"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 4
Boston 4, Isles 2
Keith Aucoin scored twice to build a 2-1 Islander lead, but the Boston Bruins stormed back for three unanswered goals and defeated the Islanders 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at the TD North Garden.
The Scoring:
1st Period
04:52 BOS S. Thornton (1) Wrist - ASST: D. Paille (1) AND D. Hamilton (2) 1 - 0 BOS
11:13 NYI K. Aucoin (2) Snap - ASST: C. McDonald (2) AND D. Ullstrom (2) 1 - 1 TIE
2nd Period
09:50 NYI K. Aucoin (3) Slap - ASST: NONE 2 - 1 NYI
13:42 BOS G. Campbell (1) Wrist - ASST: D. Krejci (3) AND C. Kelly (1) 2 - 2 TIE
3rd Period
07:07 BOS Z. Chara (1) Snap - ASST: M. Lucic (1) AND N. Horton (1) 3 - 2 BOS
13:33 BOS P. Bergeron (1) Wrist - ASST: B. Marchand (1) AND D. Hamilton (3) 4 - 2 BOS
The Skinny: Zdeno Chara has 10 goals in 39 career games against the Isles. Aucoin, who is now tied with Michael Grabner for the club lead in goals, recorded the first 2-goal game of his NHL career. Aucoin and Ullstrom each extended their point streaks to three straight games, while Grabner's season-starting streak ended at 3. Bruin rookie Dougie Hamilton had two assists in the penultimate game before the Bruins need to decide whether to return him to Juniors. Matt Moulson played in his 250th Islander game, all consecutively. Of the 27 goals scored in Islander games this season, 13 have been scored in the third period (6 for, 7 against). Boston is 32-12-2 over the last two seasons when they are assessed a fighting penalty.
The Shots:
Isles 11-9-6=26
Bruins 14-7-6=27
Home and Road
The Islanders are 2-2-0 overall, 1-1-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.
Boston is 3-0-1 overall, 3-0-0 at home and 0-0-1 on the road.
In the Nets
Rick DiPietro appeared in his first game since December 3, 2011, and made 23 saves. DiPietro is now 6-9-3 in his career against Boston, but has lost six straight to the Bruins.
Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and improved to 3-0-1 on the season.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-3 on the power play while Boston was also 0-3.
Both teams remain perfect on the penalty kill this season. The Isles have killed all 13 opponent power plays this season. It's only the second time in the last 25 seasons (2003 is the other) that the Islanders have not allowed a PP goal over the first four games.
They Said It
Rick DiPietro: "I think I hate losing more than I like winning."
They Tweeted It
@RealJackEdwards ""Dougie Dougie" the enduring memory of the night as Bruins fans chant the rookie's name. 2 Assists for the kid"
The Coach
"I thought Ricky played a good game in the net. I thought the PK was pretty good." "We need all 20 guys to show up…and I didn't see that tonight."
TRIP-TIK
This was the second game of a 5-game road trip. The Isles are 1-1-0 on the trip, and will make stops in Winnipeg, Pittsburgh and New Jersey before returning to the Coliseum on Super Bowl Sunday. The Isles will also play five consecutive road games to end the regular season.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 206 career points; he is 52 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.
Friends, Friends, Friends
Matt Moulson has two goals this season; John Tavares earned an assist on the first one. Tavares has now been on-ice for 62 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 41 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.
105 NHL Goals
Moulson has 105 career goals (99 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected ahead of Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 17 have more goals.
Leading Ice Men
Mark Streit led the Isles with 25:18 but was -3; Zdeno Chara led Boston with 25:33.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 23 draws; the Bruins won 36. Keith Aucoin won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 14 of 19 for Boston.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 35-27. Colin McDonald led the Islanders with seven hits. There was one fight (Carkner-Lucic) in the game, raising the Isles' season total to three.
All-time Winners
With the loss, the Islanders are now two games over all-time NHL .500 (1349-1347-432 in 3,128 games). The Isles twice last season fell one game below .500. Prior to that, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.
Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 250 games since joining the team. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era and the 4th longest in club history. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.
Three other Islanders, Frans Nielsen, John Tavares and Mark Streit, also played in every game last season. Tavares extended his streak to 163 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 86.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Denis Potvin 262
4. Matt Moulson 250
Missing Men
Eric Boulton, Radek Martinek and Thomas Hickey were scratched. Josh Bailey and Jesse Joensuu remain suspended after suffering injuries in Europe. Lubomir Visnovsky has not yet reported.
