The Skinny: Detroit 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Game 49

Detroit 4, Isles 1

Brendan Smith scored what turned out to be the winning goal late in the second period as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Isles 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 20,027 at Joe Louis Arena. It's the first Islander loss in Detroit in over 11 years (11/28/2003), ending an Isles' 5-game win streak in Motown.

The loss drops the Isles two points behind Detroit and Montreal in the Eastern Conference race.  They remain one point ahead of Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division; the Penguins host Nashville on Sunday afternoon.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

05:29 DET PPG - Tomas Tatar (22) Snap - ASST: Pavel Datsyuk (22), Danny DeKeyser (18) 1 - 0 DET     

2ND PERIOD

19:13 DET Brendan Smith (3) Slapshot - ASST: Tomas Jurco (11), Riley Sheahan (16) 2 - 0 DET  

3RD PERIOD

05:24 NYI PPG - Lubomir Visnovsky (4) Wrist - ASST: Frans Nielsen (18), Brock Nelson (16) 2 - 1 DET     

09:21 DET Jonathan Ericsson (3) Slapshot - ASST: NONE 3 - 1 DET      

13:08 DET PPG - Gustav Nyquist (20) Wrist -: Henrik Zetterberg (31), Niklas Kronwall (23) 4 - 1 DET

The Skinny:    

Brendan Smith matched his brother Reilly, who scored for Boston on Thursday. It was his first goal in 29 games…John Tavares' point streak ended at five games and his goal scoring streak ended at four games…Lubomir Visnovsky scored the Isles' goal, in his return from the injured list.  It was the 22^nd goal for the Isles defense; the defense scored only 11 goals last season… The Isles have allowed power play goals in six straight games. The Isles last allowed PP goals in 6 straight games (1 season) February 14-March 11, 2010…Detroit is 19-0-2 when leading after two periods…The Isles finish January with a 7-5-0 record…Pavel Datsyuk's assist was his 554^th, tying Sergei Federov for 5^th place in Red Wings history, behind Steve Yzerman, Gordie Howe, Nick Lidstrom and Alex Delvecchio…This was the first time the Isles and Red Wings have ever met with both teams at least 15 games over NHL-.500…The Isles allowed only 19 shots; it's the second-lowest total for Detroit this season.  The lowest: 18, also vs. the Isles…Detroit has sold out 171 consecutive games…The Isles are 4-1-0 when allowing less than 20 shots on goal.

Metropolitan Division Standings (Top 4)

·         ISLES           32-16-1=65 points (26 ROW)  Lost 4-1 to Detroit

·         Pittsburgh     28-13-8=64 points (26 ROW)  Idle

·         NY Rangers  28-15-4=60  points (26 ROW)  Beat Carolina 4-1
·         Washington  25-14-10=60 points (24 ROW)  Lost in OT to Montreal, 1-0.

Upcoming Schedule:

·         Isles:  Tuesday vs Florida, Thursday @ Philadelphia, Saturday @ Boston, Sunday @ Buffalo

·         Pittsburgh: Sunday vs Nashville, Wednesday @ Edmonton, Friday @ Calgary, Saturday @Vancouver

·         NY Rangers: Saturday vs Carolina, Monday vs Florida, Wednesday vs Boston, Saturday at Nashville, Sunday vs Dallas
·         Washington: Sunday vs St. Louis, Tuesday vs Los Angeles, Thursday @ Ottawa, Friday vs Anaheim, Sunday vs Philadelphia

Year of the Fan:

The Isles have sold-out their last seven home games, nine of the last ten and 13 of their 22 home dates this season. The 13 sellouts are the most for the Isles since they also had 21 full houses at the Old Barn in 2001-02. 

Comparable Records

The Isles are 32-16-1 thru 49 games.  The Isles were 19-23-7 through 49 games and 19-24-7 through 50 games last season, when they did not record their 32nd win until they defeated Montreal, 2-0 on April 10th (32-37-11).

Most wins in first 49 games:

·         32-16-1 in 2014-15

·         32-8-9 in 1978-79

·         31-10-8 in 1980-81

·         31-16-2 in 1983-84

·         30-11-8 in 1977-78

·         30-13-6 in 1981-82

·         29-13-7 in 1976-77

Most points in first 49 games:

·         73 in 1978-79

·         70 in 1980-81

·         68 in 1977-78

·         66 in 1981-82

·         65 in 1976-77

·         65 in 2014-15

·         64 in 1983-84

Home Sweet Home

The Isles are 17-5-0 on Coliseum ice; the club record for most wins through 22 home games is 18 (18-0-4 in 1978-79). 

