"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 37
Isles 4, Carolina 3 (SO)
John Tavares had three assists, including yet another one for the highlight reels on the tying goal by Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen and PA Parenteau scored shootout goals as the Islanders rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in front of 13,828 at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
The Scoring:
1st Period
03:40NYI PPG - Matt Moulson (18) - ASST: J. Tavares (19) AND F. Nielsen (13)
04:11CAR Anthony Stewart (6) - ASST: J. Harrison (10) AND A. Nodl (3)
2nd Period
03:13CAR Brandon Sutter (9) - ASST: D. Bowman (3)
3rd Period
04:50NYI PPG - Frans Nielsen (6) - ASST: M. Streit (17) AND J. Tavares (20)
15:46CAR Chad LaRose (10) - ASST: B. Sutter (7)
18:30NYI Kyle Okposo (7) - ASST: J. Tavares (21) AND T. Hamonic (9)
The Shootout:
Isles Parenteau (G), Nielsen (G), Okposo (NG) Carolina Jokinen (G), Staal (NG), LaRose (NG)
The Skinny:
Tavares remains white-hot. He has two goals and five assists in his last three games (all multi-point games). Tavares regained the team point lead with 34; he is 4 assists behind PA Parenteau's team lead. Tavares and Parenteau each have two 3-assist games this season. Tavares/Nielsen/Okposo each have three-game point streaks. Jokinen's shootout tally was his 29th; he has scored the most shootout goals in NHL history. It's the first time the Isles have won this season after trailing after two periods (1-15-2). The Isles improve to 11-3-3 when scoring first.
The Shots
The Canes outshot the Islanders 17-13 in the first period and 10-6 in the second period but the Islanders rebounded to outshoot Carolina 11-10 in the third period and 6-3 in overtime. For the game, Carolina outshot the Isles 40-36.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 14-17-6 overall and are 6-8-3 on the road. The Isles have won three straight games for the first time since October 10-13-15. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 road games, after going 0-5-2 in their first seven away from home. It's the first time that they have earned at least 13 points over a span of 10 road games since going 6-2-2 from 12/21/07-1/22/08.
The Hurricanes are 13-21-7 overall and 9-10-3 at home. The SOL ends a three-game Hurricane home winning streak.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves as he recorded his third straight win for the first time since ending his Sharks career with three straight victories. Nabakov, making his sixth straight start, is now 5-8-0 on the season. The Cane Killer is 7-1-1 in his career against Carolina.
Cam Ward made 33 saves for the Canes.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 2-2 on the power play; the Hurricanes were 0-1. The Isles are 7-15 on the power play over the last six games after going just 1-22 in the previous seven games.
The Isles have killed 14-15 (93.3%) over the last eight games; it is the fewest times that they have been shorthanded in an 8-game stretch since at least the mid-1980's.
It's the first time since Opening Night that the Canes have allowed two power play goals in a home game.
2 to 300
Evgeni Nabokov records his 298th career win. He is just two wins shy of becoming the 26th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins. Among current NHL goalies, only Martin Brodeur, Nikolai Khabibulin and Roberto Luongo have more career wins.
They Said It
John Tavares: "Franzie's goal was big… he did a good job bearing down and putting it in."
They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: "I think this Tavares kid has a decent future ahead of him... #Isles"
The Coach on Tavares
"Ever since I've been with the Islanders, he's a guy that's been improving every day, but right now he's really taken this team on his back. His strength on the puck, that's the big thing, his puck protection. He's got the ability to hold the puck a little extra to make plays that he's making."
Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 24:47, four seconds more than Travis Hamonic; Tim Gleason led Carolina with 24:49.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 29 draws; Carolina won 40. Marty Reasoner was the Isles' best, winning six of 9.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit Carolina 25-19. Travis Hamonic had seven hits while Matt Martin had 5. Martin leads the NHL with 162 hits.
Third Periods
The Isles outscored Carolina 2-1 in the third period; they have outscored the opposition 4-1 in the last three third periods. The Isles have been outscored 42-23 overall in the third period (32-20 excluding empty nets); the 23 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period. In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 68-62.
Carolina has allowed 60 third period goals – eight more than any other team in the NHL.
41 to Go
The Isles have scored 9,959 goals in their history (excluding 42 shootout winners), leaving the club 41 shy of 10,000.
Two Over .500
The Islanders improve to two games over all-time NHL .500 (1327-1325-427 in 3,079 games). The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.
Good Time to Get Going
This was the 3rd game of a five-game stretch against teams currently not holding a playoff spot (and the Isles are 3-0-0). This was the second of three consecutive games against a team that is currently in last place in its division.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 47 goals over the last 17 games (9-6-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2). The Isles have scored 44 goals in their 13 wins (3.39 per game) and 37 goals in their other 23 games (0-17-6; 1.61 per game). In their 17 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 21 goals (1.24 per game).
Head of the Class
John Tavares had three points, giving him seven points over the last three games. He now has 155 career points; he is nine points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. (Duchene suffered a knee injury on Thursday and is expected to miss the next month.)
Shootout Specialist
Frans Nielsen converted his third consecutive shootout attempt. Nielsen is 19-32 in career shootout attempts (59.4%). Seven of his shootout goals have been game-deciding goals. Nielsen ranks #1 in NHL history among skaters that have attempted more than 10 shootout attempts with his 59.4% success rate.
Shootout Specialist II
PA Parenteau is now 7-14 in his career in the shootout (50.0%). He has scored four game-deciding goals.
Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 18 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 12 of them. He has now been on-ice for 42 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 28 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. Moulson is now 12 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.
On The Road, and Early
Matt Moulson's goal was his 12th on the road -- only Marian Gaborik (13) and Radek Vrbata (13) have more. It is also the sixth time he has scored the first goal of the game; only Evander Kane (7) has more. Among Islanders, Michael Grabner is second in road goals (5); no other Islander has scored first more than twice. 19 of Moulson's 79 goals as an Islander have been the first goal of a game.
Missing Men
Al Montoya (concussion) and Mike Mottau (upper body injury) were scratched. David Ullstrom, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 180 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the sixth straight game.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 201 games since joining the team. He is the 93rd skater in Islander history to appear in 200 games. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander since Richard Park played in 221 games from October 2006- February 2009. Travis Hamonic has now played 99 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Goals, Active Players
Career Goals as an Islander
34
|
Wayne Merrick
|
81
|
34
|
Dave Scatchard
|
81
|
36
|
Marty McInnis
|
79
|
36
|
Matt Moulson
|
79
|
38
|
Miroslav Satan
|
78
|
42
|
Alan Kerr
|
69
|
43
|
Brad Isbister
|
67
|
44
|
John Tavares
|
66
|
45
|
Jude Drouin
|
64
|
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
61
|
Jeff Norton
|
282
|
62
|
Steve Thomas
|
275
|
63
|
Frans Nielsen
|
274
|
68
|
Pierre Turgeon
|
255
|
69
|
Jude Drouin
|
250
|
70
|
Josh Bailey
|
248
|
71
|
Brendan Witt
|
247
|
71
|
Brad Isbister
|
247
|
73
|
Sean Bergenheim
|
246
|
91
|
Tom Fitzgerald
|
205
|
92
|
Matt Moulson
|
201
|
93
|
Billy Carroll
|
200
|
94
|
Ralph Stewart
|
199
|
95
|
John Tavares
|
198
|
96
|
Mark Streit
|
193
|
97
|
Tom Kurvers
|
192
|
97
|
Todd Bertuzzi
|
192
|
Career Points as an Islander
46
|
Miroslav Satan
|
166
|
47
|
Oleg Kvasha
|
156
|
48
|
John Tavares
|
155
|
48
|
Alan Kerr
|
154
|
50
|
Roman Hamrlik
|
153
|
51
|
Michael Peca
|
142
|
52
|
Dave Lewis
|
141
|
53
|
Robert Reichel
|
140
|
54
|
Frans Nielsen
|
139
|
54
|
Bryan Smolinski
|
139
|
Season Series Stats
The Islanders lead the season series one game to none (and two points to one). The Isles and Canes will play three times in January and then conclude their season series on February 18th.
Carolina has earned at least a point in thirteen straight games against the Isles (10-0-3); the Isles win tonight ends a 6-game Cane winning streak against the Isles.
Where Have I Heard That Name Before?
Rookie Carolina Head Coach Kirk Muller is 5-8-3 in his first sixteen games behind the Carolina bench.
Happy Anniversary
9 years ago tonight (1-3-02): Mark Parrish recorded his third (and final) career hat trick as an Islander as the Isles pounded the Bruins 8-4 at the Coliseum.
Overall, the Isles are 7-9-3 on this date, having gone 4-1-2 in the last seven.
As Seen on MSG+
Highest Point Percentage vs. Isles –minimum 15 starts
Cam Ward 14-2-2 .833 (updated to include this game)
Marty Biron 21-4-1 .827
MA Fleury 17-4-4 .760
Ed Belfour 17-4-6 .741
Ken Dryden 13-4-2 .737
Jocelyn Thibault 12-3-4 .737
On The Farm
Kevin Poulin made 28 saves as the Sound Tigers got 2012 off to a good start with a 4-0 win over Worcester on Monday. Bridgeport is 13-17-3-1 on the season. The Sound Tigers begin a four-game road trip in Manchester, NH on Wednesday.
Up Next
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6th ISLANDERS AT ANAHEIM 10:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 9:45pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 9:45pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The road trip continues on Friday as the Islanders search for their first four-game winning streak since February as they head to the Pond and face the Ducks. The teams did not play at all in calendar year 2011; it will be the first meeting of the squads since an Islander 5-3 win on December 16, 2010 jump-started the Islanders to a solid three-month run.
The Isles played twice in Anaheim in 2010, and lost both games by a single goal (including once in overtime). Those are the only Islander games in Anaheim since Mike York was credited with the shootout winner in 5-4 win on October 11, 2006 – the first win as an Islander coach for Ted Nolan.
While the Isles have not faced the Ducks this season, they have faced their coach. The Isles rallied for a 5-3 win over the Caps on November 5th at the Coliseum. Just over two weeks later, Bruce Boudreau was replaced as Capitals coach.
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 January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick
2 comments:
A question about +/- that I hope you can clarify. Last night, they showed a stat in the post-game that JT was -1 for the game despite his 3 assists. How is that possible in a 4-3 SO win? He was obviously on the ice for all 3 Isles goals, which should make him +3 at that point. Even if he was on the ice for all 3 Canes goals, wouldn't that imply a minimum +/- of 0?
You don't get a plus if you are on ice for a power play goal (which 2 of the Isles goals were). So he was +1 for the Isles third goal, and was on for the last two Carolina goals.
One of the most dominating -1's I've ever seen. :)
Thanks for reading-and for commenting.
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