"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 24
Rangers 2, Isles 1 (OT)
Marian Gaborik scored a power play goal early in overtime as the New York Rangers rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 16,170 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Rangers have won four straight games while the Islanders now have a four-game point streak (2-0-2), which is their longest since January 24 – February 7, 2012 (3-0-2).
The Scoring:
1st Period
11:51 NYI M. Grabner (10) Wrist - ASST: C. McDonald (5) AND A. MacDonald (4) 1 - 0 NYI
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
14:37 NYR R. Nash (8) Tip-In - ASST: D. Stepan (9) AND C. Hagelin (5) 1 - 1 TIE
OT Period
00:42 NYR PPG - M. Gaborik (8) Slap - ASST: R. Nash (12) AND D. Stepan (10) 2 - 1 NYR
The Skinny:
Michael Grabner is the third Islander to reach ten goals, joining Matt Moulson and John Tavares… Grabner has scored in three straight games…The Isles are the third team with three 10+ goal scorers, joining Chicago and Pittsburgh…Rick Nash continues his unusual streak of scoring only in the third period –he is the first player in Rangers history to score his first eight goals in a season all in the third period…Nash now has a point in the last eight games he has played (6-7-13)… The Isles are 5-1-1 when leading after two periods….Gaborik has 22 goals in 30 career games against the Islanders; three of his eight goals this season have come against the Isles…Moulson played in his 299th NHL game…The Isles have not shutout the Rangers since December 26, 2006...The Isles didn't have a power play for the 2nd time on Coliseum ice in a week; Phoenix is the only other NHL team this season to have played a home game without a power play.
The Shots:
Isles 12-7-9-0=28
Rangers 13-7-15-2=37
Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-11-3 overall, 4-8-2 at home and 6-3-1 on the road.
The Rangers are 12-8-2 overall, 10-4-1 at home and 2-4-1 on the road.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 35 saves; he is 10-7-2 on the season. All of Nabokov's shutouts as an Islander came on the road. His only shutout at the Coliseum came in 2000, as a member of the Sharks.
Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the Rangers as he improves to 11-7-1 on the season. Lundqvist is 26-11-5 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders did not have a power play while the Rangers were 1-3. The Isles have 9 PP goals in their last nine games (with all nine goals coming in three games). This was the second time in this stretch that they did not have a single power play. It was the first time since January 7, 1989 that the Isles did not have a power play in a game against the Rangers.
The Isles are 8-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-9-2 when they do not.
In (Almost) Every Game
The Isles have been tied or ahead in the third period in 19 of 24 games this season (10-6-3).
They Said It
Matt Martin: "Maybe we're wrong, maybe they played a real clean game. We're in one of the toughest divisions in the league, and they're pretty far from a soft team. It's very frustrating."
They Tweeted It
"@KatieStrangESPN #Isles so upset abt Grabner's hooking penalty that Kyle Okposo got a 10 min misconduct and team staff received a game misconduct
The Coach
"I feel bad for the guys. They deserved a couple power plays, but [the Rangers] got the break in OT and they took advantage."
As Tavares Goes…
The Isles are 1-0-0 when Tavares has four points, 1-0-1 when he has three points, 4-2-0 when he has two points, 3-2-0 when he has one point, and 1-7-2 when Tavares is pointless.
What a Pair!
John Tavares and Matt Moulson have combined for 25 goals this season. Moulson has assisted on 10 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 229 career points; he is 59 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 27:34 to lead the Isles. Dan Girardi led the Rangers with 23:27
In the Circle
The Islanders won 18 draws; the Canadiens won 23. Casey Cizikas won 5 of 8 for the Isles (making it 18 of 27 in the last three games); JT Miller won 6 of 7 for the Rangers.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit the Rangers 26-20; Colin McDonald and Matt Martin led the Isles with 6 hits each; Martin leads the NHL with 116. Casey Cizikas have three hits, giving that line a total of 15 for the second straight game. There were no fights, leaving the Isles' season total at 10.
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 19 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with five.
Still over .500
The Islanders remain one game over all-time NHL .500 (1357-1356-435 in 3,148 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 2-0-1 in March.
Tightening Up the Division
With the Isles earning a point and the Flyers losing, the Isles tie Philadelphia in the standings, and have a game in hand. Both teams are tied with Winnipeg for 9th place in the East.