Streakers

The Isles have had a season of streaks, going 4-0-0 to open the season and then (in succession) 0-2-0, 2-0-0, 0-3-0, 13-2-0, 0-3-0, 7-1-1, 0-2-0, 6-1-0 and are now 0-2-0 in their last two games.

Winning Streaks (Season)

2 streaks of at least 5 games -- First time since the 1987-88 season that the Isles have had two winning streaks of at least five games.

5 streaks of at least 4 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had five winning streaks of at least four games.

7 streaks of at least 3 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had at least seven winning streaks of at least three games.

The Shots:

Isles        5-9-9=23        

Detroit     8-4-7=19       

On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 1,628-1,336 for a +292 shot differential. The club record for differential for a season is +307 in 1976-77. The Isles have had only two other seasons over +150: (+254 in 1986-87 and +152 in 1975-76).

Isles had 2,537 shots on goal last season, most since a franchise-record 2,616 in 1992-93. Isles are currently on pace for a record-breaking 2,724 shots this year.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 32-16-1 overall; 17-5-0 at home and 15-11-1 on the road.  

Detroit is 29-12-9 overall; 17-4-6 at home and 12-8-3 on the road.  

By Division

The Isles are 16-2-0 in Division games and are 16-14-1 in games against other divisions. They are 7-6-1 vs. the Atlantic Division, 4-5-0 vs. Central Division, and 5-3-0 vs. the Pacific Division.

The Isles finished last season 10-16-4 against the Met. 

Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc.

The Isles are 16-2-0 against the Met Division, including nine straight wins.  They are 10-0-0 at home (outscoring opponents 39-20) and 6-2-0 on the road. The Isles are 6-0 in overtime/shootouts against division foes, going 4-0 at home and 2-0 on the road. 

It's the Isles' longest home winning streak vs. Divisional opponents to start the season since they went a perfect 16-0-0 vs. the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals in the 1981-82 season.

The Isles' next division game will be on Thursday in Philadelphia; the next home division game will be on Valentine's Day vs. Columbus.

In the Nets

Chad Johnson made 15 saves but falls to 6-6-0 on the season.   He is 1-1-0 in his career against Detroit.

Petr Mrazek made 22 saves to improve to 11-4-1 this season.  He is 1-2-0 in his career against the Isles.

26-Win Club

Halak is the 6^th goalie in Islander history to win at least 26 games in a season:

Player               26-win seasons

Chico Resch                 3

Rick DiPietro                 3

Jaroslav Halak              1

Billy Smith                    1

Ron Hextall                   1

Chris Osgood               1

The club record for wins in a season is 32, shared by Billy Smith, Chris Osgood and Rick DiPietro.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 1-4 on the power play, while Detroit was 2-4.  The Red Wings also scored a goal three seconds after a penalty to Calvin deHaan expired.

The power play is 5-19 in the last five games (26.3%).

The penalty kill has allowed nine goals in 17 times short over the last six games (47.1%) after killing 27-29 (93.1%) over the prior 12 games.  The Isles have allowed at least one power play goal in each of the six games.

The Isles are 18-7-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-9-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-12-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-4-1 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 26-5-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-11-0 when they do not. 

One Goal Games

The Isles are 18-3-1 in games decided by a single goal including 7-3-0 in regulation. They are 5-0 in games decided in overtime and are 6-1 in shootouts.  Four games have been decided by two goals in which the second goal was an empty-netter.  The Isles are 3-1 in those games.

First Goal (and Second Goal)

The Isles are 18-9-1 when they score first and are 14-7-0 when they allow the opening goal.  However, the Isles are 12-0-0 when they allow the opening goal but score the second goal.  The Isles have rebounded from 2-0 deficits to win twice this season (New Jersey on December 15th (SO) and Pittsburgh on January 16^th)

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 150-136-40 behind the Islander bench. Among the 9 New York teams, only the Giants' Tom Coughlin and the Yankees' Joe Girardi have led their respective teams longer than Capuano.

