"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 76
Isles 5, Penguins 3
Frans Nielsen scored two goals and added an assists as the Islanders finally won in Pittsburgh, defeating the Penguins 5-3 before a crowd of 18,588 at Consol Energy Center. The win ends a 13-game Islander winless streak in Pittsburgh (0-11-2) and is their first ever at Consol. The Islanders finish the road trip 4-1-0 and improve to .500 on the road (17-17-5).
The Scoring:
1st Period
3:12 EV NYI 51 F.NIELSEN(16) 42 D.REESE(4) 12 J.BAILEY(13)
19:55 EV NYI 40 M.GRABNER(17) 51 F.NIELSEN(25)
2nd Period
1:42 EV PIT 48 T.KENNEDY(10) 9 P.DUPUIS(28) 37 B.STRAIT(1)
4:10 EV PIT 18 J.NEAL(36) 14 C.KUNITZ(31) 71 E.MALKIN(52)
12:48 EV NYI 21 K.OKPOSO(18) unassisted
15:20 PP NYI 41 D.ULLSTROM(4) 12 J.BAILEY(14) 21 K.OKPOSO(21)
18:08 EV NYI 51 F.NIELSEN(17) 12 J.BAILEY(15) 42 D.REESE(5)
3rd Period
15:42 PP PIT 18 J.NEAL(37) 71 E.MALKIN(53) 26 S.SULLIVAN(29)
The Skinny Josh Bailey had his first career three assist game and extended his point streak to five games (1-6-7). Steve Staios played in his 996th career game. Kyle Okposo scored for the third straight game; he has 7 goals in divisional games, tying Moulson/Tavares for the club lead. Frans Nielsen was +4 for the first time in his career and is now +2 in divisional games this season. Pascal Dupuis extended his point streak to 11 games (8-6-14). Evgeni Malkin now has an NHL-leading 99 points. It's the second time this season that the Isles have scored five goals in a game without Moulson or Tavares scoring. The Penguins had 54 shots – most vs. Isles since Toronto had 61 on 11/23/2009. Pittsburgh-native Dylan Reese had two assists; his 2nd career multi-point game. The Penguins have sold out 248 consecutive games (213 regular season and 35 playoffs). James Neal is 7-9-16 in his last 11 games; he had 12 shots on goal. Penguins defensemen Brian Strait recorded his first NHL point.
The Shots:
Isles 11-7-7=25
Penguins 17-15-22=54
As Seen on MSG+
The 54 shots is one shy of the Penguins' club record against the Isles. On December 13, 1972, Pittsburgh had 55 shots against the Isles.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 32-33-11 overall and are 17-17-5 on the road. It's the first time they have been at .500 on the road this late in the season since 2006-07. They earned 8 points on their five-game road trip, most since going 3-2-2 on a seven game trip in November 2009.
Pittsburgh is 47-23-6 overall and 27-9-2 at home. The Penguins had won 10 straight at home, falling one short of the club record (11) set in 1991. It's only the Penguins' second regulation loss in their last 17 games (14-2-1).
Reversal of Fortune
The Isles improve to 14-26 in games decided by two goals or more. Pittsburgh is 30-14 in games decided by two or more.
Divisional Improvement
The Isles improved to 7-12-3 against Atlantic Division foes (with two games to play). They were 6-13-5 in divisional games last season.
Stopping Sidney
The Isles held Sidney Crosby without a point for the 4th time in the last nine games he has played against them. In the other five though, Crosby is 7-13-20 against the Isles (with one 6-point, one 5-point, and two 4-point games).
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 30 of 32 shots through two periods and improves to 19-18-3 on the season. Al Montoya stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced in the third period.
Marc Andre Fleury made 13 saves for Pittsburgh; he is now 41-15-14 on the season and 17-5-4 in his career against the Islanders. Fleury has the fifth highest total of career wins against the Isles among active goalies (Brodeur 49, Lundqvist 24, Biron 21, Theodore 18, Fleury 17). Brad Thiessen stopped all seven Islander shots in the third.
Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 75 points (31-44-75) on 178 Islander goals this season (42.1%). Zigmund Palffy (41.0% in 1997-98) is the only Islander to record points on over 40% of the team's goals in a complete season. Tavares is the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record 75 points in a season.
Highest Percentage of Team's Points by Club Scoring Leader (Isles history)
| · John Tavares | 2011-12 | 42.1% |
| · Ziggy Palffy | 1997-98 | 41.0% |
| · Pierre Turgeon | 1992-93 | 39.4% |
| · Mike Bossy | 1982-83 | 39.1% |
| · Mike Bossy | 1981-82 | 38.2% |
| | | |
Most Points, Islanders, Since 1993-94
| · Pierre Turgeon | 1993-94 | 94 |
| · Ziggy Palffy | 1996-97 | 90 |
| · Ziggy Palffy | 1997-98 | 87 |
| · Ziggy Palffy | 1995-96 | 87 |
| · John Tavares | 2011-12 | 75 |
| · Alexei Yashin | 2001-02 | 75 |
| · Steve Thomas | 1993-94 | 75 |
Royalty
Tavares is the fourth player in Islander history to record at least 75 points at age 21 or younger. The other three have banners hanging at the Coliseum: Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin.
