The Skinny: Florida 5, Isles 3

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 63
Florida 5, Isles 3

Shawn Matthias scored two goals and added an assist as the Florida
Panthers rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits for a 5-3 victory over the Isles 6-1
before a crowd of 13,308 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  Florida scored four unanswered goals in the
third period as they climbed within one point of the Isles in the Eastern
Conference standings.
The Scoring:
1st Period
06:41 NYI Thomas Vanek (20) Snap shot - ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (5),
Calvin de Haan (10) 1 - 0 NYI          
07:39 NYI PPG - Thomas Vanek (21) Snap - ASST: Lubomir Visnovsky (4),
Frans Nielsen (26)  2 - 0 NYI   

2nd Period
18:15 FLA Shawn Matthias (8) Wrist shot - ASST: Scottie Upshall (18)      2 - 1 NYI          
19:14 NYI Ryan Strome (2) Wrist shot - ASST: Thomas Vanek (32), Kyle
Okposo (36)       3 - 1 NYI          

3rd Period
03:16 FLA Marcel Goc (11) Slapshot - ASST: Jonathan Huberdeau (15), Tom
Gilbert (24) 3 - 2 NYI           
04:18 FLA Shawn Matthias (9) Wrist shot - ASST: Jimmy Hayes (2),
Jonathan Huberdeau (16) 3 - 3 Tie     
10:31 FLA Scottie Upshall (11) Snap shot - ASST: Shawn Matthias (7),
Brian Campbell (22) 4 - 3 FLA       
15:26 FLA PPG - Scottie Upshall (12) Wrist shot - ASST: Dylan Olsen
(8), Dmitry Kulikov (7) 5 - 3 FLA

The Skinny:
The Isles are 1-7-1 in their last nine home games (including 1-6-1 in
their last eight games at the Coliseum)… The Isles are 4-12-5 in their last 21
home games… It is only the third time in franchise history that they have won
as few as 9 of their first 33 home games (7-22-4 in 1972-73 and 8-21-3-1 in
1999-2000)…Josh Bailey's assist/point streak ended at four games…Thomas Vanek
had a three-point game for the first time as an Islander… The Isles are 10-6-2
with Ryan Strome in the lineup; Strome's goal was his first at even-strength in
the NHL… The Isles allowed four third period
goals; it is the 22nd time this season they have allowed at least 3 goals in a
period.
The Lost Leads
The Isles are now 6-3-3 in games that they have led after one period
and are 8-5-4 in games that they have led after two periods.  At home, Isles are 4-2-3 when they lead after
one period and 7-4-4 when they lead after two periods.
The
Isles have allowed six 2-goal leads to get away in the third period this
season:

·                Led Columbus 2-0, lost 3-2 in shootout
·                Led Los Angeles 2-0, lost 3-2
·                Led @ San Jose 2-0, won 3-2 in shootout
·                Led Tampa 2-0, lost 3-2 in shootout
·                Led Anaheim 3-1, lost 5-3
·                Led Florida 3-1, lost 5-3

The Isles have now lost third period leads 16 times this season,
including 14 times at home.  They are
5-5-6 in those 16 games.
Move Over AO and BO, Here Comes Vanek
Thomas Vanek's two goals were his 270th and 271st of his career, catching and then passing Bobby Orr on the
all-time list.  Vanek has scored at least
20 goals in each of his nine NHL seasons; Alex Ovechkin is the only other
player who has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last nine seasons while
the Rangers' Rick Nash needs one goal (he has 19 this season) to join Ovechkin
and Vanek.

More Vanek (from Elias)
Vanel is the ninth player born outside Canada to score at least 20 goals in each of his first nine NHL seasons. The other non-Canadians to do so are Jaromir Jagr (first 14 seasons), Mats Sundin (14), Jari Kurri (13), Teemu Selanne (11), Peter Stastny (10), Ilya Kovalchuk (10), Petr Klima (9), and Alex Ovechkin (9).
 

The Shots:

Isles         14-13-11=38
Panthers  11-10-13=34

The Isles have been outshot their opponents only once in their last
eight games and only three times in the last 17 games.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-32-8 overall, 9-16-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at
Yankee Stadium) and 14-16-0 on the road.   The Isles are 2-8-1 in their last
11 games.
Florida is 23-31-7 overall; they are 11-13-4 at home and 12-18-3 on the
road. The Panthers scored five goals in a game for the first time since January
20th.
By Division
The Isles are 6-15-3 in Division games and are 17-17-5 in games against
other divisions. They are 8-6-3 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 Washington
(1-1-1 with one to play).  They are 0-3-0
against Carolina, 0-1-1 against Columbus, 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 first of eight consecutive games against non-divisional
opponents.
In the Nets
Anders Nilsson made 29 saves but falls
to 1-3-2 on the season. 
Tim Thomas made 35 saves for Florida; Thomas
is 16-19-3 on the season and 12-6-1 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-6 while Florida was 1-4. 
The Isles are 15-8-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-24-4
when they do not.  The Isles are 10-18-3
when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-14-5 when they do not. 
The Isles are 4-19 in the last four games on the power play after going
0-30 in their prior seven games.  The
Isles had killed 42 of 46 (91.3%) over the last 15 games before allowing five
goals in 12 times short this weekend. 
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 8-74 in their last 18 games.
Three is a
Magic Number
The Isles are 20-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including
shootout winners) and are 3-24-5 when they do not. 
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 10-9-6 when they score first and are 13-23-2 when they
allow the opening goal.  The Isles have
allowed the first goal in 18 of their last 25 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 (258) and wins (107).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1.     Al Arbour 1,500
2.     Jack
Capuano 258
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181

Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.     Al Arbour 740
2.     Jack
Capuano 107
3.     Terry Simpson 81
4.     Peter Laviolette 77
5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Said It
Thomas Vanek: "Most of the time, if you don't bury a team, they'll
get back in it somehow."
Ryan Strome: "Having a 3-1 lead going into the third, it's tough
[to lose]. Obviously, everyone's got to play hard to the end. Regardless of
what happens on the ice, you have to bounce back and find a way."
They (Okay, I)
Tweeted It
@ehornick Ninja Turtles have taken over the Coliseum.  Lots of kids on the concourse. #isles
The Coach
"The way that we are losing is frustrating to me because it isn't a
structural problem or a systematic function of what we are doing. We mismanaged
the puck."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 6-7-0 in the front-end and 5-6-2 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 13 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 four
occasions. 
The Islanders will play their next back-to-back set this Wednesday in
Edmonton and this Thursday in Calgary.
Leading Ice
Men
Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 25:56 of ice-time; Dmitry Kulikov
led Florida with 24:07.
The Isles are 15-17-6 when MacDonald leads in ice-time, are 8-10-2 when
Hamonic 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 28 of 69 draws (41%).  No Islander center won more they lost
(although Kyle Okposo won 3 of 4); Nick Bjugstad won 15 of 22 for Florida.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Florida 15-14; Colin MacDonald led the Isles with 4
hits while Cal Clutterbuck added 3. Matt Martin missed the game with an injury;
his 275 hits lead the NHL by a wide margin.  He had now recorded at least 200 hits in four straight seasons. 
Eric Boulton fought Kyle Barch in the first period. The Isles have received
25 fighting penalties this season: Martin (8), Boulton (7), Carkner (5), McDonald
(2), Hamonic (2) and Okposo (1).
Giving Up the
Body
The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots.  Andrew Hickey led the way with three blocks; Andrew
MacDonald added two and leads the NHL with 198. 
Back to All-Time
.500
The Islanders fall back to all-time NHL .500 (1394-1394-447 in 3,235 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
Andrew MacDonald is the Islanders' reigning ironman.  He has played 164 consecutive games, and is
one of only two Islanders to have played in every game this season.  Thomas Hickey played in his 64th consecutive
game. 
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 164
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
John Tavares is on injured reserve; Matt Martin missed his third
straight game with a lower body injury. Radek Martinek was scratched for the tenth
straight game. Matt Carkner replaced Travis Hamonic (suspended) while Frans
Nielsen was activated from injured reserve. Mike Halmo was returned to
Bridgeport.
The Isles have lost 156 games this season due to injury. 
Career Wins, Active
Goalies
1. Martin Brodeur683
2. Roberto Luongo367
3. Evgeni Nabokov346
4. Nikolai Khabibulin333

Career Wins
17.
Rogie Vachon 355
18. Evgeni Nabokov346
19.
Gump Worsley 335
20.
Nikolai Khabibulin 333

Career Shutouts, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur124
2. Roberto Luongo65
3. Evgeni Nabokov57
4. TomasVokoun 51

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    97
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 81
37         Wayne Merrick  81
37         Dave Scatchard            81
40         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 Jonsson175
19         Alexei Yashin    171
20         Duane Sutter     171
21         Jean Potvin       167
22         Jeff Norton       166
23         Zigmund Palffy163
24         Frans Nielsen   162
25         David Volek      154
26         Mariusz Czerkawski 150
27         Kyle Okposo    148      
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   428
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      387
40         Anders Kallur    383
41         Kyle Okposo    381
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
                       
24         David Volek      249
25         Kyle Okposo    244
26         Frans Nielsen   240
27         Ray Ferraro       238

Season Series
Stats
The Panthers lead the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0)
with one game to play.  Florida returns
to Long Island on April 1st.   The Isles
are 4-2-0 in their last six games against the Panthers, but have lost the last
two.
Happy
Anniversary
3 years ago tonight (3-1-11):  Blake
Comeau scored two goals and Frans Nielsen added three assists as the Isles defeated
the Minnesota Wild 4-1 at the Coliseum.
All-time, the Isles are 9-11-4 on this date, but are 5-2-2 in their
last nine games on March 2nd.
On The Farm
Bridgeport suffered back-to-back 2-1 home-ice losses this weekend,
breaking their seven game win streak.  Bridgeport is 26-26-1-4 on the season. Kevin Poulin was in nets for both
defeats. The Sound Tigers are off until next Friday and Saturday, when they
head to St. John's (Newfoundland) to play two games against the Ice Caps

Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH
4th – ISLANDERS AT WINNIPEG 8:00PM
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 7:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9
WRCN-FM]
The Isles will play their final game before Wednesday's
3pm Eastern Time NHL trading deadline when they begin a 4-game trip through
Western Canada against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets defeated the Isles 3-2 at the Coliseum on Thanksgiving
Eve, but the Isles are 3-0-1 in Manitoba since the Jets returned to the
NHL.  In their last visit, last April 20th,
John Tavares' shootout winner extended the Islanders' point streak to ten
straight games.
The Isles own 5 wins, a tie and an overtime loss in
Winnipeg since a 3-1 loss to the original Jets on November 20, 1991.
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