"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 14
Canucks 4, Isles 1
Aaron Rome scored only 1:57 into play and later added two assists as Roberto Luongo won his 200th game with Vancouver as the Canucks defeated the Isles 4-1 before the 370th consecutive sellout of 18,860 at Rogers Arena. The Isles are 1-6-3 in their last ten games.
Behind to Start
For the fifth time in six games, the Islanders allowed the opposition to score first as Rome's backhander beat Evgeni Nabakov just 1:57 into play. It was the Canucks' first shot of the game – the 4th time in that span the opposition scored on their first shot. The Isles had a 7-5 shot edge at one point but the Canucks outshot the Isles 9-1 over the final 6 ½ periods.
Canucks Score Early in the 2nd, but Moulson Responds
Henrik Sedin scored from just inside the blue line through a screen to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead 34 seconds into the 2nd. The Canucks dominated the first half of the period, before Matt Moulson beat Luongo from just in front of Luongo at 15:09 to cut the deficit in half. The Canucks outshot the Isles 13-9 in the middle session.
Can't Beat Luongo
The Isles outshot Vancouver 12-9 in the third, but Cory Hodgson's power play goal and David Booth's empty netter were the only goals. 4-1 Final.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 4-7-3 overall and 0-4-2 on the road. The Isles are 0-7-2 in their last nine on the road, dating back to a 5-2 win in Tampa last March 22nd.
The Canucks are 9-8-1 overall and 4-2-1 at home.
Pacesetters
With two points in the first six road games, the Isles are 3 points behind last season's pace; with 11 points in 14 games, the Isles are one point ahead of last season's pace.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 32 saves but falls to 1-4-0 on the season despite a 2.86 GAA and a 91.2% save percentage.
Roberto Luongo made 24 saves for the Canucks as he improved to 7-5-1 on the season. He is 7-10-3 in his career against the Isles, who drafted him 4th overall in 1997.
Power Plays
The Islanders did not have a power play while the Canucks were 1-3. The Isles remain 8-45 on the power play and are 39-49 on the penalty kill this season. They are 1-12 in the last five games on the power play and 8-13 in the same stretch on the penalty kill.
It was the first time that the Isles did not have a power play since March 27, 2010 in Columbus. The Isles had earned at least a point (2-0-2) in the prior four games that they had been held without a power play dating back to a 4-2 loss in Boston in the final game of the 2000-01 season.
They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday For 4th time in the last 6 games, #Isles allow a goal on the first shot they face.
Head of the Class
John Tavares assisted on Moulson's goal for his 135th career point, tying Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. Tavares has scored 8 of the Islanders' 29 goals this season (27.6%), by far the highest percentage of a team's goals of any team in the NHL.
The Hit Leader
Matt Martin added 6 hits to regain the league lead from Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck, who had passed him earlier in the evening. Martin has 64 hits while Clutterbuck has 62. The Isles have played two fewer games than the Wild.
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led all players with 23:46. Sami Salo led the Canucks with 21:45.
Lots of Blocks
The teams combined to block 48 shots; the Isles blocked 27 (including five by Andrew MacDonald and four by Steve Staios); the Canucks blocked 21.
Lots of Empties
There has been an empty-net goal in seven of the first 14 games. The Isles have allowed five of them, matching Colorado for the highest total in the NHL.
Third Periods
The Isles were outscored 7-0 in the third period on the road trip. They have been outscored in the third period in every road game this season. The Isles have been outscored 18-7 overall in the third period (13-5 if you exclude empty nets).
Isles Match Jets, Again
The Isles played at the same time as their former neighbors, the Jets. Both teams lost. The last time they played at the same time was on December 3, 2009 when the Isles beat Atlanta and the Jets beat Buffalo. The Isles and Jets will both play again on Thursday.
First Loss to West
The loss was the first for the Isles in regulation time against a Western Conference opponent, dropping their record to 1-1-2. The Isles had gone 4-0-3 in their previous seven games against the Western Conference, dating back to a loss on January 9th to Chicago. The Isles will play their next eight games against the Eastern Conference.
97 to Go
The Isles have scored 9,903 goals in their history (excluding 39 shootout winners), leaving the club 97 shy of 10,000.
Still Searching
The Isles have two regular forwards (Blake Comeau and Jay Pandolfo) who have yet to record a point.
29 in 14
The Isles have scored 29 goals in the first 14 games; only Butch Goring's 1999-2000 club (26 goals in 14 games) scored fewer. The Isles have scored 16 goals in their four wins (4.00 per game) and 13 goals in their other ten games (0-7-3; 1.30 per game).
In the Circle
The Islanders rallied won 21 of 45 (47%) face-offs. Josh Bailey was the Isles' best, splitting 14 draws.
Missing Men
Milan Jurcina and Al Montoya were scratched. Nino Niederreiter completed his conditioning assignment with Bridgeport by scoring on a penalty shot. The Isles have two players on injured reserve: Rhett Rakhshani and Mark Katic. The Isles have lost 54 man-games to injury so far this season.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 178 games since joining the team. Moulson missed several minutes early in the game but later returned. Travis Hamonic has now played 76 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles. Henrik Sedin appeared in his 516th consecutive game for the Canucks.
Season Series Stats
The Canucks win the season series one game to none (two points to none). It was the Isles' first regulation loss against Vancouver since January 14, 2006; the Isles had gone 2-0-2 in the previous four.
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago tonight: November 13, 1979. Two words that bring a smile to every Islander fan of at least a certain age: Double Chili. The Islanders defeated the Rangers 10-5 at the Coliseum. In those days, the Isles needed six goals for Chili. They reached that mark early in the 2nd period. With a Wendy's executive in the House, "Double Chili" was announced after the eighth goal if the Isles reached ten goals. Denis Potvin (who Ranger fans never seemed to like) scored the Double Chili goal with 7:53 to play. It's one of only nine times that the Isles have scored ten goals in a game; all nine occurred in 1984 or earlier. Three of the 9 were against the Rangers.
Overall the Islanders are now 7-7-0 on this date.
On The Farm
Bridgeport won two out of three this weekend, all on the road, and improved to 8-6-1-0. The Sound Tigers are now just one point out of first place in the North Division. In addition to Niederreiter's three goals in three games, David Ullstrom also had three to take the team lead with 10. Justin DiBenedetto (9-4-13) continues to lead Bridgeport in points, while Casey Cizikas (3-8-11) and Tim Wallace (4-7-11) continue to contribute offensively; defenseman Dylan Reese also has seven assists. Anders Nilsson is off to a solid start in nets with a 5-2 record and a 2.86 GAA; his five wins rank 2nd among AHL rookies.
Up Next
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders return home to begin a three-game home stand (and a stretch of 5-out-of-6 at home) on Tuesday against the Rangers.
It's the second meeting of the season between the rivals; John Tavares had a hat trick in the Isles 4-2 victory back on October 15th. The Isles won the final meeting last season as well, and are looking for their first three-game win streak over the Rangers since 2007.
The Rangers have won six straight since a 3-3-3 start; their three regulation losses are the fewest in the NHL.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 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
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