"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 23
Pittsburgh 4, Isles 3
Sidney Crosby scored his 250th career goal to break a 3-3 tie with a goal with 76 seconds to play and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off a late Islander power play for a 4-3 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 18,515 at the CONSOL Energy Center. It's the 6th straight road loss, all in regulation, for the Islanders, who lost only six road games in regulation all last season. Chris Kunitz scored twice and had a third first period goal called back on an Evgeni Malkin penalty; he also added an assist on the winning tally. Thomas Vanek scored twice for the Islanders in defeat.
The Scoring:
1st Period
04:04 PIT PPG - Chris Kunitz (10) Wrist shot - ASST: Sidney Crosby (18), Evgeni Malkin (20) 1 - 0 PIT
07:55 PIT PPG - Chris Kunitz (11) Slapshot - ASST: James Neal (4), Paul Martin (8) 2 - 0 PIT
2nd Period
01:46 NYI Thomas Vanek (6) Wrist shot - ASST: Kyle Okposo (15), Radek Martinek (3) 2 - 1 PIT
06:25 PIT Evgeni Malkin (4) Wrist shot - ASST: James Neal (5), Jussi Jokinen (6) 3 - 1 PIT
11:33 NYI Colin McDonald (2) Snap shot - ASST: Casey Cizikas (2) 3 - 2 PIT
12:54 NYI Thomas Vanek (7) Backhand shot - ASST: Kyle Okposo (16), John Tavares (17) 3 - 3 Tie
3rd Period
18:44 PIT Sidney Crosby (12) Wrist shot - ASST: Pascal Dupuis (10), Chris Kunitz (10) 4 - 3 PIT
The Skinny:
Evgeni Malkin's goal was his 1st since October 17th, ending a career-long 15 game goal scoring drought…Colin Mac Donald's goal was his first in 14 games…Casey Cizikas has a career-best four game point streak (3-1-4) … It's the first time that Thomas Vanek has scored twice in a game for the Isles…John Tavares has assists and points in six of the last seven games. Crosby's winning goal was his 22nd in 43 games (22-56-78) against the Isles; it was his 5th game-winning goal against the Isles. .. Isles have scored 34 of their 63 goals in the second period, but have been outscored 25-13 in the third period…The Isles scored three goals in the second period, matching the season high. They have scored three goals five times this season, including four times in the middle session…The Isles have been outscored 18-4 in the third period of the last 13 games… Pittsburgh is 5-4-0 in one-goal games while the Isles are 5-7-3… Pittsburgh improves to 12-1-0 when they score first; the Penguins have sold out 299 consecutive home games… The Isles have allowed at least one goal in ten straight periods (and 12 straight road periods).
The Shots:
Isles 13-13-9=35
Penguins 13-12-9=34
Home and Road
The Islanders are 8-12-3 overall, 5-4-3 at home and 3-8-0 on the road. The Isles have been outscored 25-11 in their last six road games. The Isles are 4 games under NHL-.500 for the first time since March 15, 2012 (28-32-11) and are 5 games under NHL-.500 on the road for the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season.
The Penguins are 15-8-0 overall; they are 10-3-0 at home and 5-5-0 on the road.
In the Nets
Kevin Poulin made 30 saves but falls to 3-7-0 on the season.
Jeff Zatkoff made 32 saves for the Penguins and improves to 2-2-0 on the season.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-6 while the Penguins were 2-4. It's the fifth time this season that the Isles have allowed at least two power play goals (0-5-0).
The Isles are 5-2-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-10-0 when they do not. The Isles are 2-10-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-2-1 when they do not.
Over the last 13 games, the Isles power play is 4-49 (8.2%) while the penalty kill is 17-42 (59.5%).
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-2-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-10-1 when they do not.
Helps to Score First
The Isles are 6-2-3 when they score first and are 2-10-0 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is now 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (218) and wins (92).
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 92
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 218
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
They Said It
Andrew MacDonald: "This team's not going to quit. We showed that tonight."
They Tweeted It
@JoeYerdonPHT Someone pushed the Vanek button. #puns RT @BComptonNHL: Vanek's second of the night ties it. #Isles
The Coach
"We outshot them, outhit them, we blocked shots, Pouls played well enough to win and we make a mental mistake to lose it."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-3-0 in the front-end and 1-3-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.
On the five previous back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points once, 3 points once, 2 points once, and no points on two occasions.
This back-to-back set concludes Saturday in Philadelphia.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 275 career points; he is 62 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
Travis Hamonic played 28:09 to lead the Isles for the second straight game and sixth time this season. Kris Letang played 24:28 to lead the Pens.
The Isles are 7-8-2 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-4-1 when Hamonic leads them.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 29 of 60 draws. John Tavares won 12 of 21 to lead the Isles; Evgeni Malkin won 6 of 10 for Pittsburgh.
The Isles have won less than 50% of the face-offs in eight straight games.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Pittsburgh 32-31. Matt Martin led the Isles with seven hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 109. Tanner Glass had seven hits for Pittsburgh.