Most games coached (Islanders):

1.     Al Arbour 1,500

2.     Jack Capuano 326

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 150

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Said It

John Tavares: "There was a lot of clutching-and-grabbing out there.  Special teams hurt us…We have to be a bit more assertive with how we dictate the power play."

They Tweeted It

@HTW_Sean Good teams go on two game losing streaks. Sun shines tomorrow. #isles

@section_305 Glad that's over. Gotta fix the special teams before April #isles

@TomLiodice It's so funny how the mood on #islestwitter changes on a dime. Like relax guys.

@hplar93 It's good to have Visnovsky back on the squad

The Coach

"Special teams won the game for them…to me they got three power play goals and that was the difference in the game."

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 7-1-0 in the front-end and 6-2-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The Isles have swept 5 sets of back-to-back this season and are 1-1-0 in three sets.

The next back-to-back set is February 7^th in Boston and February 8^th in Buffalo.

Leading Ice Men

Nick Leddy led all Isles with 22:48 of ice-time; Kyle Quincey led Detroit in ice-time with 23:21.

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (12-4-0), Travis Hamonic (11-1-1), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (2-4-0), Thomas Hickey (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-3-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-0) and Calvin deHaan (1-2-0).

John Tavares led the forwards with 19:56 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (16-14-1), Kyle Okposo (12-1-0), Ryan Strome (1-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-1-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0) and Casey Cizikas (1-0-0). 

In the Circle

The Islanders won 33 of 54 draws (61%).  John Tavares won 13 of 18 for the Isles while Casey Cizikas won all six draws that he took; Luke Glendenning won 3 of 4 for Detroit. The Isles won 22 of 33 draws (67%) in the first two periods and won 11 of 21 (52%) in the first period. The Isles won 3 of 5 draws on the power play and 5 of 6 draws on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

The Isles out-hit Detroit 36-20.  Matt Martin led the Isles with nine hits while Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas each added four. 

There were no fights. The Isles have been involved in ten fights this season: Martin (7), Hamonic (2), Lee (1), and eight of the ten have been against Metropolitan Division opponents.

Giving Up the Body

The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots;  Travis Hamonic and Thomas Hickey led the Isles with three.

For the Corsi Crowd

The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 46-39 (including 17-9 in the second period). The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).

Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome led the Isles with a +7 even-strength Corsi rating; Strome was on-ice for a team-leading 68% of Corsi For events. Gustav Nyquist (+5) led Detroit.

Head of the Class

Islander Captain John Tavares has 363 career points; he is 69 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 fall to 22 games over all-time NHL .500 (1437-1415-451 in 3,303 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 301 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 102 consecutive regular season Islander games.

Missing Men

Kyle Okposo, Matt Carkner and Eric Boulton are on injured reserve. Lubomir Visnovsky was activated from IR and replaced Brian Strait in the line-up. Matt Donovan was scratched, as was Colin McDonald, who was recalled from Bridgeport on Friday. McDonald was later returned to the Sound Tigers.

The Isles have lost 174 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:

John Tavares has:

·         159 goals (14^th all-time, 1 behind Pat Flatley and 9 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         204 assists (15th all-time and 45 behind Tomas Jonsson)

·         363 points (14^th all-time , 7 behind Stefan Persson and 81 behind Billy Harris)

·         398 games played (38th among Islander skaters all-time and 3 behind Jean Potvin)

Kyle Okposo has:

·         113 goals (23^rd all-time, 3 behind Ray Ferraro and 5 behind Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish)

·         185 assists (18th all-time, 2 behind Frans Nielsen, 8 behind Pierre Turgeon and 19 behind John Tavares)

·         298 points (19^th all-time and 35 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         436 games played (32^nd among Islander skaters all-time, 7 behind Josh Bailey and 14 behind Scott Lachance)

Frans Nielsen has:

·         94 goals (32nd all-time, 1 behind Mikko Makela and David Volek and 5 behind Trent Hunter)

·         187 assists (17th all-time, 6 behind Pierre Turgeon and 17 behind John Tavares)

·         281 points (23rd all-time, 5 behind Ed Westfall, 9 behind Alexei Yashin and 11 behind Duane Sutter)

·         495 games played (25th among Islander skaters all-time and 14 behind Rich Pilon)

Michael Grabner has:

·         87 goals (tied-36th all-time with Butch Goring and 6 behind Travis Green)

Josh Bailey has:

·         443 games played (31^st among Islander skaters all-time, 7 behind Scott Lachance and 16 behind Trent Hunter)

Season Series Stats

The season series is even at 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).