Lots of Home Cooking
This was the sixth 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 (2-2-2 with one game to play)
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 270 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 183 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 106.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Matt Moulson 270
4. 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. Mark Streit 10/8/11-CURRENT 106
9. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/96-2/4/98 104
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
Eric Boulton replaced David Ullstrom in the lineup. Lubomir Visnovsky (personal matter) and Keith Aucoin 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 44 goals in their 10 wins (4.40 per game) and 25 goals in their other 14 games (0-11-3; 1.79 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 314
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 | 108 | ||
| 23 | Benoit Hogue | 105 | ||
| 23 | Ed Westfall | 105 | ||
| 25 | Anders Kallur | 101 | ||
| 26 | Trent Hunter | 99 | ||
| 27 | John Tavares | 98 | ||
| 28 | Mikko Makela | 95 | ||
| 28 | David Volek | 95 | ||
| | | | ||
| Career Assists as an Islander | ||||
| 28 | Jason Blake | 131 | ||
| 28 | John Tavares | 131 | ||
| 30 | Trent Hunter | 130 | ||
| 31 | Mark Streit | 127 | ||
| 32 | Benoit Hogue | 124 | ||
| 32 | Mikko Makela | 124 | ||
| 34 | Ray Ferraro | 122 | ||
| 35 | Frans Nielsen | 122 | ||
| 36 | Garry Howatt | 120 | ||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 26 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 470 | |
| 27 | Trent Hunter | 459 | |
| 28 | Radek Martinek | 457 | |
| 29 | Scott Lachance | 450 | |
| 39 | Dave Scatchard | 347 | |
| 40 | Alexei Yashin | 346 | |
| 41 | Mark Parrish | 345 | |
| 42 | Frans Nielsen | 343 | |
| 43 | Marty McInnis | 337 | |
| 58 | Josh Bailey | 305 | |
| 59 | Gordon Lane | 304 | |
| 60 | Arron Asham | 300 | |
| 60 | Roman Hamrlik | 300 | |
| 62 | Kyle Okposo | 295 | |
| 63 | Gordon Dineen | 287 | |
| 64 | Jeffrey Norton | 282 | |
| 65 | Steve Thomas | 275 | |
| 66 | Matt Moulson | 270 | |
| 67 | John Tavares | 267 | |
| 68 | Mark Streit | 262 | |
| 69 | Blake Comeau | 261 | |
| 69 | Andre St. Laurent | 261 | |
| | | | |
Career Points as an Islander
| 28 | Benoit Hogue | 229 |
| 28 | Trent Hunter | 229 |
| 28 | John Tavares | 229 |
| 31 | Mikko Makela | 219 |
| 38 | Robert Goring | 195 |
| 38 | Matt Moulson | 195 |
| 40 | Jeff Norton | 188 |
| 41 | Lorne Henning | 184 |
| 42 | Frans Nielsen | 178 |
| 43 | Randy Wood | 172 |
| 44 | Claude Lapointe | 171 |
| 44 | Jean-Paul Parise | 171 |
| 46 | Shawn Bates | 170 |
| 47 | Kyle Okposo | 169 |
| 47 | Jude Drouin | 169 |
| 49 | Dave Scatchard | 168 |
| 50 | Miroslav Satan | 166 |
| 51 | Mark Streit | 164 |
| 52 | Oleg Kvasha | 158 |
Season Series Stats
The Rangers lead the season series two games to one (and five points to three). The final meeting of the season will come on April 13th at the Coliseum.
The Isles are 3-1-1 against the Rangers in the last five at the Coliseum and 4-2-1 in their last seven home games against their local rivals.
Happy Anniversary
4 years ago today (March 7, 2009): Sean Bergenheim recorded a hat trick at the Isles pounded the Devils 7-3 at the Coliseum.
All-time, the Isles are 8-8-3 on this date, including 2-0-1 in the last 3.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 23-24-5-4 on the season after losing to Manchester in overtime on Wednesday. The Sound Tigers are seven points out of a playoff spot with 20 games to play. Bridgeport visits Albany on Friday and is then off until Tuesday.
Up Next
SATURDAY, MARCH 9th WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS (1:00PM)
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 12:30), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 12:30), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders conclude their seven game homestand with their first meeting of the season with Washington.
The Isles are 2-0-3 in their last five games with Washington, including 2-0-2 last season.
SUNDAY, MARCH 10th ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH (7:00PM)
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 6:30), WRHU (88.7FM)]
[MSG+ (pre-game show at 6:30), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Isles will then head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Sunday in the first of a three-game road trip. It's the third meeting of the season between the teams, with each squad owning a road victory.
This game will start a stretch in which the Isles and Penguins will face each other three times in a three-week period.
And Finally…
The Skinny will not be published after Saturday's game as I will be celebrating my son's Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov, Evan!
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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