"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 65
Isles 3, Boston 2
John Tavares deflected home the winning goal with 4:39 to play and Evgeni Nabokov made 32 saves en route to being named the game's First Star as the Islanders defeated the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins 3-2 in front of 17,565 at TD Garden. The Isles head home with a record of 1-2-1 on their road trip, winning the only game that they allowed the opening goal. With the win, the Islanders climb within seven points of 8th place Winnipeg.
The Scoring:
First Period
15:10 PP BOS 17 M.LUCIC(22) 12 B.ROLSTON(6) 14 J.CORVO(20)
17:36 EV NYI 12 J.BAILEY(10) 51 F.NIELSEN(19) 41 D.ULLSTROM(3)
Second Period
15:35 PP NYI 26 M.MOULSON(28) 51 F.NIELSEN(20) 91 J.TAVARES(37)
Third Period
7:29 EV BOS 19 T.SEGUIN(22) 33 Z.CHARA(29) 46 D.KREJCI(29)
15:21 EV NYI 91 J.TAVARES(26) 26 M.MOULSON(28) 47 A.MACDONALD(12)
The Skinny: Josh Bailey scored his fourth goal in the last 3 games after having only six goals in his first 60 games. Frans Nielsen had 2 assists, giving him 4 in the last three games. Matt Moulson leads the team with 11 power play goals; both Moulson and John Tavares each have 20 power play points to share the team lead. John Tavares matched his career high with seven shots on goal. It's the 6th time this season and the 11th time in his career he has had 7 shots. The Bruins now have tri-goal leaders as Lucic and Seguin tie Marchand for the club lead (22). It's the Isles' first win in their last 4 trips to Boston and their second victory there since 2007 (2-7-2).
The Shots
Islanders: 10-7-8=25
Bruins: 12-15-7=34
Home and Road
The Islanders are 27-29-9 overall and are 13-15-4 on the road. The win snaps a 5-game road winless streak (0-4-1).
The Bruins are 38-22-3 overall and 19-12-2 at home. Boston is 4-5-2 during the day and 34-17-1 at night.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 32 saves, and regains NHL-.500, at 16-16-1. He is 4-4-1 in his career against Boston.
Tuukka Rask stopped 11 shots before leaving the game midway through the second period with a lower body injury – he did not accompany the Bruins on their trip to New York City. Tim Thomas suffered the defeat in relief, allowing 2 goals on 13 shots as he falls to 27-14-0 on the season.
Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 63 points (26-37-63) on 149 Islander goals this season (42.3%). No Islander since Zigmund Palffy has recorded points on over 40% of the team's goals in a complete season.
Don't Forget PA
With 59 points, Parenteau has points on 39.6% of the Islanders' goals this season. He has 44 assists – most by any Islander since Travis Green had 45 and Ziggy Palffy had 44 in 1995-96.
Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-3 on the power play while Boston was 1-5. The Isles are 2-18 in their last seven games with the extra man and have killed only 16 of 24 in the same span.
They Said It
Evgeni Nabokov: Any two points for us right now are important and this is no different. The next game is going to be important and then the game after that. We are in a position where every single game is important."
They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: "Andrew MacDonald gets 2nd assist on Tavares goal -- which means MacDonald touched the puck, which should have meant icing. Anyway. 3-2."
The Coach
"I thought we gave a great effort. The four lines generated some good things and I thought we were structurally sound defensively. Nabby shut the door on the PK and at the end of the game with the big save that he made."
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 22:55; Zdeno Chara led Boston with 26:14.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 33 draws; Boston won 40 – the Isles lost the majority of draws for the 11th time in 14 games. Marty Reasoner won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 17 of 26 for Boston.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit Boston 22-19. NHL hit leader Matt Martin had 8 hits, raising his total to 307, and breaking his own his club record of 299, set last season (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06). Martin leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. He is on a pace to have 387 hits, which would be the highest total of any NHL player since the lockout.
Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 13 blocks. They lead the NHL with 1,112. Travis Hamonic and Mark Eaton each had 3.
Goals by Period (Season)
Isles: 53-45-48-3 = 149
Opponents: 59-59-68-6 = 192
Third period goals include 8 empty net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.
Road Warrior
Josh Bailey now has four goals in three games. It's the first time since November 20-23, 2009 that he has scored in three straight games and the first time in his career that he has scored four goals in a three-game stretch. 27 of Bailey's 44 career goals have been scored on the road.
All-time Winners
The Islanders improve to 3 games over all-time NHL .500 (1340-1337-430 in 3,107 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.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 88 goals in their 27 wins (3.26 per game) and 62 goals in their other 38 games (0-29-9; 1.63 per game). In their 29 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 37 goals (1.28 per game).
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 184 career points; he is 36 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close.
Longest Point Streaks in NHL, Last 2 Seasons
· Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)
· John Tavares, 12 games (12/29/11-1/21/12)
· Ilya Kovalchuk 12 games (2/1/11-2/25/11)
Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 28 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 19 of them. He has now been on-ice for 52 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 35 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.
Three Different Leaders
Matt Moulson continues to lead the Isles in goals (28); PA Parenteau leads the Isles in assists (44); John Tavares leads the Isles in points (63).
25-25-25, 30-30-30?
Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy to have at least three consecutive 25-goal seasons. He is two goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; Palffy was also the last Islander to accomplish that feat. Moulson has 89 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the lockout. Moulson has opened the scoring ten times this season and the Isles are 9-1-0 when he does so. He is the first Islander with at least ten opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.
