"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 33
Isles 3, Washington 2
John Tavares became the second player in the NHL this season to reach 20 goals, converting a Matt Moulson pass for the game winning goal with 5:18 to play as the Isles earned a key 3-2 regulation time win over the Washington Capitals before a crowd of 18,506 at the Verizon Center. The win, coupled with the Rangers' 5-2 win in Philadelphia, leaves the Isles in 9th place, just two points out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Scoring:
1st Period
05:24 NYI M. Grabner (11) Wrist - ASST: K. Aucoin (4) 1 - 0 NYI
07:56 NYI J. Bailey (5) Snap - ASST: K. Okposo (11) AND F. Nielsen (15) 2 - 0 NYI
2nd Period
10:05 WSH M. Ribeiro (11) Snap - ASST: T. Brouwer (11) 2 - 1 NYI
13:28 WSH J. Carlson (5) Slap - ASST: M. Johansson (6) AND A. Ovechkin (16) 2 - 2 TIE
3rd Period
14:42 NYI J. Tavares (20) Snap - ASST: M. Moulson (23) 3 - 2 NYI
The Skinny:
Michael Grabner's goal was his first in his six games; Josh Bailey's goal was his third in the last five games. …The Isles defense was held without a goal for the first time in six games, ending the club's longest scoring streak by the defense since 2002…Ribiero was the first opponent to score against Nabokov in over 110 minutes (the Penguins also scored into the empty net)… Tavares' game-winner extended his point streak to four games. Tavares also broke a tie with Chris Kunitz for 2nd place in the NHL in goals; only Steven Stamkos (23) has more….Matt Moulson's assist on the winning goal was his team-leading 23rd of the season and the 100th of his career… The Isles broke the Capitals' three-game winning streak while stopping Alex Ovechkin's five game goal scoring streak…The Isles have won three straight on the road... Thomas Hickey was "even"; he remains the team leader in +/- at +5, Hickey is +10 in his last 17 games and has not been a "minus" player in any game in that stretch…The Isles are 7-2-3 in games decided by a single goal, including 5-0-1 on the road…For the second straight game, the Isles won without a multi-point player; seven Isles had points tonight after eight Isles had points on Sunday.
First Time in a Very Long Time I (Like Ever)
The Isles are five games over .500 on the road while being .500 or below overall for the first time in their history.
First Time in a Very Long Time II
The Isles are five games over .500 on the road for the first time since finishing the 2001-02 season with a 21-15-3-2 road record. The Isles have made the playoffs in every season that they have a record of 5 games over .500 on the road at any point.
Matching a Season High
The Isles have won two straight games for the seventh time this season. (14 of their 15 wins have come in these seven two-game winning streaks.)
Road Warriors
The Isles have 19 points in their first 14 road games, matching their second-highest total in franchise history.
Most points in first 14 road games (all time):
· 21 in 1976-77 (10-3-1)
· 19 in 1980-81 (9-4-1)
· 19 in 1983-84 (9-4-1)
· 19 in 2001-02 (9-4-1)
· 19 in 2012-13 (9-4-1)
The Shots:
Isles 7-11-13=31
Capitals 9-6-7=22
Home and Road
The Islanders are 15-15-3 overall, 6-11-2 at home and 9-4-1 on the road. Their 33 points in 33 games is their highest total since they had 34 points in 33 games in 2007-08.
The Isles had a four game road winning streak January 31-February 14, 2012. However, it's the first time that they have won three straight road games in regulation since January 13-January 22, 2008.
The Capitals are 15-17-1 overall, 8-8-0 at home and 7-9-1 on the road.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 20 saves for his 327th career win. He is 15-10-3 this season, with three shutouts. No other Islander goalie owns a win this season.
Braden Holtby made 28 saves for the Capitals but falls to 13-11-0 on the season.
Power Plays
The Islanders went 0-2 while the Capitals were 0-3.
The Isles have 14 PP goals in their last 18 games (with all 14 goals coming in seven games).
The Isles are 11-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-12-2 when they do not.
