"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 58
Isles 1, Capitals 0
Andrew MacDonald's first goal in 29 games was the game's only goal and Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for his 57th career shutout as the Isles blanked the Caps 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 18,506 at Verizon Center. The win breaks a five game winless streak (0-4-1) for the Isles.
The Scoring:
1st Period
None
2nd Period
None
3rd Period
02:16 NYI Andrew MacDonald (4) Slapshot - ASST: Brock Nelson (9) 1 - 0 NYI
The Skinny:
Evgeni Nabokov recorded his 7th shutout as an Islander and the 57th of his career…The Isles have recorded 13 shutouts over the Capitals in regular season play, including nine times in Washington…It's the first time all season that John Tavares has gone seven games without a goal and four games without a point…It's the first time since March 4-10, 2012 that the Isles have been held to one goal or fewer in three straight games; that streak (all in games against New Jersey) began with a 1-0 shutout by Anders Nilsson…Nabokov's 57th shutout tied Hockey Hall of Famer Clint Benedict for 18th place on the all-time list; Benedict's last shutout was in 1929…The Isles improve to 4-11 in games decided in regulation by a single goal…The Isles have won more games that are tied after two periods (8; 8-5-2) than when they have led after two periods (7; 7-4-4)…US Olympian John Carlson played in his 271st consecutive game for Washington, tying the Capital record (set by Calle Johansson) for consecutive games by a defenseman…The Isles are 10-3-0 in their last 13 road games.
The Penalty Shot
Michael Grabner is the third islander to attempt a penalty shot this season; Cal Clutterbuck scored vs Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers while Frans Nielsen was stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins. Including playoffs, the Islanders are 1-5 all-time on penalty shots against the Capitals (Clark Gillies beat Bernie Wolfe in 1977 for the only goal). The Isles have scored on 15 of 57 regular season penalty shots in their history.
Grabner established a new franchise record with his 6th career penalty shot. He is 1-6, scoring only against Winnipeg in April 2012 (Brad Isbister had 5 attempts). Grabner's five unsuccessful attempts are also a club record.
The Shots:
Isles 8-7-13=28
Capitals 8-8-6=22
The Shutout
It's the 16th 1-0 shutout win in Islander regular season history. How many do you remember?
13-Jan-76 Vs Detroit C. Resch
21-Dec-84 @ Hartford K. Hrudey
11-Feb-86 Vs Vancouver B. Smith
4-Feb-90 @ Buffalo G. Healy
23-Mar-95 Vs New York T. Soderstrom
15-Feb-97 Vs Florida (OT) T. Salo
17-Oct-98 @ St. Louis T. Salo
27-Oct-98 Vs Los Angeles T. Salo
15-Dec-98 @ San Jose T. Salo
12-Feb-02 @ Philadelphia(OT) G. Snow
31-Dec-02 @ Buffalo (OT) C. Osgood
16-Nov-07 @ New Jersey R. DiPietro
21-Feb-08 Vs Tampa Bay R. DiPietro
7-Feb-12 @ Philadelphia(SO) E. Nabokov
4-Mar-12 Vs New Jersey A. Nilsson
4-Feb-14 @ Washington E. Nabokov
Home and Road
The Islanders are 22-28-8 overall, 8-12-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium) and 14-16-0 on the road. The Isles are 8-6-1 in their last 15, 13-9-1 in their last 23 and are 14-10-3 in their last 27 games overall.
The Capitals are 25-23-9 overall; they are 15-10-4 at home and 10-13-5 on the road. The Capitals were 22-16-6 on January 10th but are only 3-7-3 in their last 13 games. The Caps are 0-6-0 since the start of 2014 in games against Metropolitan Division foes.
By Division
The Isles are 6-14-3 in Division games and are 16-14-5 in games against other divisions. They are 7-5-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-4-1 vs. Central Division, and 3-5-1 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 22 saves and improves to 10-10-5 on the season. Nabokov is 13-2-3 with three shutouts in his career against the Caps.
Michael Neuvirth made 27 saves for the Capitals but falls to 4-6-2 on the season. Neuvirth had won his five previous career decisions against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-5 while the Capitals were 0-6. In the season series, the Isles are 0-11 while the Capitals are 4-14.
The Isles are 14-6-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-22-4 when they do not. The Isles are 10-15-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-13-5 when they do not.