This was only the Isles' second loss in their last 11 meetings with the Red Wings (8-2-1) and snapped a five-game Islander winning streak at The Joe.

The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on March 29^th at 5pm.

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 31st

11 years ago tonight (2004) - Jason Blake scored two goals, the second one into an empty net as the Islanders scored three goals In the third period and defeated the Florida Panthers 4-2.

Radek Martinek and Trent Hunter scored the other goals for the Islanders.  Hunter's goal was the 19th of his rookie season, which was the most since David Volek scored 25 goals in 1988-89.

The game turned when Florida's Stephen Weiss limped off the ice after an unpenalized knee-on-knee collision with Oleg Kvasha; the Isles outscored Florida 3-0 and outshot them 14-6 the rest of the way. Weiss would miss the next 5 ½ weeks.

It was the first time in 32 games, dating back to February 8, 2003 that the Isles had rallied to win after trailing through 40 minutes (0-27-4-0).

Garth Snow made 26 saves to snap a personal six-game winless streak (0-4-2).  Former Islander Roberto Luongo took the loss.

The Islanders improved to 11-2-1-0 in their last fourteen home games, representing their best 14-game home stretch since 1986.  The win pushed the Isles 10 games over .500 on Coliseum ice for the first time since ending the 1987-88 season with a 24-10-6 record on Coliseum ice.

The Isles would end that season with 55 points at home, and it would take until this past December 20^th for the Isles to go 10 games over .500 at home at any point of any season since.

The Isles would not win another home game in regulation that they trailed after two periods until 2007.

Also on this date: (1987) – Pat Flatley scored two goals and added an assist while Brent Sutter chipped in with two assists as the Isles defeated Hartford 4-2.

All-time, the Isles have played seven January 31st games at the Coliseum and finish with a 5-1-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. 

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 19-19-5-1 after an 8-6 loss in Hartford on Friday.  Bridgeport returns home to host Portland on Saturday night.

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd—FLORIDA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Florida Panthers will make their final trip to the Coliseum on Tuesday.  The Panthers are already in the New York area, as they play the Devils and Rangers before heading to Long Island.

In their first meeting of the season, back on November 14^th in Florida, the Isles survived a late tying goal by Aaron Ekblad and emerged with a 4-3 shootout victory to extend their winning streak to five straight games.

Overall, the Isles have won six of the last eight games between the teams, including three of four at the Coliseum.

The teams will also meet in Sunrise on March 7^th.

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

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 31st

11 years ago tonight (2004) - Jason Blake scored two goals, the second one into an empty net as the Islanders scored three goals In the third period and defeated the Florida Panthers 4-2.

Jason Blake (undated)

Radek Martinek and Trent Hunter scored the other goals for the Islanders.  Hunter’s goal was the 19th of his rookie season, which was the most since David Volek scored 25 goals in 1988-89.

The game turned when Florida’a Stephen Weiss limped off the ice after an unpenalized knee-on-knee collision with Oleg Kvasha; the Isles outscored Florida 3-0 and outshot them 14-6 the rest of the way. Weiss would miss the next 5 ½ weeks.

It was the first time in 32 games, dating back to February 8, 2003 that the Isles had rallied to win after trailing through 40 minutes (0-27-4-0).

Garth Snow made 26 saves to snap a personal six-game winless streak (0-4-2).  Former Islander Roberto Luongo took the loss.

The Islanders improved to 11-2-1-0 in their last fourteen home games, representing their best 14-game home stretch since 1986.  The win pushed the Isles 10 games over .500 on Coliseum ice for the first time since ending the 1987-88 season with a 24-10-6 record on Coliseum ice.

Here's the recap from nhl.com: 

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2003020781

The Isles would end that season with 55 points at home, and it would take until this past December 20^th for the Isles to go 10 games over .500 at home at any point of any season since.

The Isles would not win another home game in regulation that they trailed after two periods until 2007.

Also on this date: (1987) – Pat Flatley scored two goals and added an assist while Brent Sutter chipped in with two assists as the Isles defeated Hartford 4-2.

