The Skinny: Isles 2, Washington 1 (OT)

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference First Round Game 3

Isles 2, Washington 1 [Isles lead the series, 2 games to 1]

John Tavares became the first Islander to score a playoff overtime goal in 22 years, beating Braden Holtby for the winner just 15 seconds into the extra session as the Isles defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference First Round series before a sellout crowd of 16,170 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Isles now lead the series 2 games to 1, with game 4 set for 7:30pm on Tuesday at the Coliseum.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

NONE

2ND PERIOD

12:37    NYI       Kyle Okposo (2) Tip-in - ASST: Lubomir Visnovsky (2), Josh Bailey (3)    1 - 0 NYI

           

3RD PERIOD

13:54    WSH     Nicklas Backstrom (2) Tip-in - ASST: Mike Green (2), Joel Ward (1)          1 - 1 Tie

           

1ST OT PERIOD

00:15    NYI       John Tavares (1) Snap shot - ASST: Nikolay Kulemin (1), Nick Leddy (1)  2 - 1 NYI

The Series

·         WED APRIL 15, 2015    ISLANDERS 4,  Washington 1   

·         FRI APRIL 17, 2015      Washington 4, ISLANDERS 3                

·         SUN APRIL 19, 2015     ISLANDERS 2,  Washington 1  (OT)       

·         TUE APRIL 21, 2015     Washington @ ISLANDERS       7:30 PM (MSG+)          

·         THU APRIL 23, 2015     ISLANDERS @ Washington       TBA (MSG+)                

·         SAT APRIL 25, 2015     Washington @ ISLANDERS       IF NECESSARY (TBD)

·         MON APRIL 27, 2015    ISLANDERS @ Washington       IF NECESSARY (MSG+)

The Skinny

John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey each have at least 1 point in all three games of the series; Tavares now has 8 playoff points while Okposo and Bailey each has seven.  All three players have appeared in 9 career playoff games… The Isles lead a series 2 games to 1 for the first time since the 1993 Patrick Division Semi-Finals (also by Washington)…Nicklas Backstrom had goals in two straight games for Washington after going the final 7 weeks of the regular season without scoring…
This was only the Isles' second win in their last 9 times that the Isles have hosted game 3 of a series. All nine of those games have been played at the Coliseum…John Tavares is only the 2^nd player is Isles history to score overtime goals in the same regular season and post-season.  Pat LaFontaine did it twice, both in 1986-87 and 1987-88…This is only the second time in Isles history that they have defeated the same opponent in overtime in both the regular season and playoffs of the same season; the Isles also defeated the Caps this way in the 1983-84 season (Bob Bourne in regular season; Anders Kallur in playoffs)…The Isles have now defeated the Caps twice in overtimes that ended on April 19^th; Pat LaFontaine's goal to win the Easter Epic came early in the morning of April 19, 1987 – 28 years ago today.

A Familiar Playoff Foe

This is the 7th meeting of the Isles and Washington in the playoffs (Isles are 5-1 and have won 20 of 33 games)

·         1983 Patrick Division Semi-Finals  Isles won series 3-1

·         1984 Patrick Division Finals  Isles won series 4-1

·         1985 Patrick Division Semi-Finals  Isles won series 3-2

·         1986 Patrick Division Semi-Finals  Caps won series 3-0 (Arbour retired thereafter)

·         1987 Patrick Division Semi-Finals  Isles won series 4-3 (LaFontaine 4 OT; only playoff series won by anyone other than Arbour)

·         1993 Patrick Division Semi-Finals  Isles won series 4-2

·         2015 Eastern Conference First Round  Isles lead series 2-1

Overtime is Our Time

This was the 8^th time that the Isles have gone into overtime in a playoff game with Washington and the sixth time that they emerged with the win:

04/13/84	Vs	Anders Kallur	W	07:35
04/10/85	@	Alan Haworth	L	02:28
04/11/85	@	Mike Gartner	L	21:23
04/18/87	@	Pat LaFontaine	W	68:47
04/20/93	@	Brian Mullen	W	34:50
04/22/93	Vs	Ray Ferraro	W	04:46
04/24/93	Vs	Ray Ferraro	W	25:40
04/19/15	Vs	John Tavares	W	00:15

The Isles have played more playoff OT games with Washington (8) than any other opponent; their six OT wins vs. Washington matches the six that they have against the Rangers (6-0) for the most against any opponent.

