"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 35
Tampa Bay 3, Isles 2 (SO)
Valtteri Filppula scored twice in the final 2:53 and added a tally in the shootout as Tampa Bay rallied for a 3-2 shootout win over the Islanders before a crowd of 13,618 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Isles have lost their last four home games, all in overtime/shootout, and are winless in six straight games at home (0-2-4) for the first time since a seven-game streak (0-5-2) in January/February 2008.
The Scoring:
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
00:11 NYI PPG - Kyle Okposo (11) Slapshot - ASST: John Tavares (25), Brock Nelson (6) 1 - 0 NYI
3rd Period
10:21 NYI Frans Nielsen (11) Wrist shot - ASST: Michael Grabner (7), Josh Bailey (7) Thomas Hickey (4) 2 - 0 NYI
17:07 TBL Valtteri Filppula (11) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 2 - 1 NYI
19:56 TBL Valtteri Filppula (12) Wrist shot - ASST: J.T. Brown (4), Martin St Louis (19) 2 - 2 Tie
OT Period
NONE
(After the game, Bailey's assist on the Nielsen goal was changed to Hickey)
The Shootout
Thomas Vanek (NG), Valtteri Filppula (G), Frans Nielsen (G), Nikita Kucherov (G), John Tavares (NG)
The Skinny:
Kyle Okposo's goal was only the second that the Isles have scored in the opening minute of a period this season. Thomas Vanek scored in the opening minute of the third period in San Jose earlier this month… Frans Nielsen's goal was his first in 13 games; Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey assisted on the goal for his s in 25 games and 12 games respectively…Val Fippula had one career goal (in 5 games) against the Islanders before scoring twice in the final 2:53….Ryan Strome played 15:07 in his 2nd NHL game. He had 1 shot on goal and won 8 of 10 draws… John Tavares passed Ed Westfall for 20th place in all-time Islander scoring with his 287th point; Tavares has a point on nine of the last 14 Isles goals… The Isles have been held to three goals or less in 14 consecutive games; it's their longest such streak since going 17 games early in the 2010-11 season…. The Isles are 4-3 in shootouts this season while Tampa Bay is 5-1…Frans Nielsen is now 4/8 this season and 28/52 in his career in shootouts. His 53.8% success rate is the highest of any active player with at least 20 shootout attempts…It's the second time in Islander history that four consecutive home games have gone to overtime (10/13-10/28/2001)…The Isles are 2-8-5 in games decided by one goal.
The Lost Leads
The Isles are now 3-4-1 in games that they have led 2-0 and are 4-2-3 in games that they led after two periods.
Overtime is (Not) Our Time
The Isles have lost four consecutive home games, all in overtime/shootouts, for the first time in franchise history. The Isles have not scored in their last 20 regular season overtimes (and 2 in the playoffs). They are 0-6 with 14 games going to the shootout since Thomas Hickey scored in overtime to beat Montreal in February 21st at the Bell Center.
The Isles have not scored an overtime goal in their last 14 home overtime games since Mark Streit beat Los Angeles on February 11, 2012. They are 0-7, with seven games going to shootouts.
The Shots:
Isles 12-11-10-1=34
Lightning 13-8-14-1=36
Home and Road
The Islanders are 9-19-7 overall, 5-6-7 at home and 4-13-0 on the road. The Isles are 1-9-4 in their last 14 games overall and have gone 16 games without a regulation/overtime win for the first time in franchise history (2-10-4 with both wins in shootouts).
The Lightning are 20-11-3 overall; they are 12-3-1 at home and 8-8-2 on the road. Tampa was 12-4-0 when Steven Stamkos was injured and are 8-7-3 since.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves and has allowed only three goals in the last two games. He is 5-5-5 on the season. Nabokov is 2-3 this season and 30-28 in his career in the shootout.
Ben Bishop made 32 saves as he improves to 18-5-2 on the season and is just one win shy of the league lead (Marc-Andre Fleury -19). Bishop is 4-1 this season and 9-5 in his career in the shootout.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-2 while the Lightning were 0-1.
The Isles are 5-5-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-14-3 when they do not. The Isles are 3-14-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-5-4 when they do not.
Over the last 25 games, the Isles power play is 8-81 (9.9%) while the penalty kill is 27-79 (65.8%). During the last 13 games, the power play is 4-40 (10%) (and has allowed three shorthanded goals) while the penalty kill is 12-43 (72.1%).
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 9-3-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-16-5 when they do not.
