"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 29
St. Louis 5, Isles 1
The St. Louis Blues scored three power play goals in the game's first 30 minutes and defeated the Islanders 5-1 before a crowd of 14,152 at Scottrade Center. The loss extends the Islanders' winless streak to eight straight games (0-6-2) and is their eighth straight loss on the road.
The Scoring:
1st Period
11:47 STL PPG - Jay Bouwmeester (2) Slapshot - ASST: Vladimir Sobotka (8), Ian Cole (2) 1 - 0 STL
2nd Period
05:19 NYI PPG - Andrew MacDonald (3) Slapshot - ASST: Frans Nielsen (13), Kyle Okposo (18) 1 - 1 Tie
07:02 STL PPG - Derek Roy (7) Wrist shot - ASST: TJ Oshie (19), Kevin Shattenkirk (17) 2 - 1 STL
09:33 STL PPG - David Backes (13) Wrister- ASST:Alexander Steen (12), Kevin Shattenkirk (18) 3-1 STL
14:59 STL Magnus Paajarvi (2) Wrist shot - ASST: Patrik Berglund (8), Jay Bouwmeester (19) 4 - 1 STL
3rd Period
13:19 STL Brenden Morrow (5) Tip-in - ASST: Derek Roy (12), TJ Oshie (20) 5 - 1 STL
The Skinny:
The Isles are 2-11-2 in their last 15 games…Andrew MacDonald now has 16 career goals; 8 of which have come in 47 games against the Western Conference. He has 8 in 247 games against the East…MacDonald and Kyle Okposo each have three game point streaks…Isles have been outscored 33-17 in the third period, including 26-8 in the last 19 games … This is the seventh time this season that the Isles have allowed at least two power play goals (0-6-1)… The Blues power play is deadly at home, improving to 17-56 (30.4%)… Alex Steen's assist on Backes' goal was his 22nd point at home this season, breaking a tie with John Tavares for the NHL lead…The Isles have been outscored 33-14 during their eight-game winless streak, which is their longest winless streak since they had a 14-game streak from October 23-November 24, 2010 (0-11-3)…Jaden Schwartz' point streak ended at seven games…Jay Bouwmeester played in his 661st consecutive game, which is the longest current streak in any major professional sport.
The Shots:
Isles 6-8-9=23
Blues 6-14-6=26
Home and Road
The Islanders are 8-16-5 overall, 5-6-5 at home and 3-10-0 on the road. The Isles drop to 8 games under NHL-.500 for the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season (30-39-13). The Isles have lost eight straight games on the road for the first time since the 2009-10 season, which matches their longest road losing streak since dropping 9 straight from 12/20/98-1/16/99.
The Blues are 19-5-3 overall; they are 12-1-2 at home and 7-4-1 on the road. St. Louis' win breaks a two-game losing streak; they have won five straight at home and are 8-0-2 in their last 10. Their 12 home wins matches Boston for the NHL lead.
In the Nets
Anders Nilsson made 21 saves and is now 0-1-2 on the season.
Jaroslav Halek made 22 saves to improve to 15-5-2 on the season. He is 6-1-1 against the Islanders in his career, allowing just 11 goals.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-3 while the Blues were 3-6. The Isles have allowed 5 power play goals in the last two games.
The Isles are 5-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-12-2 when they do not. The Isles are 2-12-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-4-2 when they do not.
Over the last 19 games, the Isles power play is 6-64 (9.4%) while the penalty kill is 24-61 (60.7%). During the eight-game winless streak, the power play is 2-23 (and has allowed two shorthanded goals) while the penalty kill is 9-25 (64.0%).
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-2-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-14-3 when they do not.
Helps to Score First
The Isles are 6-2-4 when they score first and are 2-14-1 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in eight of the last nine games.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is now 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (224) and wins (92).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 224
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
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
They Said It
Matt Martin: "We have to be better prepared. We have to play with more grit. But it saying that, we have to be more disciplined."
The Coach
"The second period we were going pretty good…and then we ran into penalty trouble. Bang, bang."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-4-0 in the front-end and 1-4-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.
On the seven sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points once, 3 points once, 2 points once, 1 point once and no points on three occasions.
The next back-to-back set will be on December 9th and 10th in Anaheim and San Jose.
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 281 career points; he is 68 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 24:28 to lead the Isles for the 8th time this season. Kevin Shattenkirk played 22:28 to lead the Blues.
The Isles are 7-10-4 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-6-1 when Hamonic leads them.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 of 50 draws. John Tavares won 11 of 16 to lead the Isles, who won the battle of the face-off circle for the third straight game. Vladimir Sobotka won 8 of 12 for St. Louis.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit 25-28. Matt Martin led the Islanders with three hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 140.
