The Skinny: Isles 3, Boston 1

"The Skinny"

 By Eric Hornick

 

Game 14

Isles 3, Boston 1

 

Kyle Okposo assisted on all three goals, including a magnificent set-up for Thomas Vanek's first goal as an Islander as the Isles completed a four-point weekend with a 3-1 victory over the reigning Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins before a crowd of 14,018 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD                            

NONE  

                       

2ND PERIOD   

6:15 NYI John Tavares (6) Snap shot - ASST: Thomas Vanek (7), Kyle Okposo (11)          1 - 0 NYI

13:13 NYI Andrew MacDonald (1) Slapshot - ASST: Travis Hamonic (4), Kyle Okposo (12) 2 - 0 NYI

15:27 BOS PPG - Dougie Hamilton (3) Tip-in - ASST: Reilly Smith (6), Ryan Spooner (2)   2 - 1 NYI

16:08 NYI Thomas Vanek (5) Slapshot - ASST: Kyle Okposo (13), Travis Hamonic (5)       3 - 1 NYI

 

3RD PERIOD                           

NONE                          

The Skinny:  

The Isles outshot Boston 34-27; every Islander but Radek Martinek and Peter Regin was credited with at least one shot on goal… Kyle Okposo had three 2^nd period assists (one shy of the club record); he leads the team in both assists (13) and points (17).  Okposo's first assist was his 200^th career point… The Isles had three points from defensemen for the third straight game (first time since March 11-15, 2012) and now have at least one point from a defenseman in 10 consecutive games… It's the first time this season that the Isles have allowed a power play goal and won a game…The Isles have outscored their opponents 22-16 in the second period; 22 of the Isles' 43 goals have been scored in the middle period…Vanek's goal was his first as an Islander and his 500^th NHL point… The Isles win a Saturday game for the first time in five tries (1-3-1) this season.

The Shots:

Isles        9-13-12=34

Bruins     6-9-12=27

 

The Isles had 91 shots in the back-to-backs.  It is their most shots in consecutive games since they had 96 shots on February 24-25, 1990.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 6-5-3 overall, 3-3-3 at home and 3-2-0 on the road.  The Isles go back over NHL-.500 but by winning consecutive games for the first time this season. The Isles are now 1-3-1 in games following a victory, and are also 1-2-1 on the back-end of back-to-backs

The Bruins are 8-5-0 overall, 4-3-0 at home and 4-2-0 on the road.   Boston opened their season 7-2-0, but are 1-3-0 in their last four games

November to Remember

The Isles are playing 15 games this month and have started the month 2-0-0.  It's the first time since 2007 that the Isles have won their first two November games.  The 2^nd of those games in 2007 was coached by Isles legend Al Arbour.

In the Nets

Kevin Poulin made 26 saves and improves to 1-2-0 on the season.  It's only the 2^nd time since the start of last season that an Islander goalie other than Evgeni Nabokov won a game (Poulin beat Winnipeg last April 2^nd).

Chad Johnson made 31 saves for the Bruins and falls to 1-1-0 on the season.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-3 while the Bruins were 1-3.  After scoring a power play goal in five straight games, the Isles have been held without a power play goal in their last four games.

The Isles are 3-1-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 1-4-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-1-1 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 6-1-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-4-1 when they do not. 

At Least Two

The Isles 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 2^nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (209) and wins (90).

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 90

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

 

Most games coached (Islanders):

1.     Al Arbour 1,500

2.     Jack Capuano 209

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

They Said It

Thomas Vanek:  "We worked hard again. That's night games in a row we put 60 minutes together.  We deserved to win…The (Coliseum) atmosphere is electric."

They Tweeted It

@larmony21 What'd I say? Strong defense by the @NYIslanders would result in a win. Way to go #isles! Love this team!!!

The Coach

We played well tonight… we did some good things against a good hockey game.  Playing together for a couple of games, the (Tavares line) chemistry is starting to click.  I was pleased with their effort…they did some good things offensively, and without the puck.

Head of the Class

John Tavares has 264 career points; he is 58 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 27:44 to lead the Isles for the 11th time this season. Zdeno Chara led the Bruins with 24:50.

The Isles are 5-4-2 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-1-1 when Hamonic leads them.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 24 of 59 draws.  No Islander who took at least two draws won more than he lost; David Krejci won 11 of 16 to lead the Bruins.

Heavy Hitters

The Isles out-hit Boston 27-20.  Cal Clutterbuck had six hits to lead the Isles.  There were no fights, leaving the season total as three: Boulton (2), Martin (1).

Giving Up the Body

The Isles were credited with 19 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic led the way with five blocks.

All–time Winners

The Islanders improve to ten games over all-time NHL .500 (1377-1367-442 in 3,186 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 221 consecutive games.

Frans Nielsen (144) and Kyle Okposo (127) 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  221

·         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 remains on injured reserve; Brian Strait missed his fifth game with an upper body injury. Colin MacDonald missed his fourth game with a hip injury; Eric Boulton was scratched. The Isles have lost 19 games this season due to injury.

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 671

2. Roberto Luongo 356

3. Evgeni Nabokov 340

4. Nikolai Khabibulin 333

 

Career Wins

17. Roberto Luongo 356

18. Evgeni Nabokov 340

19. Gump Worsley 335

20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333

 

Career Shutouts, Active Goalies

 

1. Martin Brodeur 121

2. Roberto Luongo 64

3. Evgeni Nabokov 55

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	John Tavares		118
19	Matt Moulson		118
19	Mark Parrish		118
19	Steve Thomas		118
23	Ray Ferraro		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		Radek Martinek			471
27		Mariusz Czerkawski			470
39		Randy Wood			381
39		Frans Nielsen			381
41		Dave Scatchard			347
42		Alexei Yashin			346
43		Mark Parrish			345
44		Josh Bailey			343
45		Marty McInnis			337
46		Kyle Okposo			333
47		Robert Goring			332
47		Oleg Kvasha			332
49		Bruno Gervais			331
49		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		John Tavares			305
61		Gordon Lane			304
61		Matt Moulson			304

Career Points as an Islander

20	Ed Westfall	286
21	John Tavares	264
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	Frans Nielsen	212
37	Anders Kallur	211
38	Kyle Okposo	202
39	Marty McInnis	198

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none) with two games to play.  The teams will next play on New Year's Eve in Boston.

The Isles have won two straight games over Boston for the first time since November 16 - December 12, 2009.

Happy Anniversary

4 years ago tonight: November 2, 2009:  Brendan Witt scored 25 goals in his 890 game NHL career.  This was the only game he ever tallied twice, as he broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in the second period as the Isles defeated Edmonton 3-1. John Tavares had the other goal for the Isles; it was his 5^th NHL goal.

Overall the Islanders are now 9-9-0 on this date, having won each of their last three games on this date.  

On The Farm

Mike Halmo scored two goals for the second consecutive game, extending his goal scoring streak to three games and Ryan Strome and John Persson added shootout goals as the Sound Tigers edged Norfolk 4-3 for their second straight win.  Anders Nilsson made 28 saves during the game and was a perfect 4-for-4 in the shootout. Bridgeport improves to 3-5-1-0 on the season and are now off until next Saturday, when they visit Hershey.

Up Next

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5th —ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
 
The Isles have played 9 of their first 14 games as the Coliseum but will play their next four games on the road, all in a six-day span, beginning with their Tuesday match-up with the Capitals.

The Isles are 2-0-3 in their last five trips to Washington and are 4-0-4 in their last eight games against the Caps.   The 8-game point streak is the Isles' longest against Washington since going 12-0-1 against the Caps between October 1980 and October 1982.

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