"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 20
Boston 4, Isles 1
Brad Marchand broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the opening minute of the second period and Tuukka Rask made a season-high 36 saves as the Boston Bruins defeated the Islanders 4-1 before 12,788 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Bruins improve to 12-2-2 overall and 8-1-1 on the road while the Isles fall to 2-8-0 on home ice this season.
The Scoring:
1st Period
06:43 BOS A. McQuaid (1) Slap - ASST: T. Seguin (8) AND P. Bergeron (9) 1 - 0 BOS
15:49 NYI C. Cizikas (2) Tip-In - ASST: J. Bailey (3) AND A. MacDonald (2) 1 - 1 TIE
2nd Period
00:38 BOS B. Marchand (10) Backhand - ASST: A. Ference (4) AND P. Bergeron (10) 2 - 1 BOS
05:16 BOS D. Krejci (5) Snap - ASST: M. Lucic (6) AND N. Horton (4) 3 - 1 BOS
3rd Period
18:55 BOS EN - G. Campbell (2) Wrist - ASST: T. Seguin (9) AND D. Seidenberg (5) 4 - 1 BOS
The Skinny: Adam McQuaid's goal, his first since January 21, 2012 ended a 101:25 shutout streak for Evgeni Nabokov… The Isles have scored three goals in the first periods of their last two games after scoring only seven first-period goals in their first 18 games…The Isles have allowed an NHL-leading 30 third period goals, including an NHL-high six into empty nets… Moulson, Tavares and Boyes all had three game point streaks ended…The Isles are 0-7-0 when John Tavares is held without a point…Tyler Seguin's first period assist was his 100th NHL point…Both of Casey Cizikas' NHL goals have come in nationally televised games.
The Shots:
Isles 11-12-14=37
Bruins 10-12-12=34
The 37 shots are the most against Boston this season. Every Islander but Marty Reasoner and Radek Martinek had at least one shot on goal.
The Isles have had 37 shots or more in three games in February, but are 0-3-0 in those games.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 8-11-1 overall, 2-8-0 at home and 6-3-1 on the road.
It's only the 2nd time in 40 seasons that the Isles have earned four or fewer points in the first ten home games:
· 1989-90 (1-7-2, 4 points)
· 2012-13 (2-8-0, 4 points)
The Bruins are 12-2-2 overall, 4-1-1 at home and 8-1-1 on the road. The Bruins complete their 5-game road trip with a 4-1-0 record, winning the last four. It's their best overall start since 1976-77 (12-3-1) and their best road start since going 10-1 in their first 11 games in 1929-30.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 30 saves but falls to 8-7-1.
Tuukka Rask made 36 saves for Boston. He is 10-1-2 on the season and sports a 1.89 GAA. He is 6-0-0 in his last six road games, allowing only seven goals.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-3 on the power play while the Bruins were 0-4.
The Isles are 7-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-9-0 when they do not.
The Bruins have killed 26 straight over the last eight-plus games.
They Said It
Patrice Bergeron: "This was a great road game. We never stopped working and we were fortunate to have a couple of bounces go our way."
They Tweeted It
CSN- New England's @HackswithHaggs: "Boy is Mark Streit fun to watch on the power play. So much skill and offensive ability with the puck"
The Coach
"We competed hard. That's one of the best teams that we're going to play and I give our guys credit. We did a lot of good things. A couple breakdowns cost us some goals.
5-on-5 Woes
The Isles were outscored 3-1 in 5-on-5 play. The Isles have allowed an NHL-high 49 goals at 5-on-5.
What a Pair!
John Tavares and Matt Moulson were held scoreless but have combined for an NHL-leading 23 goals among teammates.
Moulson has assisted on 10 Tavares goals this season after assisting on 12 of his 31 goals last season.
