"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 73
Tampa Bay 3, Isles 2 (shootout)
Sami Salo scored the deciding goal in the longest shootout in Islander history as the Tampa Bay Lighting came from behind in regulation and survived four tying goals by the Isles in the shootout to defeat the Islanders 3-2 in a 13-round shootout before a crowd of 18,554 at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Ryan Strome and Matt Donovan scored in regulation for the Islanders, who are 13-4-2 in their last 19 road games; the 28 points matches the club record for most points in a stretch of 19 consecutive road games in the same season.
The Scoring:
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
00:29 TBL Ryan Callahan (14) Tip-in - ASST: Radko Gudas (17), Valtteri Filppula (31) 1 - 0 TBL
01:33 NYI Ryan Strome (5) Wrist shot - ASST: Matt Martin (6), Matt Donovan (10) 1 - 1 Tie
09:17 NYI Matt Donovan (2) Wrist shot - ASST: Frans Nielsen (29), Anders Lee (5) 2 - 1 NYI
3rd Period
05:50 TBL Ryan Callahan (15) Wrist shot - ASST: Eric Brewer (13) 2 - 2 Tie
Overtime
NONE
The Epic Shootout:
Ryan Malone (NG), Ryan Strome (NG)
Michael Kostka (G), Frans Nielsen (G)
Ondrej Palat (G), Brock Nelson (G)
Ryan Callahan (NG), Josh Bailey (NG)
Valtteri Filppula (NG), Cal Clutterbuck (NG)
Victor Hedman (NG), Matt Martin (NG)
Steven Stamkos (G), Colin McDonald (G)
Nikita Kucherov (NG), Anders Lee (NG)
Teddy Purcell (NG), John Persson (NG)
Tyler Johnson (NG), Thomas Hickey (NG)
Matthew Carle (G), Casey Cizikas (G)
Alex Killorn (NG), Mike Halmo (NG)
Sami Salo (G), Johan Sundstrom (NG)
This was the first shootout in NHL history with 9 goals scored; Tampa Bay becomes the first NHL team to score five times in the shootout.
This was the longest shootout in Islander history (Previous longest was 11 rounds in Washington on November 11, 2009).
It was the longest shootout in the NHL since Vancouver defeated Anaheim in 13 rounds on October 31, 2008; Sami Salo failed in the 12th round of that shootout before Mattias Ohlund won it in 13.
Kostka's shootout tally, on his first career attempt, ended an 0-16 Lightning streak in shootouts.
The Skinny:
Matt Donovan's goal was his first in his last 40 NHL games; Donovan, who now has five points in the last six games he has played, recorded his first multi-point game... Evgeni Nabokov had not allowed a goal in 99:33 before Ryan Callahan's first goal; Valtteri Filippula earned an assist on that goal, extending his point streak to 10 games (4-10-14) …The Isles are 2-0-1 in their last three games but fail to win three straight for the first time since early January…With the point, the Isles remain at NHL-.500 on the road (17-17-2); it matches the most points that the Isles have had through 36 road games since they had 40 points in 2001-02. The Isles have not finished a full NHL season with a road record of NHL-.500 or better since 2006-07 (42 points)… The Isles have won only one-half of the games that they led after two periods (12-6-6)…Lightning rookie Ondrej Palat was "EVEN" for the game; he is a franchise-record +32 (including +27 this season)…Overtime ended at 10:09PM; the shootout ended at 10:26PM…The Isles are 6-5 in the shootout while Tampa Bay is 7-6…Cal Clutterbuck was assessed a game misconduct penalty following the shootout.
Longest Shootouts in NHL History:
· 15 rounds Washington @ Rangers 11/26/05 (NYR Win)
· 13 rounds Rangers @ Philadelphia 10/7/06 (NYR Win)
· 13 rounds Vancouver @ Anaheim 10/31/08 (Van Win)
· 13 rounds Islanders @ Tampa Bay 3/27/14 (TB Win)
On This Continent, It's Frans
With his shootout tally today, Frans Nielsen improves to 31-56, 55.4% on his career, edging ahead of TJ Oshie 26-47, 55.3% as the most accurate active player in shootouts (minimum 20 goals).
