"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 12
Rangers 3, Isles 2
Benoit Pouliot scored with 6:14 to play as the Rangers spoiled Thomas Vanek's Islander debut with a 3-2 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 16,170 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Rangers have won three straight games at the Coliseum for the first time since 2008-09
Update: The NHL announced a scoring change on Wednesday to the Isles' goal, changing it from Peter Regin to Travis Hamonic.
Update: The NHL announced a scoring change on Wednesday to the Isles' goal, changing it from Peter Regin to Travis Hamonic.
The Scoring:
1st Period
12:30 NYR PPG - C. Kreider (1) Snap shot - ASST: B. Richards (4), D. Stepan (6) 1 - 0 NYR
2nd Period
3:40 NYI C. Clutterbuck (1) Snap shot - ASST: M. Carkner (1) 1 - 1 Tie
19:19 NYI T. Hamonic (1) Snap shot - ASST: A. MacDonald (3), B. Nelson (2) 2 - 1 NYI
3rd Period
4:59 NYR PPG - R. McDonagh (2) Slapshot - ASST: D. Stepan (7), M. Zuccarello (1) 2 - 2 Tie
13:46 NYR B. Pouliot (2) Snap shot - ASST: C. Hagelin (1), M. Del Zotto (1) 3 - 2 NYR
The Skinny:
Cal Clutterbuck's goal was his first as an Islander; he is the 5th Islander to score his first goal with the team so far this season (P. Bouchard, P. Regin, M. Donovan, B. Nelson)… Eight of the Isles' last nine games, and 10 of 12 games this season have been decided by one goal… The Rangers stopped John Tavares' ten game point streak (longest in the NHL this season and 2nd longest streak of his career – he had a 12 game streak in 2011-12) and his six game assist streak. Frans Nielsen's four game goal streak and Kyle Okposo's five-game point streak were also stopped…Thomas Vanek's Islander debut came in his 599th NHL game… The Isles are 2-1-1 when leading after two periods; it was their first regulation loss when leading after two periods since March 19, 2013 (led Ottawa 3-1, but lost 5-3)… The Isles had points from three defensemen for the first time this season. … Carl Hagelin made his season debut for the Rangers, who are 3-3-0 in their last six games following a 1-4-0 start… John Tavares was assessed 12 minutes of penalties after the final horn; it was the first misconduct penalty of his career. He now has a club-leading 18 penalty minutes, which match his total for the 48-game 2012-13 season… With the Isles' loss, Pittsburgh is the only team in the Metropolitan Division with at least an NHL-.500 record.
Update: Travis Hamonic is the first Islander defenseman to score an even-strength goal since Radek Martinek scored last April 16 vs. Florida. Both of the other Isles goals from defensemen this season came on the power play.
Update: Travis Hamonic is the first Islander defenseman to score an even-strength goal since Radek Martinek scored last April 16 vs. Florida. Both of the other Isles goals from defensemen this season came on the power play.
The Shots:
Isles 9-7-8=24
Rangers 4-15-5=24
It was the first time since March 24, 1991 that the Isles and Rangers had the same number of shots in a game.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 4-5-3 overall, 2-3-3 at home and 2-2-0 on the road. After opening 2-0-2 at home, the Isles are 0-3-1 in their last four games at the Coliseum.
The Rangers are 4-7-0 overall, 0-1-0 at home and 4-6-0 on the road.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabakov made 21 saves but drops to 4-3-3 on the season.
Cam Talbot made 22 saves for the Rangers as he improves to 2-1-0 in his NHL career. Talbot has allowed only six goals in those three games. It's the first time since December 19, 2006 (Kevin Weekes) that the Rangers started someone other than Henrik Lundqvist or Martin Biron against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 while the Rangers were 2-4. After scoring a power play goal in five straight games, the Isles have been held without a power play goal in their last two games.
The Isles are 3-1-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-4-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-4-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-1-1 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 4-1-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-4-1 when they do not.
At Least Two
The Isles did manage two goals; they have scored at least twice in every game this season. Chicago and St. Louis are the only other teams to have done so.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is now 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (207) and wins (88).
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 88
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 207
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
They Said It
Thomas Vanek: "I need to get used to Johnny and Kyle's tendencies."
They Tweeted It
@BComptonNHL Could have sworn that was Hamonic's goal, but they're giving it to Regin. Either way, 2-1 #Isles
The Coach
Our D have to play better, that's the bottom line. We need to win more wall battles as our forwards, but our defense has to find a way to play better. We gave up one goal 5-on-5.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 262 career points; he is 56 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player from that draft is anywhere close. Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player from that draft.
Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald played 26:55 to lead the Isles for the ninth time this season. Ryan McDonough led the Rangers with 23:30.
The Isles are 3-4-2 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-1-1 when Hamonic leads them.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 23 of 57 draws. Peter Regin won 7 of 10, but the other Isles won only 16 of 47. Derek Stepan won 10 of 16 for the Rangers.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit 21-15. Matt Martin had four hits to lead the Isles and fought NHL penalty minute leader Derek Dorsett in the game's only fight. The Isles have been involved in three fights this season: Boulton (2), Martin (1).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 9 blocked shots; Andrew MacDonald led the way with four and now has an NHL-leading 42 blocked shots.
All–time Winners
The Islanders drop to eight games over all-time NHL .500 (1375-1367-442 in 3,184 games). The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above all-time NHL .500.
Ironmen
John Tavares is the reigning Islanders' ironman. Tavares has now played in 219 consecutive games.
