"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 22nd 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 554th, tying Sergei Federov for 5th 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.
· 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
· 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 6th 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 16th)
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd 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 7th in Boston and February 8th 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 (14th all-time, 1 behind Pat Flatley and 9 behind Ziggy Palffy)
· 204 assists (15th all-time and 45 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 363 points (14th 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 (23rd 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 (19th all-time and 35 behind Ziggy Palffy)
· 436 games played (32nd 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 (31st 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 29th 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 20th 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]
[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 14th 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 7th.
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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