"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 59
Calgary 4, Isles 2
David Jones scored the winning goal with 5:32 to play and Mikael Backlund added an empty-netter as the Calgary Flames defeated the Isles 4-2 before a crowd of 12,888 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It's the first win for the Flames at the Coliseum in 10 years. The Isles drop to 1-5-1 in their last 7 games.
The Scoring:
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
14:15 CGY Sean Monahan (16) Wrist shot - ASST: Joe Colborne (10), Kris Russell (16) 1 - 0 CGY
18:08 CGY PPG - Dennis Wideman (4) Snapshot- ASST: Mikael Backlund (15), TJ Brodie (15) 2 – 0 CGY
19:53 NYI Thomas Hickey (4) Wrist shot - ASST: Josh Bailey (15), Colin McDonald (5) 2 - 1 CGY
3rd Period
07:31 NYI Calvin de Haan (2) Wrist shot - ASST: John Tavares (42), Thomas Vanek (29) 2 - 2 Tie
14:28 CGY David Jones (9) Wrist shot - ASST: Matt Stajan (13), Dennis Wideman (16) 3 - 2 CGY
19:57 CGY EN - Mikael Backlund (14) Wrist shot - ASST: Jiri Hudler (29) 4 - 2 CGY
The Skinny:
Sean Monahan's goal was the first allowed by the Isles in 94:16… John Tavares recorded his first point in five games but he has gone eight games without a goal… The Isles do not have a goal from a forward in the last two games; it's the first time this season that the Isles have had three consecutive goals by a defenseman…It's also the first time this season that the Isles had two goals by a defenseman (last 4/16/2013: Mark Streit/Radek Martinek vs. Florida) and the first time they did so in a regulation loss since January 19, 2010 (Andy Sutton and Freddy Meyer in Pittsburgh)… The Isles are 0-4-1 in their last 5 home games (including 0-3-1 in their last four games at the Coliseum)…It's the sixth time this season the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie 2-2; they are 4-1-1 in those six games.
Home Sweet (?) Home
The Isles fall to 8-13-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium); it is their worst record through 29 games on home ice since 2000-01 (9-18-2) and the first time since that season that they have been five games under .500 at home this late in the season. The Isles are 3-9-5 in their last 17 home games.
The Trade
After the game, the Isles announced that they had traded Peter Regin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard to Chicago in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2014 draft. Regin went 2-5-7 in 44 games for the Isles; Bouchard went 4-5-9 in 29 games with the Isles and 6-11-17 in 20 games with the Sound Tigers.
The Shots:
Isles 11-11-8=30
Flames 5-6-11=22
The Isles have allowed 22 shots in each of the last two games, which is the fewest they have allowed in any game this season.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 22-29-8 overall, 8-13-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium) and 14-16-0 on the road. The Isles are 1-5-1 in their last 7 games.
Calgary is 22-28-7 overall; they are 12-14-3 at home and 10-14-4 on the road. The Flames are playing their best hockey of the season; they are 6-1-0 in their last seven games.
By Division
The Isles are 6-14-3 in Division games and are 16-15-5 in games against other divisions. They are 7-5-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-4-1 vs. Central Division, and 3-6-1 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles have losing records against every division opponent except New Jersey (1-1-0 with three to play) and Washington (1-1-1 with one to play). They are 0-3-0 against Carolina, 0-1-1 against Columbus, 2-3-0 against New York, 1-3-0 against Philadelphia, and 1-2-1 against Pittsburgh.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 18 saves but falls to 10-11-5 on the season. Nabokov is 14-13-4 in his career against Calgary.
Reto Berra made 28 saves for Calgary and improves to 8-16-2 on the season.
Hey Yogi!
It's the first "9 inning win" in Berra's NHL career; his previous seven had all come either in overtime or in shootouts.
Update: From the Elias Geniuses: Berra's 25 consecutive games before his first regulation win was the second-longest such streak ever by a goaltender to begin an NHL career. The longest streak is 38 games by Ottawa's Darrin Madeley from 1992 to 1995. (He had three overtime wins during that streak.) Madeley recorded his first regulation win in the 39th and final game of his NHL career.
Update from Eric on the Elias Geniuses: Yes, Madeley's only regulation win came against the Isles -- April 29, 1995 (in what was game 47 for the Isles in that lockout season).
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-5 while the Flames were 1-2.
The Isles are 14-6-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-23-4 when they do not. The Isles are 10-16-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-13-5 when they do not.
