"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 47
Detroit 4, Isles 2
Justin Abdelkader and Denny Dekeyser scored 1:11 apart in the second period to break a 1-1 tie as the Detroit Red Wings snapped the Isles' point streak at four games with a 4-2 decision before a crowd of 12,086 at Barclays Center.
Mikhail Grabovski brought the Isles back within a goal with 4:48 to play in regulation but the Isles could not find the equalizer.
The Isles dropped three points behind the Rangers in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
10:57 DET PPG - Brad Richards (5) ASST: Pavel Datsyuk (18) 1 - 0 DET
16:33 NYI Brock Nelson (19) ASST: John Tavares (18) 1 - 1 Tie
2ND PERIOD
13:29 DET Justin Abdelkader (14) ASST: Henrik Zetterberg (24), Dylan Larkin (18) 2 - 1 DET
14:40 DET Danny DeKeyser (6) ASST: NONE 3 - 1 DET
3RD PERIOD
15:12 NYI Mikhail Grabovski (7) ASST: Matt Martin (5), Brian Strait (3) 3 - 2 DET
19:15 DET EN - Luke Glendening (4) ASST: Darren Helm (9), Kyle Quincey (3) 4 - 2 DET
The Skinny:
The Isles are 7-8-1 in their last 16; they have outscored opponents 32-16 in the 7 wins (7-0-0), but have been outscored 29-9 in the 9 losses (0-8-1)… The Isles fall to 4-9-2 vs the Atlantic Division… The Isles have outscored their opponents 52-39 in the third period this season…The Isles have outscored their opponents 10-1 in the third period over the last five games; Luke Glendenning's empty net goal is the only one allowed by the Isles in that stretch…The Isles saw their PK streak end at 22 consecutive kills; it was only the 2nd PP goal allowed by the Isles in the last 41 times short on home ice…Brock Nelson's goal, his 11th in the last 19 games, leaves him one goal shy of his career high (20 last season); Nelson has points in his last four games vs. Detroit (3-2-5)…Jaroslav Halak played his 4th straight game (first time this season); he allowed only 7 goals in the four games…Mikhail Grabovski's goal was his first since January 3rd vs. Dallas…The Isles finished January with a 4-4-1 record…Dylan Larkin went +1; the Red Wing rookie is now +24 on the season…Pavel Datsyuk played in his 921st game, tying Igor Larionov for 7th place among Russian players…Detroit hits the All-Star Break having gone 7-3-1 in their last 11.
FEWEST ISLES JANUARY GAMES
6 – 1995 (lockout)
7 – 2013 (lockout)
9 - 2016
11 - 1978, 1996, 2009
The Isles will end January having played only 47 games, which matches their lowest total for a full season (set several times).
The Schedule
The NHL has not announced a make-up date for Saturday's snow-out. Because of that snow-out the Isles played only two games from January 18-February 1. It's the first time that they have played only twice in a 15-day in-season span in club history (excluding Olympic break and the 1992 strike). When the Isles return from the break on February 2, they will begin a stretch of 35 games in 68 days to end the regular season. The 68-day span matches the fewest days needed to play the last 35 games in club history (also 1993-94 and 1975-76).
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 15-8-3 on home-ice (33 points). In the past 28 seasons, the Isles have earned more than 33 points in the first 26 home games only twice (40 in first 26 at home last season and 35 in 26 in 2003-04).
This was the eighth game of a snow-adjusted nine-game stretch in which the Isles will play seven times at home. The Isles are 4-3-1 in this stretch:
3-Jan-16 Vs Stars (Won 6-5)
7-Jan-16 Vs Capitals (Lost 4-1)
9-Jan-16 @ Flyers (Lost 4-0)
12-Jan-16 Vs Blue Jackets (Won 5-2)
14-Jan-16 Vs Rangers (Won 3-1)
17-Jan-16 Vs Canucks (Lost/SO 2-1)
22-Jan-16 @ Senators (Won 5-2)
23-Jan-16 Vs Flyers (Postponed)
25-Jan-16 Vs Red Wings (Lost 4-2)
2-Feb-16 Vs Wild
After February 2nd, the Isles will play 20 of their final 34 games on the road.
The Shots:
Isles 11-9-9=29
Detroit 7-11-8=26
Home and Road
The Islanders are 25-16-6 overall; 16-8-3 at home and 9-8-3 on the road.
Detroit is 25-16-8 overall; 11-10-5 at home and 14-6-3 on the road.
Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc.
The Isles are 9-3-2 in Division games and are 16-13-4 in games against other divisions. They are 4-9-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-2-1 vs. Central Division, and 6-2-1 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles are 30-9-3 since the start of last season against the Met.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves but falls to 12-9-4 on the season; he is 6-5-1 in his career against Detroit.
Petr Mrazek made 27 saves and improves to 18-9-4 on the season. Mrazek is 2-2-0 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Detroit was 1-1.