20-20-20 x 2
Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at least twenty goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2005-06. Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:
· Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78),
· Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79),
· Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87).
Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 229 games since joining the team. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Moulson is one of only five Islanders in the last thirty years to appear in 200 consecutive games:
· Matt Moulson 10/3/2009-CURRENT 229
· Richard Park 10/5/2006 – 2/18/2009 221
· Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220
· Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981- 1/12/1984 219
· Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215
Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.
Four other forwards: PA Parenteau, Matt Martin, Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islander defender to do so.
Missing Men
Michael Grabner (ill) and Dylan Reese were scratched as was Al Montoya (upper body injury). Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 309 man-games to injury so far this season. AHL Goalie of the Month Anders Nilsson served as the back-up.
Career Years
· Matt Moulson: 28 assists and 56 points are new career highs. He has 28 goals, three shy of his career best.
· PA Parenteau: 44 assists and 59 points are new career highs. He has 15 goals, five shy of his career best.
· John Tavares is 26-37-63; he is three goals, one assist and four points shy of career highs, all set last season.
· Frans Nielsen has 13 goals, matching a career-high set last year.
· Kyle Okposo has 14 goals, five shy of his career-high set in 2009-10.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
Most First Goals of Game (NHL This Season)
| 1 | Matt Moulson | 10 |
| 2 | Evander Kane | 9 |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos | 8 |
| 3 | Johan Franzen | 8 |
| 3 | Ilya Kovalchuk | 8 |
| 3 | Curtis Glencross | 8 |
Career Goals as an Islander
| 31 | Travis Green | 92 | ||
| 32 | Matt Moulson | 89 | ||
| 33 | Butch Goring | 87 | ||
| 34 | Tomas Jonsson | 84 | ||
| 35 | Wayne Merrick | 81 | ||
| 35 | Dave Scatchard | 81 | ||
| 37 | Marty McInnis | 79 | ||
| 38 | John Tavares | 79 | ||
| 40 | Miroslav Satan | 78 | ||
| Career Assists as an Islander – active players | ||||
| 1 | Mark Streit | 108 | ||
| 2 | John Tavares | 106 | ||
| 3 | Frans Nielsen | 103 | ||
| 4 | Kyle Okposo | 90 | ||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 56 | Mikko Makela | 307 | ||
| 57 | Gord Lane | 304 | ||
| 58 | Frans Nielsen | 302 | ||
| 59 | Arron Asham | 300 | ||
| 59 | Roman Hamrlik | 300 | ||
| 61 | Gord Dineen | 287 | ||
| 62 | Jeff Norton | 282 | ||
| 63 | Steve Thomas | 275 | ||
| 64 | Josh Bailey | 274 | ||
| 65 | Blake Comeau | 261 | ||
| 65 | Andre St. Laurent | 261 | ||
| 69 | Pierre Turgeon | 255 | ||
| 70 | Kyle Okposo | 254 | ||
| 71 | Jude Drouin | 250 | ||
| 81 | Zdeno Chara | 231 | ||
| 81 | Billy MacMillian | 231 | ||
| 83 | Matt Moulson | 229 | ||
| 84 | Chris Campoli | 228 | ||
| 85 | Bryan Smolinski | 227 | ||
| 86 | John Tavares | 226 | ||
| 87 | Michael Peca | 222 | ||
| 88 | Mark Streit | 221 | ||
| 89 | Bob Lorimer | 220 | ||
| 89 | Bryan McCabe | 220 | ||
Career Points as an Islander
| 38 | Jeff Norton | 188 |
| 39 | Lorne Henning | 184 |
| 39 | John Tavares | 184 |
| 41 | Randy Wood | 172 |
| 47 | Miro Satan | 166 |
| 48 | Oleg Kvasha | 158 |
| 49 | Matt Moulson | 157 |
| 50 | Alan Kerr | 154 |
| 51 | Roman Hamrlik | 153 |
| 51 | Frans Nielsen | 153 |
| 53 | Kyle Okposo | 148 |
| 54 | Michael Peca | 142 |
Season Series Stats
The Bruins lead the season series two games to one (and four points to 2). The teams will finish the season series on March 31th at the Coliseum. The Bruins have outscored the Isles 14-5 in the season series.
Happy Anniversary
28 years ago tonight (3-3-84): Pat Lafontaine, playing in his second NHL game, had the hat trick and added two assists as the Islanders pounded the Maple Leafs 11-6 at Maple Leaf Gardens. It's the only time in Islander history that they have scored 11 goals on the road; the 11 goals matched the club record set 12/20/1983 vs. Pittsburgh.
All-time, the Isles are 9-5-3 on this date, including a 9-3 win over Vancouver on Stick Night in 1973. The late Bob Cook had a hat trick in that game – the first one I ever attended.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers suffered a rare defeat Friday in Albany, losing 4-2. Bridgeport is 30-19-3-3 overall, having earned points in 20 of their last 22 games. Bridgeport plays in Providence at 4pm on Sunday.
Up Next
SUNDAY, MARCH 4th NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS 3:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 2:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 2:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders have never played three consecutive regular season games against the same opponent but that streak will end this week as the Isles play three games with New Jersey. This will be the first meeting of the teams since they traded one-goal road victories over Thanksgiving weekend. The Isles' win in New Jersey stopped a 5-game (0-3-2) Islander losing streak against the Devils.
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 January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick
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