"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 67
Florida 4, Isles 3 (SO)
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal of the shootout as the Florida Panthers defeated the Islanders 4-3 before a crowd of 14,474 at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
The Isles lead the Rangers and the Penguins by 3 points in the Metropolitan Division, although the Blueshirts have four games in hand and the Penguins have two. The Isles are 6 points ahead of Washington, and are even in games with the Caps.
John Tavares was involved in all three Islander goals (1 goal, 2 assists). Tavares leads the NHL with 70 points, one more than Niklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. The goal was his 32nd, which is a new career high.
The Scoring:
1st Period
12:51 FLA Erik Gudbranson (4) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 1 - 0 FLA
2nd Period
04:39 NYI John Tavares (32) Backhand shot - ASST: Anders Lee (14) 1 - 1 Tie
08:20 FLA Nick Bjugstad (23) Backhand shot - ASST: Jussi Jokinen (30), Alex Petrovic (2) 2 - 1 FLA
15:37 NYI PPG - Nick Leddy (10) Slapshot - ASST: John Tavares (37), Frans Nielsen (27) 2 - 2 Tie
3rd Period
09:26 FLA Jonathan Huberdeau (11) Wrist - ASST: Aleksander Barkov (13), Jaromir Jagr (20) 3 - 2 FLA
12:48 NYI Josh Bailey (14) Slapshot - ASST: John Tavares (38) 3 - 3 Tie
OT Period
NONE
The Shootout:
ROUND New York Islanders Florida Panthers
1 Frans Nielsen (NG) Jonathan Huberdeau (G)
2 John Tavares (NG) Brandon Pirri (NG)
3 Josh Bailey (NG)
The Isles fall to 7-3-0 in the shootout. The Isles have not scored in any of the three shootouts that they have lost, losing each shootout 1-0. After winning their first six shootouts of the season, the Isles have lost three of the last four shootouts.
The Skinny
The Isles are 11-7-3 since the All-Star break… This was only the 3rd time in 16 games the Isles have allowed the first goal… Josh Bailey now has 11 points in the last 14 games (6-5-11), while Lee, the reigning NHL Rookie of the Month, has points in 12 of the last 15 games (7-9-16)…John Tavares now has an NHL-Leading 70 points, one more than Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom..Nick Leddy is the first Islander defenseman since Mark Streit to score at least 10 goals in season; it was his first power play goal of the season (the other 9 were all even strength goals)…The Isles defense now has 30 goals, 7 more than last season…Bailey played a season high 22:34; it was the third-highest total of his career; Anders Lee played 19:28 (second-highest of the season)...Jaromir Jagr had an assist; he is 61-92-153 in his career against the Isles (most by any player in all three categories against the Isles)..,Each of the four goalies that have played for the Isles this season have 1 of the Isles' four OT/SO losses.
It's Magic
With tonight's shootout loss, the Isles magic number for clinching a playoff spot is 20. Any combination of points won by the Islanders and/or lost by Ottawa will clinch a playoff spot for the Isles. (While Ottawa is currently in 11th place in the East, they can finish with more points than either Philadelphia or Florida)
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 7-1-0 when both teams played the night before. This will also happen on March 29th vs. Detroit and April 11th vs Columbus.
· The Isles are 7-1-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not. This also next happen on March 13th vs Ottawa, March 21st in New Jersey, March 24th vs. Minnesota, April 4th vs Buffalo
· The Isles are 1-3-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not. This will also happen on March 10th vs the Rangers, and March 14 vs. Montreal.
Metropolitan Division Standings (Top 4)
· ISLES 42-21-4=88 points / 67 games (35 ROW) Lost 4-3 in Shootout @ Florida
· NY Rangers 39-17-7=85 points / 63 games (36 ROW) Idle
· Pittsburgh 38-18-9=85 points / 65 games (35 ROW) Beat Los Angeles 1-0 (OT)
· Washington 36-21-10=82 points / 67 games (33 ROW) Beat Buffalo 6-1
Upcoming Schedule:
· ISLES: Monday @ Toronto, Tuesday vs. NY Rangers, Friday vs. Ottawa, Saturday vs. Montreal
· NY Rangers: Tuesday @ Islanders, Wednesday @ Washington, Saturday @ Buffalo, Sunday vs. Florida
· Pittsburgh: Monday @ San Jose, Thursday vs. Edmonton, Saturday vs. Boston, Sunday vs. Detroit
· Washington:, Wednesday vs. NY Rangers, Friday vs. Dallas,, Sunday vs. Boston
Year of the Fan:
The Isles have sold-out 19 of their 32 home dates this season. The 19 sellouts are the most for the Isles since they also had 21 full houses at the Old Barn in 2001-02. The Isles have drawn at least 15,000 fans 23 times this season.