The Isles are 15-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-13-3 when they do not. The Isles are 7-7-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-9-5 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 21-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-14-6 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 10-5-6 in games decided by a single goal including 5-5-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.
First Goal
The Isles are 17-3-2 when they score first and are 8-13-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 190-164-52 behind the Islander bench; Capuano coached his 400th career game on January 7th vs. the Caps. Among the 9 New York area teams, only the Yankees' Joe Girardi has led his team longer than Capuano.
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 406
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 190
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
Capuano is the 86th coach in NHL history to coach at least 400 games. He is 75th all-time with 190 wins, four fewer than Bob Gainey and six fewer than Cecil Hart and Fred Creighton.
They Tweeted It
@ChrisRegan88 Celebrated with a stranger at a red light on Hempstead Tpke. when we both heard @Bnelson 's goal on the radio 🔷🔶 📣📣 📣📣📣 🔶🔷
@Max_Fehr Grabovski turn on the heat in the barc! Do that more
@Mattrick_Swayze Wow, Helm almost roofed that. Great save by Halak point blank.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-3-3 on the front-end and 5-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The next back-to-back set will be February 6th in Detroit and February 7th vs. Edmonton.
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 2-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 4-2-0 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 (22:20); Detroit: Kyle Quincey (25:12)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (15-3-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (1-2-1), Nick Leddy (4-6-2), John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 20:54 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (15-12-5), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (1-2-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (3-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 29, Detroit 17 (63%).
John Tavares won 10 of 13 for the Isles; no Red Wing won more than he lost.
The Isles won 23 of 29 draws in the first two periods but won only 6 of 17 draws in the final 20 minutes.
The Isles won 24 of 39 draws at even strength, 4 of 6 on the power play and 1 of 1 on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
Isles 15, Detroit 12. Matt Martin led the Isles with 5 hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 226. Martin has recorded at least 200 hits in six straight seasons.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 11 (Martin-6, Bernier, Boychuk, Leddy, Lee, Okposo).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 9 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic led the team with 3.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 58, Detroit 47. Even-Strength: Isles 51, Detroit 43.
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Travis Hamonic and led the Isles with a +11 even-strength Corsi rating; Frans Nielsen had a club-leading 65% Corsi For percentage. Mike Green led Detroit with a +11 even-strength Corsi rating.
Ironmen
· Nikolay Kulemin -197 (68 for Maple Leafs and 129 for the Isles)
· Brock Nelson -182 (all for Isles)
· Anders Lee -123 (all for Isles)
Missing Men
Adam Pelech, Eric Boulton and Johnny Boychuk are on injured reserve. Scott Mayfield (assigned to Bridgeport after the game) and Steve Bernier were also scratched. Jean-Francois Berube has been assigned to Bridgeport on a conditioning stint.
The Isles have lost 108 games this season due to injury/illness.
Missing a Piece (or two)
The Isles are 12-14-2 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 4-4-1 this season. They are 5-4-1, including 2-1-1 this season when two of the three miss a game.
All-time Islander Leader Boards (Hope you like the new format!):
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
12. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 13. Garry Howatt 596 *** 14. John Tonelli 594 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 572
…
20. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 21. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 22. Josh Bailey 522 *** 23. Dave Lewis 514 *** 24. Mick Vukota 510*** 25. Rich Pilon 509 *** 26. Kyle Okposo 495 *** 26. Ed Westfall 493***
28. Radek Martinek 479*** 29. Gerry Hart and John Tavares 476
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 190
…
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 129 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 ***
19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Alexei Yashin 119 *** 21. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 24. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 25. Frans Nielsen 113
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 ***
…
11. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 13. Billy Harris 259 *** 14. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 15. John Tavares 245 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 214 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 211
…
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. David Volek 154 *** 27. Mariusz Czerkawski & Josh Bailey 150
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. Billy Harris 443 *** 13. John Tavares 435 ***
14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Pierre Turgeon and Kyle Okposo 340 ***
17. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 18. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 19. Frans Nielsen 327
…
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Ray Ferraro & Josh Bailey 238
Season Series Stats
Detroit leads the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0. The teams will play their entire season series in a three week span (February 6th in Detroit and February 16th in Brooklyn).
Despite the loss, the Isles are 8-3-0 in the last 11 games vs. Detroit.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 20-19-2-1 after having a pair of games snowed out this weekend. The Sound Tigers have three games to play before their All-Star Game: Wednesday vs. Springfield, Friday in Hartford, and Saturday vs. Albany.
Up Next
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd – MINNESOTA 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 their post- All-Star game schedule as they entertain the Minnesota Wild in the first of two meetings between the teams this season.
The Isles have gone 0-2-1 in the last three games against the Wild and will be looking for their first victory over Minnesota since they rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 5-4 win in St. Paul on December 29, 2013.
Following this game, the Isles are scheduled to play 10 of the next 14 on the road, including a February 23rd rematch with the Wild in St. Paul.
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