All-time, the Isles have played seven January 31st games at the Coliseum and finish with a 5-1-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. 

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 30th

19 years ago tonight (1996) – Mathieu Schneider scored with 2:41 to play in overtime to give the Islanders a 5-4 win over Buffalo. 

The Sabres had rallied from 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits to force the extra session.  Former Islander Pat Lafontaine scored twice, including at 19:55 of the third period, to send the game into overtime.

LaFontaine’s heroics threatened to spoil the NHL debut of Islander netminder Eric Fichaud but the veteran Schneider, who served as the Isles captain in the absence of Pat Flatley, beat Dominik Hasek for the winning goal. Schneider told Newsday’s Jim Smith: "Everyone was just looking toward (Bob Sweeney, who had eight career OT goals). I was able to sneak in behind LaFontaine untouched and sneak one home."

"Tonight's the most beautiful day of my life," the 20 year old Fichaud told Newsday’s Jim Smith. "I can't believe {the Islanders} scored at the end”.  Fichaud became the 5th Islander goalie to win his NHL debut but he would win only 22 NHL games in his career, including 19 for the Islanders.

Future Islander Captain Michael Peca had two assists for Buffalo.  Alex Semak, Niklas Andersson, Travis Green and Derek King had the other goals for the Isles, who broke a 5-game losing streak.

The video is from Buffalo's (now defunct) Empire Sports Network.  Legendary Sabre voice Rick Jeanneret (who recently returned to the booth after battling throat cancer has the call):

Jeanneret is famous for his exhuberant goal calls, including this one for a former Islander star:

Also on this date: (1998) – Tommy Salo made 31 saves as the Isles blanked Carolina 2-0.  Paul Kruse and Robert Reichel scored for New York.

All-time, the Isles have played eleven January 30th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 5-4-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. 

The Skinny: Boston 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"  

 By Eric Hornick

 

Game 48

Boston 5, Isles 2

Reilly Smith and Milan Lucic each had three points and Kevan Miller scored the winning goal off an Islander giveaway with 3.4 seconds to play in the middle period as the Boston Bruins defeated the Isles 5-2 before yet another sellout crowd of 16,170 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The loss drops the Isles one point behind Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference race.

The Scoring:

 

1st Period

13:59    BOS     Reilly Smith (10) ASST: Milan Lucic (17), David Krejci (17)           1 - 0 BOS         

16:09    BOS     PPG - Patrice Bergeron (12) ASST: Dougie Hamilton (19), Reilly Smith (15) 2 - 0 BOS      

 

2nd Period

08:25    NYI       John Tavares (23) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (7), Travis Hamonic (10)            2 - 1 BOS         

15:12    NYI       Michael Grabner (5) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (21), John Tavares (25)        2 - 2 Tie           

19:56    BOS     Kevan Miller (2) ASST: NONE     3 - 2 BOS         

 

3rd Period

01:45    BOS     Torey Krug (10) ASST: Reilly Smith (16), Milan Lucic (18)             4 - 2 BOS         

17:54    BOS     EN - Milan Lucic (10) ASST: David Krejci (18), Zdeno Chara (9)    5 - 2 BOS

 

The Skinny:    

The loss breaks the Isles' four game home winning streak…John Tavares had two points, extending his goal streak to four games and his point streak to five games.  Tavares also had a career-high 9 shots on goal… Michael Grabner recorded his 87^th goal as an Islander, tying Butch Goring for 36^th on the all-time club list…Johnny Boychuk assisted on Grabner's goal for his 100^th career point; Boychuk has five assists in the last three games...Josh Bailey was held without a point for the first time in five games, leaving him with 199 career points.…Reilly Smith matched a career high with three points…The Isles had 45 shots on goal; the most allowed by the Bruins in any game this season and the most for the Isles vs. Boston since 2006.

Metropolitan Division Standings (Top 4)

·         ISLES           32-15-1=65 points (26 ROW)  Lost to Boston 5-2

·         Pittsburgh     27-13-8=62 points (25 ROW)  Idle

·         Washington  25-14-9=59 points (24 ROW)  Idle

·         NY Rangers  27-15-4=58 points (25 ROW)  Lost to Montreal 1-0

This Week's Schedule:

·         Isles: @ Detroit Saturday

·         Pittsburgh: @ New Jersey Friday, Vs Nashville Sunday

·         Washington: @Montreal Saturday, Vs St. Louis Sunday

·         NY Rangers: Vs Carolina Saturday

Year of the Fan:

The Isles have sold-out their last seven home games, nine of the last ten and 13 of their 22 home dates this season. The 13 sellouts are the most for the Isles since they also had 21 full houses at the Old Barn in 2001-02. 

