The Skinny: Isles 5, Penguins 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
 
Game 77
Isles 5, Penguins 3
Josh Bailey scored two goals and added three assists as the Islanders completed
a sweep of the home-and-home series with Pittsburgh, defeating the Penguins 5-3
before a crowd of 12,108 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Islanders
have won three straight and are 5-1-0 in their last six games, enabling them to
regain NHL-.500 for the first time since they were 25-25-8.

The Scoring:
1st Period
11:07
EV NYI 16 M.REASONER(1) 2 M.STREIT(38) 12 J.BAILEY(16)
 
2nd
Period
8:37
SH PIT 9 P.DUPUIS(24) 27 C.ADAMS(12) 7 P.MARTIN(24)
16:36
PP NYI 21 K.OKPOSO(19) 12 J.BAILEY(17) 3 T.HAMONIC(20)
18:36
SH NYI 12 J.BAILEY(12) 29 J.PANDOLFO(2)
 
3rd
Period
5:52
EV NYI 21 K.OKPOSO(20) 12 J.BAILEY(18) 51 F.NIELSEN(26)
8:20
EV PIT 11 J.STAAL(24) 4 Z.MICHALEK(9) 7 P.MARTIN(25)
18:29
EV PIT 71 E.MALKIN(47) 48 T.KENNEDY(21) 24 M.COOKE(19)
19:55
EV-EN NYI 12 J.BAILEY(13) unassisted
 
The Skinny Josh Bailey had the
best offensive night of his career, with two goals and three assists; he also
extended his point streak to six games (3-9-12). Kyle Okposo scored for the fourth
straight game (matching a career high); he now leads the club with nine goals
in divisional games.  Pascal Dupuis
extended his point streak to 12 games (9-6-15), matching John Tavares and Eric
Staal for the longest streak in the NHL this season.  Evgeni Malkin now has an NHL-leading 100
points; it's the third time in his career that he has done that.  The Isles scored ten goals in the two games
without getting a point from the Moulson/Tavares/Parenteau line. Marty Reasoner
became the 321st player in Islander history to score a goal. Steve
Staios played in his 997th career game.  The
Isles allowed an extra-attacker goal for the second straight game (both
Islander regulation wins). Mark Streit recorded his 200th NHL
assist.

The Shots:
Isles               4-9-11=24  
Penguins        7-7-15=29  
 
As Seen on
MSG+
Josh Bailey had 6 goals and 8 assists in his first 60
games.  He is 7-10-17 in the last 16
games.
 
Ghost of
Niklas Andersson
 
Josh Bailey is the first Islander since Andersson to record five points
in a game at the Coliseum.  Andersson did
it on December 10, 1996 in an 8-2 win against Phoenix.  This was the 596th (regular season) home game
since then.  John Tavares was the last
Islander to have a 5-point game, doing so on March 16, 2010 in Vancouver. Five
opponents, including Sidney Crosby, have had a five-point game at the Coliseum
in the interim.

Wyatt, It's
Yours Again
Marty Reasoner scored his first goal as an Islander, in his 56th game with the club.  Wyatt Smith played
42 games for the Islanders in 2005-06 and did not score a goal – more games
than any forward who never scored.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 33-33-11 overall and are 16-16-6 at home.  It's the first time they have been at .500
this late in the season since 2006-07.  The
Isles have won 5-out-of-6 for the first time this season.
Pittsburgh is 47-24-6 overall and 20-15-4 on the road. It's the first
time the Penguins have lost two straight since a 6-game skid in
late-December/early-January.

Reversal of
Fortune
The Isles improve to 15-26 in games decided by two goals or more.  Pittsburgh is 30-15 in games decided by two
or more.

Divisional
Improvement
The Isles improved to 8-12-3 against Atlantic Division foes (with one
game to play).  They were 6-13-5 in
divisional games last season.  The Isles
are 25-21-8 in games outside the Atlantic Division.

Stopping
Sidney
The Isles held Sidney Crosby without a point for the 5th time in the last ten 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).  Crosby was held pointless in the two games;
the first time since 12/29/10-1/1/11 that he failed to register a point in
consecutive games that he has played.

Sweet 16
The line of Bailey-Okposo and Nielsen combined for eight points in each
of the last two games.  Bailey is 2-6-8,
Okposo is 3-1-4 and Nielsen is 2-2-4.

In the Nets
Al Montoya stopped 26 as he improved to 8-7-5 on season. 
Marc Andre Fleury made 19 saves for Pittsburgh
but falls to 41-16-14 on the season and 17-6-4 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).  The Isles scored 9 goals (and an
empty net ) on Fleury in the two games.

Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while Pittsburgh was 0-4. Each
team also scored a shorthanded goal. The Isles are 6-20 in the last six games
and 9-31 in the last nine games with the extra man; they have connected on the
power play in six straight games for the first time since a six-game stretch
October 15-October 27, 2010.  The Isles
have been shorthanded only 17 times in the last eight games and are 16-17 on
the PK in that stretch.  

They Said It
Josh Bailey: "The three of us seem to mesh well together.. we want
to finish the season strong."

They Tweeted
It
@JesseSpector:  Dan Bylsma on how
much his heart sank when Crosby got hit, and how relieved he was when Crosby
returned: "Significantly. And significantly."  (Crosby was hit in the face by a puck off the
stick of Dylan Reese early in the second period)

The Coach
"The thing about Josh right now is he is in constant motion…his feet
are moving…he's puck-protecting real well…and I think that line… complements
each other really well."

