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The Skinny: Buffalo 7, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 35 Buffalo 7, Isles 1 Beck Melenstyn scored 2:07 into the first period and the Sabres outscored...

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Skinny: Philadelphia 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

 By Eric Hornick
 
Game 11
Philadelphia 5, Isles 2

Vincent Lecavalier scored three goals for his 7th career hat trick as the Philadelphia Flyers rode a three-goal first period to a 5-2 victory over the Islanders before a crowd of 13,620 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  It was the first time all season that the Flyers scored more than two goals in a game.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD                                                                            
4:30 PHI PPG - V. Lecavalier (2) Snap shot - ASST: M. Streit (3), C. Giroux (4)     1 - 0 PHI
5:30 PHI J. Voracek (1) Wrist shot - ASST: B. Schenn (4), E. Gustafsson (2)        2 - 0 PHI
10:16 NYI K. Okposo (4) Slapshot - ASST: T. Hickey (2), J. Tavares (9)    2 - 1 PHI
18:13 PHI V. Lecavalier (3) Wrist shot - ASST: M. Raffl (1), M. Streit (4)    3 - 1 PHI
 
2ND PERIOD                                                                           
10:30 NYI SHG - F. Nielsen (7) Backhand shot - ASST: P. Regin (3)         3 - 2 PHI
 
3RD PERIOD                                                                           
8:53 PHI V. Lecavalier (4) Wrist shot - ASST: C. Giroux (5), M. Talbot (1)  4 - 2 PHI
18:28 PHI EN - M. Read (2) Wrist shot - ASST: N. Grossmann (3), S. Couturier (3) 5 - 2 PHI

The Skinny:  
The loss ended a streak of seven straight Islander games decided by one goal; it was Islanders' longest stretch of 1-goal games since an eight-game stretch from 12/26/09-1/9/10…Two of Lecavalier's seven hat tricks have gone against the Isles (3/11/08 for Tampa); it was the first Flyer hat trick against the Isles since Scott Hartnell had one on January 19, 2008…Frans Nielsen's shorthanded goal was the Isles' first shorty of the season and gave him the team lead with seven goals. …After being held pointless in the opener, John Tavares has a point in ten straight games (2nd longest streak of his career – he had a 12 game streak in 2011-12), the longest streak in the NHL this season.  Tavares also has an assist in six straight games, matching Sidney Crosby for the longest streak in the NHL this season… Michael Raffl's assist was his first NHL point… Mark Streit had two assists in his return to the Coliseum…Pierre-Marc Bouchard had a -4 rating…Matt Moulson's goal and point streak ended at three games and five games, respectively.

Great Dane
Frans Nielsen has a goal in four straight games (4-4-8).  His seven goals are one more than he scored last season.
Nielsen's shorty was the 11th of his career, breaking a tie with Denis Potvin for 10th place, and tying Claude Lapointe for 8th place on the all-time Isles shorthanded goal list.

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-1-0 on the front end of back-to-backs but fall to 0-2-1 on the back end.  The Isles are 1-7-2 in their last ten back-ends, dating back to last season.

Can't Go Streaking
The Isles have not won consecutive games yet this season; they are 0-3-1 in the game following their four victories.
The Shots:
Isles           15-5-8=28
Flyers         11-12-9=32
 
Home and Road
The Islanders are 4-4-3 overall, 2-2-3 at home and 2-2-0 on the road.  
The Flyers are 3-7-0 overall, 2-4-0 at home and 1-3-0 on the road.   

In the Nets
Kevin Poulin made 27 saves but drops to 0-2-0 on the season. 
Chris Mason made 26 saves for Philadelphia as he improves to 3-5-0 on the season.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 while the Flyers were 1-3.  It's the first time in six games that the Isles were held without a power play goal.
The Isles are 3-1-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-3-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-1-1 when they do not.  The Isles have killed 28 of 33 opponents' power plays this season.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 4-1-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-3-1 when they do not. 

