"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 39
Edmonton 5, Isles 2
The Edmonton Oilers got two goals from Matt Hendricks (the latter into an empty net) as they defeated the Islanders 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 16,839 at Rexall Place. The Isles remained tied with Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division lead with 53 points.
Jaroslav Halak, playing his 300th NHL game, saw his seven game winning streak snapped. Halak is the only goalie with two win streaks of at least seven games this season,
Pittsburgh was idle tonight. The teams remained tied for the Metropolitan Division lead.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
16:59 EDM Matt Hendricks (4) Wrist shot - ASST: Rob Klinkhammer (3) 1 - 0 EDM
2ND PERIOD
00:08 EDM Jordan Eberle (8) Snap shot - ASST: Taylor Hall (14), Andrew Ference (4) 2 - 0 EDM
03:41 NYI PPG - Johnny Boychuk (4) Slapshot : Nick Leddy (12), John Tavares (18) 2 - 1 EDM
3RD PERIOD
02:33 EDM Derek Roy (2) Snap shot - ASST: NONE 3 - 1 EDM
17:30 EDM EN - Matt Hendricks (5) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 4 - 1 EDM
17:47 EDM Matt Fraser (5) Snap shot - ASST: Nikita Nikitin (4), Anton Lander (1) 5 - 1 EDM
19:29 NYI PPG - Brock Nelson (15) Snap shot -: Johnny Boychuk (14), John Tavares (19)5 - 2 EDM
The Skinny:
Derek Roy's goal was his first as an Oiler, while Rob Klinkhammer recorded his first Oiler assists…John Tavares had two assists for second consecutive multi-point game. Tavares broke a tie with Kyle Okposo and now leads the Isles with 36 points…Brock Nelson's late goal was his 9th power play goal of the season, tying Columbus' Nick Foligno for 2nd in the NHL. San Jose's Joe Pavelski has 10… The Isles allowed a first period goal for the first time in seven games (ending a 148:10 first period shutout streak) and trailed after one period for the first time since December 15th vs. New Jersey (trailed 2-0, won 3-2 in SO)….Per Elias, Jordan Eberle's goal (:08 of 2nd period) is Oilers' fastest to begin a period since Mark Messier scored 0:08 into OT on Nov. 19, 1989… The Islanders fail to sweep a pair of games in Alberta for the first time since 1982. The Isles have swept Alberta only once in their history, winning 5-4 in Calgary on October 7, 1982 and 6-4 in Edmonton the following night…Johnny Boychuk's goal was the first in three NHL games that he has played in his hometown of Edmonton. Twelve of his 18 points as an Islander have come on the power play. It was the 19th power play goal for the Isles' defense (only 23 last season). Boychuk is the first Islander defenseman with 4 power play goals since 2009-10 (Mark Streit-9)…Edmonton is 2-0-2 in their last four games after going 0-7-2 in their previous 9 games.
The Standings
· Pittsburgh 24-10-5=53 points (22 ROW)
· ISLES 26-12-1=53 points (20 ROW)
The Penguins will host Boston on Wednesday while the Isles' next game is in Vancouver on Tuesday.
The Isles remain tied for the Division lead. It is the first time that the Isles have had at least a share of the Division lead this late in the season since February 20, 1990:
· Patrick Division W-L-T Pts
· NY Islanders 28-27-6 62
· NY Rangers 26-25-10 62
· Pittsburgh 28-28-5 61
· New Jersey 25-28-7 57
· Washington 26-31-4 56
· Philadelphia 24-30-8 56
The Road Trip
The Isles are 2-1-0 on their franchise-record-tying 7-game road trip with four games to play:
31-Dec-14 @ Winnipeg (Won 5-2)
2-Jan-15 @ Calgary (Won 2-1)
4-Jan-15 @ Edmonton (Lost 5-2)
6-Jan-15 @ Vancouver
9-Jan-15 @ New Jersey
10-Jan-15 @ Columbus
13-Jan-15 @ New York
The Isles also had 7 consecutive road games in 1981-82, 2000-01, and 2009-10.
Year of the Fan:
The Isles have sold-out their last three home games, five of the last six and nine of their eighteen home dates this season. 108,146 fans enjoyed Islander hockey in 7 home dates (15,449 average) at the Coliseum in December. The 9 sellouts are the most for the Isles since they had 12 full houses at the Old Barn in 2007-08.
Comparable Records
The Isles are 26-11-1 thru 38 games. The Isles were 11-21-7 through 39 games and 12-21-7 through 40 games last season, when they did not record their 26th win until they defeated Buffalo on March 15th (26-34-9).
Most wins in first 39 games:
· 27-5-7 in 1978-79
· 26-12-1 in 2014-15
· 26-11-2 in 1983-84
· 24-7-8 in 1980-81
· 24-9-6 in 1976-77
Most points in first 39 games:
· 61 in 1978-79
· 56 in 1980-81
· 54 in 1983-84
· 54 in 1976-77
· 53 in 2014-15
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 14-4-0 on Coliseum ice, tying the club record for most wins through 18 home games (14-0-4 in 1978-79 and 14-4-0 in 1984-85). They have had more than 28 points through 18 home games only once: 14-0-4 for 32 points 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, and 7-2-1 in the last ten 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.