Leading Ice
Men
Mark Streit led the Isles with 23:42; Paul Martin led Pittsburgh with 27:07. 

In the Circle
The Islanders won 23 draws; the Penguins won 22.  John Tavares won 9 of 12 for the Isles; Jordan
Staal won 8 of 12 for the Pens.

Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit Pittsburgh 28:18.  NHL hit leader Matt Martin led the way with five
hits. Martin has a club record 354 hits (hits have only been recorded since
2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin.  He is two hits shy of the NHL record of 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 13 blocks, led by Travis Hamonic's three.  They lead the NHL with 1,288. 

Goals by
Period (Season)
Isles:           60-62-58-3 = 183
Opponents:
68-68-83-7 = 228
 
Third period goals include 10 empty net goals for the Islanders and an
NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.

All-time
Winners
The Islanders improve to five games over all-time NHL .500 (1346-1341-432
in 3,119 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 108 goals in their 33 wins (3.27 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)
·         Pascal Dupuis, 12 games (CURRENT)
·         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),
·         Bryan Trottier(13: 1975-76
through 1987-88) and
·         Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87).
 
Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 75 points (31-44-75)
on 183 Islander goals this season (41.0%).  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)
·         Ziggy Palffy 1997-98 41.04%
·         John Tavares 2011-12 40.98%
·         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
·         Pierre Turgeon1992-93 74
·         Pierre Turgeon1993-94 56
·         Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 51
·         Steve Thomas1992-93  50
·         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.

Captain, My Captain
 
Mark Streit has 44 points.  He
joins a select group of Islander defensemen to record 44 points at least three
times in his career, and the 1st to do so that frequently in nearly a
quarter-century:
·         Denis Potvin -13 times (1973-74 to 1987-88, except 1979-80
and 1986-87)
·         Tomas Jonsson - 5 times (1982-83 to 1987-88, except
1986-87)
·         Stefan Persson - 3 times (1977-78 to 1980-81,
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 38 assists this season, Streit also joins D. Potvin and Persson as
the only Isles defenders to have at least 3 seasons with at least 38 assists
(Potvin -10x, Persson - 3x)  He is three
assists shy of becoming the first Islander defenseman since Vladimir Malakhov
(47 in 1993-94) to record 41 assists in his season. Both Streit and Bryan
Berard have had a 40-assist season for the Isles.

Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 241 games
since joining the team.  He has now
passed 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 241
5. JP
Parise 240
 
Okposo in the
Groove
Kyle Okposo has scored 18 of his 20 goals since the start of
December.  Okposo has scored 55 of his 64
career goals from December-April.  It's
the first time in his career that Okposo has recorded 20 games in a season.

Missing Men
Milan Jurcina (healthy) and Evgeni Nabokov (injured) were scratched.
Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve.  The
Isles have lost 338 man-games to injury so far this season. Kevin Poulin served
as the back-up.

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 43 points, one shy of his career best.
·         Travis Hamonic: He has 20 assists, one 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: 20 goals is a new career high.
·         Josh Bailey has 13 goals, 18 assists and 31 points.  His career highs are 16-19-35.

List Time
Career Wins, Active
Goalies
1. Martin Brodeur653
2. Roberto Luongo337
3. Nikolai Khabibulin328
4. Evgeni Nabokov312
5. Miikka Kiprusoff310
 
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
22. Evgeni Nabokov312
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 116  
2
John Tavares 112  
3
Frans Nielsen 109  
4
Kyle Okposo   92  

 









Career Games as an
Islander (skaters)
54 Steve Webb 316  
55 Gerald Diduck 314  
55 Frans Nielsen 314  
57 Mikko Makela 307  

 
61 Gord Dineen 287  
62 Josh Bailey 286
63 Jeff Norton 282  
64 Steve Thomas 275  
65 Kyle Okposo 266  
66 Blake Comeau 261  
66 Andre St. Laurent 261  

 
75 Miroslav Satan 243  
76 Bryan Berard 242  
77 Matt Moulson 241  
78 JP Parise 240  
79 John Tavares 238  
80 Adrian Aucoin 235  
81 Mark Streit 233  
82 Darius Kasparaitis 232  
82 Denis Vaske 232  
 
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 163
50 Oleg Kvasha 158
51 Kyle Okposo 157
52 Alan Kerr 154



Season Series
Stats
The Penguins win the season series four games to two (8 points to 5),
however the Islanders close the series by sweeping the home-and-home.  It's the first time the Isles have swept a
home/home from Pittsburgh since November 25-26, 2006.  The Isles also scored five goals in
consecutive games against Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003.

Happy
Anniversary
30 years ago tonight (3-29-82):  On
the night that a freshman named Michael Jordan hit the game winning shot to
give UNC a national title the Islanders pounded the Rangers 7-3 at Madison
Square Garden.  Islander broadcaster
Barry Landers did the game on radio, and then rushed to the hospital to welcome
his only daughter to the world.
All-time, the Isles are 8-7-3 on this date, but this was their first
win since blasting the Bruins 8-2 in 1997.
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. Each team has nine games to play. Bridgeport hosts Springfield,
Portland and Manchester this weekend.
 
Up Next
SATURDAY,
MARCH 31st BOSTON AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 12:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders entertain the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins on
Saturday, as they look to go over NHL-.500 for the first time since October 20th,
and the first time this late in the season since 2007. The Bruins defeated the
Islanders 6-2 and 6-0 in November but the Islanders responded with a 3-2 win in
Beantown earlier this month.

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