The Skinny: Isles 4, Rangers 3 (SO)

"The Skinny"

 By Eric Hornick

 

Game 13

Isles 4, Rangers 3 (SO)

Evegeni Nabokov made 36 saves and the Islanders rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the New York Rangers 4-3 in a shootout before a sellout crowd of 17,200 at Madison Square Garden.  Frans Nielsen and John Tavares beat former mate Martin Biron in the shootout, as the Islanders snapped their five-game losing streak (0-5-0) and an eight-game losing streak in Manhattan (0-7-1).

The Scoring:

1st Period

03:36 NYR        D. Girardi (1) Slap - ASST: C. Hagelin (3) AND R. Nash (8) 1 - 0 NYR

11:28 NYR        M. Gaborik (7) Wrist - ASST: B. Richards (8) AND R. Callahan (1) 2 - 0 NYR

 

2nd Period

00:29 NYI          C. McDonald (2) Snap - ASST: C. Cizikas (3)      2 - 1 NYR

06:45 NYI          J. Tavares (8) Snap - ASST: NONE         2 - 2 TIE

07:25 NYI          B. Boyes (4) Snap - ASST: L. Visnovsky (3) AND B. Strait (4)  3 - 2 NYI

11:14 NYR        PPG - C. Hagelin (5) Backhand - ASST: M. Gaborik (4) AND M. Staal (7) 3 - 3 TIE

 

3rd Period

NONE

 

OT Period

NONE

 

The Shootout

M. Gaborik FAILS/F. Nielsen  SCORES/ R. Nash FAILS/ J. Tavares SCORES  Isles win shootout 2-0

 

The Skinny: It's the Isles first win at Madison Square Garden since December 26, 2009 when Kyle Okposo scored in overtime…The Rangers had been perfect (5-0-0) when scoring first and when leading after one period; this was the second straight game the Rangers had blown a multi-goal lead and ended up in a shootout. John Tavares now has 21 points in 19 career games against the Rangers (7-13-20)… John Tavares scored for the fourth straight game (he also had a four-game streak last season); he now has eight goals in the last nine games…Jack Capuano won his 65^th game as Islander coach—one more than his predecessor, Scott Gordon… The Isles improve to 3-4-0 in the division; the Rangers are 2-4-1. … The Isles allowed at least three goals for the seventh straight game and 10^th time in the last 11 games.  Lubomir Visnovsky has been on-ice for 7 of the Isles' nine goals in his three games with the team… Frans Nielsen has now converted 24 of 39 career shootout attempts; he was credited with his 10^th game deciding goal… Joe Finley played 18:58; he had played less than 12 minutes in each of his ten previous NHL games… The Rangers have scored first in their last four games… All three Islander goals were at 5-on-5.  It's the first time that the Isles have won a road game without scoring on the power play since last February 7^th in Philadelphia, which the Isles won 1-0 in a shootout.

Shootout Stuff

The Isles are 6-1 all-time in shootouts against the Rangers, including 4-1 at MSG…The Isles are 45-32 all-time in shootouts… Nielsen is now 24 of 39 in shootouts; he has scored on 61.5% of his chances, which is the best percentage in NHL history (minimum 13 attempts).  He is even better on the road (13-18, 72.2%). Nielsen's goal was his tenth career deciding goal. Each of his last seven deciding goals has come on the road, including four last season. 

The Streak is Over

The third period was scoreless, ending a club-record 21 game streak (over two seasons) that the Isles had allowed a goal in the third period. 

The Shots:

Isles                6-14-7-4=31

Rangers      11-12-12-4=39

 

The Rangers had the game's first ten shots; Matt Martin's breakaway with 6:02 to play in the opening period was the Islanders' first shot.

 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 5-7-1 overall, 1-5-0 at home and 4-2-1 on the road.  The Isles have earned nine points in the first seven road games, which is their best record after seven road games since starting 6-1-0 in 2001-02.

The Rangers are 7-5-1 overall, 5-2-1 at home and 2-3-0 on the road.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 36 saves as he evens his record at 5-5-1 on the season and 7-7-1 against the Rangers.   Nabokov is now 25-22 in his career in shootouts.

Martin Biron, in his second start of the season, made 28 saves for the Rangers.  Biron is 21-4-3 in his career against the Isles. He is 13-0-2 in his last 15 decisions against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles went 0-1 on the power play while the Rangers were 1-4.  The Rangers have five power play goals on the season, and two of them have come against the Isles.

They Said It

John Tavares:  "I thought Casey (Cizikas) was our best player tonight.  He was fantastic out there. He contributed all over the ice. It's big to have that contribution from those guys. It really gets you going."

They Tweeted It

@ HartnettHockey: "Nash saved by Nabokov. Tavares with the weird hair and winner. Isles win in the shootout. 4-3 win."

The Coach

We came out in the second and third and worked hard. You saw the sacrifice in some guys tonight. That's the way we have to play.

Head of the Class

John Tavares has 218 career points; he is 58 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 six goals this season; John Tavares has earned an assist on three of them.  Tavares has now been on-ice for 66 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 43 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. 

109 NHL Goals

Moulson has 109 career goals (103 as an Islander).  While 262 players were selected before the Penguins chose Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 17 have more goals.