4 streaks of at least 4 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had four winning streaks of at least four games.
6 streaks of at least 3 games -- First time since the 1984-85 season that the Isles have had at least six winning streaks of at least three games.
The Shots:
Isles 10-9-14=33
Edmonton 5-14-4=23
The Isles have held their last 10 opponents to under 30 shots; it's the first time that they did that since a 10- game streak, March 16-April 2, 2004.
Hot Shots:
The Isles have outshot their last eight opponents 283-181 and have outshot their last ten opponents 357-234.
It's the 8th time in the last nine games that the Isles have had at least 10 more shots than their opponents.
On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 1,277-1,067 for a +210 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 2685 shots this year.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 26-12-1 overall, 14-4-0 at home and 12-8-1 on the road.
Edmonton is 9-22-9 overall; 7-12-2 at home and 2-10-7 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 10-2-0 in Division games and are 16-10-1 in games against other divisions. They are 7-3-1 vs. the Atlantic Division, 4-5-0 vs. Central Division, and 5-2-0 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles finished last season 10-16-4 against the Met.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves but falls to 20-7-0 on the season. He is 7-2-1 in his career against Edmonton. Halak had won 18 straight games against all opponents other than St. Louis.
Ben Scrivens made 31 saves and improves to 7-13-7 on the season. He is 3-1-0 in his career against the Isles.
Good Company for Halak
Jaroslav Halak played in his 300th game tonight.
Among active goalies, only Antti Niemi (172) and Ryan Miller (170) have more wins in their first 300 NHL games:
· Antti Niemi 172
· Ryan Miller 170
· Jaroslav Halak 165
· Marty Brodeur 161
· Jimmy Howard 160
(Courtesy CSN-California via Elias Sports Bureau)
20-Win Club
Halak is the 12th goalie in Islander history to win at least 20 games in a season:
Player 20-win seasons
Billy Smith* 8
Rick DiPietro 4
Roland Melanson 3
Kelly Hrudey 2
Tommy Salo 2
Jaroslav Halak 1
Ron Hextall 1
Chris Osgood 1
Dwayne Roloson 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 2-4 on the power play, while Edmonton was 0-2.
The power play is 7-20 (35%) in the last four games after going 1-19 (5.3%) in the previous seven games.
The penalty kill is 23-25 (92.0%) over the last ten games after allowing 7 goals in 15 times short (53.3%) in the previous three games.
The Isles are 15-5-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-7-1 when they do not. The Isles are 10-9-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-3-1 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-4-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-8-0 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 17-2-1 in games decided by a single goal including 7-2-0 in regulation. They are 4-0 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 14-8-1 when they score first and are 12-4-0 when they allow the opening goal. However, the Isles are 11-0-0 when they allow the opening goal but score the second goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 144-132-40 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 316
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 144
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
Johnny Boychuk : "You have to respect (the opponent) but tonight we didn't…We have to get back on track in Vancouver… we need to play our game…I'd rather get two points than score (in front of his parents)."
John Tavares: "It's just unacceptable…slow coming out…slow and outworked. Starts with me…. We need a better effort than that… You just have to find a way and dig deep – we just didn't seem to have it. ...There's no need to panic, but we can play a whole lot better."
They Tweeted It
@DFriedmanOnNYI Again, teams that have lost to the Oilers this season: Lightning, Capitals, Canadiens, Rangers, Sharks and Kings. It happens. #Isles
@MattSaidman Some nights it just all goes wrong. This is one of those nights #Isles
@MisterMcDevitt I feel like Scrivens is the most hot and cold goalie in the NHL. Looks quite hot tonight unfortunately. #Isles
@john_sage3 #oilers are a talented, quick team. #isles came out flat and made several key mistakes that deflated them. No worries! Mere bump in the road
@JasonD79 #Habs remain 1st in #NHL East and they can thank the #Oilers for that tonight.
The Coach
"We gave them three gifts and then the empty netter…Tonight we had a few passengers…I don't know if there is a positive to take out of this one. I'm really disappointed with the efforts of a few guys tonight…Maybe there are some lineup changes coming for the Vancouver game."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 5-1-0 in the front-end and 5-1-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The Isles have swept 4 sets of back-to-back this season and are 1-1-0 in two sets.
The next set of back-to-backs will be on January 9th in New Jersey and January 10th in Columbus.
Leading Ice Men
Johnny Boychuk led all Isles with 20:58 of ice-time; Oscar Klefbom led Edmonton with 23:35.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (10-3-0), Travis Hamonic (7-1-1), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (2-3-0), Thomas Hickey (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0) and Calvin deHaan (1-2-0).
John Tavares led Isles forwards with 19:46 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (13-11-1), Kyle Okposo (9-0-0), 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 30 of 59 draws (51%). Brock Nelson won 3 of 5 for the Isles; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins won 10 of 17 for Edmonton. The Isles won 13 of 20 draws (65%) in the third period after winning only 17 of 39 draws in the first two periods. The Isles won 3 of 8 draws on the power play and 4 of 7 draws on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Edmonton 34-22. Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin led the Isles with seven hits each.