Parenteau's Helping Hands
PA Parenteau has 49 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had in 1993-94. He now has 65 points on the season. His next assist will make him the first Islander to reach 50 in the last eighteen seasons.
Most Assists, Islanders, Since 1989-90
· Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 51
· PA Parenteau 2011-12 49
· Pierre Turgeon 1991-92 49
· Jeff Norton 1989-90 49
64
The Isles now have three players with at least 64 points (Tavares, Moulson, Parenteau). It's the first time since 1993-94 that the Isles have at least three players with 64 points.
Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while Pittsburgh was 1-3. The Isles are 5-16 in the last five games and 8-27 in the last eight games with the extra man; they have connected on the power play in five straight games for the first time since a six-game stretch October 15-October 27, 2010. The Isles have been shorthanded only 13 times in the last seven games and are 12-13 on the PK in that stretch. The Isles are now 25-110 with the power play on the road this season (22.7%; 2nd in NHL).
They Said It
Kyle Okposo: "We got a couple of good breaks…came down the wing...and fired it home."
They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: "Josh Bailey with his first 3-assist game of his career. Now 4-7-11 in last 13 games."
The Coach
On how the Isles reacted after Pittsburgh erased a 2-0 Isles lead: "We just got back to basics…and we relaxed a bit."
Leading Ice Men
Mark Streit led the Isles with 24:12; Evgeni Malkin led Pittsburgh with 24:11.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 24 draws; the Penguins won 40. John Tavares won 9 of 17 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 15 of 21 for the Pens.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 23-13. NHL hit leader Matt Martin had three hits and now has a club record 349 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09. Martin has also recorded 13 of the team's 21 fighting majors this season.
Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 19 blocks, led by Steve Staios' five. They lead the NHL with 1,275.
Goals by Period (Season)
Isles: 59-60-56-3 = 178
Opponents: 68-67-81-7 = 223
Third period goals include 9 empty net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.
All-time Winners
The Islanders improve to four games over all-time NHL .500 (1345-1341-432 in 3,118 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 103 goals in their 32 wins (3.22 per game) and 76 goals in their other 44 games (0-33-11; 1.72 per game). In their 33 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 44 goals (1.33 per game).
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 196 career points; he is 47 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player in that draft.
Longest Point Streaks in NHL, Last 2 Seasons
· Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)
· Eric Staal, 12 games (2/8/12-3/6/12)
· 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 34 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 22 of them. He has now been on-ice for 58 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 38 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.
101 NHL Goals
Moulson has 101 career goals (95 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected ahead of Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 18 have more goals.
Road Warrior
22 of Moulson's 34 goals have come on the road. Moulson is tied with Marian Gaborik and Steven Stamkos for the NHL lead in this department.
Powerful
14 of Moulson's goals have come on the power play. Only James Neal (16) and Scott Hartnell (16) have more. Moulson is the first Islander since Jason Blake (14 in 2006-07) to have 14 power play goals in a season.
30-30-30
Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98) to have at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons. Only 4 players in Islander history have had more thirty goal seasons: Trottier (11), Bossy (10), Gillies (6), LaFontaine (6). Moulson has 95 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the lockout. Moulson has opened the scoring an NHL-leading 11 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-1 when he does so. He is the first Islander with at least 11 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.
34-Goal Club
Moulson records the 50th 34-goal season in Islander history, matching Michael Grabner's total from last season. The last Islander to score at least 35 was Jason Blake, who tallied 40 goals in 2006-07. With two more goals, Moulson will be only the second Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1997-98) to record at least 36 goals.
30-30
Tavares and Moulson give the Isles two 30-goal scorers for the second straight season (Grabner 34, Moulson 31 last year). Prior to last year, the Isles had not had two 30-goal scorers since 2001-02 (Alexei Yashin & Mark Parrish). It's the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94 that the Isles have had multiple 30-goal scorers in consecutive seasons (4 in both 92-93 and 93-94).
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).
Captain, My Captain
Mark Streit has 43 points. He joins a select group of Islander defensemen to record 40 points at least three times in his career, and the 1st to do so that frequently in nearly a quarter-century:
· Denis Potvin -15 times (1973-74 to 1987-88)
· Tomas Jonsson - 5 times (1982-83 to 1987-88, except 1986-87)
· Stefan Persson - 4 times (1977-78 to 1981-82, except 1979-80)
Only three other Islander defenders have recorded 40 points in the 2000s: Tom Poti (2006-07), Adrian Aucoin (2003-04) and Roman Hamrlik (2000-01 and 2002-03).
With 37 assists this season, Streit also joins D. Potvin and Persson as the only Isles defenders to have at least 3 seasons with at least 37 assists (Potvin -12x, Persson - 4x)
Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 240 games since joining the team, tying JP Parise for the fourth longest streak in club history. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.
Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islander defender to do so. The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Denis Potvin 262
4. Matt Moulson 240
4. JP Parise 240
Okposo in the Groove
Kyle Okposo has scored 16 of his 18 goals since the start of December. Okposo has scored 53 of his 62 career goals from December-April.
Missing Men
Mark Eaton (healthy) and Nino Niederreiter (healthy) were scratched. Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 336 man-games to injury so far this season.
Career Years
· Matt Moulson: 34 goals, 30 assists and 64 points are new career highs.
· PA Parenteau: 49 assists and 65 points are new career highs. He has 16 goals, four shy of his career best.
· John Tavares: 32 goals, 43 assists and 75 points are new career highs.
· Frans Nielsen: 17 goals are a new career-high. He has 42 points, two shy of his career best.
· Travis Hamonic: He has 19 assists, two shy of a career high.
· Andrew MacDonald: 5 goals are a new career-high.
· Matt Martin: 7 goals are a new career high. He has 14 points, two shy of his career best.
· Kyle Okposo: He has 18 goals, one shy of a career high.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 310
Most First Goals of Game (NHL This Season)
| 1 | Matt Moulson | 11 |
| 1 | Ilya Kovalchuk | 11 |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos | 10 |
Career Goals as an Islander
| 25 | Trent Hunter | 99 | |||||
| 26 | Matt Moulson | 95 | |||||
| 26 | Mikko Makela | 95 | |||||
| 26 | David Volek | 95 | |||||
| 29 | Randy Wood | 94 | |||||
| 32 | Travis Green | 92 | |||||
| 33 | Butch Goring | 87 | |||||
| 34 | Tomas Jonsson | 84 | |||||
| 34 | John Tavares | 84 | |||||
| 36 | Wayne Merrick | 81 | |||||
| 36 | Dave Scatchard | 81 | |||||
| Career Assists as an Islander – active players | |||||||
| 1 | Mark Streit | 115 | |||||
| 2 | John Tavares | 112 | |||||
| 3 | Frans Nielsen | 108 | |||||
| 4 | Kyle Okposo | 92 | |||||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 54 | Steve Webb | 316 | |
| 55 | Gerald Diduck | 314 | |
| 56 | Frans Nielsen | 313 | |
| 57 | Mikko Makela | 307 | |
| 61 | Gord Dineen | 287 | |
| 62 | Josh Bailey | 285 | |
| 63 | Jeff Norton | 282 | |
| 64 | Steve Thomas | 275 | |
| 65 | Kyle Okposo | 265 | |
| 66 | Blake Comeau | 261 | |
| 66 | Andre St. Laurent | 261 | |
| 75 | Miroslav Satan | 243 | |
| 76 | Bryan Berard | 242 | |
| 77 | JP Parise | 240 | |
| 77 | Matt Moulson | 240 | |
| 79 | John Tavares | 237 | |
| 80 | Adrian Aucoin | 235 | |
| 81 | Mark Streit | 232 | |
| 81 | Darius Kasparaitis | 232 | |
| 81 | Denis Vaske | 232 | |
| 84 | Zdeno Chara | 231 | |
| 84 | Billy MacMillian | 231 | |
Career Points as an Islander
| 34 | Anders Kallur | 211 |
| 35 | Marty McInnis | 198 |
| 36 | Wayne Merrick | 197 |
| 37 | John Tavares | 196 |
| 38 | Butch Goring | 195 |
| 45 | Jude Drouin | 169 |
| 46 | Dave Scatchard | 168 |
| 47 | Miroslav Satan | 166 |
| 48 | Matt Moulson | 165 |
| 49 | Frans Nielsen | 162 |
| 50 | Oleg Kvasha | 158 |
| 51 | Kyle Okposo | 155 |
| 52 | Alan Kerr | 154 |
Season Series Stats
The Penguins lead the season series four games to one (8 points to 3). The season series concludes with the back-end of the home-and-home on Thursday.
Happy Anniversary
3 years ago tonight (3-27-09): Joey MacDonald made 42 saves at the Islanders blanked Detroit 2-0 at Joe Lewis Arena.
All-time, the Isles are 9-8-2 on this date, including three straight wins.
On The Farm
Justin DiBenedetto scored two power play goals Tuesday as the Sound Tigers rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits to defeat the Worcester Sharks 5-4 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers are 34-24-3-6 overall, and have won the first two games of their eight game homestand. Bridgeport has 77 points, are tied with Connecticut for the division lead, and with one more victory, hold the tie-breaker. Bridgeport hosts Springfield, Portland and Manchester this weekend.
Up Next
THURSDAY, MARCH 29th PITTSBURGH 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 look for a sweep of the home-and-home series and look to get back to .500 when they host the Penguins on Thursday. The Isles will be looking for consecutive wins against the Penguins for the first time since winning three straight games in 2007; they last swept a home-and-home from the Penguins on November 25-26, 1986.
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
1 comment:
The Isles have won their recent games in Toronto and Pittsburgh with Pat Flatley as a second color man. Do you have any stats with/without Flats?
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