13 in 20 Games
John Tavares has 13 goals in 20 games, matching Derek King's (1991-92) and Mark Parrish's (2001-02) totals. No Islander has scored more goals in the first 20 games since Pat LaFontaine tallied 15 in 1990-91.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 227 career points; he is 60 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 ten goals this season; John Tavares has earned an assist on seven of them. Tavares has now been on-ice for 39 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 25 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 26, 2011 against New Jersey. Since November of 2010, Tavares has been on-ice for 69 of 70 Moulson goals, earning 47 assists.
113 NHL Goals
Moulson has 113 career goals (107 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected before the Penguins chose Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 17 have more goals. Moulson is two goals behind Nikolai Zherdev for 16th place.
Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald played 23:50 to lead the Isles. Dennis Seidenberg led Boston with 22:40.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 27 draws; the Bruins won 36. John Tavares won 12 of 24 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 16 of 26 for Boston.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit Boston 21-16; Matt Martin led the Isles with six hits; he remains second in the NHL with 84. There were no fights, leaving the season total at 10.
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 15 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with three; he now has 52 blocks on the season, which places him tied-2nd in the NHL.
Under .500
The Islanders once again fall one game under all-time NHL .500 (1355-1356-433 in 3,144 games). The Isles have been one game below .500 twice last season and three times this season. Prior to that, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.
3 Usually Enough
The Isles are 8-1-1 when scoring at least three goals and 0-10-0 when scoring two or less. Dating back to last year, the Isles have lost 15 straight (0-15-0) and 21 of 22 (1-20-1) when scoring two or fewer goals.
A Tale of Two Months
The Isles were 4-2-1 in January, outscoring their opponents 27-23. The Isles are 4-9-0 in February, and have been outscored 45-29.
Battling the Northeast
This was the fifth game in an eight game stretch that the Islanders play seven Northeast opponents. The Isles are 2-2-0 against their first four Northeast opponents, with Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal upcoming.
Nobody Beats the Viz
Lubomir Visnovsky has been on ice for 19 of the 26 Islander goals in his nine games with the team. Being on the ice when is team scores is nothing new for Visnovsky; he led the entire NHL in 2010-11 when he was on-ice for 146 Anaheim goals (13 more than Henrik Sedin).
Lots of Home Cooking
This was the first game of a seven-game homestand, which matches the club record.
· October 7- October 28, 1972 (1-5-1 in the first seven games in club history)
· December 19, 2000- January 2, 2001 (2-5-0)
· November 21-December 4, 2001 (3-2-2)
· October 14- October 31, 2006 (4-1-2)
· February 15-March 1, 2007 (5-1-1)
· February 24-March 9, 2013 (0-2-0 with five games to play)
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 266 games since joining the team. 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.
Three other Islanders, Frans Nielsen, John Tavares and Mark Streit, also played in every game last season. Tavares extended his streak to 179 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 102.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Matt Moulson 266
3. Denis Potvin 262
Century Club
Mark Streit is the 9th Islander defenseman to play at least 100 consecutive games.
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/95-2/4/98 220
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/75-11/22/77 198
4. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136
5. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134
6. Travis Hamonic 11/24/10 – 2/4/12 113
7. Jean Potvin 10/23/75-1/2/77 110
8. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/96-2/4/98 104
9. Mark Streit 10/8/11-CURRENT 102
Hamonic, McCabe and Morrow's streaks came at the start of their NHL careers. Both Niinimaa's streak and McCabe's streak encompassed their entire Islander careers.
Missing Men
David Ullstrom replaced Keith Aucoin in the lineup. Joe Finley and Eric Boulton were also scratched. Matt Carkner and Brian Strait are on injured reserve. Jesse Joensuu remains suspended after suffering an injury in Europe.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 36 goals in their 8 wins (4.50 per game) and 20 goals in their other 12 games (0-11-1; 1.67 per game). In their 11 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 16 goals (1.45 per game).
