The Skinny: Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 24

Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2

John Tavares scored the winning goal with 3:36 to play as the Isles completed a rally from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the defending Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning before a crowd of 19,092 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The Isles are 2-0-1 in their last 3 games as they once again are four games over NHL .500, matching a season high.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

16:20    TBL      Alex Killorn (4) ASST: Steven Stamkos (7), Anton Stralman (7)    1 - 0 TBL          

 

2ND PERIOD

01:39    TBL      Anton Stralman (2) ASST: Steven Stamkos (8), Valtteri Filppula (8)          2 - 0 TBL          

03:51    NYI       PPG - Josh Bailey (5) ASST: Brock Nelson (7), Ryan Strome (5)  2 - 1 TBL          

16:51    NYI       Cal Clutterbuck (5) ASST: NONE            2 - 2 Tie           

 

3RD PERIOD

16:24    NYI       PPG - John Tavares (11) ASST: Frans Nielsen (9), Nick Leddy (6)            3 - 2 NYI

The Skinny:

The Isles have scored at least one third period goal in seven straight games, outscoring their opponents 12-5… The Isles' 28 points through 24 games is their third-highest point total at this stage of the season in the last 27 years (34 points in 2001-02 and 2014-15)…Josh Bailey scored in a goal for the second straight game for the first time since April 1-April 2, 2014… Mikhail Grabovski played in his 500^th NHL game; Josh Bailey played in his 499^th NHL/Islander game…John Tavares' winning goal was his 185^th goal as an Islander, passing Billy Harris for 11^th place on the team's all-time goal list…The Lightning led after the first period for only the third time all season…The Isles led for just 3:36 in two games in Florida but earned three of a possible four points…The Isles finally won a game against the Atlantic Division (1-6-1)…The Isles improved to 6-6-1 in November and can finish with a winning November with a victory over Colorado at home on Monday…With 2 assists tonight, Steven Stamkos now has 517 points in 517 career games…The Isles PP had been 0-19 on the road in November prior to scoring twice tonight.

 

The Penalty Shot

Thomas Greiss stopped Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos on a penalty shot at 10:26 of the 2^nd period; Stamkos was also stopped by Roberto Luongo on a penalty shot earlier this month.  It was the 21^st penalty shot in the NHL this season and only four goals have been scored.  John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski were stopped earlier this season.  This was the first penalty shot against the Isles this season.

All-time Islander goalies have stopped 36 of 50 opponent penalty shots, including eight straight. The last opponent to score vs. the Islanders was Los Angeles' Dustin Brown, in the final game Scott Gordon served as head coach.

 

The Shots:

Isles             6-7-9=22

Tampa Bay  9-17-5=31

 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 12-8-4 overall; 7-4-2 at home and 5-4-2 on the road. 

Tampa Bay is 11-11-3 overall; 6-5-1 at home and 5-6-2 on the road.  

By Division

The Isles are 3-0-2 in Division games and are 9-8-2 in games against other divisions. They are 1-6-1 vs. the Atlantic Division, 3-1-1 vs. Central Division, and 5-1-0 vs. the Pacific Division. 

The Isles finished last season 21-6-3 against the Met and 26-22-4 against other Divisions. 

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 29 saves in his 100^th NHL games and improves to 6-3-2.  Greiss is 2-0-0 against Tampa Bay.

Ben Bishop made 19 saves but falls to 9-8-2 on the season and 4-3-1-in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Islanders were 2-3 on the power play, while Tampa Bay was 0-4.

It's the first time that the Isles have scored two power play goals in a game since October 12^th vs Winnipeg and the first time that they have done so on the road since January 4^th in Edmonton.

The Isles power play had converted only once in the prior 8 games [1-25 (4.0%)] after opening the season 9-36 (25%).  The Isles killed all 5 opponent power plays in their two-game Florida trip; it's the first time since October 15- November 1 (9 games) that the Isles killed all opposing power plays in consecutive games.

The Isles are 6-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-7-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 5-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-3-3 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 11-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-6-4 when they do not.  The Isles were 40-8-4 when they scored at least three goals (including SO winners) last season.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 4-3-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3-0 in regulation. They are 1-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 8-3-1 when they score first and are 4-5-3 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 177-156-50 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 383

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

 

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 177

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Tweeted It

@IslesFan_Ben I love how Cal Clutterbuck celebrates when he scores. #Isles

@IngaBambina I had so much fun at the #Isles game in Tampa because the #Isles won!#YesYesYes @91Tavares you are the best and Greiss you were great too!

@JoeyIce82 Like the resiliency of team past 2 nights  #Isles

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-2-3 on the front-end and 3-2-0 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The next back-to-back set will be on Friday vs. St. Louis and Saturday in Ottawa.

Tired vs. Rested

·         The Isles are 1-1-0 when both teams played the night before.

·         The Isles are 2-2-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.

·         The Isles are 2-1-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:03); Tampa Bay: Valtteri Filippula (23:14).

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (6-2-2), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-0-1), Nick Leddy (1-2-1), Tied (0-1-0)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:02 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (7-6-3), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Josh Bailey (1-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-1), Tied (0-1-0). 

Face-offs

Isles 22, Tampa Bay 31 (42%).

Casey Cizikas won 8 of 14 for the Isles but his teammates won only 14 of 39; Steven Stamkos won 8 of 9 for Tampa Bay.

The Isles won only 12 of 34 over the first two periods but won 10 of 19 in the third period.

The Isles won 16 of 42 draws at even strength, 4 of 5 on the power play and 2 of 6 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 31, Tampa Bay 24.  Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with 5 hits.

Fights

Kyle Okposo was involved in his 3^rd career fight (2^nd in the regular season), fighting Ryan Callahan in the 1^st period.  Matt Martin fought Brayden Coburn in the second period. Season total – 7 (Martin-4, Boychuk, Leddy, Okposo).  

These were Tampa Bay's first two fights of the season, leaving Toronto as the only team without a fight this season.

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 15 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic led the team with three.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 36, Tampa Bay 59.  Even-Strength: Isles 25, Tampa Bay 42.

The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks). 

 

Johnny Boychuk and Matt Martin were the only Isles with a positive even-strength Corsi rating (both were +1); Martin had a team-leading 56% of Corsi For events. Victor Hedman led Tampa Bay with a +18 rating.

Ironmen

·         Nikolay Kulemin -174 (68 for Toronto and 106 for the Isles)

·         Brock Nelson  -159 (all for Isles)

Missing Men

Eric Boulton and Jean-Francois Berube are on injured reserve; Thomas Hickey played 16:40 in his first game off of injured reserve as he replaced Brian Strait in the lineup. Steve Bernier and Adam Pelech were also scratched.

The Isles have lost 49 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:

John Tavares has:

·         185 goals (11th all-time, 21 behind John Tonelli and 26 behind Derek King)

·         237 assists (15th all-time, 12 behind Tomas Jonsson and 22 behind Billy Harris)

·         422 points (13^th all-time and 21 behind Billy Harris)

·         453 games played (31st among Islander skaters all-time, 6 behind Trent Hunter and 17 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

Kyle Okposo has:

·         122 goals (18th all-time and 5 behind Jason Blake)

·         202 assists (17^th all-time and 5 behind Frans Nielsen)

·         324 points (18^th all-time, 7 behind Ziggy Palffy and 9 behind Tomas Jonsson)

·         474 games played (29^th among Islander skaters all-time, 2 behind Gerry Hart, 5 behind Radek Martinek and 19 behind Ed Westfall)

Frans Nielsen has:

·         108 goals (25th all-time, and 8 behind Ray Ferraro)

·         207 assists (16th all-time and 30 behind John Tavares)

·         315 points (19th all-time, 9 behind Kyle Okposo and 16 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         549 games played (16^th among Islander skaters all-time, 1 behind Ken Morrow and 45 behind John Tonelli)

 Josh Bailey has:

·         144 assists (28^th all-time, 1 behind Travis Green and 6 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

·         230 points (30^th all-time, 1 behind Greg Gilbert, 2 behind Kenny Jonsson, 7 behind Travis Green and 8 behind Ray Ferraro)

·         499 games played (26^th among Islander skaters, 10 behind Rich Pilon, 11 behind Mick Vukota and 15 behind Dave Lewis)

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0.  The teams won't meet again until March 24^th in Tampa; the Bolts only visit to Brooklyn is on Monday, April 4^th.

The home team won all three games last season, including a 5-2 Lightning win in Tampa last November 14^th.  The Isles are 5-3-1 in their last 9 games in Tampa and 7-1-2 in their last 10 vs. the Lightning overall. 

On The Farm

Joe Whitney recorded a hat trick as the Sound Tigers defeated Hartford 5-2; Whitney is now tied for the AHL lead in scoring with 23 points. Chris Gibson made 24 saves for Bridgeport, who improved to 14-6-1-0 on the season.

The Sound Tigers host Syracuse on Sunday.

Up Next

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30th–COLORADO AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM

[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

 

The Isles begin a three-game homestand as they entertain Colorado.

It's the first of two meetings on the season between the teams, who will meet in Denver on December 17^th. 

Last season, the teams traded one-sided shutouts as the home team won 5-0 in Denver and 6-0 on Long Island.  The Isles are 9-2-3 in their last 14 games overall vs. Colorado and are 7-1-0 in their last eight home games vs the Avs.

And Finally…

Happy Birthday, Jiggs McDonald!

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