"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 50
Florida 4, Isles 2
Jimmy Hayes scored two goals, including the game-winner on the power play just 2:10 into the third period as the Florida Panthers handed the Islanders their third straight loss, defeating the Isles 4-2 before a crowd of 14,704 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Isles remain one point ahead of Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division; the Penguins begin a three-game road trip in Edmonton on Wednesday. The Rangers and Capitals are now just three points behind the Isles.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
01:44 NYI Anders Lee (14) ASST: Josh Bailey (15), John Tavares (26) 1 - 0 NYI
04:43 FLA Jimmy Hayes (14) ASST: Nick Bjugstad (14), Jussi Jokinen (23) 1 - 1 Tie
2ND PERIOD
10:15 FLA Erik Gudbranson (3) ASST: Tomas Fleischmann (9), Brandon Pirri (2) 2 - 1 FLA
12:45 NYI PPG - Anders Lee (15) ASST: Travis Hamonic (11), Nick Leddy (15) 2 - 2 Tie
3RD PERIOD
02:10 FLA PPG - Jimmy Hayes (15) ASST: Nick Bjugstad (15), Aaron Ekblad (22) 3 - 2 FLA
19:37 FLA EN - Brandon Pirri (8) ASST: Jonathan Huberdeau (18) 4 - 2 FLA
The Skinny:
The Isles have allowed power play goals in seven straight games. The Isles last allowed PP goals in 7 straight games (1 season) in the final seven games of the 2008-09 season. The Isles penalty killers have killed an NHL-low 72.7% this season (the franchise record is 73.6%, set in 1988-89).Anders Lee scored twice, matching a career high (done twice previously); Jimmy Hayes also matched a career high with two goals…John Tavares recorded an assist in his 400th NHL game…Josh Bailey's assist makes him the 39th player in club history to record 200 points…Lee is now tied for third in rookie goal scoring with 15, two behind Filip Forsberg and Mike Hoffman…Brandon Pirri scored in all three stops of Florida's Metro-NY road trip and had scored 5 goals in his last six games (5-1-6)…The Isles fall to 6-6-0 on Tuesdays; other than Sunday (0-1-0) it is the only day of the week that the Isles do not have a winning record…The Isles have lost consecutive home games for the first time this season…In their last 12 games, the Isles are 6-0-0 vs. Met Division opponents and are 0-6-0 vs. other divisions…It's the first time all season that the Isles have lost a game against an opponent who played the night before (9-1-0).
Metropolitan Division Standings (Top 4)
· ISLES 32-17-1=65 points (26 ROW) Lost 4-2 to Florida
· Pittsburgh 28-14-8=64 points (26 ROW) Idle
· NY Rangers 29-15-4=62 points (27 ROW) Idle
· Washington 26-15-10=62 points (25 ROW) Beat Los Angeles 4-0
Upcoming Schedule:
· Isles: Thursday @ Philadelphia, Saturday @ Boston, Sunday @ Buffalo
· Pittsburgh: Wednesday @ Edmonton, Friday @ Calgary, Saturday @Vancouver
· NY Rangers: Wednesday vs Boston, Saturday at Nashville, Sunday vs Dallas
· Washington: Thursday @ Ottawa, Friday vs Anaheim, Sunday vs Philadelphia
Year of the Fan:
The Isles have sold-out seven of their last eight home games, nine of the last 11 and 13 of their 23 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.
Month for the Fans:
February is the busiest home month in Islander history, as they will play ten home games this month. The Isles have played ten home games three previous times (January 1980, December 1999 and December 2000) but all were in 31-day months.
After the upcoming three-game road trip, the Isles will play 9 of the final 11 February games at home.