The Islander power play is 0-30 in their last seven games. The Isles have killed 35 of 39 (89.7%) over the last 13 games.
Feast or Famine
The Isles PP went 10-33 in the first 10 games, before going 7-79 in the next 24 games. They rebounded to go 11-32 in the following 11 games but are only 4-55 in their last 14 games.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 19-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-22-5 when they do not.
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 10-8-6 when they score first and are 12-21-2 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in 15 of their last 21 games.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano became the 2nd coach in Islander history to win 100 games in Toronto on January 7th and became the 2nd coach in Islander history to coach 250 games on January 27th against Boston. He is 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (254) and wins (106).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 254
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 106
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
John Tavares (on the winning goal): "I understand it's bang-bang and it's tight, but obviously from what we saw we thought maybe it was goalie interference. Whether it's a penalty or not, I just thought it didn't give Nabby a chance to make the save."
They Tweeted It
@DaveZLINY Last three Isles' goals by defensemen. Paging @ehornick
@defiantlydutch Double-checked--this is the first season since 01-02 that the Islanders & Flames play 2x. Ditto for the Sharks.
@IslesFamily CALVIN DEHAAN!!!! TIE GAME
@TheBigConn "And look at hickey... That's a great defensive play by thomas hickey" damn right butch. Damn right.
@CibosApp Calgary native Thomas Hickey scoring against his hometown team!
The Coach
"When you get pucks to the net, good things happen. That's how they scored all their goals. There were no breakdowns. They got pucks to the net and we didn't. We passed up a lot of chances."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 6-6-0 in the front-end and 5-5-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The Isles have swept three back-to-backs: November 1st/2nd vs. Ottawa and Flames; January 6th/7th vs. Dallas and Toronto and January 20th/21st vs. Philadelphia and the Flames.
In the twelve sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points three times, 3 points once, 2 points four times, 1 point once and no points on three occasions.
The Islanders do not play back-to-back again until they host New Jersey and Florida on March 1st and 2nd.
Leading Ice Men
John Tavares led the Isles with a season high 25:13 of ice-time; it's the fourth time in seven games that a forward has led the Isles in ice-time and the 6th time in his career that Tavares has played at least 25 minutes. Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo also played over 24 minutes (more than any Islander defender); Mark Giordano led Calgary with 25:46 of ice-time.
The Isles are 15-15-6 when MacDonald leads in ice-time, are 7-10-2 when Hamonic leads, are 0-1-0 when Okposo leads, are 0-2-0 when Tavares leads and are 0-1-0 when Vanek leads.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 31 of 55 draws, including 9 of 11 in the first period. John Tavares won 12 of 18 draws for the Isles; Sean Monahan won 9 of 15 for Calgary.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Calgary 20-12. Calvin deHaan led the Isles with four hits; three others, including Matt Martin added three. Martin's 275 hits lead the NHL by a wide margin. He had now recorded at least 200 hits in four straight seasons.
There were no fights. The Isles have been involved in 21 fights this season: Martin (8), Boulton (5), Carkner (5), McDonald (2), and Okposo (1).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 14 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald led the way with five blocks and leads the NHL with 190. The Flames blocked 26 shots.
Two Over All-Time .500
The Islanders improved to two games over all-time NHL .500 (1393-1391-447 in 3,231 games). The Isles have been 1-under all-time .500 after six games this season and have gone 4-0-2 in the following game.
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
Frans Nielsen is the Islanders' reigning ironman. He has played 189 consecutive games, and is one of four Islanders to have played in every game this season. Other ironman streaks: Andrew Mac Donald (160), Matt Martin (120), and Thomas Hickey (60).
Century Club
Andrew MacDonald has the 4th longest consecutive game streak for a defenseman in Islander history:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*)(**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/11- CURRENT 160
5. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)
6. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)
7. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130
8. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117
9. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2011– 2/4/2012 113 (*)
10. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110
11. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Missing Men
Travis Hamonic is on injured reserve. Matt Carkner and Radek Martinek were scratched for the fourth and sixth straight game respectively; Peter Regin was scratched before the game and traded to Chicago after the game.
The Isles have lost 148 games this season due to injury.