The Isles have killed all seven opposition power plays in the last three games and 13 of 15 over the last seven games.
In (Almost) Every Game
The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 27 of 33 games this season (15-9-3).
They Said It
Tavares: "We finally found our game and Matt made a great play (for the winning goal)."
They Tweeted It
@JKreiser77NHL: 20th goal for Tavares, who's on pace that would make him 50-goal scorer in 82-game season.
The Coach
"When you need a big goal, it's that (Tavares) line that usually comes up for us. It was good to see those guys respond in the third."
As Tavares Goes…
The Isles are 1-0-0 when Tavares has four points, 1-0-1 when he has three points, 5-2-0 when he has two points, 7-4-0 when he has one point, and 1-9-2 when Tavares is pointless.
What a Pair!
John Tavares and Matt Moulson have combined for 31 goals this season. Moulson has assisted on 15 Tavares goals this season after assisting on 12 of his 31 goals last season. Tavares has earned an assist on 7 Moulson goals this season. Since November 2011, Tavares has been on-ice for 39 of Moulson's last 40 goals, earning 25 assists; since November 2010, he has earned 47 assists on Moulson's last 71 goals, while being on ice for 69 of them.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 237 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.
114 NHL Goals
Moulson has 114 career goals (108 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 one goal behind Nikolai Zherdev for 16th place.
Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald played 25:14 to lead the Isles. Mike Green led the Capitals with 25:21, but was victimized for the winning goal.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 27 of 52 draws. Frans Nielsen won 8 of 12 for the Isles.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 22-18. Matt Carkner led the Isles with five hits. Matt Martin had three hits, raising his season total to an NHL-leading 160. There were no fights, leaving the Isles' season total to 12.
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 26 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald had five to lead the team; he was one of eight Isles who had multiple blocked shots.
All –time Winners
The Islanders move two games over all-time NHL .500 (1362-1360-435 in 3,157 games). The Isles have been one game below .500 twice last season and four 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.
March to Victory
The Isles were 4-2-1 in January and 4-9-1 in February. The Isles are 7-4-1 in March.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 279 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 192 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 115.
Kyle Okposo played his 98th consecutive game. Four other Islanders have played every game this season Travis Hamonic (55 consecutive games), Matt Martin (46), Andrew Mac Donald & Brad Boyes (33).
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Matt Moulson 279
4. Denis Potvin 262
Century Club
Mark Streit now has the sixth longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136
5. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134
6. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-CURRENT 115
7. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010 – 2/4/2012 113
8. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110
9. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104
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
Joe Finley, Eric Boulton and Radek Martinek were scratched. David Ullstrom and Brian Strait are on injured reserve. Jesse Joensuu is skating with the team but has not yet been added to the active roster.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 61 goals in their 15 wins (4.07 per game) and 33 goals in their other 18 games (0-15-3; 1.83 per game). In their 15 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 24 goals (1.60 per game).