Matt Carkner fought Chris Stewart in the second period, earning 17 penalty minutes for his trouble. It was the Islanders' ninth fight of the season: Martin (3), Boulton (3), and Carkner (3).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots. Thomas Hickey led the Isles with three blocks; Andrew MacDonald remains the NHL leader with 98 blocks.
All–time Winners
The Islanders drop to one game over all-time NHL .500 (1379-1378-444 in 3,201 games). The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above all-time NHL .500. The Isles last were at NHL .500 after a loss to Pittsburgh last March 25 dropped them to 1360-1360-435.
Ironmen
John Tavares is the reigning Islanders' ironman. Tavares has now played in 236 consecutive games, which is the second-longest streak for an Islander in the Post Cup era.
Frans Nielsen (159) and Kyle Okposo (142) 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 236
· 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. Brock Nelson, Radek Martinek and Eric Boulton were scratched for the third straight game. The Isles have lost 66 games this season due to injury.
Nobody Beats 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 5-13-3 this season without him in the lineup.
Career Goals as an Islander
| 15 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 145 | |||
| 16 | Jason Blake | 127 | |||
| 17 | John Tavares | 123 | |||
| 18 | Duane Sutter | 121 | |||
| | | | |||
| Career Assists as an Islander | |||||
| 22 | Zigmund Palffy | 163 | |||
| 23 | John Tavares | 158 | |||
| 24 | David Volek | 154 | |||
| 25 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 150 | |||
| 26 | Frans Nielsen | 149 | |||
| 27 | Travis Green | 145 | |||
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
| 24 | Eddie Westfall | 493 | ||||
| 25 | Radek Martinek | 476 | ||||
| 25 | Gerry Hart | 476 | ||||
| 27 | Mariusz Czerkawski | 470 | ||||
| | | | ||||
| 35 | David Volek | 396 | ||||
| 35 | Frans Nielsen | 396 | ||||
| 37 | Bert Marshall | 392 | ||||
| 38 | Travis Green | 388 | ||||
| 39 | Anders Kallur | 383 | ||||
| 40 | Randy Wood | 381 | ||||
| 41 | Josh Bailey | 356 | ||||
| 42 | Kyle Okposo | 348 | ||||
| 43 | Dave Scatchard | 347 | ||||
| | | | ||||
| 54 | Brad Dalgarno | 321 | ||||
| 54 | John Tavares | 321 | ||||
| 56 | Ray Ferraro | 316 | ||||
| 56 | Steve Webb | 316 | ||||
| 56 | Richard Park | 316 | ||||
Career Points as an Islander
| 20 | Ed Westfall | 286 |
| 21 | John Tavares | 281 |
| 22 | Jason Blake | 258 |
| 22 | Steve Thomas | 258 |
| | | |
| 32 | Mikko Makela | 219 |
| 32 | Frans Nielsen | 219 |
| 34 | Mark Parrish | 214 |
| 35 | Garry Howatt | 213 |
| 35 | Jean Potvin | 213 |
| 37 | Anders Kallur | 211 |
| 38 | Kyle Okposo | 209 |
| 39 | Marty McInnis | 198 |
Season Series Stats
The Blues lead the season series one game to none (and two points to zero); the Blues will visit the Coliseum on January 25th.
The Isles have lost three straight games in St. Louis since defeating the Blues 6-3 on December 6, 2005.
Happy Anniversary
24 years ago tonight: December 5, 1989. Mark Fitzpatrick records his second shutout in less than a week as the Islanders blanked Buffalo 3-0 at the Coliseum.
Overall, the Isles are 3-11-3 on this date, including an 0-9-1 record since the win over Buffalo.
On The Farm
Anders Lee scored the only goal and had his first professional fight as the Sound Tigers blanked the Adirondack Phantoms 1-0 on Wednesday night. Kenny Reiter recorded his first AHL shutout as the Sound Tigers won their second straight game. Ryan Strome, the reigning AHL Rookie of the Month and AHL Player of the Week assisted on the tally to extend his point streak to seven games.
Bridgeport is 7-10-1-3 on the season and visits Utica on Friday night.
Lee ties Mike Halmo for the Bridgeport lead with eight goals; Ryan Strome leads in both assists (19) and points (26). Strome leads all AHL rookies in both assists and in points and is tied for the overall AHL lead in assists.
Up Next
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7th — ISLANDERS AT LOS ANGELES 10:30PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 10:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 10:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The 5-game in eight day road trip continues on Saturday in Los Angeles. It will be the Isles' first game in Los Angeles in 1,120 days, since a 5-1 defeat on November 13, 2010 turned out to be Scott Gordon's final game as an Islander Head Coach.
The Isles have lost three straight games in Los Angeles since defeating the Kings 3-2 on February 15, 2003.
Los Angeles rallied for a 3-2 win at the Coliseum in mid-November, erasing a 2-0 Islander lead with three goals in the third period.
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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