The Shots:
Isles 9-12-4-2=27
Lightning 8-9-10-4=31
It was only the 4th time in the last 17 games that the Isles have been outshot.
The Young Get Younger:
The Isles dressed ten rookies: Kevin Czuczman, Calvin de Haan, Matt Donovan, Mike Halmo, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Anders Nilsson, Ryan Strome, Johan Sundstrom, and John Persson. Persson played 12:49 in his NHL debut, replacing the injured Kyle Okposo in the lineup.
The average age of the 20 players the Isles dressed tonight was 25.31 years. If you exclude the goaltenders, the average age drops to 24.64 years. Matt Carkner was the only Islander over 30 (he is 33 ½). None of the other Isles have turned 30 (Frans Nielsen will do so in April)
Home and Road
The Islanders are 28-35-10 overall, 11-18-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium) and 17-17-2 on the road. The Isles are 7-11-3 in their last 21 games.
Over the last two seasons, the Isles are 21-29-11 (53 points in 61 games) at home and 31-23-6 (68 points in 60 games) on the road.
Tampa Bay is 40-24-9 overall; they are 21-8-6 at home and 19-16-3 on the road. The Lightning are 6-0-4 in their last 10 games.
By Division
The Isles are 8-15-3 in Division games and are 20-20-7 in games against other divisions. They are 9-6-4 vs. the Atlantic Division, 7-6-1 vs. Central Division, and 4-8-2 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles have losing records against every division opponent except Washington (1-1-1 with one to play) and Columbus (1-1-1 with one to play). They are 1-3-0 against Carolina, 1-2-0 against New Jersey, 2-3-0 against New York, 1-3-0 against Philadelphia, and 1-2-1 against Pittsburgh.
This was the third of 12 consecutive games against Eastern Conference opponents to end the regular season. The Isles have started this stretch 2-0-1.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves; he is 13-14-7 on the season.
Ben Bishop made 25 saves as he improves to 35-11-7 on the season.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play while Tampa Bay was 0-3.
The Isles are 16-8-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-27-6 when they do not. The Isles are 12-19-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-16-6 when they do not.
The Isles are 9-81 in the last 21 games on the power play and have allowed 12 power play goals in 49 times short over the last 12 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 13-106 in their last 28 games.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 24-10-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-25-7 when they do not.
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 13-9-7 when they score first and are 15-26-3 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in 25 of their last 35 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 (268) and wins (112).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 268
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 112
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
Travis Hamonic: "I thought we played a pretty good game…we played pretty good defensively…our PK was better."
They Tweeted It
@BrettLKaplan Don't get me wrong Stamkos is a great player I just don't think the shootout or the spin-a-rama should be a part of the NHL #isles
@cbuckser If that shootout had lasted any longer, I would have become a grandfather before the game ended. #Isles #Lightning
@lizbelmonttt Great game played by the @NYIslanders tonight, even though they lost in the shootout. Lots of rookies looking real good out there. #isles
@nightflyblog Nabokov stops Brian Bradley, Bishop stops Sparky the dragon. Round 62 up next. #Isles
@spidle1523 What an awesome job by Hickey #Isles
The Coach
"All I'm looking for right now is work ethic. It's not about the result, it's about how you play, how you work."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are now 6-8-1 in the front-end and 6-7-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The Isles have swept three back-to-backs: November 1st/2nd vs. Ottawa and Boston; January 6th/7th vs. Dallas and Toronto and January 20th/21st vs. Philadelphia and the Rangers.
In the 15 sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points three times, 3 points once, 2 points five times, 1 point twice and no points on four occasions.
The Isles' next back-to-back set is on April 1st against Florida and April 2nd at Ottawa. Six of the Isles' final eight games will be played as part of three back-to-back sets.