Leading Ice Men

Marc Streit led the Isles for the fifth straight game, playing 29:51. Dan Girardi led the Rangers with 26:41.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 32 draws; the Rangers won 44.  John Tavares won 15 of 27 for the Isles; Jeff Halpern won 11 of 14 for the Rangers.  The Rangers won 27 of 35 draws in the third period and overtime.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders out-hit the Rangers 33-29; Matt Martin led the Isles with nine hits (giving him 52, tying him with Toronto's Leo Komarov for 2^nd in the NHL), while Brian Boyle had eight for the Rangers.  Eric Boulton and Arron Asham fought in the first period; it was the Isles' seventh fight of the season.

Back to .500

The Islanders regain all-time NHL .500 (1352-1352-433 in 3,137 games).  The Isles were also one game below .500 twice last 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 5-1-1 when scoring at least three goals and 0-6-0 when scoring two or less.

A Tale of Two Months

The Isles were 4-2-1 in January, outscoring their opponents 27-23.  The Isles are 1-5-0 in February, and have been outscored 23-12.

Tough Stretch at Home

The Isles are in the midst of a stretch in which they will play nine consecutive games in the New York area (six at home, two at MSG, and one in New Jersey).  The Isles are 2-5-0 so far in this stretch, with home games against New Jersey and Philadelphia remaining.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 259 games since joining the team.  Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era and the 4^th 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 172 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 95.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History 

1. Billy Harris 576 

2. Bob Nystrom 301

3. Denis Potvin 262

4. Matt Moulson 259

 

Spirit of '76

Lubomir Visnovsky is now the oldest skater on the roster (Evgeni Nabokov is 12 ½ months older).  He is six days older than Eric Boulton and twenty days older than Radek Martinek.  All three players were born in August, 1976.

Visnovsky was credited with another assist.  He has three points, all assists, in three games as an Islander.

Missing Men

Thomas Hickey, David Ullstrom and Marty Reasoner were scratched. Matt Carkner and Radek Martinek are on injured reserve. Jesse Joensuu remains suspended after suffering an injury in Europe.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 23 goals in their 5 wins (4.60 per game) and 16 goals in their other 8 games (0-7-1; 2.00 per game).  In their 7 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 12 goals (1.71 per game).

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 662

2. Roberto Luongo 343

3. Nikolai Khabibulin 328

4. Evgeni Nabokov 317

5. Miikka Kiprusoff 313

 

Career Wins

21. Sean Burke 324

22. Evgeni Nabokov 317

23. Miikka Kiprusoff 313

 

Career Goals as an Islander

	22		Benoit Hogue		105
	22		Ed Westfall		105
	24		Matt Moulson		103
	25		Anders Kallur		101
	32		Travis Green		92
	32		John Tavares		92
	34		Butch Goring		87
Career Assists as an Islander – active players
1		John Tavares		126
2		Frans Nielsen		121
2		Mark Streit		121
4		Kyle Okposo		95

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)

44	Butch Goring	332
44	Oleg Kvasha	332
44	Frans Nielsen	332
47	Bruno Gervais	331
47	Ziggy Palffy	331
49	Shawn Bates	330
58	Gord Lane	304
59	Arron Asham	300
59	Roman Hamrlik	300
61	Josh Bailey	295
62	Gord Dineen	287
63	Kyle Okposo	284
64	Jeff Norton	282
65	Steve Thomas	275
68	Brad Lauer	259
68	Matt Moulson	259
70	Benoit Hogue	258
71	John Tavares	256
72	Pierre Turgeon	255
73	Mark Streit	251
74	Jude Drouin	250

Career Points as an Islander

28	Benoit Hogue	229
28	Trent Hunter	229
30	Mikko Makela	219
31	John Tavares	218
31	Mark Parrish	214
40	Lorne Henning	184
41	Matt Moulson	183
42	Frans Nielsen	176
43	Randy Wood	172
44	Claude Lapointe	171
44	JP Parise	171
46	Shawn Bates	170
47	Jude Drouin	169
48	Dave Scatchard	168
49	Miroslav Satan	166
50	Kyle Okposo	165
51	Oleg Kvasha	158
52	Mark Streit	157
53	Alan Kerr	154

Season Series Stats

The season series is even at one game each (The Rangers have 3 points to the Islanders' two).  The teams will meet again on March 7 and April 13 at the Coliseum.

Happy Anniversary

31 years ago today (2-13-82):  The Islanders won the 12^th of what would eventually be their then-NHL-record 15 straight games, embarrassing the Whalers 9-1 in Hartford.  Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Brent Sutter and Clark Gillies each scored twice for the Isles.

All-time, the Isles are 8-9-4 on this date, including 3-2-0 in the last five.

On The Farm

Bridgeport is 21-19-2-3 after an overtime win on Tuesday; John Persson had the overtime tally as Bridgeport defeated Springfield. The Sound Tigers have a home and home series with Providence beginning this Friday, and then finish their busy weekend by hosting Norfolk on Sunday.

Up Next

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16^th NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS (7:00PM)
[MSG+ (Pre-game show at 6:30PM), WRHU (88.7FM)]

Only one opponent will visit the Coliseum three times this season and that team is the New Jersey Devils.  In a bit of a schedule quirk, those three visits are all in the Isles' first seven home games. It will be the fourth meeting of five meetings between the teams this season, and the road team has won the first three games.

The Islanders will look to improve on home ice, where they are only 1-5-0.  In fact, the Devils hold more wins (two) on Coliseum ice than the Isles do so far 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