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
17. Rogie Vachon 355
19. Gump Worsley 335
20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
Career Shutouts
17 John Ross Roach 58
18 Clint Benedict 57
18 Evgeni Nabokov 57
20 Bernie Parent 54
20 Ed Giacomin 54
Career Goals as an Islander
|
15 Mariusz Czerkawski 145
16 John Tavares 135
17 Jason Blake 127
27 Trent Hunter 99
28 Kyle Okposo 96
29 Mikko Makela 95
29 David Volek 95
31 Randy Wood 94
32 Greg Gilbert 93
32 Garry Howatt 93
34 Travis Green 92
35 Butch Goring 87
36 Tomas Jonsson 84
37 Wayne Merrick 81
37 Dave Scatchard 81
39 Michael Grabner 79
39 Marty McInnis 79
41 Miroslav Satan 78
41 Frans Nielsen 78
43 Claude Lapointe 76
Career Assists as an Islander
|
16 Ed Westfall 181
17 John Tavares 179
18 Kenny Jonsson 175
19 Alexei Yashin 171
20 Duane Sutter 171
21 Jean Potvin 167
22 Jeff Norton 166
23 Zigmund Palffy 163
24 Frans Nielsen 161
25 David Volek 154
26 Mariusz Czerkawski 150
27 Kyle Okposo 147
28 Travis Green 145
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
|
24 Eddie Westfall 493
25 Radek Martinek 479
26 Gerry Hart 476
29 Scott Lachance 450
30 Frans Nielsen 426
30 Jason Blake 426
32 Greg Gilbert 425
34 Wayne Merrick 411
35 Jean Potvin 402
36 David Volek 396
37 Bert Marshall 392
38 Travis Green 388
39 Josh Bailey 383
39 Anders Kallur 383
41 Randy Wood 381
42 Kyle Okposo 377
43 John Tavares 349
44 Dave Scatchard 347
Career Points as an Islander
|
16 Ziggy Palffy 331
17 John Tavares 314
18 Mariusz Czerkawski 295
24 David Volek 249
25 Kyle Okposo 242
26 Frans Nielsen 239
27 Ray Ferraro 238
Season Series Stats
The Flames lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet again on March 7th in Calgary.
Despite the loss, the Isles are 5-2-0 in the last seven games against Calgary. This was the first Flames win at the Coliseum since January 6, 2004. In that 2004 game, Jarome Iginla scored twice to give former Islander Jamie McLennan the victory; Garth Snow took the loss. Radek Martinek is the only current Islander who played in that game.
The season series will conclude in Calgary on March 7th, part of the Isles first regular season games in Alberta since the first week of 2011.
Happy Anniversary
24 years ago tonight (2-6-90): Pat Lafontaine scored three goals and added three assists but it was Don Maloney who scored 4:28 into overtime as the Islanders defeated Pittsburgh 8-7 at the Civic Arena. The win gave the Islanders, who had opened the season with a 5-18-3 record, a five point lead in the Patrick Division.
All-time, the Isles are 5-8-3 on this date, including 0-4-1 since a Ray Ferraro overtime goal gave the Isles a 5-4 win over Vancouver in 1992.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is off until Saturday when they host Albany in the 1,000th game in franchise history. The Sound Tigers are 19-23-1-4 on the season.
Anders Lee leads Bridgeport with 18 goals. Ryan Strome leads the team (and all AHL rookies) in assists (30); he also leads the Sound Tigers in points (40).
Leading AHL Rookie Scorers:
Player
|
Team
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
PTS
|
PIM
| ||
1
|
*
|
Texas Stars
|
47
|
16
|
27
|
43
|
62
| |
2
|
*
|
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
|
30
|
10
|
30
|
40
|
33
| |
3
|
*
|
St. John's IceCaps
|
47
|
9
|
29
|
38
|
10
| |
4
|
*
|
Abbotsford Heat
|
43
|
21
|
16
|
37
|
22
| |
5
|
*
|
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
|
47
|
18
|
17
|
35
|
66
|
Up Next
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8th – COLORADO AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The Islanders complete the pre-Olympic break portion of the season when they host Colorado.
The Avs have played very well for rookie coach Patrick Roy but have lost two straight after winning 9 of 11.
The Isles rallied to defeat Colorado 2-1 in Denver on a Michael Grabner overtime goal. The Isles own 8 wins, a tie and two overtime losses in their last 11 games against the Avs since Patrick Roy blanked the Isles1-0 in Denver on November 16, 2001.
This will be the Avs' first game at the Coliseum since October 16, 2010. The Isles have won six straight games against Colorado on Long Island since the Avs defeated the Isles 2-1 on December 8, 1998, the Isles. Cam Russell scored his only goal in an Avalanche uniform and Peter Forsberg scored the winning goal against Olympic teammate Tommy Salo; Mariusz Czerkawski scored for the Isles.
And Finally...
Rest in Peace, Ralph Kiner (1922-2014).
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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