"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 36
Toronto 3, Isles 1
Tyler Bozak and former Islander Michael Grabner scored 100 seconds apart early in the second period to give Toronto a 2-0 lead and the Isles could never catch them, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Leafs before a sellout crowd of 15,795 at Barclays Center. Nikolay Kulemin scored the Isles' only goal, his first since October 20th as the Isles lost an opportunity to move into 2nd place in the entire Eastern Conference.
The Scoring:
NONE
2ND PERIOD
01:33 TOR Tyler Bozak (9) ASST: Roman Polak (8), Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (10) 1 - 0 TOR
03:13 TOR Michael Grabner (5) ASST: Nazem Kadri (11), Morgan Rielly (14) 2 - 0 TOR
3RD PERIOD
12:30 NYI Nikolay Kulemin (3) ASST: Nick Leddy (10), Ryan Strome (9) 2 - 1 TOR
19:14 TOR EN - James van Riemsdyk (13) ASST: Nazem Kadri (12) 3 - 1 TOR
The Skinny:
The Isles killed the only two Maple Leafs power plays, as they extended the club record by not allowing a PP goal for the 14th straight game… The Isles are 6-2-0 in their last 8 home games…Toronto came within 7:30 of recording their first-ever road shutout against the Isles (all three Leaf shutouts have come in Toronto); Toronto has not recorded a shutout in New York City since 1965 (against the Rangers)…Michael Grabner and Nikolay Kulemin each scored their first goal against their former team; Grabner's goal was his 100th NHL goal…It was Kulemin's first goal in 30 games (October 20 at Columbus) and his first point in 9 games….Ryan Strome has assists in consecutive games after going pointless in his previous six games…The Isles are 2-4-2 when they allow the first two goals…Nazem Kadri extended his point streak to five games with an assist on the empty-net goal…The Isles have outscored their opponents 39-30 in the third period…Daniel Winnik played in his 600th NHL game…The Isles fall to 0-6-0 against the Atlantic Division at home; they are 12-0-2 in their other 14 home games.
Longest Isles Streaks without Allowing a PP goal:
· 14 games: CURRENT
· 12 games: 3/3-3/28/2015
· 10 games: 2/18-3/7/1978
The Isles have killed 35 straight opposing power plays since the Flyers scored on the first of their five opportunities on Thanksgiving Eve. This is the Isles' longest streak since they killed 37 straight in November 2005.
Out With the Old, In With the New
This was the first game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 5 games in 8 days which will take the calendar into 2016. The Isles are 0-1-0 in this stretch.
27-Dec-15 Vs Maple Leafs (Lost 3-1)
29-Dec-15 @ Maple Leafs
31-Dec-15 @ Sabres
2-Jan-16 @ Penguins
3-Jan-16 Vs Stars
The Shots:
Isles 8-6-12=28
Toronto 12-16-10=38
Home and Road
The Islanders are 19-12-5 overall; 12-6-2 at home and 7-6-3 on the road.
Toronto is 13-14-7 overall; 6-5-5 at home and 6-9-2 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 7-0-2 in Division games and are 12-12-3 in games against other divisions. They are 1-8-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 5-2-1 vs. Central Division, and 6-2-0 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 35 saves but falls to 9-5-2; he is 1-1-0 in his career against Toronto, despite allowing only three goals in the two games.
Jonathan Bernier made 27 saves as he improves to 3-9-3 on the season and 3-2-2 in his career against the Isles. Bernier is 3-1-2 in his last six games.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-1 on the power play while Toronto was 0-2.
The Isles have killed all 31 opponent power plays in their franchise-record 14 game streak of not allowing power play goals; 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.
The Isles' power play has scored only once in 21 attempts over the six games.
The Isles are 10-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-9-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-7-4 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 16-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-10-5 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 8-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 3-5-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-3 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 7-9-3 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in the last five games; it's the first time that has happened since December 11-20, 2014.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 184-160-51 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 395
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 184
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They (We) Tweeted It
(Isles prospect) @MDalColle71 In other news the Patriots forgot their quarterback was named Tom Brady... #howdoyoudefer
@NYIslanders Al Arbour's wife, Claire, is joined by her family for tonight's ceremonial puck drop. #Isles pic.twitter.com/3rdPZYSfvV
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 2nd in Pittsburgh and January 3rd 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: Nick Leddy (25:08); Toronto: Matt Hunwick (23:02)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (11-2-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-0-1), Nick Leddy (4-5-1), John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 21:15 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (12-9-4), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (2-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (0-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 32, Toronto 17 (65%).
Mikhail Grabovski won 8 of 9 for the Isles; Tyler Bozak won 9 of 17 for Toronto.
The Isles won 24 of 33 draws in the first and third periods but only 8 of 16 in the middle period.
The Isles won 28 of 42 draws at even strength, 2 of 2 on the power play and 2 of 5 on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
Isles 27, Toronto 21. Matt Martin led the Isles with 9 hits while Cal Clutterbuck added six.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 9 (Martin-5, Boychuk, Bernier, Leddy, Okposo). (Toronto has been involved in only 2 fights this season, fewest in the NHL)
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 10 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic led the way with 3.
The Leafs blocked 27 Islander shots. That matched the most blocks by an opponent since Florida blocked 28 on January 21, 2010.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 66, Toronto 68. Even-Strength: Isles 62, Toronto 58.
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Brock Nelson and Calvin deHaan led the Isles with a +9 even-strength Corsi rating; Nelson had a club-leading 64% Corsi For percentage. Nazem Kadri led Toronto with a +13 rating.
Ironmen
· Nikolay Kulemin -186 (68 for Toronto and 118 for the Isles)
· Brock Nelson -171 (all for Isles)
Missing Men
Jean-Francois Berube and Jaroslav Halak are on injured reserve. Kyle Okposo returned after missing two games with a lower body injury, replacing Steve Bernier. Marek Zidlicky and Eric Boulton were also scratched. Christopher Gibson, celebrating his 23rd birthday, served as the back-up goalie, wearing #33. It was the first time he had dressed for an Islander game
The Isles have lost 71 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)
· 239 assists (15th all-time, 10 behind Tomas Jonsson and 20 behind Billy Harris)
· 426 points (13th all-time and 17 behind Billy Harris)
· 465 games played (30th among Islander skaters all-time and 5 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)
Kyle Okposo has:
· 125 goals (18th all-time and 2 behind Jason Blake)
· 206 assists (17th all-time and 2 behind Frans Nielsen)
· 331 points (tied-17th all-time with Ziggy Palffy and 2 behind Tomas Jonsson)
· 484 games played (27th among Islander skaters all-time and 9 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)
· 561 games played (15th among Islander skaters all-time and 33 behind John Tonelli)
Josh Bailey has:
· 147 assists (27th all-time and 3 behind Mariusz Czerkawski)
· 235 points (28th all-time, 2 behind Travis Green and 3 behind Ray Ferraro)
· 511 games played (23rd among Islander skaters and 34 behind Dave Lewis)
Season Series Stats
Toronto leads the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0. The teams will play again in Toronto on Tuesday and again on March 9th.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers wrapped up 2015 with a pair of 1-goal wins, winning 2-1 at Lehigh Valley on Saturday and 4-3 vs. Providence on Sunday. Christopher Gibson made 21 saves for the win on Saturday; Mike Halmo had a pair of goals on Sunday
Bridgeport is now 18-12-2-1 and they next play on New Year's Day in Springfield before returning home to host Rochester on Saturday and Hershey on Sunday.
Up Next
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29th—ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles begin a three game road trip with the back-end of this home-and-home series with Toronto. The Isles will need to win the two games in Toronto to take 2 of 3 from the Leafs for the fourth straight season.
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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