24.
Reese/Rakhshani Recalled
Dylan Reese was recalled from Bridgeport to replace the injured Eaton.  Reese
played 15:25 in his 7th Islander game of the season and was -2.
Rhett Rakhshani made his NHL debut, and saw 11:44 of action.  Rakhshani is the
6th player to wear #49 in Isles history, following Robert Petrovicky, Drew Fata,
Eric Godard, Vlad Orszagh and Matt Fritz.  At the time of his recall, Rakhshani
was leading all AHL rookies, as well as all Sound Tigers, with 24 points
(10-14-24).
Season Series Stats          
This was the only meeting of the season between the teams.  The Predators have
won five straight from the Isles in Nashville, dating back to a Garth
Snow-backstopped win in April, 2002.  They have shutout the Isles three times in
those five games, using three different goalies (Tomas Vokoun, Pekka Rinne, and
Lindback).  The Preds have now shutout the Isles one more time than either
Toronto or Vancouver, both of whom have been facing the Isles since 1972.
Slump Stats
The Isles are 1-17-3 in their last 21 games.  It's their fewest points in a 21
game stretch since going 2-18-1 over 21 games from December 27, 1972- February 4
1973.  It's the first time that the Isles have earned just one win in a 21-game
stretch since they won once in a 28-game span in the 1972-73 season.
Chasing .500
The loss drops the Islanders' all-time record to 1288-1287-413 in 2,988 games.
  The Isles' all-time record has been .500 or better since they were 178-178-83
on January 16, 1978.  The Isles will play their 3,000th regular season game in
Chicago on January 9th.
Happy Anniversary
7 years ago today (December 13, 2003):  Garth Snow stopped 18 shots as the Isles
blanked Atlanta 4-0.  It was the 16th (and final) shutout of Snow's career.
 Rick DiPietro would then record the next 13 shutouts in Islander history.
18 years ago today (December 13, 1992):  In one of four neutral site games in
Islander history, the Isles defeat Edmonton 4-1 in the first NHL regular season
game played in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Steve Thomas and Tom Fitzgerald each
scored twice in the only Islander "home" win not played at the Nassau Veterans
Memorial Coliseum.  Today, the Oilers' AHL farm club is located in Oklahoma
City.
 Overall, the Isles are 7-7-4 on this date.
Up Next
Thursday, December 13- Ducks @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders return home to entertain Anaheim on Thursday.  It's the second
meeting of the season between the teams; Curtis McElhinney stopped 27 shots and
Saku Koivu had the game's only goal as the Duck defeated the Isles 1-0 on
November 16 at the Pond in Anaheim.
Since 2001, the Isles are 5-2-2 vs. Anaheim, with both Ducks wins coming by
shutout.
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