"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 60
Colorado 5, Isles 2
Matt Duchene scored a pair of goals 2:44 apart in the second period as the Colorado Avalanche survived a pair of Islander 5-on-3 goals in the third period and defeated the Isles 5-2 before a crowd of 15,360 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It's the first win for the Avs at the Coliseum in 15 years. The Isles drop to 1-6-1 in their last 8 games.
The Scoring:
1st Period
13:04 COL Nathan MacKinnon (22) Wrist shot- ASST: Gabriel Landeskog (30), Nick Holden (8) 1 - 0 COL
2nd Period
07:49 COL Matt Duchene (18) Wrist shot - ASST: PA Parenteau (18), Tyson Barrie (13) 2 - 0 COL
10:33 COL Matt Duchene (19) Wrist shot - ASST: Tyson Barrie (14), Jamie McGinn (10) 3 - 0 COL
3rd Period
11:17 NYI PPG - John Tavares (24) Slapshot - ASST: Josh Bailey (16), Lubomir Visnovsky (3) 3 - 1 COL
12:14 NYI PPG - Lubomir Visnovsky (2) Slapshot-ASST: Kyle Okposo (35), Thomas Vanek (30)3 - 2 COL
19:13 COL EN - Gabriel Landeskog (18) Wrist shot - ASST: Andre Benoit (18) 4 - 2 COL
19:58 COL EN - Paul Stastny (17) ASST: Tyson Barrie (15) 5 - 2 COL
The Skinny:
The first four Colorado goals were all scored by players drafted #1, #2 or #3 overall… Matt Duchene recorded goals 100 and 101, joining John Tavares as the two players from the 2009 draft to score 100 NHL goals (Tavares scored his 136th career goal in the third period; it was his first goal in 9 games).. Tavares' goal was the Isles' first goal by a forward in 196:49 since Kyle Okposo scored against the Rangers at MSG)… The Isles are 0-5-1 in their last 6 home games (including 0-41 in their last five games at the Coliseum)…Each team scored twice within a minute in the third period; Paul Stastny's goal was awarded by the officials after Thomas Vanek threw his stuck with the Isles' net empty….Both Isles goals were scored in 5-on-3s; the Isles have scored six 5-on-3 goals this season…Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon extended their point streaks to nine games and eight games, respectively…The Avs improve to 30-0-2 in games that they lead after two periods and 30-1-3 in games that they score first (one of their overtime losses was to the Islanders in January)…Andrew MacDonald was on-ice for both empty-net goals and ended up -4; he's the first Isle with three -4 games in the same season since Pierre Turgeon in 1992-93…Michael Grabner also was -4... PA Parenteau earned an assist in his first game on Coliseum ice in two seasons; it was PA's 200th NHL point…Colin McDonald played in his 100th NHL game (93 for the Isles) while Cal Clutterbuck played in his 400th NHL game (54 for the Isles)…The Isles wore their Stadium Series jerseys for the first time on Coliseum ice but drop to 0-2-0 in those jerseys… The Isles have allowed empty net goals in each of their last three losses and have now allowed an NHL-leading 11 EN goals this season.
Class of 2009
Goals
1. John Tavares 136
2. Matt Duchene 101
3. Evander Kane 95
4 Ryan O'Reilly 66
Points
1. John Tavares 315
2. Matt Duchene 243
3. Evander Kane 188
4. Ryan O'Reilly 168
Goals
1. John Tavares 136
2. Matt Duchene 101
3. Evander Kane 95
4 Ryan O'Reilly 66
Points
1. John Tavares 315
2. Matt Duchene 243
3. Evander Kane 188
4. Ryan O'Reilly 168
Home Sweet (?) Home
The Isles fall to 8-14-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium); it is only the third time in franchise history that they have won as few as 8 of their first 30 home games (6-20-4 in 1972-73 and 8-18-3-1 in 1999-2000). The Isles are 3-9-5 in their last 18 home games.
The Shots:
Isles 13-4-15=32
Avs 6-10-10=26
The Isles have outshot their last four opponents and have been outshot only twice in the last 14 games.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 22-30-8 overall, 8-14-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium) and 14-16-0 on the road. The Isles are 1-6-1 in their last 8 games.
Colorado is 37-16-5 overall; they are 19-7-3 at home and 18-9-2 on the road. The Avs have 79 points in 58 games, which is the third highest total through 58 games in franchise history (82 in 2000-01 and 80 in 1996-97).
Turning Point
Had Thomas Vanek's overtime goal against St. Louis not been reversed on video review, the Isles would have improved that afternoon to 22-25-7 on the season. The Isles lost that game in a shootout and are 1-5-0 in the six games since then.
By Division
The Isles are 6-14-3 in Division games and are 16-16-5 in games against other divisions. They are 7-5-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-5-1 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 21 saves but falls to 10-12-5 on the season. Nabokov is 12-14-3 in his career against Colorado.
