"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 3
Isles 7, Toronto 4
Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner each scored twice, Keith Aucoin and Brad Boyes each scored their first goal in an Islander uniform as the Islanders rallied from a 3-1 deficit by scoring five straight goals to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4 before a crowd of 19,125 at the Air Canada Centre. It's the most goals the Islanders have scored in nearly two years.
The Scoring:
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2nd Period
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11:43
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NYI
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3 - 2 TOR
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13:10
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NYI
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3 - 3 TIE
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3rd Period
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03:23
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NYI
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4 - 3 NYI
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04:35
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NYI
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5 - 3 NYI
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11:20
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NYI
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M. Moulson (2) Wrist - ASST: NONE
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6 - 3 NYI
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17:47
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TOR
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6 - 4 NYI
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18:50
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NYI
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7 - 4 NYI
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The Skinny: The Isles had five players with at least two points (three each for Boyes and Grabner) and five players with at least a +2 rating (Brian Strait, Frans Nielsen and Grabner were each +3). The Isles are now 10-22-8 in road openers. The Isles improve to 4-3-0 in Toronto in the John Tavares era. Dating back to late 2010, the Isles are 12-2-2 when they score shorthanded.
Seventh Heaven: The 7 Islander goals are the most the Isles have scored:
- Ever in their first road game of the season; they had scored only five goals in the past four road openers.
- Against the Leafs since March 20, 1986
- In any game since 2/13/11 in Buffalo (7-6 overtime win)
- In any game in regulation since 2/11/11 vs. Pittsburgh (9-3 win)
- In any road game in regulation since 12/3/06 at MSG (7-4 win)
The Isles are the 2nd team in the NHL to score seven goals in a game this season. (Anaheim scored seven on Opening Night in Vancouver.)
It's Early, But:
The Islanders (4 points/3 games) join Pittsburgh (4 points/3 games) and New Jersey (4 points/2 games) atop the Atlantic Division standings.
The Shots:
Isles 9-12-13=34
Leafs 16-9-18=43
Home and Road
The Islanders are 2-1-0 overall, 1-1-0 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.
Toronto is 2-2-0 overall, 0-2-0 at home and 2-0-0 on the road.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made his 3rd straight start. He stopped 39 shots (including 31 of the last 32) to raise his record to 2-1-0. Nabokov now has 314 career wins (4th among all active goalies).
Ben Scrivens made 20 saves but was replaced after allowing the 5th Islander goal. Scrivens dropped to 1-2-0. James Reimer stopped seven of eight shots in relief.
Power Plays
The Isles went 1-2 on the power play while Toronto was 0-5.
Trailing 3-1, the Isles killed 3:35 of consecutive Leaf power play time late in the first period and into the opening seconds of the second period.
Isles have scored a PP goal in each game (3/13) and have not allowed a PP goal (10/10) this season. Islander defensemen have two of the three PP goals after tallying only seven PP goals all last season.
Grabner's empty-net goal was shorthanded; it was the first shorty for the Isles this season and Grabner's 8th career shorthanded goal.
They Said It
Keith Aucoin: "Our line is playing really well… we have some chemistry going…I just wanted to have a good game" (against the organization that let him go via waivers).
They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: Matt Carkner on Phaneuf: "That's what I'm here for. Guys can't be taking liberties with our best guys."
The Coach
"For me, it's playing the way we have to play. We didn't do it in the first period …. The second and third exemplified how we have to play."
TRIP-TIK
This was the first game of a 5-game road trip. The Isles are 1-0-0 on the trip, and will make stops in Boston, 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 55 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
Moulson's two goals were his first 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.
Road Warrior
Scoring on the road is nothing new for Moulson; 23 of his 36 goals last season also came on the road. Only Steven Stamkos (24) had more.
A First For C-Mc
Colin McDonald recorded his first career assist on Aucoin's goal. It was his second career point – he scored a goal for Edmonton on November 28, 2009 in his second NHL game.