The Isles are the most successful team in Stanley Cup overtime, winning 30 and losing 13, but Tavares' goal ended a 6-game losing streak dating back to David Volek's goal to eliminate Pittsburgh in 1993.

The Isles are 16-6 in 22 overtime games played at the Coliseum and are 14-7 on the road.

Fastest in 40 years (Isles)

This was the shortest overtime game in Nassau Coliseum history and the fastest for the Isles in any venue since they defeated the Rangers on JP Parise's goal at :11 on 4/11/1975.

Sixth Fastest Ever (NHL)

John Tavares' goal was the 6^th earliest overtime goal in Stanley Cup Playoff history.  The Isles and Blackhawks each have two of the six goals:

·         :09 Brian Skrudland 1986 (MTL/CGY)

·         :11 JP Parise 1975 (NYI/NYR)

·         :11 Alex Burrows 2011 (VAN/BOS)

·         :12 Martin Havlat 2009 (CHI/CGY)

·         :12 Pit Martin 1972 (CHI/PIT)

·         :15 John Tavares 2015 (NYI/WSH)

Old Man and The (Star Number) 3

Lubomir Visnovsky earned an assist on the first goal as it was his shot that deflected in off Kyle Okposo and was named the Game's #3 star.  Visnovsky, who is now a team-leading +4 in this series, is the oldest player to ever appear in a Stanley Cup playoff game for the Isles, breaking Ed Westfall's club record.  Visnovsky is about 1 month older than Westfall was when 18 appeared in his final game (1979) and about two months older than Cliff Ronning was when Ronning appeared for the Isles in the 2004 playoffs.

Playoffs All-time

The Isles improve to 138-111 in 249 all-time playoff games.  They are 79-40 at home and 59-71 on the road. The Isles were 77-32 in home playoff games from 1975 to 2002, but this was only their second win in their last 10 playoff games on Coliseum ice (Game 4 vs. Pittsburgh in 2013 was the other).

Three of the last 4 playoff games have gone to overtime.

Year of the Fan:

The Isles sold-out 27 of their 41 regular season home dates this season and have also sold out their only home playoff date.  Counting regular season and playoffs together, the Isles have sold out 12 straight games and have drawn at least 15,000 fans 33 times this season (32 regular season and 1 playoff).

Home Sweet Home

The Isles went 25-14-2 on Coliseum ice, equaling their most home wins since 1984-85 (they finished 25-11-4-1 in 2003-04 and went 26-11-3 in 1984-85).

The Isles went 831-610-224 in 1,665 regular season games all-time at the Coliseum.

Road Warriors

The Isles finished the regular season 22-14-5 on the road, including 6-2-4 in their last 12.  The Isles have won at least 20 road games in consecutive seasons for the second time in franchise history (1981-82 and 1982-83).

The Shots:

Isles            16-17-7-2=42

Washington 5-8-12-0=25

The Isles have outshot the Isles 90-85 through three games of this series.  The team with the most shots has won all three games.

The Isles outshot 61 of their 82 opponents in the regular season and have outshot the Caps twice in the three games of this series. The 61 times outshooting their opponent is the highest total in the NHL this season.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves and improves to 2-1 in this series. He is 12-12 all-time in playoff games.

Braden Holtby made 40 saves but falls to 0-2 in this series and 10-13 al-time in playoff games.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play, while Washington was also 0-3

For the series, the Isles are 0-6 while the Caps are 1-6.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles went 40-8-4 in the regular season when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-20-3 when they did not. 

In the playoffs, the Isles are 1-1 when scoring at least three goals and 1-0 when they do not.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1 in playoff games decided by a single goal; they are 0-1 in games decided in regulation and are 1-0 in games decided in overtime. 

