"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 40
Vancouver 3, Isles 2
The Vancouver Canucks scored three straight goals after Matt Martin had given the Islanders the lead, and then held on to defeat the Isles 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,562 at Rogers Arena. The Isles have lost two straight games after going 7-1-1 in the previous 9, while the Canucks are 5-1-1 in the last 7.
Pittsburgh was idle tonight. The teams remained tied for the Metropolitan Division lead.
The Scoring:
1st Period
09:38 NYI Matt Martin (5) Deflected shot - ASST: Travis Hamonic (6) 1 - 0 NYI
12:09 VAN Ryan Stanton (1) Wrist shot - ASST: Brad Richardson (11) 1 - 1 Tie
2nd Period
08:01 VAN Nick Bonino (9) Tip-in - ASST: Kevin Bieksa (4) 2 - 1 VAN
17:36 VAN Linden Vey (7) Wrist shot - ASST: Derek Dorsett (9) 3 - 1 VAN
3rd Period
14:33 NYI Mikhail Grabovski (6) Wrist shot - ASST: Kyle Okposo (27) 3 - 2 VAN
The Skinny:
Matt Martin's goal was his first in 9 games, Mikhail Grabovski's was his first in 10 games, Nick Bonino's was his first in 8 games and Linden Vey's was his first in 13 games. However, Ryan Stanton has them all beat, scoring for the first time since October 17, 2013 (first in 84 games)…The Isles held the Sedin brothers pointless, ending three game assist/point streaks for each…The Canucks are 16-1-2 when leading after 2, and are 10-1-3 in one-goal games.
Kyle Okposo added to his club-leading assist total with his 27th; he is now tied-7th in the NHL in assists… The Isles were called for two bench minors after taking only two bench minors in the first 39 games…The last eight Islander games have been played in front of sellout crowds.
The Standings
· Pittsburgh 24-10-5=53 points (22 ROW)
· ISLES 26-13-1=53 points (20 ROW)
The Penguins will host Boston on Wednesday while the Isles' next game is in New Jersey on Friday.
The Isles remain tied for the Division lead, although Pittsburgh has a game in hand. 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 2-2-0 on their franchise-record-tying 7-game road trip with three 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 (Lost 3-2)
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 (when they went 1-5-1), 2000-01 (2-3-2), and 2009-10 (3-2-2).
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 12-21-7 through 40 games and 13-21-7 through 41 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 40 games:
· 27-5-8 in 1978-79
· 26-12-2 in 1983-84
· 26-13-1 in 2014-15
· 25-9-6 in 1976-77
· 24-8-8 in 1980-81
· 24-11-5 in 1981-82
Most points in first 40 games:
· 62 in 1978-79
· 56 in 1976-77
· 56 in 1980-81
· 54 in 1983-84
· 53 in 2014-15
· 53 in 1981-82
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 7-1-1, before going 0-2-0 in the 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.
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 8-7-8=23
Vancouver 6-11-3=20
The Isles have held their last 11 opponents to under 30 shots and have held their last 9 opponents to 26 shots or fewer; it's the first time that they have done either in at least 27 years.
Hot Shots:
The Isles have outshot their last nine opponents 306-201 and have outshot their last 11 opponents 380-254.
On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 1,300-1,087 for a +213 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 2,665 shots this year.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 26-13-1 overall; 14-4-0 at home and 12-9-1 on the road.
Vancouver is 23-12-3 overall; 11-6-1 at home and 12-6-2 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 10-2-0 in Division games and are 16-11-1 in games against other divisions. They are 7-3-1 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.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 17 saves but falls to 20-8-0 on the season. He is 5-4-1 in his career against Vancouver. Halak is 18-8-0 in his last 22 decisions.
Eddie Lack made 21 saves and improves to 3-4-2 on the season. He is 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.
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 0-3 on the power play, while Vancouver was 0-2.
The power play is 7-23 (30.4%) in the last five games after going 1-19 (5.3%) in the previous seven games.
The penalty kill is 25-27 (92.6%) over the last 11 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 11-8-1 when they do not. The Isles are 10-9-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-4-1 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 6-9-0 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 17-3-1 in games decided by a single goal including 7-3-0 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 14-9-1 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 144-133-40 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 317
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
Kyle Okposo: "Tonight, we just didn't play well. Our execution was terrible. …We couldn't do enough to dig ourselves out of the hole….We just have to be better from the start…We're going to come out Friday with a much better effort."
Travis Hamonic: "Frustrating for sure…we just didn't execute… When you lose a couple in a row, you just have to come out and work hard."
They Tweeted It
@drive4fiveNYI Wake up tomorrow, see the #isles are still tied for 1st in division, 8 points ahead of 8th place Toronto, 13 games above .500 #IslesTwitter
@TheLIDynasty Two days off, get to travel back to east coast in their timezone. I'll be surprised if our old #Isles don't show up at the Rock on Friday
@kenwardskorner This year @VanCanucks 10-1-3 in 1-goal games. Also tonight they held @NYIslanders leading scorer John Tavares to 0 shots & 0 shot attempts!
@RobTaub25 Okposo hit the the nail right on the head, the execution was terrible with no support defensively, should hopefully change Friday #isles
@ChrisF3105 These late games were a lot more fun last west coast trip #Isles
The Coach
"The giveaways cost us the hockey game. The penalty kill was good, power play could have been better, but you just can't give the puck away."
