"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 15
Isles 6, Colorado 0
In a complete team effort, six different Islanders scored goals, 12 different players earned points and 16 players earned "+" ratings while Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves for his second consecutive shutout (and 32nd of his career), as the Isles defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-0 before a crowd of 12,888 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Isles move five games over NHL-.500 (10-5-0) for the first time this season and remain in sole possession of 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division, climbing within one point of Pittsburgh. It's the first time that the Isles are 5 games over NHL .500 this late in a FULL season for first time since February 2008 (finished 24-17-7 in lockout season).
The Scoring:
1st Period
01:33 NYI Nick Leddy (4) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (8), Ryan Strome (9) 1 - 0 NYI
05:21 NYI PPG - Anders Lee (2) ASST: NONE 2 - 0 NYI
2nd Period
06:38 NYI Travis Hamonic (2) ASST: John Tavares (10), Nikolay Kulemin (6) 3 - 0 NYI
11:32 NYI SHG - Nikolay Kulemin (2) ASST: Frans Nielsen (5) 4 - 0 NYI
3rd Period
06:03 NYI Casey Cizikas (1) ASST: Lubomir Visnovsky (3), Cory Conacher (2) 5 - 0 NYI
08:01 NYI Ryan Strome (1) ASST: Brock Nelson (8) 6 - 0 NYI
The Shutout:
This is the 22nd shutout by at least a six goal margin in Isles history but only the 4th in the last 20 years (the last one was on January 12, 2010 vs. Detroit)…It's the 3rd time the Isles have blanked the Avalanche (franchise), but the first time since a 2-0 win in Quebec on March 6, 1988…The Isles have not allowed a goal in 181:11 (the franchise record is 199:24) and have allowed only one goal in 208:27…It's the 11th time in franchise history that a shutout victory has moved the Isles exactly five games over NHL-.500…Halak's personal shutout streak is 143:27.
Back-to Back (and Belly to Belly):
Jaroslav Halak has now recorded consecutive shutouts 4 times in his career:
· For Montreal: 4/2-4/3/2010 (1-0 @ Philadelphia, 3-0 vs Buffalo),
· For St. Louis: 10/23-10/28/2010 (1-0 in OT vs Pittsburgh, 3-0 vs Nashville)
· For St. Louis: 1/16-1/19/2012 (1-0 vs Dallas and 1-0 vs. Edmonton)
· For Isles: 11/8-11/11/2014 (1-0 @ Arizona, 6-0 vs. Colorado) CURRENT
The Islanders have recorded consecutive shutouts nine times in their history:
· 12/7-12/9/75 (3-0 @ Buffalo, 6-0 vs Minnesota)
· 2/9-2/12/80 (5-0 vs. Quebec, 0-0 vs Winnipeg)
· 1/20-1/22/81 (5-0 vs. Calgary, 3-0 @ Detroit)
· 2/19-2/21/94 (4-0 vs Ottawa, 4-0 vs Washington)
· 4/1-4/4-4/6/98 (4-0 vs Tampa Bay, 3-0 vs NY Rangers, 3-0 @ Tampa Bay)
· 10/14-10/17/98 (2-0 @ Tampa Bay, 1-0 @ St. Louis)
· 3/21-3/23/04 (3-0 vs Tampa Bay, 3-0 vs. Washington)
· 12/23-12/26/06 (4-0 vs. Columbus, 2-0 vs. NY Rangers)
· 11/8-11/11/2014 (1-0 @ Arizona, 6-0 vs. Colorado) CURRENT
The Skinny:
The Isles have outscored the opposition 17-9 in the first period…The Isles now have 10 goals from defensemen in their first 15 games; the Isles had only 23 goals from the defense last season…Isles improve to 14-1-3 in last 18 games called by Jiggs McDonald… John Tavares' assist on Hamonic's goal was his 331st career point, tying Ziggy Palffy for 16th place on the all-time Isles list…The Isles scored at least twice in each period for the second time this season (10/25/14 vs Dallas)...Casey Cizikas' goal was his first in 20 games while Ryan Strome's goal was his first in 16 games… Tavares' assist gave him the team lead with 10; Strome had earlier tied Tavares and Okposo for the club lead with 9…The defense combined for two goals and two assists, with four different defensemen figuring in the scoring… Both of Nikolay Kulemin's goals have come with the Isles shorthanded; they are the only two shorthanded goals that the Isles have scored this season; Kulemin also had an assist for his second multi-point game as an Islander…The Isles are 4-0-0 when leading after two periods…The Isles are 4-0-0 when scoring at least five goals; they have won 46 straight games (dating back to December 2010) when scoring at least five goals (including SO winners)....Jarsolav Halak recorded his 150th career win; he is the 110th player in NHL history to record 150 wins.
First Times in a Long Time
· The Isles have allowed only three goals in the last four games; it's the first time since March 19-25, 2004 that the Isles have allowed only three goals in a 4-game stretch.
· The Isles have allowed only one goal in the last three games; it's the first time since March 19-23, 2004 that the Isles have allowed only one goal in a 3-game stretch.