As Seen on MSG+
Boston Coach Claude Julien won his 231st game behind the Bruin bench, tying Don Cherry for third place on the all-time Bruin list.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 311
Career Goals as an Islander
| 25 | Trent Hunter | 99 | |||||
| 25 | Matt Moulson | 99 | |||||
| 27 | Mikko Makela | 95 | |||||
| 27 | David Volek | 95 | |||||
| 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 | John Tavares 122 | | |||||
| 2 | Mark Streit 119 | | |||||
| 3 | Frans Nielsen 115 | | |||||
| 4 | Kyle Okposo 94 | | |||||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 49 | Eric Cairns | 327 | |
| 50 | Alan Kerr | 326 | |
| 51 | Frans Nielsen | 323 | |
| 52 | Brad Dalgarno | 321 | |
| 59 | Arron Asham | 300 | |
| 59 | Roman Hamrlik | 300 | |
| 61 | Josh Bailey | 292 | |
| 62 | Gord Dineen | 287 | |
| 63 | Jeff Norton | 282 | |
| 64 | Steve Thomas | 275 | |
| 64 | Kyle Okposo | 275 | |
| 66 | Blake Comeau | 261 | |
| 66 | Andre St. Laurent | 261 | |
| 71 | Jude Drouin | 250 | |
| 72 | Matt Moulson | 250 | |
| 73 | John Tavares | 247 | |
| 73 | Brad Isbister | 247 | |
| 73 | Brendan Witt | 247 | |
| 76 | Sean Bergenheim | 246 | |
| 77 | Miroslav Satan | 243 | |
| 78 | Bryan Berard | 242 | |
| 78 | Mark Streit | 242 | |
| 80 | JP Parise | 240 | |
Career Points as an Islander
| 31 | Mark Parrish | 214 |
| 32 | Jean Potvin | 213 |
| 32 | Garry Howatt | 213 |
| 34 | Anders Kallur | 211 |
| 35 | John Tavares | 206 |
| 36 | Marty McInnis | 198 |
| 40 | Lorne Henning | 184 |
| 41 | Matt Moulson | 173 |
| 42 | Randy Wood | 172 |
| 43 | Claude Lapointe | 171 |
| 43 | JP Parise | 171 |
| 45 | Shawn Bates | 170 |
| 46 | Frans Nielsen | 169 |
| 46 | Jude Drouin | 169 |
| 48 | Dave Scatchard | 168 |
| 49 | Miroslav Satan | 166 |
| 50 | Kyle Okposo | 163 |
| 51 | Oleg Kvasha | 158 |
| 52 | Alan Kerr | 154 |
| 53 | Roman Hamrlik | 153 |
| 53 | Mark Streit | 153 |
| | | |
Season Series Stats
The Bruins lead the season series 1-0-0 and two points to zero. The Isles are 4-14-1 in the last nineteen games against Boston. The teams will next meet on February 26th at the Coliseum, before completing the season series on April 11th in Boston.
Happy Anniversary
16 years ago tonight (1-25-97): On Al Arbour Night, the Islanders raise a banner commemorating Arbour's 739 wins and then defeat Chicago 3-2. Arbour would win game 740 in 2007.
All-time, the Isles are 2-6-2 on this date, having dropped their last three games, all on the road, since that 1997 win.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers begin a two-game series in Norfolk with a 2-1 loss. Kevin Poulin had 36 saves for Bridgeport, who drops to 19-18-2-2. The same teams meet again on Saturday night.
Up Next
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27th ISLANDERS AT WINNIPEG 8:00PM
[MSG+2 (Islanders Game Night at 7:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+2 (Islanders Game Night at 7:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The road trip continues on Sunday night in Winnipeg. After dropping the first game last season to Winnipeg, the Isles rebounded to win the season series 3 games to one and six points to three.
The Jets are 2-1-1 on the young campaign after rallying to defeat Pittsburgh 4-2 on Friday night.
And Finally…
Elias Sports Bureau came up with an interesting stat on the win in Toronto. It's the first Isles win in a road game by a two or more goal margin after trailing by two goals in that game since Feb. 13, 2004, when they spotted the Coyotes a 2-0 lead but won, 5-2.
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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