“The Skinny”
By Eric Hornick
Game 24
Isles 3, New Jersey 1
Cal Clutterbuck broke a 1-1 tie as he deflected home a Calvin deHaan shot for the
winning goal early through the second period and Jaroslav Halak took over from
there as the Islanders extended their home winning streak to six games with a 3-1
victory over New Jersey before a sellout crowd of 16,170 at Nassau Veterans
Memorial Coliseum.
Halak was at his best in the third period, when the Isles were out-shot
16-2 yet managed to kill a late 5-on-3 before Casey Cizikas scored a
shorthanded goal with 5 seconds to play to cement the win.
The Isles remain tied with the Penguins for first place in the
Metropolitan Division (although Pittsburgh has a game in hand). The Isles have
won 11 of their last 13(11-2-0) for the first time in 24 years, and have won 17
times in the first 24 games for the first time in franchise history. The Isles lead the entire NHL with 17
victories and are tied for the NHL lead with 34 points (with Pittsburgh, Tampa
Bay, Montreal, Nashville and St. Louis).
The
Scoring:
1ST
PERIOD
12:40 NYI Nikolay
Kulemin (5) ASST: Kyle Okposo (16), John Tavares (13) 1 - 0 NYI
14:27 NJD Damien
Brunner (2) ASST: Adam Larsson (3), Michael Ryder (8) 1 - 1 Tie
2ND
PERIOD
03:32 NYI Cal
Clutterbuck (3) ASST: Calvin de Haan (4), Casey Cizikas (4) 2 - 1 NYI
3RD
PERIOD
19:55 NYI SHG
- EN - Casey Cizikas (3) ASST: Frans Nielsen (8), Thomas Hickey (6) 3 - 1 NYI
The Skinny:
John Tavares’ assist was his team-leading 23rd point … Kyle
Okposo extended his club lead with his 16th assist; it was his 171st
career assist, tying Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin for 20th place
on the all-time Isles list…Two of Cal Clutterbuck’s three goals have been
game-winners…Casey Cizikas hit the empty-net for his first career shorthanded goal
and the Isles’ 4th SH goal of the season. All four have been scored at home; the Isles
lead the NHL with 4 SH goals at home…Brunner’s goal is the only even strength
goal Halak has allowed in the last 232:47... Jaroslav Halak has won a
career-best 9 straight starts, allowing just 11 goals. He is one win away from tying Billy Smith’s
club record for consecutive victories (10), which was set in 1982… The Isles
held Jaromir Jagr without a point. Jagr
has 150 points in 104 career games vs. the Isles… It’s the first time in
franchise history that the Isles have won 17 games by the end of November. The Stanley Cup Champion 1980-81 Islanders recorded
their 17th win on December 2nd. This is the first time since 2007-08 that the
Isles recorded a 17th win before New Year’s.
The Sellouts
The Isles hosted their third sellout in the last four games and are
4-0-0 before a home sellout crowd this season.
Over the last eight days, the Isles attracted 60,919 to four games at
the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Last Time
First!
The Isles maintain at least a share of first place this
late in the season for the first time since 2006 as Pittsburgh beat Carolina.
(After the games of Dec 5, 2006)
Atlantic Division W-L-OT Pts
(After
tonight)
Metropolitan Division
Pittsburgh
16-5-2 34 points
ISLES 17-7-0 34 points
The
Isles and Penguins have been tied at the end of play each of the last eight
days; both teams are idle until Tuesday, when the Isles host Ottawa and the
Penguins host New Jersey.
Comparable
Records
The Isles are 17-7-0 thru 24 games; it’s the first time in franchise
history that the Isles have won 17 of their first 24 games. The Isles were 8-13-3 through 24 games and 8-14-3
through 25 games last season, when they did not win their 17th game
until January 10th (17-22-7).
Most wins in first 24 games:
·
17-7-0
in 2014-15
·
16-7-1 in 1987-88
·
16-8-0 in 1983-84
·
16-3-5 in 1978-79
·
15-5-3-1 in 2001-02
·
15-6-3 in 1976-77
Most points in first 24 games
·
37 in 1978-79
·
34
in 2014-15
·
34 in 2001-02
·
33 in 1976-77
·
33 in 1980-81
·
33 in 1987-88
November to
Remember!