· It's the first time since a 9-3 win over Pittsburgh on February 11, 2011 that the Islanders have won a game by at least six goals.
Sweet 16
With his point tonight, John Tavares is now tied for 16th in points (with Ziggy Palffy) on the all-time Isles list. Tavares also is currently 16th in Isles history in both goals and assists.
Comparable Records
The Isles are 10-5-0 thru 15 games, matching their most wins thru 15 games since they were 11-2-1-1 in 2001-02. The Isles were 6-6-3 through 15 games and 6-7-3 through 15 games last season, when they won only ten of their first 37 games (10-20-7).
This is only the 2nd time since the 1987-88 season that the Isles have won their 10th game by November 11th. The Isles improved to 10-1-1-1 with a win on November 3, 2001.
November to Remember?
The Isles began November with the final four games of their road trip and went 3-1-0. Last this month there are home-and-home series with Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Washington. The Isles are 4-1-0 this November.
Streakers
The Isles won their first four games, lost their next two games, won the two games after that, lost the next three games before winning the last four.
The Shots:
Isles 13-15-18=46
Colorado 5-8-7=20
The 26 shot difference matches a 2010 win over New Jersey (4-0 home win, also 46-20 in shots) for the largest difference in an Islander shutout win since 2/22/1987 (Isles outshot New Jersey 48-21 in a 7-0 road win).
Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-5-0 overall, 4-2-0 at home and 6-3-0 on the road.
Colorado is 4-8-5 overall; 3-3-2 at home and 1-5-3 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 3-1-0 in Division games and are 7-4-0 in games against other divisions. They are 1-1-0 vs. the Atlantic Division, 2-2-0 vs. Central Division, and 4-1-0 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles won only three of their first 17 division games (3-11-3) last season.
Western Run
This was the last of eight consecutive games against the Western Conference. The Isles went 5-3-0 in this stretch. The next 11 games are all against Eastern Conference opponents, including home/home series with Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Ottawa.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves and improves to 6-4-0 on the season with his 32nd career shutout. It's the first time he has ever shutout the Avs; Halak is 5-2-2 in his career against Colorado.
Semyon Varlomov made 40 saves for Colorado but falls to 2-5-4 on the season. Varlamov is 2-1-1 in his career against the Isles and had allowed only three goals in his prior three games against them.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-6 on the power play while Colorado was 0-3.
The Isles have killed 12 straight over the last three games after they allowed 6 power play goals in 14 times short over the previous five games.
The power play is 4-17 (23.5%) over the last four games.
The Isles are 7-3-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-2-0 when they do not. The Isles are 4-4-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-1-0 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-4-0 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 6-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1-0 in regulation. They are 1-0 in games decided in overtime and are 2-0 in shootouts. Two games have been decided by two goals in which the second goal was an empty-netter. The Isles are 1-1 in those games.
First Goal
The Isles are 7-4-0 when they score first and are 3-1-0 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have opened the scoring 11 times this season which is tied with Tampa Bay, who also opened the scoring in their game tonight, for the league lead.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 128-125-39 behind the Islander bench.
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 292
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 128
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
Jaroslav Halak: "It's a team effort, same as last game. They blocked a lot of shots, just like they did last game. Everybody was tracking back and we didn't give up many odd-man rushes."
Travis Hamonic: ""We have to try to play the same way we do on the road at home…"It's the most complete game we've played this season. But as a group, we can't be satisfied. We haven't done anything yet. We're just [15] games into the season."
They Tweeted It
@Islanders1932 Am I the only one who goes to an #isles game and then re-watches it on TV when they show the replay like right now?
@Tyler_Fischer23 #isles be winning 6-0 and JT gets 0 goals man this team is relentless. Also the Kid Line is nasty, only get better with time Can't Wait!
@ProfDaley So did 12 different #isles get points in tonight's game? This may still be a November to remember..
@MattSaidman Man, was the coliseum rocking during the final minute tonight. Every bit as loud as it was on opening night #Isles
The Coach
"With this being the first game back [from the road trip], I was worried about our energy…I was impressed with the way they stayed with it."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-0-0 in the front-end and 2-0-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. This is only the third time in franchise history that the Isles have swept their first two back-to-backs (1981-82 & 2001-02); in both those seasons they also swept the third set.
The next back-to-back set will be next Friday (11/14) in Florida and next Saturday (11/15) in Tampa Bay.
Leading Ice Men
Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with 21:38 of ice-time while Eric Johnson led Colorado with 23:35.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (5-1-0), Travis Hamonic (2-1-0), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) and John Tavares (1-2-0).
John Tavares led the forwards with 20:35 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (6-5-0), Kyle Okposo (2-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), and Casey Cizikas (1-0-0).
In the Circle
The Islanders won 35 of 67 draws (52%). Frans Nielsen won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Marc-Andre Cliche won 9 of 13 for Colorado.
The Isles won 15 of 19 draws in the first period but only 20 of 48 in the final 40 minutes.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles outhit Colorado 40-30. Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck had six hits to lead the Isles. Erik Johnson had six hits for Colorado.
There were no fights, leaving the season total at two: Martin (1), Hamonic (1).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 15 blocked shots; Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with four.