Frans Nielsen (142) and Kyle Okposo (125) also have streaks of at least 100 consecutive games.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Post Cup Era
· Matt Moulson 10/3/2009- 4/4/2013 284
· Richard Park 10/5/2006 – 2/18/2009 221
· Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220
· John Tavares 10/16/10 – CURRENT 219
· Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981- 1/12/1984 219
· Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215
Missing Men
Thomas Vanek replaced Matt Moulson on the roster, and in the lineup. Lubomir Visnovsky remains on injured reserve; Brian Strait missed his third game with an upper body injury. Brock Nelson replaced Eric Boulton in the lineup. The Isles have lost 11 games this season due to injury.
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
19. Gump Worsley 335
20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333
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
17
|
Duane Sutter
|
121
| ||||
18
|
Alexei Yashin
|
119
| ||||
19
|
Matt Moulson
|
118
| ||||
19
|
Mark Parrish
|
118
| ||||
19
|
Steve Thomas
|
118
| ||||
22
|
Ray Ferraro
|
116
| ||||
22
|
John Tavares
|
116
| ||||
24
|
Benoit Hogue
|
105
| ||||
24
|
Ed Westfall
|
105
| ||||
Career Assists as an Islander
| ||||||
24
|
Mariusz Czerkawski
|
150
| ||||
25
|
John Tavares
|
146
| ||||
26
|
Travis Green
|
145
| ||||
27
|
Frans Nielsen
|
144
| ||||
28
|
Steve Thomas
|
140
| ||||
29
|
Mark Streit
|
139
| ||||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
25
|
Gerry Hart
|
476
| ||||
26
|
Mariusz Czerkawski
|
470
| ||||
27
|
Radek Martinek
|
469
| ||||
28
|
Trent Hunter
|
459
| ||||
39
|
Randy Wood
|
381
| ||||
40
|
Frans Nielsen
|
379
| ||||
41
|
Dave Scatchard
|
347
| ||||
42
|
Alexei Yashin
|
346
| ||||
43
|
Mark Parrish
|
345
| ||||
44
|
Josh Bailey
|
341
| ||||
45
|
Marty McInnis
|
337
| ||||
46
|
Robert Goring
|
332
| ||||
46
|
Oleg Kvasha
|
332
| ||||
48
|
Kyle Okposo
|
331
| ||||
48
|
Bruno Gervais
|
331
| ||||
48
|
Zigmund Palffy
|
331
| ||||
51
|
Shawn Bates
|
330
| ||||
52
|
Eric Cairns
|
327
| ||||
53
|
Alan Kerr
|
326
| ||||
54
|
Brad Dalgarno
|
321
| ||||
55
|
Ray Ferraro
|
316
| ||||
55
|
Steve Webb
|
316
| ||||
55
|
Richard Park
|
316
| ||||
58
|
Gerald Diduck
|
314
| ||||
59
|
Mikko Makela
|
307
| ||||
60
|
Gordon Lane
|
304
| ||||
60
|
Matt Moulson
|
304
| ||||
62
|
John Tavares
|
303
| ||||
63
|
Arron Asham
|
300
| ||||
63
|
Roman Hamrlik
|
300
| ||||
Career Points as an Islander
20
|
Ed Westfall
|
286
|
21
|
John Tavares
|
261
|
22
|
Jason Blake
|
258
|
22
|
Steve Thomas
|
258
|
29
|
Benoit Hogue
|
229
|
29
|
Trent Hunter
|
229
|
31
|
Matt Moulson
|
223
|
32
|
Mikko Makela
|
219
|
33
|
Mark Parrish
|
214
|
34
|
Garry Howatt
|
213
|
34
|
Jean Potvin
|
213
|
36
|
Anders Kallur
|
211
|
37
|
Frans Nielsen
|
208
|
38
|
Marty McInnis
|
198
|
39
|
Wayne Merrick
|
197
|
40
|
Kyle Okposo
|
196
|
41
|
Robert Goring
|
195
|
Out With
October
The
Isles are 171-162-67 in 400 games played in October.
Season Series Stats
The Rangers lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none) with four games to play. The teams will next play on December 20th at Madison Square Garden.
The Isles are 0-1-2 in their last three home games vs. the Rangers and have not beaten the Rangers in regulation in the last ten games (2-5-3).
Happy Anniversary
22 years ago tonight: October 29, 1991. Pierre Turgeon scored his first goal in an Islander uniform as the Isles scored four goals in the third period to pound the Sharks 8-4 at the Coliseum.
Overall the Islanders are now 5-8-3 on this date, including 0-4-2 since defeating Montreal 5-2 on this date in 1997.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 1-4-1-0 on the season after a 5-0 loss in Syracuse on Saturday. Bridgeport begins a stretch of three games in four days when they visit Hartford on Wednesday.
Up Next
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1st —ISLANDERS AT OTTAWA 7:30PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
After playing eight of 12 at home in October, the Isles will play eight of 15 on the road in November. The busy month begins with the front-end of back-to-backs as the Isles visit Ottawa in the first of three meetings between the teams this season.
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
After playing eight of 12 at home in October, the Isles will play eight of 15 on the road in November. The busy month begins with the front-end of back-to-backs as the Isles visit Ottawa in the first of three meetings between the teams this season.
The Isles are 4-5-0 in their last nine games against the Sens, but their last three wins against Ottawa have come in overtime/shootouts so the Sens have an 8-game point streak (5-0-3) against the Isles.
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