The Isles finish November with an 11-3-0 record. It’s only the second
time in franchise history that the Isles have won at least 11 November games
(12-1-2 in 1980).
The Isles went 6-0-0 at home this month; it’s the first time the Isles
have won six straight home games since a similar streak from December 29, 2009-
January 21, 2010 and the first time that they have had a perfect November at
home since 1984-85 (also 6-0-0).
Mr. November
After losing in San Jose to open the month, Jaroslav Halak reeled off
nine straight wins. Halak went 9-1-0 on
the month, with a 1.37 GAA and a 95.0 save percentage. Halak had three shutouts this month.
Streakers
The Isles won their first four games, lost their next two games, won
the two games after that, lost the next three games and are 11-2-0 in last 13.
The Isles have had two winning streaks of at least five games this
season. It’s the first time since the
1987-88 season that the Isles have had two winning streaks of at least five
games.
The Shots:
Isles 11-15-2=28
New Jersey 8-11-16=35
The Isles had only one shot against Cory Schneider in the third
period; their second shot hit the empty-net.
It was the first time in eight games that the Isles have been outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 17-7-0 overall, 9-2-0 at home and 8-5-0 on the road.
New Jersey is 9-11-4 overall; 3-3-3 at home and 6-8-1 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 8-2-0 in Division games and are 9-5-0 in games against
other divisions. They are 3-2-0 vs. the Atlantic Division, 2-2-0 vs. Central
Division, and 4-1-0 vs. the Pacific Division.
This was the last of six consecutive division games, all in nine days. The Isles went 5-1-0 in this stretch.
The Isles did not win their eighth divisional game last season until March
25th (8-15-3); they finished last season 10-16-4 against the Met.
Playing the
East
This was the ninth of 11 consecutive games against the Eastern
Conference. The Isles are 7-2-0 in this
stretch, which has a home /home series with Ottawa remaining.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves and
improves to 12-4-0 on the season with his 9th straight win. He is 4-4-1
in his career against the Caps.
Cory Schneider made 26 saves for New
Jersey but falls to 9-10-3 on the season and 1-1-1 in his career against the
Islanders.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-4 on the power play while New Jersey was also 0-4.
The Isles have killed 30 of 35 over the last 12 games after they
allowed 6 power play goals in 14 times short over the previous five games. (The Isles killed only 1 of 4 in two games vs.
Washington, but killed 29 of the other 31).
The power play is 4-21 (19.0%) over the last six games.
The Isles are 10-3-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 7-4-0
when they do not. The Isles are 6-6-0
when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-1-0 when they do not.
Three is (Usually)
a Magic Number
The Isles are 13-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including
shootout winners) and are 4-6-0 when they do not.
Two Column
Team
The Isles are the only NHL team without an overtime or shootout loss
this season.
It’s the third time in club history that the Isles have gone this late
into the season without an overtime/shootout loss or tie:
·
30 games (1998-99; 12-18-0 before tying Anaheim in game 31)
·
24 games (1983-84; 16-8-0 before tying St. Louis in game
25)
·
24 games (2014-15; current)
One Goal Games
The Isles are 10-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1-0
in regulation. They are 2-0 in games decided in overtime and are 5-0 in
shootouts. Three games have been decided
by two goals in which the second goal was an empty-netter. The Isles are 2-1 in those games.
First Goal
The Isles are 10-5-0 when they score first and are 7-2-0 when they
allow the opening goal.
Second to The
One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history
and was behind the bench for his 300th game on Friday. Capuano is 135-127-39
behind the Islander bench.
Most games coached (Islanders):
1.
Al Arbour 1,500
2.
Jack
Capuano 301
3.
Mike Milbury 191
4.
Terry Simpson 187
5.
Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.
Al Arbour 740
2.
Jack
Capuano 135
3.
Terry Simpson 81
4.
Peter Laviolette 77
5.
Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
Jaroslav Halak: “The guys are
just playing great—everybody is doing the job they are supposed to do. At the end of the day, it’s two points.”