The Islander power play is 0-25 in their last six games. The Isles have killed 34 of 37 (91.9%) over the last 13 games.
Tale of Four Seasons
The Isles PP went 10-33 in the first 10 games, before going 7-79 in the next 24 games. They rebounded to go 10-32 in the following 11 games but are only 4-50 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 3-21-5 when they do not.
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 10-8-6 when they score first and are 12-20-2 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in 14 of their last 20 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 (253) and wins (106).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 253
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: "I've been working pretty hard since I was injured…it feels good."
They Tweeted It
@DFriedmanOnNYI Best defensive performance by #Isles in a while. Thought they were positionally sound. Excellent job shutting down No. 8.
@ImNotBrock29 This game happened because I was there. The shutout. Holding a 1-0 lead. Holding any lead at all. AMac scored. This is no coincidence
The Coach
(Nabby) played well for us…we defended real well…we're fortunate to get that bounce (the MacDonald goal).
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 Capitals; January 6th/7th vs. Dallas and Toronto and January 20th/21st vs. Philadelphia and the Capitals.
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 23:27 of ice-time; John Carlson led the Capitals with 29:13 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 0-1-0 when Tavares leads and are 0-1-0 when Vanek leads.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 22 of 49 draws. Frans Nielsen won 9 of 16 draws for the Isles but his teammates won only 13 of 33; Casey Wellman won 5 of 7 for the Capitals.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Washington 36-22. Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with seven hits; Colin McDonald and Calvin deHaan each added six. Matt Martin had four hits; his 272 hits lead the NHL by a wide margin. He had now recorded at least 200 hits in four straight seasons.
Matt Martin fought Tyson Strachan in the first period. 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 15blocked shots. Brian Strait and Lubomir Visnovsky led the way with three blocks; Andrew MacDonald still leads the NHL with 185.
Three Over All-Time .500
The Islanders improved to three games over all-time NHL .500 (1393-1390-447 in 3,230 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 188 consecutive games, and is one of four Islanders to have played in every game this season. Other ironman streaks: Andrew Mac Donald (159), Matt Martin (119), and Thomas Hickey (59).
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 159
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. Eric Boulton replaced Peter Regin in the lineup. Matt Carkner and Radek Martinek were scratched for the third and fifth straight game respectively.
The Isles have lost 147 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 178
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 Jason Blake 426
31 Frans Nielsen 425
31 Greg Gilbert 425
33 Dave Langevin 422
34 Wayne Merrick 411
35 Jean Potvin 402
36 David Volek 396
37 Bert Marshall 392
38 Travis Green 388
39 Anders Kallur 383
40 Josh Bailey 382
41 Randy Wood 381
42 Kyle Okposo 376
43 John Tavares 348
44 Dave Scatchard 347
| Career Points as an Islander |
16 Ziggy Palffy 331
17 John Tavares 313
18 Mariusz Czerkawski 295
24 David Volek 249
25 Kyle Okposo 242
26 Frans Nielsen 239
27 Ray Ferraro 238
Season Series Stats
The Capitals lead the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3). The final meeting of the season will be in a rare 5:00 start at the Coliseum on April 5th.
The Isles are 5-1-5 in their last 11 games against the Caps.
Happy Anniversary
36 years ago tonight (2-4-78): Mike Bossy recorded the first of his club record 39 hat tricks as the Islanders pound the Capitals 6-1 at the Coliseum.
All-time, the Isles are 13-7-3 on this date.
On The Farm
Bridgeport split a pair of games over the weekend, dropping a 2-1 decision in Albany before rebounding to beat Springfield 3-0 on Saturday. The Sound Tigers are 19-23-1-4 on the season. Bridgeport is off until Saturday when they host Albany.
Anders Lee leads 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 | 46 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 62 | |
| 2 | * | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 30 | 10 | 30 | 40 | 33 | |
| 3 | * | St. John's IceCaps | 46 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 10 | |
| 4 | * | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 47 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 66 |
Up Next
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6th – CALGARY 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 have finished their season series with traditional rivals Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the Rangers but on Thursday they will begin their season series with their relocated expansion cousins, the Calgary Flames.
It will be the first game between the teams since a 3-1 Islander win at the Coliseum on December 29, 2011. The Flames have visited Long Island only three times in the last ten games and the Isles have won all three games; the Isles are 5-1-0 in the last six games against Calgary.
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.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment