The Skinny: Isles 3, Columbus 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Game 30

Isles 3, Columbus 2 (OT)

Kyle Okposo scored his second goal of the game midway through overtime as the Islanders extended their point streak to nine games (7-0-2) with a 3-2 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets before a crowd of 12,342 at Nationwide Arena. It's the Isles' 5^th straight overtime game, establishing a new club record. The Isles are a season-high nine games over NHL .500.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

15:21    NYI       Kyle Okposo (7) ASST: NONE   1 - 0 NYI          

2ND PERIOD

05:08    CBJ      Brandon Saad (10) ASST: Boone Jenner (6), Brandon Dubinsky (9)         1 - 1 Tie           

07:10    NYI       PPG - Frans Nielsen (12) ASST: Kyle Okposo (17), Nick Leddy (9)           2 - 1 NYI          

3RD PERIOD

08:20    CBJ      Cam Atkinson (9) ASST: David Savard (13), Scott Hartnell (10)    2 - 2 Tie           

OT PERIOD

02:16    NYI       Kyle Okposo (8) ASST: Josh Bailey (9)  3 - 2 NYI

The Skinny:

The Isles improve to 11-1-2 when leading after two periods…The Isles' 39 points through 30 games is their second-highest point total at this stage of the season in the post-Cup era (40 points in 2014-15); they are one of six NHL teams with at least 39 points… The Isles have earned points in 9 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); it's the 20^th time that the Isles have earned points in at least 9 straight games, but only the 4^th time in the post-Cup era… For the second straight game, an opponent's goal was reversed upon video review when it was ruled that the puck had been kicked in; on Tuesday it was Wayne Simmonds and in in this game it was Boone Jenner, whose potential game winner at 19:12 of the third was reversed…The Isles improve to 6-0-2 in their division; they are the only NHL team to earn a point in all of their division games this season…Frans Nielsen's 3rd goal in last two games ties him with John Tavares for the club lead; Kyle Okposo's three points breaks a tie with Tavares for the point lead… Okposo has now scored the winning goal (or deciding goal in the shootout) in four of the Isles' wins during their nine-game point streak; Okposo is the 2^nd player in Islander history to record a 5^th career overtime goal – only Tavares (8) has more…The win temporarily tied the Isles with the Rangers in the standings; the Rangers would earn a point later in the evening.  The Isles trailed the Rangers by 11 points entering play on Thanksgiving Eve.

The Injury

Ryan Strome suffered an upper body injury and did not play in the third period.

Broken (Club) Record

The Isles have played five consecutive overtime/shootout games for the first time in their history.

2-Dec-15	Vs	New York	2-1  Wso
4-Dec-15	Vs	St. Louis	2-1 Wso
5-Dec-15	@	Ottawa	2-3 Lot
8-Dec-15	@	Columbus	4-3 Wso
12-Dec-15	@	Columbus	3-2 Wot

The only previous time that they played 4 consecutive overtime/shootout games was October 18 - October 28, 2001 (3 OT wins and a tie):

18-Oct-01          Vs        Carolina            2          1          Wot

20-Oct-01          Vs        San Jose          2          2          T

26-Oct-01          @         Carolina            3          2          Wot

28-Oct-01          Vs        Dallas               3          2          Wot

Christmas Rush

This was the first game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 6 games in 10 days that will get the team to the Christmas break.

12-Dec-15         @         Columbus  (Win 3-2 OT)

13-Dec-15         Vs        New Jersey

15-Dec-15         Vs        Florida

17-Dec-15         @         Colorado

19-Dec-15         @         Arizona

21-Dec-15         Vs        Anaheim

Comparable Records

The Isles are 17-8-5 thru 30 games.  Their 39 points represent their 2^nd highest total through 30 games in the post-Cup era.

Most points in first 30 games:

·         45 in 1978-79

·         42 in 1976-77

·         41 in 1980-81

·         40 in 2014-15

·         40 in 1983-84

·         39 in 2015-16

·         38 in 2001-02

·         38 in 1977-78

·         38 in 1987-88

The Shots:

Isles            4-7-7-1=19

Columbus  9-13-6-2=30

The Isles have played five consecutive OT/SO games, and have been outshot 18-9 in the five extra sessions.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 17-8-5 overall; 10-4-2 at home and 7-4-3 on the road. 

Columbus is 11-17-3 overall; 4-7-3 at home and 7-10-0 on the road.  

By Division

The Isles are 6-0-2 in Division games and are 11-8-2 in games against other divisions. They are 1-6-2 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 28 saves, and improves to 9-4-3.  Halak is 11-4-3 in his career against Columbus.

Curtis McElhinney stopped 16 shots but is tagged with the SO loss.  He is 0-5-2 on the season and 3-2-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Islanders were 1-3 on the power play, while Columbus did not have a power play.

The Isles have killed all 18 opponent power plays in their last 8 games; 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 10-2-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-6-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 5-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-3-4 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 14-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-6-5 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 11-3-2 when they score first and are 6-5-3 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 182-156-51 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 389

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 182

3.     Terry Simpson 81

4.     Peter Laviolette 77

5.     Ted Nolan 74

    They Tweeted It

@heartagramdude is it me or are the @NYIslanders ON FIYAAAAAAAAAAAA #ISLANDERS

@Rockheroz @NYIslanders most confident I have been about this team. #ontothenextone

@dereklippke A little razzle dazzle from the @NYIslanders OT game winning goal from Bailey to Okposo. #NHL

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 2-2-3 on the front-end and 3-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  This back-to-back set will conclude on Sunday at 5pm, at home against New Jersey.

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (27:47); Columbus: Jack Johnson (24:29).

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (9-2-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-0-1), Nick Leddy (3-2-1), Tied (0-1-0)

John Tavares led Isles forwards with 25:27 of ice-time; it was the most Tavares has played in any game this season. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (11-6-4), 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 20, Columbus 27 (43%).

Frans Nielsen won 5 of 7 for the Isles but his teammates won only 15 of 40; Ryan Johansen won 11 of 16 for Columbus while rookie William Karlsson won all six draws he took.

The Isles won 9 of 16 draws in the first period and the only face-off of overtime, but lost 20 of 30 in the second and third period.

The Isles won 19 of 42 draws at even strength, 1 of 5 on the power play and 0 of 0 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 12, Columbus 33.  No Islander had more than 2 hits.

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 7 (Martin-4, Boychuk, Leddy, Okposo).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots; No Islander had more than 2 hits.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 46, Columbus 58.  Even-Strength: Isles 35, Columbus 54.

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

For the second straight game, no Islander had a positive even-strength Corsi rating; Cam Atkinson led Columbus with a +13 rating.

Ironmen

·         Nikolay Kulemin -180 (68 for Toronto and 112 for the Isles)

·         Brock Nelson  -165 (all for Isles)

Missing Men

Jean-Francois Berube is on injured reserve; Eric Boulton was activated from injured reserve and made his season debut, replacing Cal Clutterbuck (injured); Brian Strait replaced Marek Zidlicky in the lineup while Steve Bernier were scratched.

The Isles have lost 61 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:

John Tavares has:

·         186 goals (11th all-time, 20 behind John Tonelli and 25 behind Derek King)

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

·         423 points (13^th all-time and 20 behind Billy Harris)

·         459 games played (tied-30th among Islander skaters all-time with Trent Hunter and 11 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

Kyle Okposo has:

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

·         205 assists (17^th all-time and 3 behind Frans Nielsen)

·         330 points (18^th all-time, 1 behind Ziggy Palffy and 3 behind Tomas Jonsson)

·         480 games played (27^th among Islander skaters all-time and 13 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, 11 behind Kyle Okposo and 12 behind Ziggy Palffy)

·         555 games played (15^th among Islander skaters all-time and 39 behind John Tonelli)

 Josh Bailey has:

·         146 assists (27^th all-time with Travis Green and 4 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)

·         233 points (28^th all-time, 4 behind Travis Green and 5 behind Ray Ferraro)

·         505 games played (25^th among Islander skaters, 4 behind Rich Pilon, 5 behind Mick Vukota and 9 behind Dave Lewis)

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 0 and 4 points to 1. 

The Isles have won 3 of their last 4 in Columbus (3-0-1) after only once in their first 10 trips. They are 4-0-2 in their last six meetings with Columbus.

The teams will next meet January 12^th in Brooklyn.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 16-10-1-0 on the season after defeating Portland 3-1 on Friday and losing to Hartford 4-2 on Saturday.  Taylor Beck has scored three of the team's five goals so far this weekend.

The Sound Tigers host Hershey at 5pm on Sunday to conclude their "3 in 3" weekend.

Up Next

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13th—NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS 5:00PM

[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 4:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles return home for a two-game homestand that begins on Sunday as they face New Jersey.  It's the third meeting of the season between the teams with each team owning a home-ice win (with the Devils' win coming in a shootout).

The Isles have won four straight from New Jersey at home and are 7-0-1 in the last eight games against the Devils. Five of the eight games have been decided in either overtime or shootouts.  It's the first time since 1985-1988 (12 straight wins) that the Isles have won four straight home games from New Jersey.

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