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 30:30 of ice-time while Calvin deHaan played 30:28. It's the first time since March 5, 2007 vs the Rangers that two Islanders played at least 30 minutes in the same game (Tom Poti 32:14, Brendan Witt 30:30).
Victor Hedman led Tampa Bay with 25:18.
The Isles are 15-17-6 when MacDonald leads in ice-time, are 12-13-4 when Hamonic leads, are 1-0-0 when deHaan leads, are 0-1-0 when Okposo leads, are 0-1-0 when Strait leads, are 0-2-0 when Tavares leads and are 0-1-0 when Vanek leads.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 of 60 draws (43%). Casey Cizikas won 4 of 8 for the Isles but his teammates won only 22 of 52; Nate Thompson won 7 of 14 for Tampa Bay.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Tampa Bay 23-21; Matt Martin led the Isles with six hits while Colin McDonald added four. Martin now has 317 hits on the season and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. It is the second time in his career that he has recorded 300 hits.
There were no fights in the game. The Isles have received 30 fighting penalties this season: Martin (10), Boulton (8), Carkner (6), McDonald (2), Hamonic (2), Halmo (1) and Okposo (1).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots, including a team-high three blocks for Calvin deHaan.
The Race to 1,400?
The Islanders remain two games over all-time NHL .500 (1399-1397-449 in 3,245 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
Thomas Hickey is the Islanders' reigning ironman. He has played 74 consecutive regular season games, and is the only Islander to have played in every game this season.
Missing Men
John Tavares is on injured reserve. Michael Grabner (concussion), Eric Boulton (hand), Brian Strait (broken hand), and Lubomir Visnovsky (upper body injury) are also injured. Kyle Okposo missed the game with a lower body injury. Radek Martinek was scratched.
The Isles have lost 190 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
5. Henrik Lundqvist 50
Career Shutouts
16 Turk Broda 62
17 John Ross Roach 58
17 Evgeni Nabokov 58
19 Clint Benedict 57
Career Goals as an Islander
|
15 Mariusz Czerkawski 145
16 John Tavares 136
17 Jason Blake 127
27 Trent Hunter 99
28 Kyle Okposo 99
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 Michael Grabner 82
37 Frans Nielsen 82
39 Wayne Merrick 81
39 Dave Scatchard 81
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 Frans Nielsen 165
24 Zigmund Palffy 163
25 Kyle Okposo 155
26 David Volek 154
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 438
31 Jason Blake 426
34 Wayne Merrick 411
35 Jean Potvin 402
36 Josh Bailey 397
37 David Volek 396
38 Bert Marshall 392
39 Kyle Okposo 390
40 Travis Green 388
41 Anders Kallur 383
42 Randy Wood 381
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
22 Jason Blake 258
22 Steve Thomas 258
24 Kyle Okposo 254
25 David Volek 249
26 Frans Nielsen 247
27 Ray Ferraro 238
Season Series Stats
The Lightning won the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 4). All three games were decided in shootouts.
The Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six games against Tampa Bay.
Happy Anniversary
5 years ago tonight (3-27-09): Joey MacDonald made 42 saves at the Islanders blanked Detroit 2-0 at Joe Lewis Arena.
All-time, the Isles are 9-8-3 on this date, and are 3-0-1 in their last four March 27th games.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is off until Saturday when they begin a home-and-home series with a visit to Hartford.
Bridgeport is 1-7-1-1 in their last ten games and 27-31-2-5 on the season.
Up Next
SATURDAY, MARCH 29th –NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The Islanders return home to face the Devils as New Jersey makes its third visit to the Coliseum this season. It is the second straight season that the Devils are the only opponent to visit the Coliseum three times.
The Devils lead the season series 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 2), with the road team having won all three games. The Isles will be looking to avenge a 6-1 New Jersey win at the Coliseum back on March 1st.
The Isles still have one game to play in New Jersey, on the final Friday of the regular season (April 11).
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