Comparable Records

The Isles are 32-15-1 thru 48 games.  The Isles were 18-23-7 through 48 games and 19-23-7 through 49 games last season, when they did not record their 32st win until they defeated Montreal, 2-0 on April 10th (32-37-11).

Most wins in first 48 games:

·         32-15-1 in 2014-15

·         32-7-9 in 1978-79

·         31-15-2 in 1983-84

·         30-10-8 in 1980-81

·         29-11-8 in 1977-78

·         29-12-7 in 1976-77

·         29-13-6 in 1981-82

Most points in first 48 games:

·         73 in 1978-79

·         68 in 1980-81

·         66 in 1977-78

·         65 in 1976-77

·         65 in 2014-15

·         64 in 1983-84

·         62 in 1981-82

Home Sweet Home

The Isles are 17-5-0 on Coliseum ice; the club record for most wins through 22 home games is 18 (18-0-4 in 1978-79). 

Streakers

The Isles have had a season of streaks, going 4-0-0 to open the season and then (in succession) 0-2-0, 2-0-0, 0-3-0, 13-2-0, 0-3-0, 7-1-1, 0-2-0, and are now 6-2-0 in their last eight games.

Winning Streaks (Season)

2 streaks of at least 5 games -- First time since the 1987-88 season that the Isles have had two winning streaks of at least five games.

5 streaks of at least 4 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had five winning streaks of at least four games.

7 streaks of at least 3 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had at least seven winning streaks of at least three games.

The Shots:

Isles                 15-16-14=45

Bruins               11-16-6=33

 

On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 1,605-1,317 for a +288 shot differential. The club record for differential for a season is +307 in 1976-77. The Isles have had only two other seasons over +150: (+254 in 1986-87 and +152 in 1975-76).

Isles had 2,537 shots on goal last season, most since a franchise-record 2,616 in 1992-93. Isles are currently on pace for a record-breaking 2,742 shots this year.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 32-15-1 overall; 17-5-0 at home and 15-10-1 on the road.  

Boston is 26-16-7 overall; 15-7-4 at home and 11-9-3 on the road.  

By Division

The Isles are 16-2-0 in Division games and are 16-13-1 in games against other divisions. They are 7-5-1 vs. the Atlantic Division, 4-5-0 vs. Central Division, and 5-3-0 vs. the Pacific Division.

The Isles finished last season 10-16-4 against the Met. 

Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc.

The Isles are 16-2-0 against the Met Division, including nine straight wins.  They are 10-0-0 at home (outscoring opponents 39-20) and 6-2-0 on the road. The Isles are 6-0 in overtime/shootouts against division foes, going 4-0 at home and 2-0 on the road. 

It's the Isles' longest home winning streak vs. Divisional opponents to start the season since they went a perfect 16-0-0 vs. the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals in the 1981-82 season.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves but falls to 26-10-0 on the season, including 23-6-0 in his last 29 games.   He is 8-4-0 in his career against Boston.  Halak has won at least 25 games in each of the last five full seasons.

Tuukka Rask made 43 saves to improve to 21-11-7 this season.  He is 7-3-0 in his career against the Isles.

26-Win Club

Halak is the 6^th goalie in Islander history to win at least 26 games in a season:

 

Player               26-win seasons

Chico Resch                 3

Rick DiPietro                 3

Jaroslav Halak              1

Billy Smith                    1

Ron Hextall                   1

Chris Osgood               1

 

The club record for wins in a season is 32, shared by Billy Smith, Chris Osgood and Rick DiPietro.

 

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Boston was 1-1.

The power play is 4-15 in the last five games (26.7%).

The penalty kill has allowed seven goals in 13 times short over the last five games (46.2%) after killing 27-29 (93.1%) over the prior 12 games.  The Isles have allowed at least one power play goal in each of the five games.

The Isles are 18-6-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-9-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-11-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-4-1 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 26-5-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-10-0 when they do not. 