There were no fights in the game, leaving the season total at eight: Martin (3), Boulton (3), and Carkner (2).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots; Matt Donovan led the Isles with three. Andrew MacDonald extended his league-leading total to 85 with two blocks despite missing much of the first period and all of the second with an apparent injury.
All–time Winners
The Islanders fall to five games over all-time NHL .500 (1379-1374-442 in 3,195 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 230 consecutive games, which is the second-longest streak for an Islander in the Post Cup era.
Frans Nielsen (153) and Kyle Okposo (136) 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
· John Tavares 10/16/10 – CURRENT 230
· 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
· Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215
Missing Men
Lubomir Visnovsky, Brian Strait and Evgeni Nabokov remain on injured reserve. Thomas Vanek returned after missing five games with an upper body injury, Michael Grabner and Radek Martinek were back in the lineup. Brock Nelson, Eric Boulton and Aaron Ness were scratched. The Isles have lost 48 games this season due to injury.
Nobody Beat the Viz
The Isles were 19-12-4 last season and are 3-3-2 this season with Lubomir Visnovsky in the lineup. They were 5-5-3 last season and are 5-9-1 this season without him in the lineup.
Career Goals as an Islander
| 15 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 145 | |||
| 16 | Jason Blake | 127 | |||
| 17 | John Tavares | 121 | |||
| 17 | Duane Sutter | 121 | |||
| 19 | Alexei Yashin | 119 | |||
| | | | |||
| Career Assists as an Islander | |||||
| 22 | Zigmund Palffy | 163 | |||
| 23 | David Volek | 154 | |||
| 23 | John Tavares | 154 | |||
| 25 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 150 | |||
| 26 | Frans Nielsen | 148 | |||
| 27 | Travis Green | 145 | |||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 25 | Gerry Hart | 476 | ||||
| 26 | Radek Martinek | 474 | ||||
| 27 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 470 | ||||
| | | | ||||
| 35 | David Volek | 396 | ||||
| 36 | Bert Marshall | 392 | ||||
| 37 | Frans Nielsen | 390 | ||||
| 38 | Travis Green | 388 | ||||
| 39 | Anders Kallur | 383 | ||||
| 40 | Randy Wood | 381 | ||||
| 41 | Josh Bailey | 351 | ||||
| 42 | Dave Scatchard | 347 | ||||
| 43 | Alexei Yashin | 346 | ||||
| 44 | Mark Parrish | 345 | ||||
| 45 | Kyle Okposo | 342 | ||||
| 46 | Marty McInnis | 337 | ||||
| | | | ||||
| 54 | Brad Dalgarno | 321 | ||||
| 55 | Ray Ferraro | 316 | ||||
| 55 | Steve Webb | 316 | ||||
| 55 | Richard Park | 316 | ||||
| 58 | John Tavares | 314 | ||||
| 58 | Gerald Diduck | 314 | ||||
| 60 | Mikko Makela | 307 | ||||
| | | | ||||
Career Points as an Islander
| 20 | Ed Westfall | 286 |
| 21 | John Tavares | 274 |
| 22 | Jason Blake | 258 |
| 22 | Steve Thomas | 258 |
| 32 | Mikko Makela | 219 |
| 33 | Frans Nielsen | 218 |
| 34 | Mark Parrish | 214 |
| 35 | Garry Howatt | 213 |
| 35 | Jean Potvin | 213 |
| 37 | Anders Kallur | 211 |
| 38 | Kyle Okposo | 205 |
| 39 | Marty McInnis | 198 |
| | | |
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied one game to one (and two points to two) with both teams earning a regulation win in Pittsburgh with a goal in the final 100 seconds; the teams will play again on December 3rd and January 23rd at the Coliseum.
The Isles went 0-11-2 between 2008 and 2011 in Pittsburgh, but are 3-3-0 in their last six regular season trips to the Steel City.
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago tonight: November 22, 1981. The Islanders get goals from six different players, including two from Duane Sutter, as they pound the Rangers 7-2 at Madison Square Garden to complete a sweep of a home-and-home series.
Overall the Islanders are now 12-8-2 on this date.
On The Farm
Bridgeport dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to Providence on Friday and is now 4-8-1-2 on the season. Mike Halmo, Kirill Kabanov and Anders Lee scored for Bridgeport, who visit Worcester Saturday before returning home to host St. John on Sunday.
Halmo leads Bridgeport with seven goals; Ryan Strome leads in both assists (13) and points (17).
Up Next
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd —ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The Islanders look to break their six-game road losing streak when they visit Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Flyers defeated the Isles 5-2 back on October 26th at the Coliseum and after a very slow start are now 6-2-1 in their last nine games and have climbed over the Islanders in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Isles are 3-2-0 in their last five trips to Philadelphia, with two of their three victories having come in shootouts.
The Isles are 3-2-0 in their last five trips to Philadelphia, with two of their three victories having come in shootouts.
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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