Helps to Score First
The Isles are 6-4-5 when they score first and are 3-15-2 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 (230) and wins (93).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 230
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 93
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
John Tavares: "it's unbelievable... It's frustrating. It seems like we have to play a perfect game
They Tweeted It
@Horseman71 Glass half full, #Isles points in 3 out of last 4 games 1-1-2. Trying really hard to look at bright side!
The Coach
"We have to find a way, for as well as we played, to get it done."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-5-0 in the front-end and 2-4-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.
On the eight sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points once, 3 points once, 2 points twice, 1 point once and no points on three occasions.
The next back-to-back set will be December 20th (at Rangers) and December 21st (vs. Anaheim).
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 287 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
Andrew MacDonald played 26:41 to lead the Isles for the 24th time this season. Forward Marty St. Louis led Tampa Bay with 24:02 of ice-time.
The Isles are 7-12-5 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 2-7-2 when Hamonic leads them.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 34 of 59 draws. Ryan Strome won 8 of 10 for the Isles; no Lightning won more than he lost.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit the Lightning 28-24. Matt Martin led the way with five hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 170.
Martin also fought BJ Crombeen in the second period. The Isles have been involved in 12 fights this season: Martin (5), Boulton (4), and Carkner (3).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 27 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald led the way with seven blocks; he leads the NHL with 120 blocks.
Still Under All-Time .500
The Islanders remain 1 game under all-time NHL .500 (1380-1381-446 in 3,207 games). The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above all-time NHL .500 and have not been more than 1 game under NHL-.500 since January 11, 1978.
Ironmen
John Tavares is the reigning Islanders' ironman. Tavares has now played in 242 consecutive games, which is the second-longest streak for an Islander in the Post Cup era.
Frans Nielsen (165) and Kyle Okposo (148) 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 242
· 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 and Radek Martinek remain on injured reserve. Colin McDonald and Casey Cizikas (jaw) were scratched for the second straight game. The Isles have lost 83 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 6-16-5 this season without him in the lineup.
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
17. Rogie Vachon 355
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
|
15 Mariusz Czerkawski 145
16 Jason Blake 127
17 John Tavares 125
18 Duane Sutter 121
Career Assists as an Islander
|
22 Zigmund Palffy 163
23 John Tavares 162
24 David Volek 154
25 Frans Nielsen 151
26 Mariusz Czerkawski 150
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
|
24 Eddie Westfall 493
25 Radek Martinek 476
25 Gerry Hart 476
27 Mariusz Czerkawski 470
34 Jean Potvin 402
34 Frans Nielsen 402
36 David Volek 396
37 Bert Marshall 392
38 Travis Green 388
39 Anders Kallur 383
40 Randy Wood 381
41 Josh Bailey 362
42 Kyle Okposo 354
43 Dave Scatchard 347
52 Eric Cairns 327
53 Alan Kerr 326
54 John Tavares 326
55 Brad Dalgarno 321
Career Points as an Islander
|
17 Mariusz Czerkawski 295
18 Duane Sutter 292
19 Alexei Yashin 290
20 John Tavares 287
21 Ed Westfall 286
29 Benoit Hogue 229
29 Trent Hunter 229
31 Matt Moulson 223
32 Frans Nielsen 222
33 Mikko Makela 219
34 Kyle Okposo 215
35 Mark Parrish 214
Season Series Stats
The Lightning lead the season series one game to none (and two points to one). The teams will meet January 16th and March 27th in Tampa.
The Isles were 3 seconds away from their sixth straight home win over Tampa, but are still 5-0-1 in their last home games against the Bolts.
Happy Anniversary
25 years ago tonight: December 17, 1988. Al Arbour earned the first win of his second stint behind the Islander bench as the Isles defeated the Devils 5-2.
The Islanders have now earned 36 points on December 17 – most of any day on the calendar. Overall, the Isles are 17-4-2 on this date including 17-2-2 in their last 21 games on this date.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is now 10-13-1-3 on the season after a loss to Manchester on Sunday. The Sound Tigers are off until Friday when they visit Hartford to begin a 3-game in 3-day weekend.
Anders Lee and Mike Halmo lead Bridgeport with ten goals; Lee also leads current Sound Tigers in both assists (11) and points (21). Ryan Strome still leads both the team and the AHL in both assists (24) and points (33).
Up Next
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20th —ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The Islanders head to Manhattan for the second meeting of the season with the Rangers on Friday night.
It's the Isles first game at The Garden since their season-changing shootout victory last February 14th. That win broke an eight-game Isles win streak at MSG (1-7-1 in their last nine).
The Rangers defeated the Islanders 3-2 at the Coliseum in October, rallying from a 2-1 deficit after two periods.
It's the first of a set of back-to-backs for the Isles, who will host Anaheim on Saturday.
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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