One Goal Games

The Isles are 18-3-1 in games decided by a single goal including 7-3-0 in regulation. They are 5-0 in games decided in overtime and are 6-1 in shootouts.  Four games have been decided by two goals in which the second goal was an empty-netter.  The Isles are 3-1 in those games.

First Goal (and Second Goal)

The Isles are 18-9-1 when they score first and are 14-6-0 when they allow the opening goal.  However, the Isles are 12-0-0 when they allow the opening goal but score the second goal.  The Isles have rebounded from 2-0 deficits to win twice this season (New Jersey on December 15th (SO) and Pittsburgh on January 16^th)

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 150-135-40 behind the Islander bench. Among the 9 New York teams, only the Giants' Tom Coughlin and the Yankees' Joe Girardi have led their respective teams longer than Capuano.

Most games coached (Islanders):

1.     Al Arbour 1,500

2.     Jack Capuano 325

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

 

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 150

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Said It

John Tavares: "We had some more chances. It seemed like a half inch here or a foot there. It's part of the game. We fought back to make it 2-2, and obviously a couple of goals to end the second and start the third kind of took the life out of us.

Johnny Boychuk: "When they get a goal with three seconds left, it shouldn't be a letdown, but it is. You have to just go into the next period – it was only 3-2 – and score the next goal and we didn't. We just have to put this behind us."

They Tweeted It

@MattSaidman #Isles Tavares: "[Marchand] was head-locking me, the ref was staring right at it. Different set of rules I guess"

@THERobertL Tough to lose this one to the Bruins, especially when it's their only visit to the Coliseum. But Tukka Rask was on his game tonight. #Isles

@IslandersPride Well no magic tonight, boys. Move on and Bounce back on Saturday #isles

@freelancehack Ok, so it was Grabner getting the tip. But a heck of a blast by Johnny there. #Islanders

The Coach

I thought we played well enough to win the game.  Obviously, the third goal was the turning point of the game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 7-1-0 in the front-end and 6-2-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The Isles have swept 5 sets of back-to-back this season and are 1-1-0 in three sets.

The next back-to-back set is February 7^th in Boston and February 8^th in Buffalo.

Leading Ice Men

Johnny Boychuk led all Isles with 21:26 of ice-time; Zdeno Chara led Boston in ice-time with 23:47.

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (12-4-0), Travis Hamonic (11-1-1), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (2-4-0), Thomas Hickey (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-0) and Calvin deHaan (1-2-0).

John Tavares led the forwards with 20:33 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (16-13-1), Kyle Okposo (12-1-0), Ryan Strome (1-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-1-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0) and Casey Cizikas (1-0-0). 

In the Circle

The Islanders won 26 of 56 draws (46%).  Frans Nielsen won 8 of 12 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 14 of 20 for Boston. The Isles won only 17 of 38 draws (45%) in the final two periods after winning 9 of 18 (50%) in the first period. The Isles won 1 of 2 draws on the power play and 2 of 2 draws on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

The Isles out-hit Boston 48-35.  Matt Martin led the Isles with nine hits while Anders Lee added five. 

There were no fights. The Isles have been involved in ten fights this season: Martin (7), Hamonic (2), Lee (1), and eight of the ten have been against Metropolitan Division opponents.

Giving Up the Body

The Isles were credited with 17 blocked shots; Thomas Hickey led the Isles with three.

For the Corsi Crowd

The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 74-60 (including 29-8 in the third period). The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).

Nick Leddy lead the Isles with a +22 even-strength Corsi rating; Leddy and Johnny Boychuk were on-ice for a team-leading 76% of Corsi For events. Adam McQuaid (+10) led Boston.

Head of the Class

Islander Captain John Tavares has 363 career points; he is 73 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 fall to 23 games over all-time NHL .500 (1437-1414-451 in 3,302 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 300 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 101 consecutive regular season Islander games.

Missing Men

Kyle Okposo, Lubomir Visnovsky, Matt Carkner and Eric Boulton are on injured reserve. Matt Donovan was scratched. 