Comparable Records
The Isles are 32-17-1 thru 50 games. The Isles were 19-24-7 through 49 games and 20-24-7 through 51 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 50 games:
· 32-17-1 in 2014-15
· 33-8-9 in 1978-79
· 32-10-8 in 1980-81
· 31-11-8 in 1977-78
· 31-13-6 in 1981-82
· 31-17-2 in 1983-84
· 29-14-7 in 1976-77
· 28-12-10 in 1974-75
Most points in first 50 games:
· 75 in 1978-79
· 72 in 1980-81
· 70 in 1977-78
· 68 in 1981-82
· 66 in 1974-75
· 65 in 1976-77
· 65 in 2014-15
· 64 in 1983-84
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 17-6-0 on Coliseum ice; the club record for most wins through 23 home games is 19 (19-0-4 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 0-3-0 in their last three 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 12-14-8=34
Florida 12-9-9=30
On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 1,662-1,366 for a +296 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 2,726 shots this year.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 32-17-1 overall; 17-6-0 at home and 15-11-1 on the road.
Florida is 22-17-10 overall; 10-8-4 at home and 12-9-6 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 16-2-0 in Division games and are 16-15-1 in games against other divisions. They are 7-7-1 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 and 24-21-7 against other Divisions.
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
Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves but falls to 26-11-0 on the season. He is 9-2-0 in his career against Detroit.
Al Montoya made 32 saves to improve to 4-4-2 this season. He is 3-0-0 in his career against the Isles; he beat the Isles twice last season while with Winnipeg.
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 1-3 on the power play, while Florida was 1-2.
The power play is 6-22 in the last seven games (27.3%).
The penalty kill has allowed ten goals in 19 times short over the last six games (47.4%) 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 seven games.
The Isles are 18-8-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-9-1 when they do not. The Isles are 14-13-0 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 6-12-0 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. Five games have been decided by two goals in which the second goal was an empty-netter. The Isles are 3-2 in those games.
First Goal (and Second Goal)
The Isles are 18-10-1 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 150-137-40 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 327
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
Johnny Boychuk: "They did play good; don't get me wrong. But we did a couple of things that weren't us, and we just have to get back to what we do best."
John Tavares: "It's no secret, special teams are killing us right now. We have to be better in those areas. They were able to get pucks out on us and we weren't able to hem them in, especially a team playing on back-to-back nights."
Former Islander Al Montoya: "This is a fantastic building. Whatever you want to say about it, it's a great place to play hockey, and now seeing these stands filled every night, it's a special place to play."
They Tweeted It
@Jake_Brown Former #NotreDame captain Anders Lee w/ 2 goals for the Islanders tonight in a loss. Lee 2nd on the team w/ 15 goals in 44 games. (He's tied with Nelson)
@IslesFansUnite Josh Bailey gets his 200th NHL point with assist on Lee's goal
@wgilberg93 @NYIslanders we'll get 'em next time boys. Come on clean up your last 3 games and put em behind you.
The Coach
"We have to find a way to score. I thought [Montoya] made some big saves when he had to and at the end of the day we didn't do enough here tonight to win."
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
John Tavares led all Isles with 23:53 of ice-time; Willie Mitchell led Florida in ice-time with 20:45.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (12-4-0), Travis Hamonic (11-1-1), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (2-5-0), 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).
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (16-15-1), 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 60 draws (55%). John Tavares won 13 of 19 for the Isles while Casey Cizikas won 10 of 15; Aleksander Barkov won 8 of 11 for Florida. The Isles won 14 of 19 draws (74%) in the offensive zone and also won 15 of 21 (71%) in the third period. The Isles won 5 of 7 draws on the power play but lost all three draws on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles out-hit Detroit 35-23. Four Islanders, including Matt Martin, had four hits.
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 16 blocked shots; Josh Bailey led the Isles with three.
For the Corsi Crowd
The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 68-56 (including 25-17 in the first period). The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
John Tavares led the Isles with a +15 even-strength Corsi rating; Tavares and Calvin deHaan were on-ice for a team-leading 70% of Corsi For events. Dave Bolland (+8) led Florida.
Head of the Class
Islander Captain John Tavares has 364 career points; he is 70 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 21 games over all-time NHL .500 (1437-1416-451 in 3,304 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 302 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 103 consecutive regular season Islander games.
Missing Men
Kyle Okposo, Matt Carkner and Eric Boulton are on injured reserve. Brian Strait and Matt Donovan were scratched.
The Isles have lost 177 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)
· 205 assists (15th all-time, 44 behind Tomas Jonsson and 54 behind Billy Harris)
· 364 points (14th all-time, 5 behind Stefan Persson and 79 behind Billy Harris)
· 400 games played (38th among Islander skaters all-time, 2 behind Jean Potvin, 11 behind Wayne Merrick and 22 behind Dave Langevin)
Kyle Okposo has:
· 113 goals (24th 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 20 behind John Tavares)
· 298 points (18th all-time, 33 behind Ziggy Palffy and 35 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 436 games played (32nd among Islander skaters all-time, 8 behind Josh Bailey and 14 behind Scott Lachance)
Frans Nielsen has:
· 94 goals (tied-31st all-time with Randy Wood, 1 behind Mikko Makela and David Volek and 5 behind Trent Hunter)
· 187 assists (17th all-time, 6 behind Pierre Turgeon and 18 behind John Tavares)
· 281 points (23rd all-time, 5 behind Ed Westfall, 9 behind Alexei Yashin and 11 behind Duane Sutter)
· 497 games played (24th among Islander skaters all-time, 12 behind Rich Pilon and 13 behind Mick Vukota)
Michael Grabner has:
· 87 goals (tied-36th all-time with Butch Goring and 5 behind Travis Green)
Josh Bailey has:
· 444 games played (31st among Islander skaters all-time, 6 behind Scott Lachance and 15 behind Trent Hunter)
Season Series Stats
The season series is even at 1 game to 1 (Florida has earned 3 points to the Isles' 2).
This was only the Isles' third loss in their last 9 meetings with the Panthers (6-3-0).
The teams will meet again in Sunrise on March 7th.
It Happened at the Coliseum … on FEBRUARY 3rd
38 years ago tonight (1977) – Northport's Richie Hansen became the first Long Islander to score a goal for the Isles and it cemented a 6-3 win over the rival Rangers at a sold-out Coliseum.
Hansen would score only one more NHL goal, for the Isles in the 1978-79 season.
Denis Potvin had a goal and three assists for the Islanders.
Clark Gillies got the Islanders started with a goal just 2:21 into play. It was Gillies' first game since being named the second captain in Islander history, succeeding Ed Westfall. Westfall told Newsday's Joe Gergen: "I was very proud to be Captain of our team. I know being captain is not a big deal to a lot of people, but to me it was." Westfall resigned the captaincy, telling Bill Torrey it was time for the leadership to pass to a younger player.
Gillies was named captain on the third ballot of his teammates. He would serve as captain through the end of the 1978-79 season. Denis Potvin took over as the Captain for the 1979-80 season.
Hansen relished his first NHL goal. "Hey, I've been thinking about that first one a long time. Everybody thinks about it, I guess", he told Newsday's Pat Calabria.
Also on this date: (2004) – Adrian Aucoin scored in the first minute of overtime as the Isles extended their point streak to six games with a 5-4 win over Vancouver. Rick DiPietro made 25 saves as the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit with 7 minutes to play to take a 4-3 lead, only to have Henrik Sedin force overtime with the tying goal with 1:22 to play.
All-time, the Isles have played ten February 3rd games at the Coliseum and have compiled a 4-2-4 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers are 19-20-5-1 after a 6-4 loss to Portland on Saturday. Bridgeport visits Syracuse on Friday before hosting Hartford on Saturday and Wilkes-Barre-Scranton on Sunday.
Up Next
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5th— ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 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 begin their only multi-game road trip of February with a visit to Philadelphia in the first of three games in four days.
The Isles defeated the Flyers 7-4 on January 19th to complete a sweep of the Coliseum portion of the season series; the Isles outshot Philadelphia 87-50 in those two games.
However, the Isles have lost three straight in Philadelphia, and their 3-4-0 record in their last seven trips includes two shootout wins. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Isles are 3-15-2 in 20 visits to Philadelphia; they own only one regulation victory in that span (1/19/12 by a 4-1 score).
The teams will also meet in Philadelphia on April 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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