Howie's Count
Here's a number that Howie Rose likes to refer to from time-to-time. Both Boyes and Aucoin scored their first goals as Islanders tonight; they are the 322nd and 323rd players in Islander history to score a goal.
Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 29:04; Dion Phaneuf led Toronto with 25:50, but was -3.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 34 draws; the Leafs won 27. Marty Reasoner won 9 of 13 for the Isles; Tyler Bozak won 14 of 25 for Toronto.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 27-24. Matt Martin, Kyle Okposo and John Tavares each had four hits for the Isles. There were no fights in the game, leaving the Isles' season total at two.
Lots of Shots to Go Around
Every Islander forward but David Ullstrom had at least one shot on goal. Matt Moulson led the team with six shots.
3-Pointers
Both Michael Grabner (11/23/11 vs. Philadelphia) and Brad Boyes (4/9/11 for Buffalo vs. Columbus) recorded three points in a game for the first time in over a year. Grabner has a point in all three games this season.
All-time Winners
With the win, the Islanders are now three games over all-time NHL .500 (1349-1346-432 in 3,127 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 249 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 162 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 85.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Denis Potvin 262
4. Matt Moulson 249
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+
This is the first time since February 13, 2011 in Buffalo that the Islanders had rallied from a 2-goal deficit to win on the road.
CHILI
This is the first time since March 31, 2011 that the Isles have scored at least six goals in a game. For fans of a certain age, that means one thing: Chili.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 311
Career Goals as an Islander
25
|
Trent Hunter
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99
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25
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Matt Moulson
|
99
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27
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Mikko Makela
|
95
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27
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David Volek
|
95
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32
|
Travis Green
|
92
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33
|
Butch Goring
|
87
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34
|
Tomas Jonsson
|
84
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34
|
John Tavares
|
84
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36
|
Wayne Merrick
|
81
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36
|
Dave Scatchard
|
81
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Career Assists as an Islander – active players
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1
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John Tavares
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122
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2
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Mark Streit
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119
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3
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Frans Nielsen
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115
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4
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Kyle Okposo
|
94
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Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
49
|
Eric Cairns
|
327
| |
50
|
Alan Kerr
|
326
| |
51
|
Frans Nielsen
|
322
| |
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
| |
65
|
Kyle Okposo
|
274
| |
66
|
Blake Comeau
|
261
| |
66
|
Andre St. Laurent
|
261
| |
71
|
Jude Drouin
|
250
| |
72
|
Matt Moulson
|
249
| |
73
|
Brad Isbister
|
247
| |
73
|
Brendan Witt
|
247
| |
75
|
Sean Bergenheim
|
246
| |
75
|
John Tavares
|
246
| |
77
|
Miroslav Satan
|
243
| |
78
|
Bryan Berard
|
242
| |
79
|
Mark Streit
|
241
| |
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 Islanders lead the season series 1-0-0 and two points to zero. It's the Isles' second straight win in Toronto, marking their first winning streak in T-O since winning three straight from 1991-1993. The teams will next meet on February 28th at the Coliseum, before completing the season series on April 18th at the ACC.
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago tonight (1-24-81): One word: Bossy. Mike Bossy scored his 49th and 50th goal in the final five minutes of the Islanders' 50th game of the season, joining Maurice Richard in the exclusive 50 in 50 club as the Islanders defeated Quebec 7-4.
All-time, the Isles are 10-6-3 on this date, with tonight's win stopping an 0-2-2 skid on this date.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers lost to Springfield 4-1 on Sunday, breaking their two-game win streak. Bridgeport is 19-17-2-2. The Sound Tigers begin a two-game series in Norfolk on Friday.
Up Next
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25th ISLANDERS AT BOSTON 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The road trip continues on Friday night in Boston. The Bruins have won 3 out of 4 from the Isles each of the past two seasons, but the Islanders did defeat Boston 3-2 in Beantown last March 3rd.
It's the back-end of the first set of back-to-backs this season.
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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