What a Season:
The Isles are 42-21-4 thru 67 games. Only the 1981-82 team had more wins through 67 games. The 42 wins match the 2001-02 squad (42-28-8-4) for the most wins in a season in the Post-Cup era.
Most wins in first 67 games:
· 46-14-7 in 1981-82
· 42-21-4 in 2014-15
· 42-13-12 in 1978-79
· 42-23-2 in 1983-84
· 41-14-12 in 1977-78
· 40-18-9 in 1976-77
· 39-17-11 in 1980-81
Most points in first 67 games:
· 99 in 1981-82
· 96 in 1978-79
· 94 in 1977-78
· 89 in 1976-77
· 89 in 1980-81
· 88 in 2014-15
· 86 in 1983-84
The Isles have won more than 42 games only six times in their history:
1981-82
|
54
|
1978-79
|
51
|
1983-84
|
50
|
1980-81
|
48
|
1977-78
|
48
|
1976-77
|
47
|
2014-15
|
42
|
2001-02
|
42
|
1982-83
|
42
|
1975-76
|
42
|
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 23-9-0 on Coliseum ice; it's only the fifth time in club history that the Isles have won at least 23 of their first 32 home games (26-3-3 in 1981-82, 25-2-5 in 1977-78, 24-3-5 in 1978-79 and 23-9-0 in 1983-84).
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, 1-4-0, and 6-1-0 before going 3-2-3 in their last 8.
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.
· 6 streaks of at least 4 games -- First time in the Post-Cup era that the Isles have had at least six winning streaks of at least four games. The Isles had seven separate winning streaks of at least four games in their 1983-84 defense of the Stanley Cup.
· 8 streaks of at least 3 games -- First time in the Post-Cup era that the Isles have had at least eight winning streaks of at least three games. The Isles had nine separate winning streaks of at least three games in their 1983-84 defense of the Stanley Cup.
The Shots:
Isles 5-11-10-2=28
Florida 7- 5- 5-1=18
The Isles have outshot 32 of their last 38 opponents and 49 of their 67 opponents this season.
On the season, the Isles have outshot their opponents 2,253-1,880 for a +373 shot differential.
Biggest Differential, Season
· +373 THIS SEASON
· +307 in 1976-77
· +254 in 1986-87
· +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 2,757shots this year.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 42-21-4 overall; 23-9-0 at home and 19-12-4 on the road.
Florida is 29-23-14 overall; 15-10-7 at home and 14-13-7 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 19-4-1 in Division games and are 23-17-3 in games against other divisions. They are 9-8-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-5-1 vs. Central Division, and 8-4-0 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 19-4-1 against the Met Division, and are 12-2-1 in their last 15 division matchups. They are 11-2-0 at home (outscoring opponents 53-34) and 8-2-1 on the road. The Isles are 7-1 in overtime/shootouts against division foes, going 4-0 at home and 3-1 on the road.
The Isles' next division game will be on Tuesday vs. the Rangers.
In the Nets
Michal Neuvirth made 15 saves in his Islander debut. He is 0-0-1 as an Islander and 6-17-4 overall. He is 3-7-2 in his career against Florida.
Dan Ellis made 25 saves and improves to 1-0-1 on the season. He is 3-1-2 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-3 on the power play, while Florida was 0-1.
The power play is 5-26 (19.2%) in the last 10 games. The Isles have not scored 2 PP goals in a game since January 4th.
The penalty kill has killed 30 of 34 (88.2%) in the last 13 games; the Isles allowed two goals to Vancouver on February 22nd and two goals to Carolina on February 28th but blanked their other 11 opponents.
The Isles are 23-9-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-12-3 when they do not. The Isles are 15-16-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 27-5-4 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 35-7-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-14-2 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 24-5-4 in games decided by a single goal including 11-5-0 in regulation. They are 5-1 in games decided in overtime and are 7-3 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.
The 24 wins are a new franchise record – in 2007-08, 23 of Isles' 35 wins were by 1 goal.
