By Eric Hornick
Game 54
Isles 4, Canadiens 3 (shootout)
Mikko Koskinen's first NHL win is a game he never led. The Islanders rallied
three times from one-goal deficits and then Koskinen was a perfect 4-for-4 in
the shootout as Kyle Okposo's shootout tally gave the Isles a 4-3 win over the
Canadiens before the 278th consecutive sellout crowd of 21,273 at Bell Center in
Montreal.
Down Early
The first goal stat continues to grow. The Isles allowed the first goal for the
15th time in the last 17 games when Max Pacioretty beat Koskinen at 14:10,
however John Tavares tied the game 2:25 later. It was Tavares' 19th goal, tying
Matt Moulson for the club lead (they would get company later), but his first in
11 games.
It's Grabner Time… Again
Who is the hottest goal scorer in the NHL? Since January 15th, it is Michael
Grabner. After Benoit Pouliot gave Montreal a 2-1 lead, Grabner tied the game
at 17:10 of the second period off a gorgeous lead pass from Frans Nielsen. It
was Nielsen's 100th point, joining teammates Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo in
accomplishing the milestone for the Islanders this season. However, Tomas
Plekanec scored 58 seconds later to give Montreal a 3-2 lead after two periods.
It was Plekanec's 300th NHL point, all with the Canadiens. He is the 48th
player to record 300 points for Montreal.
…and Again
There was only one goal in the third period, and again it was Grabner providing
the tally at 4:08 of the period. It's Grabner's 19th goal, tying Moulson and
Tavares for the club lead. Among NHL rookies, only Logan Couture (24) and Jeff
Skinner (20) have more goals. Grabner now has 10 goals in the last 12 games,
dating back to January 15th. He leads the entire NHL in goals in that span.
Grabner was also +2, raising his team-leading +/- rating to +6. Neither team
scored the rest of the way, or in the overtime, setting the stage for the
shootout.
Kyle's the Shootout Star
The Canadiens opted to shoot first, but Koskinen stopped Brian Gionta, and
Montreal's three goal scorers: Pacioretty, Plekanic and Pouliot. Alex Auld
stopped Rob Schremp, Nielsen, and PA Parenteau before Okposo's wrist shot beat
Alex Auld for the shootout win. It was only Kyle's 2nd goal in 11 shootout
attempts and his first game deciding goal. 4-3 (shootout) Final.
Shootout Stats
The Isles are 2-4 in the shootout this season (1-1 on the road). It's their
first road shootout win since January 9, 2010 in Phoenix. The Isles had played
only one shootout on the road in the previous 42 games (in San Jose on November
11th). Koskinen is the first goalie in Islander history to record his first NHL
win in a shootout; two veteran netminders (Mike Dunham and Dwayne Roloson)
recorded their first Islander win in a shootout.
Strange Stat of the Night
Montreal has played three sets of back-to-backs in the first ten days of
February. They have only two sets of back-to-backs remaining this season. This
was the front-end of a back-to-back for the Isles; they still have seven sets of
back-to-back remaining after this one.
Home and Road
The Isles are 18-29-7, and are 9-16-3 on the road. They are now 14-19-4 under
Jack Capuano, including 13-11-2 in the last 26 and have won 7 of their last 12
road games (7-5-0).
The Canadiens are 30-20-6, and are 18-7-5 at home. Montreal falls to 15-4-6 in
one-goal games as they drop their third straight game (0-2-1), which matches a
season high.
Hard to Come From Behind
The Isles have allowed the first goal a league high 36 times, including 20 times
on the road. The Isles are 12-3-3 when they score first and 6-26-4 when they do
not. Tonight's victory is the Isles' first all season when they trailed after
two periods (1-20-2).
In the Nets
Koskinen made 37 saves to record his first NHL win, and even his record at 1-1.
18 of the 37 saves came in the middle period, when Montreal outshot the Isles
20-10. It's his first victory at any level in 2011, having last won in the AHL
on December 28. Koskinen's second period save on former Islander James
Wisniewski was named the NHL Highlight of the Night by NHL Network.
Alex Auld finished with 30 saves as his record drops to 4-2-1.
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play while the Canadiens were 0-4. The Isles
penalty kill continues to sparkle; they have killed 22 of 23 (95%) over the last
7 games and 51 of 55 (91%) over the last 19 games.
In the Circle
The Isles won 29 of 61 (48%) face-offs. Zenon Konopka won 8 of 12.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Blake Comeau, and Nathan Lawson remain
out. Jeremy Colliton missed his first game with a rib injury. The Isles have now
lost a league-leading 356 man-games to injury. Jesse Joensuu replaced Colliton
on the active roster. Ty Wishart was a healthy scratch.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 136 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 66-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 34 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles. Hal Gill did not dress for Montreal, ending his 109 consecutive-game
streak, which was the longest on the team.
Grabner is the #1 Star
For his efforts, NHL Overtime (on Versus) honored Grabner as the #1 Star in the
NHL tonight even though he somehow was not selected in Montreal as one of the
game's three stars.
Ode to Trottier
The number 19 is royalty to the Isles, having been worn by Bryan Trottier. In
Trotts' honor, the Isles now have three players (Moulson, Tavares and Grabner)
who have each scored 19 goals – Tavares and Grabner also have three game point
streaks. Only four other teams have three players with at least 19 goals
(Dallas, Philadelphia, San Jose and Toronto); ten teams do not have a single
player with 19 goals.
Grabner Climbing the Rookie Leaderboard
With one-third of a season to play, Grabner has a chance to do something no
Islander rookie since Mike Bossy has done—score as many as 26 goals. David
Volek had 25 in 1988-89 and Trent Hunter had 25 in 2003-04. John Tavares had 24
last season. Bossy had a club rookie-record of 53 in 1977-78. Four rookies
have led the Isles in goals: Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73, Mike Bossy - 53 in
1977-78, Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski) and Kyle
Okposo-18 in 2008-09
Hit Parade
The Isles out-hit the Canadiens 24-14. Travis Hamonic led the way with six hits;
Hamonic played a career high 27:54. Matt Martin had 2 hits, giving him 198 hits
on the season.
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series, with each team winning twice; Montreal did
earn five points to the Isles' four. The win is the Isles 3rd in their last
nine trips to Montreal (3-6-0), however all three have been in either overtime
or a shootout. The Isles and Habs have completed their season series; the Isles
still have games remaining with the 13 other Eastern Conference teams.
Happy Anniversary
21 years ago today (February 10, 1990): Randy Wood scored in overtime as the
Isles rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Bruins in Boston Garden. Alan Kerr had
tied the game with 2:13 to play as the first place Islanders stretched their
unbeaten streak to five games and raised their record to 28-24-6.
All-time, the Isles are 6-6-3 on this date with their win tonight ending a
six-game winless streak on this date (0-3-3) stretching back to 2000.
Up Next
Friday, February 11 Pittsburgh @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles head home to face a team with as many injury problems as they do as
the Penguins visit Long Island for the team's first meeting since last week's
Brent Johnson- Rick DiPietro goalie fight. Noted pest Matt Cooke will miss the
game, his 2nd of a four-game suspension while Sidney Crosby remains out and
Evgeny Malkin will not see the ice until next season. The Penguins needed to
recall four players from the AHL to play in their win over Los Angeles on
Thursday; expect many of the call-ups to be in the line-up on Friday as well.
The Isles have not won in Pittsburgh since 2007 but have more than held their
own against the Penguins on Coliseum ice in recent years, going 3-0-2 in the
last five games and 9-3-4 in the last 16 Coliseum matchups.
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
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