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
John Tavares led all Isles with 21:36 of ice-time; Alex Edler led Vancouver in ice-time for the 29th time this season (24:42).
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (10-3-0), Travis Hamonic (7-1-1), 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) and Calvin deHaan (1-2-0).
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (13-12-1), 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 35 of 55 draws (64%). John Tavares won 10 of 14 for the Isles; Bo Horvat won 6 of 11 for Vancouver. The Isles won 16 of 23 draws (70%) in the first period, 12 of 20 (60%) in the second period and 7 of the 12 in the third. The Isles won 5 of 8 draws on the power play and 3 of 5 draws on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Vancouver 36-11. Kyle Okposo led the Isles with six hits.
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 16 blocked shots, including four from Johnny Boychuk.
For the Corsi Crowd
The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 59-46 (including 22-9 in the third period), which measures shots attempted for and against (including blocks).
Calvin deHaan led the Isles with a +13 even-strength Corsi rating and was also on-ice for a team-leading 76% of Corsi For events. Linden Vey (+7) led Vancouver.
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 19 games over all-time NHL .500 (1431-1412-451 in 3,294 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 292 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 92 consecutive regular season Islander games.
Missing Men
Matt Carkner and Lubomir Visnovsky are on injured reserve. Matt Donovan replaced Visnovsky in the lineup. Michael Grabner was activated from injured reserve and replaced Josh Bailey (injured) in the lineup. Eric Boulton and Brian Strait were scratched.
The Isles have lost 145 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)
· 390 games played (40th among Islander skaters all-time, 2 behind Bert Marshall, 6 behind David Volek and 12 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 (Tied-17th all-time with Kyle Okposo, 11 behind Pierre Turgeon and 16 behind John Tavares)
· 275 points (23rd all-time, 11 behind Ed Westfall and 13 behind Kyle Okposo)
· 486 games played (25th among Islander skaters all-time, 7 behind Ed Westfall and 22 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)
· 182 assists (tied-17 all-time with Frans Nielsen, 11 behind Pierre Turgeon and 16 behind John Tavares)
· 289 points (22nd all-time, 1 behind Alexei Yashin, 3 behind Duane Sutter and 6 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)
· 430 games played (32nd among Islander skaters all-time, 4 behind Josh Bailey and 20 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 Canucks lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).
The Isles are 6-4-3 in their last 13 games against the Canucks, including 3-2-3 in their last eight meetings.
The Canucks will visit Long Island on February 22nd for a 6:00pm face-off.
It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 6th
34 years ago tonight (1981) - The Maple Leafs held Mike Bossy without a goal, slowing down his 50 in 50 pace, but they could not stop John Tonelli. Tonelli tied the franchise record with five goals and Bossy established a club record with six assists as the Isles beat Toronto 6-3. He was the first opponent since Rocket Richard to score five goals in a game against Toronto.
Tonelli completed his historic night when he hit the empty net with 42 seconds to play. He told Newsday's Pat Calabria, "I couldn't believe it… that was the first thing. Right now, I'm just trying to take it in."
It was just that type of night for Tonelli. ''The puck kept coming to me,'' he repeated. ''It kept coming and coming, and I had lots of chances. You can thank Trots and Boss for that.''
Bossy, the only Islander to ever record six assists in a game (ironically he never scored five goals) fell to 40 goals in 42 games as he chased Rocket Richard's 50 in 50 pace.
Bossy told the NY Times' Parton Keese: ''It's great to see someone who works as hard as Johnny does get what he deserves. 'I'm proud to say I
now have two linemates who have scored five goals in a game.'
The historic boxscore:
First Period
1 - NYI : Tonelli 10 (Bossy, Trottier) (EV) 10:06
2 - NYI : Trottier 13 (Potvin D, Bossy) (PP) 15:48
Second Period
3 - NYI : Tonelli 11 (Langevin, Bossy) (EV) 1:43
4 - TOR : Vaive 19 (Sittler, Hotham) (EV) 19:59
Third Period
5 - NYI : Tonelli 12 (Bossy, Persson) (EV) 1:53
6 - TOR : Ellis 2 (Farrish, Boschman) (EV) 9:56
7 - TOR : Vaive 20 (Farrish, Hickey) (EV) 16:06
8 - NYI : Tonelli 13 (Trottier, Bossy) (EV) 17:02
9 - NYI : Tonelli 14 (Bossy) (EV-EN) 19:18
Also on this date: (2014) – John Tavares recorded a hat trick and Ryan Strome scored his first NHL goal as the Isles beat Dallas 7-3.
All-time, the Isles have played eleven January 6th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 7-4-0 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 16-14-3-1 on the season heading into a 3-in-3 road weekend in Portland, Albany and Hartford. Sound Tiger rookie Ryan Pulock received the news on Tuesday that he has been named to the AHL's All-Star game; the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft has 12 goals (including 10 on the power play) and 5 assists on the season.
Up Next
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9th—ISLANDERS AT NEW JERSEY 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Islanders concluded the Western Canada portion of this road trip with a 2-2-0 record but they still have three games to play before they return to the Coliseum on January 16th. The first of those games is in New Jersey on Friday.
The Devils head into Thursday's game in Boston having won two straight games for the first time in nearly two months so the Isles will be catching New Jersey on the back-end of back-to-backs.
The Isles have won the first two games of the season, both at the Coliseum (including one in a shootout), and have won four straight overall against New Jersey for the first time since a 6-game streak from April 2007 to January 2008.
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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