They Tweeted
It
@MattGorman14 Amazing first #isles game of the year for me. Barn was
really rocking tonight! Loving this team more each day. #1stplace
@AlexMSilverman "I was just taking it in one last time, taking a
look at all the building's old ghosts." - Denis Potvin, on Nassau
Coliseum. #Isles
@alexgolema i will prob be in tears when the final horn blows at the
coliseum im rlly gnna miss tht building i dont care what people say its home
#isles
@islestopshelf Halak among the top 10 in the league now in save %, GAA,
WIns, and SO's.. So this is what it feels like to have steady goaltending
#Isles
@lizvschmidt The Coliseum was rockin tonight! Great crowd. Great game.
Most wins in the NHL! Let's go Islanders!!! #Isles #Awesome
The Coach
“Even though they had the zone time at the end, we were in
position. We’re not going to go outside
and chase when we don’t have to; we blocked some key shots and when the
opportunity was there to pressure we did and when we had to contain we
contained.”
Back-to-Backs
After tonight’s win, the Isles are 4-1-0 in the front-end and 4-1-0 on
the back end of back-to-backs this season.
The Isles will play only one set of back-to-backs in December. They will visit Detroit on December 19th
and then host Tampa Bay on December 20th.
Leading Ice
Men
Frans Nielsen led the Isles with 20:47 of ice-time (including 4:03
shorthanded); Damon Severson led New Jersey with 24:20. It was the first time
this season that Nielsen led the Isles forwards, let alone the entire team, in
ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (9-2-0), Travis
Hamonic (4-1-0), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (1-2-0), Frans Nielsen and
Calvin deHaan (0-1-0).
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (9-7-0), Kyle
Okposo (5-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen and Casey Cizikas (1-0-0).
In the Circle
The Islanders won 29 of 62 draws (47%). John Tavares won 10 of 16, but his teammates
won only 19 of 46. Jacob Josefson won 9 of 14 for New Jersey.
The Isles won 13 of 22 draws in the middle period, but only 16 of 40 draws
in the first and third periods.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit 17-16. Nick
Leddy led the Isles with three hits.
There were no fights for the first time in six games. The Isles have been involved in seven fights
this season: Martin (4), Hamonic (2), Lee (1). All seven fights have come in
games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Giving Up the
Body
The Isles were credited with 26 blocked shots, including 5 from Calvin
deHaan.
For the Corsi
Crowd
The Devils finished with a total Corsi advantage of 75-55, which
measures shots attempted for and against (including blocks), including a 40-8
advantage in the third period. The Isles had only three attempts on goal (one
of which was the empty-net goal) in the final 16 minutes.
Cal Clutterbuck (+7) led the Isles in even-strength Corsi. Clutterbuck
also had a team-leading 77% of Corsi For events. Mike Cammalleri (+14) led the Devils.
Head
of the Class
Islander Captain John Tavares has 338 career points; he is 61 points
ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere
close. Tavares also has more goals and
more assists than any other player in that draft.
All-time
Winners
The Islanders improve to 16 games over all-time NHL .500 (1422-1406-450
in 3,278 games).
The Isles have not been more than 1 game under NHL-.500 since January
11, 1978 and have finished every season since 1977-78 over all-time NHL .500.
Ironmen
Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson are the Islanders’ reigning ironmen. Leddy has played 276 consecutive regular
season NHL games, while Nelson has played 76 consecutive regular season
Islander games.
Missing Men
Eric Boulton, Michael Grabner and Matt Carkner are on injured reserve. Johnny
Boychuk and Lubomir Visnovsky missed the game with injuries, allowing Matt
Donovan to get back in the lineup. Cory Conacher also was scratched.
The Isles have lost 89 games this season due to injury/illness.
Good Company
for Halak
Jaroslav Halak became the 110th goalie in NHL history to record 150
wins with his shutout of Colorado on November 11th. His shutout of Philadelphia on November 24th
was his 33rd career shutout, making him the 50th goalie in NHL
history to reach that total.