First Goal (and Second Goal)
The Isles are 26-13-3 when they score first and are 16-8-1 when they allow the opening goal. However, the Isles are 13-0-1 when they allow the opening goal but score the second goal. The Isles have rebounded from 2-0 deficits to win three times this season (New Jersey on December 15th (SO), Pittsburgh on January 16th, and Philadelphia on February 5th)
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 160-141-43 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 344
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 160
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
John Tavares: "It came down to a shootout…I thought we did some good things. We had some pretty good chances. It was just one of those games that was a bit slower. You could see pucks bouncing. It was a tough night to generate much through the neutral zone."
Josh Bailey: "It was a tough road game…That's the way it goes sometimes; you're not going to win them all. We'll take the point, obviously we would have liked the two points."
They Tweeted It
@Paulnyr The @NYIslanders have the points on the board. Puts all the pressure on the @NYRangers to win their games in hand.
@Nick_Drizis John Tavares will be the best player in the NHL if he isn't already. Sick hands. #isles
@francistancis HEEYYYYYYY JOSH BAILEY HOOO HAAAA WHADDYA KNOWWWWWW YOU SCORED A GOAL
@THERobertL Great shot by Josh Bailey for the goal! Needed that. I was getting concerned after just seeing those standings. Game tied at 3. #Isles
@TheBigEasy5889 Nick Leddy With the Power Play Goal!! Yes ! Yes ! Yes !
The Coach
"We held a pretty good team to 20 shots or less…shootouts have not been good to us lately, but a point on the road is good….I thought (Neuvirth) played well—the goalie touches were really good."
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 8-3-1 in the front-end and 8-4-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The Isles have swept 5 sets of back-to-backs, are 1-1-0 in six sets and are 0-1-1 in one set.
The next back-to-back set is March 9th in Toronto and March 10th vs. the Rangers.
Leading Ice Men
John Tavares led all Isles with 24:14 of ice-time; Brian Campbell led Florida in ice-time with 26:18.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (13-5-1), Travis Hamonic (19-3-2), Lubomir Visnovsky (2-1-0) John Tavares (2-6-1), Thomas Hickey (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-3-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-0), Brian Strait (1-0-0) and Calvin deHaan (1-2-0).
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (25-20-4), Kyle Okposo (12-1-0), Ryan Strome (1-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-1-0), Anders Lee (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), and Josh Bailey (0-1-0).
In the Circle
The Islanders won 33 of 64 draws (52%). Casey Cizikas won 6 of 9 and Brock Nelson won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Vincent Trocheck won 6 of 10 for Florida. The Isles won 24 of 42 draws in the first two periods but only 9 of 22 in the third period and overtime. The Isles won 2 of 5 draws on the power play and 1 of 4 draws on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit by Nashville 42-40. Matt Martin led the Islanders with 8 hits.
Matt Martin leads the NHL with 326 hits while Cal Clutterbuck is 2nd with 278. It's the third time in his career Martin has recorded at least 300 hits; he has the two highest totals in NHL history (since 2005):
Most hits, season:
1. Matt Martin, NYI 374 in 2011-12
2. Matt Martin, NYI 359 in 2013-14
3. Cal Clutterbuck, Min 356 in 2009-10
There were no fights in the game. The Isles have been involved in 14 fights this season: Martin (9), Hamonic (3), Lee (1), Strome (1) and 11 of the 14 have been against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots; Brock Nelson led the Isles with 3.
For the Corsi Crowd
The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 55-36 (including 18-8 in the third period). The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Josh Bailey and Anders Lee led the Isles with a +9 even-strength Corsi rating; Casey Cizikas and Colin McDonald were on-ice for a team-leading 75% of Corsi For events. Brad Boyes was the only Panther with a positive even-strength Corsi rating (+1).
Head of the Class
Islander Captain John Tavares has 385 career points; he is 80 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.
This Team is Deep!
John Tavares has been held pointless 22 times this season and the Isles are 15-6-1 in those games. Prior to this season the Isles were 40-89-22 in the 151 games in which Tavares was scoreless. (Thanks hockey-reference.com)
All-time Winners
The Islanders remain 27 games over all-time NHL .500 (1447-1420-454 in 3,321 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 319 consecutive regular season NHL games, while Nelson has played 120 consecutive regular season Islander games.