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 313
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
Career Shutouts
19 Bernie Parent 54
19 Ed Giacomin 54
21 Evgeni Nabokov 53
22 Rogie Vachon 51
22 Dave Kerr 51
22 Curtis Joseph 51
Career Goals as an Islander
| 21 | Ray Ferraro | 116 | |
| 22 | Matt Moulson | 107 | |
| 23 | Benoit Hogue | 105 | |
| 23 | Ed Westfall | 105 | |
| 25 | Anders Kallur | 101 | |
| 26 | Trent Hunter | 99 | |
| 27 | John Tavares | 97 | |
| 28 | Mikko Makela | 95 | |
| 28 | David Volek | 95 | |
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| Career Assists as an Islander | |
| 28 | Jason Blake | 131 | |
| 29 | John Tavares | 130 | |
| 29 | Trent Hunter | 130 | |
| 31 | Mark Streit | 124 | |
| 31 | Benoit Hogue | 124 | |
| 31 | Mikko Makela | 124 | |
| 34 | Ray Ferraro | 122 | |
| 35 | Frans Nielsen | 121 | |
| 36 | Garry Howatt | 120 | |
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Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 26 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 470 | |
| 27 | Trent Hunter | 459 | |
| 28 | Radek Martinek | 455 | |
| 29 | Scott Lachance | 450 | |
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| 39 | Dave Scatchard | 347 | |
| 40 | Alexei Yashin | 346 | |
| 41 | Mark Parrish | 345 | |
| 42 | Frans Nielsen | 339 | |
| 43 | Marty McInnis | 337 | |
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| 58 | Gord Lane | 304 |
| 59 | Josh Bailey | 301 |
| 60 | Arron Asham | 300 |
| 60 | Roman Hamrlik | 300 |
| 62 | Kyle Okposo | 291 | |
| 63 | Gord Dineen | 287 | |
| 64 | Jeff Norton | 282 | |
| 65 | Steve Thomas | 275 | |
| 66 | Matt Moulson | 266 | |
| 67 | John Tavares | 263 | |
| 68 | Blake Comeau | 261 | |
| 68 | Andre St. Laurant | 261 | |
| 70 | Brad Lauer | 259 | |
| 71 | Mark Streit | 258 | |
| 71 | Benoit Hogue | 258 | |
| 73 | Pierre Turgeon | 255 | |
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Career Points as an Islander
| 28 | Benoit Hogue | 229 |
| 28 | Trent Hunter | 229 |
| 30 | John Tavares | 227 |
| 31 | Mikko Makela | 219 |
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| 38 | Butch Goring | 195 |
| 39 | Matt Moulson | 193 |
| 40 | Jeff Norton | 188 |
| 41 | Lorne Henning | 184 |
| 42 | Frans Nielsen | 177 |
| 43 | Randy Wood | 172 |
| 44 | Claude Lapointe | 171 |
| 44 | Jean-Paul Parise | 171 |
| 46 | Shawn Bates | 170 |
| 47 | Jude Drouin | 169 |
| 48 | Dave Scatchard | 168 |
| 49 | Kyle Okposo | 166 |
| 49 | Miroslav Satan | 166 |
| 51 | Mark Streit | 161 |
| 52 | Oleg Kvasha | 158 |
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Season Series Stats
The Bruins lead the season series two games to none (four points to 0). The final meeting of the season will come on April 11th in Boston.
Happy Anniversary
26 years ago today (February 26, 1987): Dale Henry and Neal Coulter were two of the lesser-known Isles who scored goals in a 5-4 Islander win over Pittsburgh. Mike Bossy and Pat Lafontaine also tallied; it was the 567th goal out of 573 career tallies for Bossy.
All-time, the Isles are 2-11-5 on this date, including a 0-7-3 record since the 1987 win over Pittsburgh.
On The Farm
Bridgeport, 22-23-3-4 on the season is off until Friday when they travel to Hartford to face the Connecticut Whale. Rick DiPietro practiced with the Sound Tigers for the first time today.
Up Next
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28th TORONTO AT ISLANDERS (7:00PM)
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 6:30), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders continue the seven-game home stand as they entertain the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Isles won the first meeting 7-4 in Toronto in late January. The Isles have done well against Toronto at home in recent years, going 4-2-2 in their last eight Coliseum meetings.
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