There were no fights. The Isles have been involved in eight fights this season: Martin (5), Hamonic (2), Lee (1), and all but one of the fights (Martin vs. Minnesota) have been against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 23 blocked shots, including four from Johnny Boychuk.
For the Corsi Crowd
The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 61-45, which measures shots attempted for and against (including blocks).
Mikhail Grabovski led the Isles with +8 even-strength Corsi ratings and was also on-ice for a team-leading 65% of Corsi For events. Matt Hendricks (+7) led Edmonton.
Head of the Class
Islander Captain John Tavares has 350 career points; he is 65 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 20 games over all-time NHL .500 (1431-1411-451 in 3,293 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 291 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 91 consecutive regular season Islander games.
Missing Men
Matt Carkner and Michael Grabner are on injured reserve. Matt Donovan, Eric Boulton and Brian Strait were scratched.
The Isles have lost 142 games this season due to injury/illness.
All-time Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
· 153 goals (14th all-time, 7 behind Pat Flatley and 15 behind Ziggy Palffy)
· 198 assists (14th all-time and 51 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 351 points (14th all-time and 18 behind Stefan Persson)
· 389 games played (40th among Islander skaters all-time, 3 behind Bert Marshall, 7 behind David Volek and 13 behind Jean Potvin)
Frans Nielsen has:
· 93 goals (Tied-32nd all-time with Greg Gilbert & Garry Howatt, 2 behind Mikko Makela and David Volek and 6 behind Trent Hunter)
· 182 assists (17th all-time, 11 behind Pierre Turgeon and 14 behind John Tavares)
· 275 points (23rd all-time, 11 behind Ed Westfall and 13 behind Kyle Okposo)
· 485 games played (25th among Islander skaters all-time, 8 behind Ed Westfall and 23 behind Rich Pilon)
Kyle Okposo has:
· 107 goals (23rd all-time, 9 behind Ray Ferraro and 11 behind Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish)
· 181 assists (tied-18 all-time with Ed Westfall and 1 behind Frans Nielsen)
· 288 points (22nd all-time, 2 behind Alexei Yashin, 4 behind Duane Sutter and 7 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)
· 429 games played (32nd among Islander skaters all-time, 5 behind Josh Bailey and 21 behind Scott Lachance)
Michael Grabner has:
· 84 goals (tied-37th all-time with Tomas Jonsson and 3 behind Butch Goring)
Josh Bailey has:
· 434 games played (31st among Islander skaters all-time 16 behind Scott Lachance and 25 behind Trent Hunter)
Season Series Stats
The Oilers lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).
This has been a "homer" series for over a decade; the Isles have beaten Edmonton seven straight times on Long Island, but fall to 0-4-1 in their last 5 games in Edmonton since a 5-2 win on March 13, 2003 with Garth Snow in nets.
The Oilers will visit Long Island on February 10th.
It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 4th
33 years ago tonight (1982) – In a Stanley Cup Final preview, the Isles broke a scoreless tie with three goals in a 2:37 span of the first period and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1. Anders Kallur got the scoring started with a shorthanded tally; Mike McEwen and John Tonelli scored goals 21 seconds apart.
After Vancouver got on the board with a Curt Fraser goal, Clark Gillies concluded the scoring midway through the second period.
The Canucks were the victims of an Islander shake-up, as Bill Torrey head a team meeting before the game, in which he announced the
permanent recall of Brent Sutter from Juniors.
Islander legend Bob Nystrom watched the game from the SportsChannel TV studio – he was a healthy scratch.
Butch Goring told Newsday's Tim Moriarty: "(Management wasn't) happy the way we lost those two game last week. We're all aware that our expectations are high. It's no excuse, but we still find ourselves looking ahead (to the playoffs) sometimes.
The Isles wouldn't lose at home again in the regular season, and were just a few weeks ago from starting their 15-game win streak.
Also on this date: (1992) – Ray Ferraro and Derek King each scored a goal and added an assist while Graeme Townshend scored his only goal in an Islander uniform as the Isles beat Quebec 5-2.
All-time, the Isles have played nine January 4th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 4-4-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
Bridgeport earned a split of a pair of home games with Albany, winning 4-3 on Star Wars Day Sunday after losing 7-4 to the Devils on Saturday. Ryan Pulock and Griffin Reinhart both missed the game with injuries. The Sound Tigers are 16-14-3-1 on the season. Bridgeport is off until Friday, when they visit Portland.
Up Next
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6th—ISLANDERS AT VANCOUVER 10:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 9:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 9:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Islanders conclude the Western Canada portion of this road trip when they visit the Canucks on Tuesday.
It will be the Isles' first trip to Vancouver since they scored 7 goals in the third period for a 7-4 victory over the Canucks, becoming the only team in NHL history to ever score 7 goals in a 3rd period, on the road, after being shutout through 2 periods.
The Isles are 6-3-3 in their last 12 games against the Canucks, including 3-1-3 in their last seven meetings.
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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