The Isles have lost 171 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:

John Tavares has:

·         159 goals (14^th all-time, 1 behind Pat Flatley and 9 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         204 assists (15th all-time and 45 behind Tomas Jonsson)

·         363 points (14^th all-time , 7 behind Stefan Persson and 81 behind Billy Harris)

·         397 games played (38th among Islander skaters all-time and 4 behind Jean Potvin)

Kyle Okposo has:

·         113 goals (23^rd all-time, 3 behind Ray Ferraro and 5 behind Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish)

·         185 assists (18th all-time, 1 behind Frans Nielsen, 8 behind Pierre Turgeon and 19 behind John Tavares)

·         298 points (19^th all-time and 35 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         436 games played (32^nd among Islander skaters all-time, 6 behind Josh Bailey and 14 behind Scott Lachance)

Frans Nielsen has:

·         94 goals (32nd all-time, 1 behind Mikko Makela and David Volek and 5 behind Trent Hunter)

·         186 assists (17th all-time, 7 behind Pierre Turgeon and 18 behind John Tavares)

·         280 points (23rd all-time, 6 behind Ed Westfall,10 behind Alexei Yashin and 12 behind Duane Sutter)

·         494 games played (25th among Islander skaters all-time and 15 behind Rich Pilon)

Michael Grabner has:

·         87 goals (tied-36th all-time with Butch Goring and 6 behind Travis Green)

Josh Bailey has:

·         442 games played (31^st among Islander skaters all-time, 8 behind Scott Lachance and 17 behind Trent Hunter)

Season Series Stats

The season series is even at 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).

The teams will meet again in Boston on February 8^th.

Boston has won 7 of the last nine games between the teams on Long Island.

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 29th

30 years ago tonight (1985) – Bryan Trottier scored a pair of second period goals to get the Isles started, as they rallied from a 4-0 deficit to earn a 4-4 tie with the Minnesota North Stars.

Trottier's second goal, coming at 15:16 of the second period, was one for the record books, as he became the first player in Islander history to reach 1,000 career points. "These things mean a lot," said Trottier. "I have to think back to all the guys who played with me. Mike Bossy, my friend is No. 1. John Tonelli, and --all the way back--Garry Howatt, Bobby Bourne and Billy Harris. And Greg Gilbert, I can't forget him. They all helped, as did Denis Potvin on the power play so many times. It's a real big thing to me."  Perhaps fittingly, Trottier was the 19^th player in NHL history to reach that mark.  Ironically, Trottier's milestone goal was scored shorthanded, with Mike Bossy (of all people) in the penalty box.

His milestone goals came against former teammate Roland Melanson, who was making his first Coliseum appearance since being traded for a first round draft pick the previous November.

Denis Maruk had a goal and two assists for the North Stars as they scored twice in a 16 second span of the first period and twice in the first 7:34 of the second.

Duane Sutter cut the Stars lead to 4-3 early in the third period; John Tonelli tied the game for good at 6:57 of the third period.

Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy each had two assists for the Isles, who completed game 50 with a 26-21-3 record.

Melanson finished with 36 saves; Kelly Hrudey made 29 saves for the Isles.  Hrudey's backup was Todd Lumbard as Billy Smith served the first game of a six-game suspension.  Lumbard, a 1981 Islander draft pick, never got off the bench in the games he backed up Hrudey, and never appeared in an NHL game.

So what ever became of Lumbard?  He now is a part owner of the Regina Pats (WHL), and also owns a funeral home in Regina.  

Also on this date: (1999) – In a rare Friday night home game, Zdeno Chara and Robert Reichel scored in the final four minutes as the Islanders rallied for a 4-4 tie with Phoenix. Chara's first NHL goal came on a wrist shot from the right point that beat a screened Jimmy Waite.

All-time, the Isles have played seven January 29th games at the Coliseum and have compiled a 0-4-3 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 19-18-5-1 at the AHL All-Star Break.  Bridgeport will get back into action on Friday in Hartford and returns home to host Portland on Saturday.

Up Next

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31st—ISLANDERS AT DETROIT 2:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 1:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles will head to Motown for the second time this season for a matinee with the Red Wings. Detroit came into play on Thursday tied with the Isles for the Eastern Conference lead, but lost to Tampa Bay to fall behind the Bolts in the overall standings.

The Isles won the first meeting back on December 20^th by a 2-1 score.  Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist for the Isles.

The Isles are 8-1-1 in their last ten meetings with the Red Wings, and have won five straight games in Detroit.

The teams will also meet at the Coliseum on March 29^th at 5pm.

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