Missing Men
Kyle Okposo and Mikhail Grabovski are on injured reserve. Tyler Kennedy missed the game with an upper body injury. Matt Martin returned from suspension and replaced Eric Boulton in the lineup. Kael Mouillierat, Brian Strait and Matt Donovan were scratched.
The Isles have lost 246 games this season due to injury/illness.
All-time Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
· 168 goals (Tied-12th all-time with Ziggy Palffy and 16 behind Billy Harris)
· 217 assists (15th all-time, 32 behind Tomas Jonsson and 42 behind Billy Harris)
· 385 points (13th all-time and 58 behind Billy Harris)
· 417 games played (36th among Islander skaters all-time, 5 behind Dave Langevin, 8 behind Greg Gilbert and 9 behind Jason Blake)
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, 8 behind Pierre Turgeon and 11 behind Frans Nielsen)
· 298 points (18th all-time, 33 behind Ziggy Palffy and 35 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 436 games played (32nd among Islander skaters all-time, 14 behind Scott Lachance and 23 behind Trent Hunter)
Frans Nielsen has:
· 96 goals (29th all-time, 3 behind Trent Hunter and 5 behind Anders Kallur)
· 196 assists (16th all-time and 21 behind John Tavares)
· 292 points (tied-20th all-time with Duane Sutter, 3 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 6 behind Kyle Okposo)
· 514 games played (tied 21st among Islander skaters with Dave Lewis, 16 behind Pat LaFontaine and 18 behind Tomas Jonsson)
Josh Bailey has:
· 131 assists (tied-32nd all-time with Jason Blake, 7 behind Greg Gilbert, 8 behind Mark Streit, and 9 behind Steve Thomas)
· 211 points (tied-38th all-time with Anders Kallur , 2 behind Jean Potvin & Garry Howatt and 3 behind Mark Parrish)
· 461 games played (29th among Islander skaters , 9 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 15 behind Gerry Hart)
Michael Grabner has:
· 89 goals (36th all-time, 3 behind Travis Green and 4 behind Garry Howatt & Greg Gilbert)
Season Series Stats
The Panthers win the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3).
Sunrise has been a difficult spot for the Isles in recent years; the Isles are 4-9-2 in their last 15 trips (and three of their four wins have come in shootouts).
It Happened at the Coliseum … on MARCH 7th
6 years ago tonight (2009) – Sean Bergenheim scored twice on Martin Brodeur, and then completed a hat trick into an empty net as the Isles pounded New Jersey 7-3.
"My first NHL goal was an unbelievable feeling," Bergenheim said. "My first NHL hat trick gives me that same feeling." Bergenheim waited until the final second to hit the empty net and complete, what until this point, is the only hat trick of his NHL career.
Radek Martinek, Kyle Okposo, Jeff Tambellini and Blake Comeau had the other Isles goals as the Isles tallied 7 goals against New Jersey for the first time since the final game of the 1992-93 season, and improved to 8-2-2 in their last 12 games.
Mike Iggulden made his first appearance for the Isles, recording 2 assists. (He's unlikely to make another appearance in this series.) Joey MacDonald made 35 saves to pick up the victory.
Trent Hunter broke his left ankle in a collision with Bobby Holik, ending his season.
It was a rare (for the time) hat trick for a home-grown New York Islander, as Bergenheim became the first player drafted by the Islanders since Zigmund Palffy to record a hat trick.
Brodeur allowed six goals in all, marking the first time he had done that in his last 162 games.
Also on this date: (1999) – Tom Chorske beat Patrick Roy on a penalty shot but Colorado beat the Islanders 4-2. NBCSN commentator Keith Jones had the winning goal for the Avs.
All-time, the Isles have played ten March 7th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 5-4-1 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.
On The Farm
Bridgeport snapped a 10-game losing streak as they defeated Worcester 4-3. Kevin Poulin made 39 saves and Matt Carkner went +3; Sebastien Collberg had the winning goal. The Sound Tigers are 22-28-6-1 and return home to host Worcester on Wednesday.
Up Next
MONDAY, MARCH 9th— ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:30PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 7:00), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 7:00), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The road trip concludes on Monday as the Isles make their only appearance of the season in Toronto.
The teams split a pair of games at the Coliseum this season, with Toronto winning 5-2 in October and the Isles prevailing3-2 in February.
The Isles have won 4 of their last five games in Toronto (4-1-0) and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games against the Maple Leafs.
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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