First Goal

The Isles are 2-1 when they score first and are 0-0 when they allow the opening goal.   

Coach Cappy

Jack Capuano is now 4-5 in playoff games 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.

Capuano is only the 4^th Isles coach to lead at least 2 Islander teams to the playoffs, joining Al Arbour, Terry Simpson, and Peter Laviolette.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

·         Al Arbour 123

·         Terry Simpson 9

·         Jack Capuano 4

·         Peter Laviolette 4

·         Ted Nolan 1

·         Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

·         Al Arbour 209

·         Terry Simpson 20

·         Peter Laviolette 12

·         Jack Capuano 8

·         Steve Stirling 5

·         Ted Nolan 5

Most playoff series wins:

·         Al Arbour 29

·         Terry Simpson 1

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

·         Al Arbour 26  (26-9)

·         Terry Simpson 3  (3-0)

·         Jack Capuano 1  (1-2)

·         Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

·         Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

They Said It

John Tavares (on the Coliseum): "There's no place like this place."

John Tavares "I had some chances. I had one early that I don't know how it didn't go in. I just tried to stay with it. It was a tight game. I just wanted to get to the net and I finally got rewarded."

Kyle Okposo on Lubo Visnovsky:" He's a silver fox. "He's just a great, heady veteran player. He's a warrior. He came back after taking a pretty tough hit and was able to make some huge plays for us down the stretch. He obviously made a really good play on my goal. He's been great for us all year when he's in the lineup and we're happy to have him."

They Tweeted It

@miss__scarlet last thought: he didn't get a star & his name won't show in the boxscore, but every fan knew how huge Johnny Boychuk was today. #isles

@Weissler_2 Great time at the #isles game with some great people today. The barn shook and I'm going to take a wild guess and say I think they heard us

@TSF432 Nassau Coliseum was ROCKING today. A memory I will never forget. Back at it on Tuesday! #Isles lead the series 2-1. #ThisIsTheTime #beLIeve

@TreeVillager It's clear who Tavares's biggest fans are: his teammates. #isles aren't just a hockey team, they're a brotherhood.

@DOM_VVVVVVV I've watched the OT a dozen times and in still getting chills #BecauseItsTheCup #Isles #beLIeve

The Coach

"Ninety-one was 91. He did a lot of good things for us not only on the ice but on the bench too when they made the push. He has been there all year for us and it was no different tonight."

Leading Ice Men

Johnny Boychuk led all Isles with 26:23 of ice-time. Nicklas Backstrom led Washington in ice-time with 24:40.

Isles playoff record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (2-1)

John Tavares led Isles forwards with 20:42 of ice-time. Isles playoff record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (2-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1). 

In the Circle

The Islanders won 29 of 59 draws (49%).  Kyle Okposo won 4 of 5 draws and Casey Cizikas won 6 of 11 draws for the Isles; Jay Beagle won 9 of 13 for Washington. The Isles won 16 of 24 in the second period but won only 12 of 34 in the other two periods before winning the only faceoff of overtime. The Isles won 3 of 7 draws on the power play and 2 of 4 draws on the penalty kill.

Face-offs Game by Game:

·         Game 1: Isles 23, Caps 39

·         Game 2: Isles 27, Caps 28

·         Game 3: Isles 29, Caps 30

·         Series: Isles 79, Caps 97

Heavy Hitters

The Isles out-hit Washington 44-43. Matt Martin led the Isles with 8 hits while Cal Clutterbuck added 7; Brooks Orpik had 6 hits for Washington.

There were no fights in the game and there have no fights in the series.

Hits Game by Game:

·         Game 1: Isles 36, Caps 46

·         Game 2: Isles 38, Caps 59

·         Game 3: Isles 44, Caps 43

·         Series: Isles 118, Caps 148

Giving Up the Body

The Isles were credited with 24 blocked shots; Calvin deHaan led the team with 5.  Nine of the Isles' blocks were on shot attempts by Alex Ovechkin (including 4 from Johnny Boychuk).

For the Corsi Crowd

The Isles finished with a total Corsi advantage of 76-57, including 58-33 in the first two periods. The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).

John Tavares led the Isles with a +22 even-strength Corsi rating; Tavares was on-ice for a team-leading 78% of Corsi For events. Matt Niskanen led Washington with a +9 rating.

Total Corsi Game by Game:

·         Game 1: Isles 65, Caps 55

·         Game 2: Isles 51, Caps 82

·         Game 3: Isles 76, Caps 57

·         Series: Isles 192, Caps  194

Missing Men

Tyler Kennedy replaced Michael Grabner in the lineup.

Injured: Mikhail Grabovski & Travis Hamonic.

Healthy extras: Colin McDonald, Eric Boulton, Griffin Reinhart, Michael Grabner and Matt Donovan.

The Isles have lost 6 games this post-season due to injury/illness.

It Happened at the Coliseum … on APRIL 19th

35 years ago tonight (1980) - Bryan Trottier scored two goals and added two assists as the Isles took a 3-0 stranglehold on their series with Boston, defeating the Bruins 5-3.

Don Marcotte gave the Bruins a short-lived 1-0 lead before goals by John Tonelli and Trottier turned the game in the Isles' favor.  Alex McKendry, playing in place of an injured Mike Bossy (who missed his 5th straight game with a jammed thumb), assisted on the Tonelli tally.

Bob Bourne, who had won a fight-filled game two with an overtime goal, pushed the Isles ahead 3-1 just seven minutes into the middle session; Peter Mc Nab and Bob Nystrom traded goals before the session ended with the Isles holding a 4-2 lead. Clark Gillies fought Terry O'Reilly twice in the session; Duane Sutter had an altercation with Boston's Mike Milbury.

O'Reilly went at it again early in the third period with Garry Howatt, but that got him ejected for his third fight of the game.  Trottier and McNab traded third period goals as the Isles coasted to a 5-3 win.

"Trotts is amazing", Bobby Nystrom told Newsday's Pat Calabria. "I'd like to know what goes on inside his head.  I knew he's three of four moves ahead of me."

Billy Smith made 32 saves as he recorded his 7th straight playoff win (6th this playoff year)

The Isles were also missing Kenny Morrow who missed the game following the removal of cartridge from his right knee.  (These days we would know it as a "lower body injury".)

Also on this date: (1978) – Mike Bossy scored 2:50 into overtime as the Isles took a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series with a 3-2 victory over Toronto.  "I'd say it was dirty", noted Denis Potvin – and it would get dirtier from there. It was Bossy's 2nd goal in as many career playoff games, tying a Jean Potvin's club record for consecutive games at the start of his NHL goal with a playoff goal.  Brent Sutter would join that group in 1982 but it would stay a trio for 33 years – until Ryan Strome did so on Friday.

All-time, the Isles have played no regular season and three playoff games on April 19th at the Coliseum; they have compiled 3-0 playoff record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers finished their season with a record of 28-40-7-1, following a 2-1 loss to Hartford on Sunday.  Alan Quine scored his 23^rd goal of the season for Bridgeport in the losing cause.

Kael Mouellierat led the Tigers in goals with 24 this season, while Quine led in assists (38) and points (61).  Colton Gillies led Bridgeport in +/- with a +4 rating.

Rookie defensemen Griffin Reinhart went 7-15-22 in 59 games, while fellow first round pick Ryan Pulock went 17-12-29.  Pulock led the Sound Tigers, all AHL rookies and all AHL defensemen with 13 power play goals.

Kevin Poulin finished the season with a 16-21-7 record and a 2.87 GAA.

Up Next

Eastern Conference First Round – Game 4

TUESDAY, APRIL 19th –WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:30PM
[MSG/MSG+ (Isles Pre-Game at 7:00pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles will look to extend their series lead to 3 games to 1 on Tuesday as they will look to win consecutive playoff games on Coliseum ice for the first time since 2002.

Expect the Coliseum crowd to be even louder than it was Sunday as the Isles look to move within one game of advancing to the second round.

Note that this game will start 30 minutes later than the regular 7:00 starting time!

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