As Seen on MSG+
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 (206) 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 206
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181
 
They Said It
Captain John Tavares: "We're just sloppy in our own end.  When we're playing well in our own end, we win a lot of puck battles and our D are jumping in the play and we're able to create a lot of odd-man opportunities and put pressure on the opponent. We have just been sloppy."

They Tweeted It
@RDNHL Their first professional sporting event. Regardless of the outcome, they had a blast. As did I. pic.twitter.com/vV480pr48u

The Coach
"I don't care about your goals or what your stats are, you have to play hard. You guys watched the game tonight and you saw some of the battles that we lost, and we can't have that. You've got to battle for one another, and that's the frustrating part for me. You've got to have all 20 guys going, and tonight we didn't."

Head of the Class
John Tavares has 262 career points; he is 57 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.

124 NHL goals
Moulson has 124 career goals (118 as an Islander).  While 262 players were selected before the Penguins chose Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 16 have more goals.  

Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald played a 26:42 to lead the Isles for the eighth time this season. It's the first time in four games an Islander did not play at least 30 minutes. Brayden Coburn led Philadelphia with 21:56.
The Isles are 3-3-2 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-1-1 when Hamonic leads them.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 27 of 61 draws.  Josh Bailey won 9 of 15, but the other Isles won only 18 of 46. Claude Giroux Sidney Crosby won 12 of 18 for Philadelphia. 

Heavy Hitters
Each team was credited with 25 hits.  Matt Martin had five hits to lead the Isles.  Eric Boulton, playing his second game of the season, fought Jay Rosehill in the first period. Boulton has been involved in both fights that the Isles have had this season.

Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots; Andrew MacDonald led the way with three.

All–time Winners
The Islanders drop to nine games over all-time NHL .500 (1375-1366-442 in 3,183 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 218 consecutive games.
Frans Nielsen (141) and Kyle Okposo (124) 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
·         Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981- 1/12/1984 219
·         John Tavares 10/16/10 – CURRENT  218
·         Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215

Missing Men
Lubomir Visnovsky remains on injured reserve; Brian Strait missed his second game with an upper body injury. With Michael Grabner and Eric Boulton returning to the lineup, Colin McDonald and Brock Nelson were scratched. The Isles have lost nine games this season due to injury.

Career Wins, Active Goalies
 
Career Wins
19. Gump Worsley 335
20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333
 
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
 
4. Tomas Vokoun 51
 
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
468
 
28
Trent Hunter
459
 
 
39
Randy Wood
381
 
40
Frans Nielsen
378
 
41
Dave Scatchard
347
 
42
Alexei Yashin
346
 
43
Mark Parrish
345
 
44
Josh Bailey
340
 
45
Marty McInnis
337
 
46
Robert Goring
332
 
46
Oleg Kvasha
332
 
48
Bruno Gervais
331
 
48
Zigmund Palffy
331
 
50
Kyle Okposo
330
 
50
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
302
 
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
222
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
Season Series Stats
The Flyers lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none) with three games to play.  The teams will next play on November 23rd in Philadelphia.
The Flyers have won 8 of their last nine games at the Coliseum; the Isles are 2-12-3 in their last 17 home games against Philadelphia.

Happy Anniversary
39 years ago tonight: October 26, 1974.  Billy Smith made 28 saves as the Islanders defeated the Minnesota North Stars 4-0.  It was the Isles' first-ever home shutout.  
Overall the Islanders are now 6-6-3 on this date. 

On The Farm
Bridgeport is 1-4-1-0 on the season after a 5-0 loss in Syracuse on Saturday. Bridgeport visits Hartford on Wednesday.

Up Next
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29th —NEW YORK RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
 
The Islanders will look to close October with a winning record as they entertain the Rangers.  It will be the first of five meetings between the squads, but the only meeting at the Coliseum this season (the other Islander "home" game will be at Yankee Stadium on January 29th.
The Rangers went 3-6-0 on their season-opening nine game road trip, and will host Montreal on Montreal night before coming to Long Island.

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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