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
19. Nikolai Khabibulin 330
19. Harry Lumley 330
22. Sean Burke 324
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 317
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
Career Shutouts
18 Clint Benedict 57
19 Evgeni Nabokov 55
20 Bernie Parent 54
20 Ed Giacomin 54
Career Goals as an Islander
21
|
Ray Ferraro
|
116
| |
22
|
Matt Moulson
|
108
| |
23
|
Benoit Hogue
|
105
| |
23
|
Ed Westfall
|
105
| |
25
|
John Tavares
|
104
| |
26
|
Anders Kallur
|
101
| |
27
|
Trent Hunter
|
99
| |
Career Assists as an Islander
| |||
27
|
Greg Gilbert
|
138
| |
28
|
John Tavares
|
133
| |
29
|
Jason Blake
|
131
| |
30
|
Trent Hunter
|
130
| |
31
|
Mark Streit
|
129
| |
32
|
Frans Nielsen
|
128
| |
33
|
Benoit Hogue
|
124
| |
33
|
Mikko Makela
|
124
| |
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
25
|
Gerry Hart
|
476
|
26
|
Mariusz Czerkawski
|
470
|
27
|
Radek Martinek
|
462
|
28
|
Trent Hunter
|
459
|
39
|
Randy Wood
|
381
|
40
|
Frans Nielsen
|
352
|
41
|
Dave Scatchard
|
347
|
53
|
Ray Ferraro
|
316
|
53
|
Steve Webb
|
316
|
53
|
Richard Park
|
316
|
56
|
Josh Bailey
|
314
|
56
|
Gerald Diduck
|
314
|
58
|
Mikko Makela
|
307
|
59
|
Kyle Okposo
|
304
|
59
|
Gordon Lane
|
304
|
61
|
Arron Asham
|
300
|
61
|
Roman Hamrlik
|
300
|
63
|
Gordon Dineen
|
287
|
64
|
Jeffrey Norton
|
282
|
65
|
Matt Moulson
|
279
|
66
|
John Tavares
|
276
|
67
|
Steve Thomas
|
275
|
68
|
Mark Streit
|
271
|
69
|
Blake Comeau
|
261
|
69
|
Andre St. Laurent
|
261
|
Career Points as an Islander
24
|
Ray Ferraro
|
238
|
25
|
John Tavares
|
237
|
25
|
Travis Green
|
237
|
27
|
Kenny Jonsson
|
232
|
35
|
Anders Kallur
|
211
|
36
|
Matt Moulson
|
203
|
37
|
Marty McInnis
|
198
|
38
|
Wayne Merrick
|
197
|
39
|
Robert Goring
|
195
|
40
|
Jeffrey Norton
|
188
|
41
|
Frans Nielsen
|
185
|
42
|
Lorne Henning
|
184
|
43
|
Kyle Okposo
|
174
|
44
|
Randy Wood
|
172
|
45
|
Claude Lapointe
|
171
|
45
|
Jean-Paul Parise
|
171
|
47
|
Shawn Bates
|
170
|
48
|
Jude Drouin
|
169
|
49
|
Dave Scatchard
|
168
|
50
|
Mark Streit
|
167
|
51
|
Miroslav Satan
|
166
|
Season Series Stats
The Islanders lead the season series two games to none (and four points to zero). The final meeting of the season will be on April 4th in DC.
It's the first time the Isles have won a 1-goal game in DC in regulation time since December 21, 2003.
Happy Anniversary
35 years ago tonight (March 26, 1978): It wasn't technically an Epic, but it was Easter. In a makeup of a game postponed by the Blizzard of '78, the Islanders rallied from a 3-0 deficit midway through the game and defeated Minnesota 6-3 at the Coliseum. Bob Nystrom had two goals and three assists; Bob Bourne also scored twice. This was the only Sunday home game the Islanders played between 1973 and 1990.
All-time, the Isles are 9-7-1 on this date.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 27-26-6-5 on the season. The Sound Tigers are six points out of a playoff spot with 12 games to play. Bridgeport begins a three-game road trip in Springfield on Thursday; following that trip, seven of their final nine games are at home.
Up Next
THURSDAY, MARCH 28th ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA (7:00PM)
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 6:30), WRHU (88.7FM]
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 6:30), WRHU (88.7FM]
Game 2 of this four-game road trip will be in Philadelphia on Thursday. The Isles have 15 games remaining this season and three of them will be against the Flyers, who handed the Isles a 7-0 defeat in February at the Coliseum.
The Wells Fargo Center had been a house of horrors for the Isles for about five years (0-11-2) before Evgeni Nabokov defeated the Flyers twice in a span of less than three weeks last season.
The Isles lead the Flyers (who fell into 14th place in the East with their 5-2 loss to the Rangers tonight) by five points.
For the seventh time this season, the Isles will carry a two-game winning streak into the game. They'll be looking for their first three-game winning streak in almost exactly a year (March 25-29, 2012), having gone 0-5-1 this season when they enter a game with a two-game win streak.
The Isles will also be looking for their fourth consecutive road win in regulation time; they last accomplished that November 19-December 6, 2005.
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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