Jean-Sebastian Giguere made 30 saves for Colorado and improves to 9-4-0 on the season. Giguere now has 260 career wins (44th all-time).
Power Plays
The Islanders were 2-6 (with both goals scored on 5-on-3s) while the Avs were 0-3.
The Isles are 14-7-4 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 12-14-5 when they do not.
The two power play goals were the Isles' first in eight games; it's the second time this season that the Isles had gone seven games without a power play goal. The Isles have killed 38 of 42 (90.5%) over the last 14 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 6-61 in their last 15 games.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 19-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-23-5 when they do not.
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 10-8-6 when they score first and are 12-22-2 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in 16 of their last 22 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 (255) and wins (106).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 255
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
Evgeni Nabokov: "It doesn't feel good. Anytime you lose the game like that and the game against Calgary, it's two pretty similar games. As a goalie, you always feel like one extra save needs to be made, and that's exactly how I feel."
They Tweeted It
@mdnightwriter The last time @Avalanche won on LI, Patrick Roy beat Tommy Salo, Peter Forsberg got the GWG and Mariusz Czerkawski scored for @NYIslanders.
The Coach
"If you go back and look at the chances we had during the first two periods…We had some unbelievable chances. Give their goaltender credit. He played extremely well."
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 Avs; January 6th/7th vs. Dallas and Toronto and January 20th/21st vs. Philadelphia and the Avs.
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
Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 25:00 of ice-time; Erik Johnson led Colorado with 25:16.
The Isles are 15-16-6 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 30 of 47 draws (64%), including 13 of 18 in the third period. John Tavares won 15 of 20 draws for the Isles (and has won 27 of 38 draws in the last two games); Marc-Andre Cliche won 4 of 7 for Colorado.
The 64% success rate in the circle was the highest for the Islanders this season.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Colorado 9-5; it was the fewest hits in an Islander game this season by a wide margin. Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with three hits. Matt Martin was hitless; his 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 7 blocked shots. Brian Strait led the way with three blocks; Andrew MacDonald added two and leads the NHL with 192.
One Over All-Time .500
The Islanders fall to one game over all-time NHL .500 (1393-1392-447 in 3,232 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 190 consecutive games, and is one of four Islanders to have played in every game this season. Other ironman streaks: Andrew Mac Donald (161), Matt Martin (121), and Thomas Hickey (61).
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 161
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 returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with an upper body injury. Matt Carkner and Radek Martinek were scratched for the fifth and seventh straight game respectively; Matt Donovan was loaned to the Sound Tigers prior to the game.
The Isles have lost 148 games this season due to injury. This was the first game the Isles started a game without a player on injured reserve since October 19th.
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 136
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 427
31 Jason Blake 426
34 Wayne Merrick 411
35 Jean Potvin 402
36 David Volek 396
37 Bert Marshall 392
38 Travis Green 388
39 Josh Bailey 384
40 Anders Kallur 383
41 Randy Wood 381
42 Kyle Okposo 378
43 John Tavares 350
44 Dave Scatchard 347
| Career Points as an Islander |
16 Ziggy Palffy 331
17 John Tavares 315
18 Mariusz Czerkawski 295
24 David Volek 249
25 Kyle Okposo 243
26 Frans Nielsen 239
27 Ray Ferraro 238
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (Colorado earned three points to the Isles' two).
The Colorado win ended two long Islander streaks against the Avalanche:
· The Isles had earned a point in 11 straight games against the Avs ( 8 wins, a tie and two overtime losses) since Patrick Roy blanked the Isles 1-0 in Denver on November 16, 2001.
· The Isles had won six straight games against Colorado on Long Island since the Avs, with Roy in net, defeated the Isles 2-1 on December 8, 1998.
This was the Avs' first game at the Coliseum since October 16, 2010.
Happy Anniversary
20 years ago today (February 8, 1994): In the midst of a blizzard, only 2,966 make it to the Coliseum to watch the Isles defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 behind 26 saves from Jamie McLennan.
All-time, the Isles are 5-10-1 on this date with a win over Buffalo in 2003 being their only win on this date since 1994.
On The Farm
Bridgeport hosted Albany in the 1,000th regular season game in franchise history on Saturday but dropped a 3-0 decision to the Devils. The Sound Tigers are 19-24-1-4 on the season and host Adirondack on Sunday.
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
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Up Next
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27th – TORONTO 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 entire NHL now takes a break for the Olympics and the Isles do not play again until they host Toronto on February 27th. The 19 days between games is the longest in-season stretch in Islander history (18 days in the 1998 Olympic break).
The Isles split a pair of games in Toronto earlier this season and are 4-1-2 in their last seven games against the Maple Leafs. The Leafs, however, have won the last three Coliseum games, including twice in overtime.
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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