The Skinny: Bruins 6, Isles 0

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 17
Bruins 6, Isles 0

Chris Kelly scored two goals and added one assist and Tim Thomas made 23 saves for his 28th career shutout as the Boston Bruins spoiled Ed Westfall night with a 6-0 victory over the Isles before 15,011 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  It was the eighth straight win for the Stanley Cup Champs.

The Scoring:
First Period:
·         7:08 EV BOS P.BERGERON(4) T.SEGUIN(10) B.MARCHAND(8)
·         12:24 PP BOS  N.HORTON(6) unassisted
·         18:45 EV BOS  C.KELLY(6) unassisted

Second Period: None

Third Period:
·         10:25 EV BOS A.FERENCE(1) J.CORVO(9) C.KELLY(6)
·         12:54 EV BOS C.KELLY(7) M.LUCIC(7) N.HORTON(7)
·         18:15 EV BOS Z.CHARA(2) B.MARCHAND(9) G.CAMPBELL(4)

6-0 Final.

The Skinny:
Rick DiPietro started for the Islanders but was replaced after 20 minutes, having allowed three goals on 13 shots.  Rookie Anders Nilsson made his NHL debut and played the final two periods.

Ed Westfall Night
The Islanders honored their first Captain and long-time broadcaster by
inducting him into the team's Hall of Fame.  You can see the ceremony here: http://video.islanders.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=136335

Home and Road
The Islanders are 5-9-3 overall and 5-5-1 at home. The Isles have been shutout four times at home this season after not being shut out at home all last season.
The Bruins are 11-7-0 overall and 3-2-0 on the road.  The Champs are 8-0-0 in November after having gone 3-7-0 in October.

In the Nets
DiPietro made 10 saves in his first start since November 5th.  His record falls to 2-2-2 for the season and 129-133-35 in his career.  Nilsson debuted with a perfect second period before allowing three goals in the third.  He finished with 14 saves.

Tim Thomas made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season as he improves to 8-4-0.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-1 on the power play while the Bruins were 1-5.   The Isles are 2-21 in the last eight games on the power play and 19-26 in the same stretch on the penalty kill.   The Islanders killed a 29 second 5-on-3; Ference's goal, while technically at even-strength, came before Andrew MacDonald had exited the penalty box.


They Said It
Eddie Westfall (to the Islander players) in his on-ice ceremony: "Trust the fans.  They'll help you get
there.  It can be done."

They Tweeted It
@BComptonNHL:  #Bruins have outscored opponents 41-14 during their winning streak, which is about to extended to 8 games.  (It later became 42-14)

The Crooked Numbers
Joe Corvo was +4 while Chris Kelly and Dennis Seidenberg were +3 for Boston.  Mark Streit was -5(first Isle to be -5 since Brendan Witt on 12-16-08 vs Washington) and Travis Hamonic was -3 for the Isles.

The Hit Leader
Matt Martin added 5 hits to regain his league lead over Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck.  Martin has 77 hits while Clutterbuck has 75. The Isles have played two fewer games than the Wild.

Leading Ice Men
Mark Streit led all players with 22:03.  Zdeno Chara led the Bruins with 21:58.

Third Periods
The Isles have been outscored 13-1 in the third period over the last six games (including three empty net goals against).  The Isles have been outscored 24-8 overall in the third period (18-6 if you exclude empty nets).  In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 29-27.

91 to Go
The Isles have scored 9,909 goals in their history (excluding 39 shootout winners), leaving the club 91 shy of 10,000.

Chasing .500 (from the Wrong Side)
The win improves the Islanders' all-time record to 1318-1317-424 in 3,059 games.   The Isles' all-time record has been .500 or better since they were 178-178-83 on January 16, 1978.  It's the third time in two seasons that the Isles have dropped to one game above all-time .500. They also did so last December 13th vs Nashville and on Tuesday vs the Rangers.

Still Searching
Blake Comeau and Mike Mottau are the only Islander regulars (besides Nino, who has played only three games) who have yet to record a point.

Wrong Side of History, I
The Isles have been shut-out four times in an 11-game home stretch for the first time since a 10-home game stretch in early 1973.

Wrong Side of History, II
The 6-0 loss matches the club record for the worst home shutout against the Isles, matching identical defeats to the Rangers and Flyers in 1973 and to Tampa Bay in 2001.

Wrong Side of History, III
The Isles have scored 35 goals in the first 17 games, which is their fewest goals thru 17 games in club history.  The Isles have scored 20 goals in their five wins (4.00 per game) and 15
goals in their other 12 games (0-9-3; 1.25 per game).

Fewest Goals,
First 17 Games
·         35 – 2011-12
·         36 – 1973-74 and 1999-2000
·         37 – 2010-11
·         38 – 1972-73 and 2000-2001

Four is a Magic Number
The Isles have won 13 straight home games in which they have scored at least 4 goals (including 1 in overtime), dating back to a 6-4 loss to Ottawa on January 11th.  They are 20-1 in their last 21 games when scoring at least 4 (including two in OT and three in SOs); the one loss in that stretch was in last season's finale in Philadelphia.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 of 68 (38%) face-offs.  John Tavares won 11 of 21 but the lost 32 of
the 47 face-offs he didn't take.

Nino Continues to Hit
Nino Niederreiter had five hits; he now has 13 in three games.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Kyle Okposo and Al Montoya (groin) were scratched. Rhett Rakhshani was moved from injured reserve and assigned to Bridgeport; Evgeni Nabokov was placed on IR, joining Mark Katic.  The Isles have lost 62 man-games to injury so far this season.

One Full Season
This was the 82nd game for Jack Capuano as Isles coach; he replaced Scott Gordon after 17 games last season.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 181 games since joining the team. Travis Hamonic has now played 79 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles. 

As Seen on MSG Plus
With Jiggs McDonald emceeing Ed Westfall's night, Howie Rose suggested that the duo call the 2nd period together, reuniting partners who worked together for 15 years (including the final three Stanley Cup campaigns).  Great video highlights supported the reunion, which was certainly a highlight of the evening for those watching at home.  Kudos to Howie for the suggestion and to Jiggs and Ed for their 40 minute ride down memory lane. 

Season Series Stats
The Bruins lead the season series two games to none (four points to zero), and have outscored the Isles 12-2.   The teams will next meet March 3rd in Boston.

Happy Anniversary
4 years ago tonight: November 19, 2007.   Ruslan Fedotenko and the late Josef Vasicek scored second period goals and Rick DiPietro made 18 saves for his 100th career win as the Islanders beat the Rangers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.

November 19th has traditionally been one of the most successful days on the calendar for the Isles.  Their loss tonight drops their record to 13-3-0 on this date and is their first-ever at the Coliseum (5-1-0).

On The Farm
Bridgeport lost in overtime to the Connecticut Whale on Friday and were beaten 4-1 on home-ice by Springfield on Saturday.  Saturday's loss ended David Ullstrom's seven-game goal-scoring streak, which matched Jeff Tambellini's club record.  Kevin Poulin was in the nets for both games.  The Sound Tigers are 8-7-2-0 and host Adirondack on Sunday afternoon.

 Up Next
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
Might Sidney Crosby make his season debut and long-awaited return on Monday night?  If he does, he will do so against the Islanders as the teams meet for the third time this season. 

The Penguins swept a home-and-home between the teams in late-October, blanking the Isles at the Coliseum before winning in a shootout in Pittsburgh.  The shootout was the game where DiPietro replaced Nabokov for only the shootout. The Isles are 0-10-2 in Pittsburgh since late 2007, with an overtime loss in October 2010 representing their other point.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982.
Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick