The Skinny: Florida 5, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 32

Florida 5, Isles 1

After Roberto Luongo stopped all 19 Islander shots in the first period, the Florida Panthers scored three times in the second period enroute to a 5-1 win over the Islanders before a crowd of 13,656 at Barclays Center.  The loss snaps the Isles' 10-game point streak and drops the Isles to third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the New York Rangers.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

NONE

 

2ND PERIOD

01:51    FLA      Reilly Smith (9) ASST: Dylan Olsen (1), Jussi Jokinen (14)           1 - 0 FLA          

07:25    FLA      Aleksander Barkov (7) ASST: NONE       2 - 0 FLA          

12:37    NYI       Brock Nelson (10) ASST: Marek Zidlicky (8), Mikhail Grabovski (10)         2 - 1 FLA          

12:57    FLA      Aaron Ekblad (7) ASST: Brandon Pirri (9), Aleksander Barkov (8) 3 - 1 FLA          

 

3RD PERIOD

01:23    FLA      Vincent Trocheck (9) ASST: Jussi Jokinen (15), Reilly Smith (8)   4 - 1 FLA          

16:17    FLA      SHG - EN - Jonathan Huberdeau (4) ASST: Aleksander Barkov (9)           5 - 1 FLA

The Skinny:

The four goal margin was the widest defeat of the season; the Isles matched a season-high with five goals allowed –it's now happened three times, all at home. …The Isles had earned points in 10 straight games for the first time since an 11-game stretch late in the 2012-13 season (4-1-13 to 4-23-13, 8-0-3)… The Isles had won five straight at home (longest streak since winning 7 straight from November 11-December 2, 2014)…The Isles fall to 1-7-2 against the Atlantic Division; they are 17-2-3 against the rest of the NHL…Reilly Smith's goal was the first allowed by the Isles in 95:47…Nick Leddy went -3 for the first time as an Islander…Brock Nelson led the Isles with 7 shots, matching a season high (his career high of 8 was set last season—11/18/14 vs Tampa)…With 8 assists and 11 points, Marek Zidlicky is 1 assist/point behind Johnny Boychuk for the team lead among defenders; Boychuk and Zidlicky share the team lead for defenseman goals (3). ..The Isles allowed three goals in a period for the third time this season (0-3-0)…John Tavares has now gone 10 games without an assist; it's the second-longest streak of his career (13 games, 12-14-09 to 1-8-10).

Strange Statline of the Night

Jonathan Huberdeau was awarded an empty net goal when he was fouled by John Tavares.  Huberdeau finished 1-0-1, was a +3, but was credited with 0 shots on goal.  According to hockey-reference.com, he is the 11^th player since 2006 to have a goal and 0 shots on goal. The Isles' PA Parenteau had a similar statline on March 11, 2011 vs. Boston, when he was also awarded an EN goal.

Christmas Rush

This was the third game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 6 games in 10 days that will get the team to the Christmas break. The Isles are 2-0-0 in this stretch.

 

12-Dec-15         @         Blue Jackets  (Win 3-2 OT)

13-Dec-15         Vs        Devils (Win 4-0)

15-Dec-15         Vs        Panthers (Loss 5-1)

17-Dec-15         @         Avalanche

19-Dec-15         @         Coyotes           

21-Dec-15         Vs        Ducks

 

Comparable Records

The Isles are 18-9-5 thru 32 games.  Their 41 points represent their 2^nd highest total through 32 games in the post-Cup era.

Most points in first 32 games:

·         49 in 1978-79

·         44 in 1976-77

·         44 in 2014-15

·         44 in 1980-81

·         44 in 1983-84

·         42 in 1977-78

·         41 in 2015-16

·         41 in 1981-82

The Shots:

Isles      19-9-6=34

Florida  2-10-4=16

 

The 19 shots were the 2^nd highest for the Isles in any period this season (20 vs. Winnipeg on October 12^th); the 16 shots against were the fewest allowed this season and fewest in any home game since February 9, 2013, when the Isles outshot Buffalo 43-16 but fell 3-2 to Ryan Miller.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 18-9-5 overall; 11-5-2 at home and 7-4-3 on the road. 

 

Florida is 15-12-4 overall; 7-6-2 at home and 8-6-2 on the road.  

By Division

The Isles are 7-0-2 in Division games and are 11-8-2 in games against other divisions. They are 1-7-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 5-1-1 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

Jaroslav Halak made 12 saves but fall to 9-5-3.  Halak is 9-3-1 in his career against Florida.

Roberto Luongo made 33 saves as he improved to 11-11-3. Luongo is 10-10-4 against the Isles and now has 412 career wins (8^th all-time).

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-4 on the power play, allowing an empty-net shorthanded goal, while Florida was 0-3.

The Isles have killed all 24 opponent power plays in their last ten games; it's the second time this season (October 15- November 1) that the Isles killed all opposing power plays in at least nine consecutive games.  Since March, the Isles have had streaks of 12 games, 9 games and 10 games without allowing a power play goal – with the 12-game stretch in March establishing a club record.

The Isles are 10-2-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 7-8-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 5-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-4-4 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 15-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-7-5 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 8-3-5 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 12-3-2 when they score first and are 6-6-3 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 183-157-51 behind the Islander bench. Among the 9 New York area 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 391

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

 

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 183

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Tweeted It

@Dan_G13 Saw a stats that the #Isles are 1-7-2 against the Atlantic, meaning 7 of their 9 regulation losses are against this division. Is that true?  (Yes, yes, yes)

@miczahn #Isles lose 5-1. No need to worry too much. If NYI can rebound and start a new streak, all is well on Brooklyn. One more game prior to Xmas.  (home game)

@john_sage3 This game would've had different complexion had they scored 1st on one of their 3 powerless plays #isles

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 2-2-3 on the front-end and 4-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The next back-to-back set will be January 2^nd in Pittsburgh and January 3^rd vs. Dallas.

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 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: John Tavares (23:07); Florida: Dmitry Kulikov (21:02).  It was the first time this season that a forward led the Isles in ice-time; it happened 12 times last year – 10 times by Tavares.

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (10-2-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-0-1), Nick Leddy (3-2-1),  John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)

Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (12-7-4), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (1-0-0), Josh Bailey (1-0-0), Tied (0-1-0). 

Face-offs

Isles 30, Florida 33 (38%).

Frans Nielsen won 7 of 12 and Mikhail Grabovski won 5 of 8 for the Isles; Corban Knight, in his NHL debut, won 6 of 8 for Florida.

The Isles won 24 of 46 draws over the first two periods but only 6 of 17 in the third period.

The Isles won 21 of 41 draws at even strength, 5 of 14 on the power play and 4 of 8 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 23, Florida 19.  Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin each had six hits to lead the Isles.

Fights

There were no fights.  Season total – 8 (Martin-4, Boychuk, Bernier, Leddy, Okposo).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 7 blocked shots; Johnny Boychuk led the team with 2.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 62, Florida 30 (including a 26-7 margin in the first period).  Even-Strength: Isles 44, Florida 24.

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

Marek Zidlicky led the Isles with a +13 even-strength Corsi rating (he was on ice for 15 Islander attempts and only 2 Florida attempts); he also had a club-leading 88% Corsi For percentage. Jussi Jokinen led Florida with a +4 rating.

Ironmen

·         Nikolay Kulemin -182 (68 for Toronto and 114 for the Isles)

·         Brock Nelson  -167 (all for Isles)

Missing Men

Jean-Francois Berube is on injured reserve; Ryan Strome returned to the lineup, replacing Steve Bernier. Eric Boulton and Brian Strait were also scratched.

The Isles have lost 64 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:

John Tavares has:

·         187 goals (11th all-time, 19 behind John Tonelli and 24 behind Derek King)

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

·         424 points (13^th all-time and 19 behind Billy Harris)

·         461 games played (30th among Islander skaters all-time and 9 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

Kyle Okposo has:

·         125 goals (18th all-time and 2 behind Jason Blake)

·         206 assists (17^th all-time and 2 behind Frans Nielsen)

·         331 points (tied-17^th all-time with Ziggy Palffy and 2 behind Tomas Jonsson)

·         482 games played (27^th among Islander skaters all-time and 11 behind Ed Westfall)

Frans Nielsen has:

·         111 goals (25th all-time, and 5 behind Ray Ferraro)

·         208 assists (16th all-time and 29 behind John Tavares)

·         319 points (19th all-time, 12 behind Ziggy Palffy and 12 behind Kyle Okposo)

·         557 games played (15^th among Islander skaters all-time and 37 behind John Tonelli)

 Josh Bailey has:

·         147 assists (27^th all-time and 3 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

·         234 points (28^th all-time, 3 behind Travis Green and 4 behind Ray Ferraro)

·         507 games played (25^th among Islander skaters, 2 behind Rich Pilon, 3 behind Mick Vukota and 7 behind Dave Lewis)

Season Series Stats

Florida leads the season series 2 games to 0 and 4 points to 1. 

The Isles have lost four straight to Florida (0-2-2). It's their longest losing streak against Florida since 2007-08 (0-5-1).

The teams will meet for the final time this season on March 14^th in Brooklyn.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 16-10-1-1 on the season as they head to Providence on Friday before hosting Portland on both Saturday and Sunday.

Up Next

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17th—ISLANDERS AT COLORADO 9:00PM

[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 8:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

 

The Isles begin a two-game road trip in Denver as they look at sweep the season series from the Avalanche.  The Isles defeated Colorado 5-3 in Brooklyn by scoring three third period goals.

 

Colorado is going home after sweeping a 3-game road trip; the Avs shut out Chicago 3-0 at the United Center on Tuesday, ending Patrick Kane's 26-game point streak.

 

The Isles were blanked 5-0 in Denver last October; it was their first regulation loss to the Avs in Denver since 2001.

 

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