Halak’s 33 shutouts also rank tied-fourth among active goalies:
·
Roberto Luongo 67
·
Evgeni Nabokov 59
·
Henrik Lundqvist 53
·
Jaroslav Halak 33
·
Pekka Rinne 33
·
Jonathan Quick 33
·
Marc-Andre Fleury 32
·
Ryan Miller 32
All-time
Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
·
146 goals (15th all-time, 1 behind Pierre
Turgeon and 14 behind Pat Flatley)
·
192 assists (16th all-time, 1 behind Pierre
Turgeon and 57 behind Tomas Jonsson)
·
338 points (15th all-time, 2 behind Pierre
Turgeon and 31 behind Stefan Persson)
·
374 games played (43rd among Islander skaters
all-time, 7 behind Randy Wood and 9 behind Anders Kallur)
Frans Nielsen has:
·
90 goals (35th all-time, 2 behind Travis Green
and 3 behind Greg Gilbert & Garry Howatt)
·
177 assists (18th all-time and 4 behind Ed Westfall)
·
267 points (23rd all-time and 8 behind Kyle Okposo and 19
behind Ed Westfall)
·
469 games played (28th among Islander skaters all-time and 5
behind Gerry Hart)
Kyle Okposo has:
·
104 goals (26th all-time and 1 behind Ed
Westfall & Benoit Hogue and 12 behind Ray Ferraro)
·
171 assists (tied-20th all-time with Duane Sutter &
Alexei Yashin)
·
275 points (22nd all-time, 11 behind Ed Westfall and 15
behind Alexei Yashin)
·
414 games played (35th among Islander skaters
all-time, 8 behind Josh Bailey and Dave Langevin and 11 behind Greg Gilbert)
Michael Grabner has:
·
82 goals (38th all-time, 2 behind Tomas Jonsson and 5
behind Butch Goring)
Josh Bailey has:
·
422 games played (tied-33rd among Islander skaters all-time
with Dave Langevin and 3 behind Greg Gilbert)
Season Series
Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2
points to 0). The teams will meet again
at the Coliseum on December 15th; the Isles visit New Jersey on
January 9 and March 21.
The Isles have won 7 of the last 10 games between the
teams (7-3-0), but this was only their third win in that span in regulation.
It Happened at the Coliseum … on NOVEMBER 29th
17 years ago tonight (1997) – Sergei Nemchinov scored
two goals and Ziggy Palffy and Tom Chorske each had two assists as the
Islanders built a 3-0 lead and then survived a valiant comeback effort by the
St. Louis Blues, holding on for a 4-2 victory.
The Blues outshot the Isles 20-3 in the third period
and 36-20 overall, but Eric Fichaud made 34 saves, including six on former
Islander Pierre Turgeon to record his 19th career victory.
The Blues nearly tied the game late in the third
period, but Al MacInnis’ shot rang off the post. Fichaud told Newsday’s John Valenti:
"That was probably the hardest shot I've ever seen in my life. It almost
killed me."
It would turn out to be a last hurrah for Fichaud,
who would not win again for the Isles and won only three other NHL games.
The win came in the 1000th regular season game at the
Coliseum, raising the Islanders’ all-time record on Coliseum ice to
541-319-140.
Also on this date: (1975) – Ed Westfall scored the
opening goal and add three assists as the Isles cruised to an 8-2 win over St.
Louis.
All-time, the Isles have played 11 November 29th
games at the Coliseum and have compiled a 5-5-1 record on this date at 1255
Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 10-7-2-1 on the season after a 3-1 loss to Hartford on
Saturday. David Leggio stopped 28 shots
for Bridgeport, who are winless in their last six games (0-4-2-0); they host
Providence on Sunday at 3pm.
Up Next
TUESDAY, DECEMBER
2nd—OTTAWA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles open December with their final
home-and-home series, which begins on Tuesday at the Coliseum before concluding
Thursday in the Canadian Capital.
The road team won all three meetings last season,
with the Isles winning twice in Ottawa before the Sens were victorious in the
Isles’ home finale.
Overall, the Isles are 3-2-0 in the last five vs.
Ottawa, with two of the Isles’ victories coming in shootouts.
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 & on his
blog www.nyiskinny.com.