For the Corsi Crowd
Ryan Strome (+8) led the Isles in even-strength Corsi, which measures shots attempted for and against (including blocks). Anders Lee had a team-leading 71% of Corsi For events.
Head of the Class
Islander Captain John Tavares has 331 career points; he is 58 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 11 games over all-time NHL .500 (1415-1404-450 in 3,269 games). It's the first time since October 8, 2013 that the Isles have been 11 games over all-time NHL .500.
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 Thomas Hickey are the Islanders' reigning ironmen. Leddy has played 267 consecutive regular season games, while Hickey has played 98 consecutive regular season Islander games.
Missing Men
Josh Bailey, Michael Grabner and Matt Carkner are on injured reserve. Matt Donovan was scratched for the 15th straight game. Johnny Boychuk returned to the lineup after missing the Arizona game, replacing Brian Strait. Cory Conacher replaced the ailing Eric Boulton in the lineup.
The Isles have lost 56 games this season due to injury, and have had four injured players for 11 of their 15 games.
All-time Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
· 142 goals (16th all-time, 3 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 5 behind Pierre Turgeon)
· 189 assists (16th all-time, 4 behind Pierre Turgeon and 60 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 331 points (tied -16th all-time with Ziggy Palffy, 2 behind Tomas Jonsson and 9 behind Pierre Turgeon
· 365 games played (43rd among Islander skaters all-time, 16 behind Randy Wood)
Frans Nielsen has:
· 90 goals (35th all-time, 2 behind Travis Green)
· 174 assists (19th all-time, 1 behind Kenny Jonsson and 7 behind Ed Westfall)
· 264 points (23rd all-time and 4 behind Kyle Okposo)
· 462 games played (28th among Islander skaters all-time, 8 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)
Kyle Okposo has:
· 104 goals (26th all-time and 1 behind Ed Westfall & Benoit Hogue)
· 164 assists (24th all-time, 2 behind Jeff Norton and 3 behind Jean Potvin)
· 268 points (22nd all-time, 20 behind Ed Westfall)
· 405 games played (36th among Islander skaters all-time, 6 behind Wayne Merrick and 8 behind Josh Bailey)
Michael Grabner has:
· 82 goals (38th all-time, 2 behind Tomas Jonsson, 3 behind Frans Nielsen and 5 behind Butch Goring)
Josh Bailey has:
· 413 games played (34th among Islander skaters all-time and 9 behind Dave Langevin)
Season Series Stats
The team split the season series 1 game each (and 2 points to 2), with each squad winning by shutout on home-ice.
The Isles have won seven of the last eight games between the teams at the Coliseum.
It Happened at the Coliseum … on NOVEMBER 11th
34 years ago tonight (1980) – Mike Bossy scored four goals for his 11th career hat trick, but the Isles needed a goal by Denis Potvin with 2:10 to play to salvage a 6-6 tie with the Minnesota North Stars in what turned out to be a preview of the following spring's Stanley Cup Final.
Bossy scored once in the first period and then added three straight tallies following a Craig Hartsburg goal as the Isles built a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes. It was Bossy's second straight hat trick, and gave him nine goals in the last three games, raising his total to 19 goals in 16 games enroute to his 50 in 50 season. Bryan Trottier had four assists for the Isles while Stefan Persson had three helpers.
Five different North Stars scored in a disbelieving 13:12 stretch of the third period that gave Minnesota the lead. However, 20 seconds after Bobby Smith gave Minnesota the lead, Potvin tied the game for good.
Also on this date: (1978) - The only win before tonight that the Isles ever had at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on this Veterans Day came in 1978 with a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Flames. It was only the 2nd loss in 16 games for Atlanta, who was off to the best start in their history.
All-time, the Isles have played nine November 11th games at the Coliseum and have compiled a 2-6-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers improved to 8-3-0-1 on Sunday with a 4-3 win over Albany. CJ Stretch scored the game deciding goal in the shootout.
Kevin Poulin improved to 6-1-1 (2.16, .935) as he earned at least a point in his seventh straight game. Alan Quine extended his goal scoring streak to three games.
Bridgeport is off until Friday, when they begin a home-and-home series against the Rangers' top farm club, the Hartford Wolf Pack, at the XL Center in Hartford.
Up Next
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th—ISLANDERS AT FLORIDA 7:30PM
[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 7:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 7:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Islanders begin a set of back-to-backs in the state of Florida with their first match-up of the season with the Florida Panthers.
The Isles have won five of the last seven against the Cats, and are 3-2-0 in their last five trips to South Florida.
The Isles are 24-9-2 in their last 35 road games. Since the start of the 2013 (shortened) season, the Isles are 41-27-6 on the road.
The Isles are 6-3-0 on the road this season, with the six wins in their first nine road games matching the second-highest total in club history; the 2001-02 team opened 7-2-0-0 on the road.
The Isles will be looking to tie a franchise record by winning 11 of their first 16 games; it's been done four times previous (1976-77, 1982-83, 1987-88, and 2001-02).
Note to viewers: Both games this weekend are on MSG+2.
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.
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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