"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 41
Washington 4, Isles 1
Alex Ovechkin scored his 497th career goal and it turned out to be the game-winner as the Capitals rode a two-goal first period to a 4-1 victory over the Islanders before a crowd of 14,261 at Barclays Center.
The streaking Caps improve to 18-2-2 in their last 22 games as they become the first NHL team with 30 wins. Washington now has a 14 point lead over the 2nd place Islanders; the Isles remain 1 point ahead of the Rangers.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
05:45 WSH Jason Chimera (12) ASST: Marcus Johansson (16) 1 - 0 WSH
15:45 WSH Alex Ovechkin (22) ASST: Karl Alzner (10) 2 - 0 WSH
2ND PERIOD
01:59 NYI Brock Nelson (14) ASST: Ryan Strome (12), Mikhail Grabovski (13) 2 - 1 WSH
15:54 WSH Nate Schmidt (2) ASST: Nicklas Backstrom (25) 3 - 1 WSH
3RD PERIOD
17:18 WSH EN - Nicklas Backstrom (12) ASST: NONE 4 - 1 WSH
The Skinny:
Nick Leddy's point streak ended at a career-high 5 games (1-5-6)… Alex Ovechkin played in his 799th game; he'll need 3 goals in the next 3 games to become the 5th fastest player to record 500 goals (Bossy, Gretzky, Lemieux and Brett Hull did it faster)… Ovechkin had at least 8 shots for 8th time this season--nobody else in the NHL has done it more than four times…Ryan Strome recorded his 5th assist in the last 7 games…Brock Nelson is now tied with Frans Nielsen for 2nd place on the team with 14 goals, one fewer than John Tavares… Ovechkin is now 27-15-42 in 38 games vs Isles...Braden Holtby improves to 18-0-2 in last 21 appearances; he has earned a point in 20 straight decisions – the longest streak by a goaltenders since Roberto Luongo went 16-0-5 in 2010-11 for Vancouver… Holtby now has 113 wins since the start of the 2012-13 season, tops in the NHL…Washington is 22-1-0 when scoring first, 14-0-0 when leading after one period and 21-0-1 when leading after two…The Isles are 0-2-0 in Division games in 2016 after starting the season 7-0-2 in Divisional games; this was their first regulation home loss to a team not in Atlantic Division (0-6-0 vs. Atlantic Division; 13-1-2 vs. all other divisions).
First Time in a Long Time
The Isles have allowed 38+ shots in four consecutive games for the first time since 1/9-1/15/2011 (45 to Chicago, 51 to Vancouver, 38 to Ottawa, 43 to Buffalo).
Home Sweet Home
This was the second game of a ten game stretch in which the Isles will play eight times at home. The Isles are 1-1-0 in this stretch:
3-Jan-16 Vs Stars (Won 6-5)
7-Jan-16 Vs Capitals (Lost 4-1)
9-Jan-16 @ Flyers
12-Jan-16 Vs Blue Jackets
14-Jan-16 Vs Rangers
17-Jan-16 Vs Canucks
22-Jan-16 @ Senators
23-Jan-16 Vs Flyers
25-Jan-16 Vs Red Wings
2-Feb-16 Vs Wild
After February 2nd, the Isles will play 20 of their final 33 games on the road.
The Shots:
Isles 10-14-11=35
Washington 10-14-14=38
The Isles have allowed at least 38 shots in four straight games.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 22-14-5 overall; 13-7-2 at home and 9-7-3 on the road.
Washington is 30-7-3 overall; 15-3-1 at home and 15-4-2 on the road. The Caps are 11-1-1 in their last 13, and are off to the best start in their history.
By Division
The Isles are 7-2-2 in Division games and are 15-12-3 in games against other divisions. They are 3-8-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-2-1 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
Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves but falls to 10-7-3 on the season; he is 6-5-0 in his career against Washington.
Braden Holtby made 34 saves and improves to 26-4-2 on the season. Holtby is 8-1-2 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Washington was also 0-2.
The Isles are 12-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-11-2 when they do not. The Isles are 7-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-8-4 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 18-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-12-5 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 10-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 5-5-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 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 15-3-2 when they score first and are 7-11-3 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano coached his 400th career game. Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 187-162-51 behind the Islander bench. 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 400
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 187
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
Capuano is the 86th coach in NHL history to coach 400 games. He is tied-75th all-time with Ted Nolan and Johnny Wilson with 187 wins.
They Tweeted It
@mrlbem (Remembering JP Parise, who passed 1 year ago) @mnwild so do a lot of #Isles fans. April 1975. JP from Westfall and Marshall. 11 seconds into OT. Forever.
@IamAlyseBarker It wasn't a win for us #Isles but we still stand by our team! @NYIslanders !! #YesYesYes #NYIslanders
@philengle21 My sudden cheer at @Bnelson goal scared son. I get "dad that scared me and nearly caused zombies to get me". Video games smh. Lol
Back-to-Backs
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 is January 22nd in Ottawa and January 23rd vs. Philadelphia.
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 2-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 3-2-0 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: Calvin deHaan (24:03); Washington: Matt Niskanen (25:50)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (14-3-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-1-1), Nick Leddy (4-5-1), John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 19:30 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (14-11-4), 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 (1-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 25, Washington 25 (50%).
Frans Nielsen won 8 of 10 for the Isles; Nicklas Backstrom won 12 of 19 for Washington.
The Isles won 18 of 33 draws in the first two periods but only 7 of 17 in the third period.
The Isles won 20 of 43 draws at even strength, 2 of 3 on the power play and 3 of 4 on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
Isles 21, Washington 25. Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with 6 hits.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 9 (Martin-5, Boychuk, Bernier, Leddy, Okposo).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 14 blocked shots; Adam Pelech and Thomas Hickey led the team with 3.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 73, Washington 60 (Including 20-11 Isles in special teams) Even-Strength: Isles 53, Washington 49.
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Kyle Okposo led the Isles with a +8 even-strength Corsi rating; Frans Nielsen had a club-leading 68% Corsi For percentage. Jason Chimera led Washington with a +8 rating.
Ironmen
· Nikolay Kulemin -191 (68 for Maple Leafs and 123 for the Isles)
· Brock Nelson -176 (all for Isles)
· Anders Lee -117 (all for Isles)
Missing Men
Jean-Francois Berube and Johnny Boychuk are on injured reserve. Brian Strait, Steve Bernier and Eric Boulton were scratched.
The Isles have lost 83 games this season due to injury/illness.
Missing a Piece
The Isles are 9-12-1 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 1-2-0 this season.
All-time Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
· 189 goals (11th all-time, 17 behind John Tonelli and 22 behind Derek King)
· 241 assists (15th all-time, 8 behind Tomas Jonsson and 18 behind Billy Harris)
· 430 points (13th all-time , 13 behind Billy Harris and 58 behind Patrick Flatley)
· 470 games played (tied-29th among Islander skaters all-time with Mariusz Czerkawski and 6 behind Gerry Hart)
Kyle Okposo has:
· 127 goals (tied-17th all-time with Jason Blake and 18 behind Mariusz Czerkawski )
· 209 assists (17th all-time , 2 behind Frans Nielsen and 32 behind John Tavares)
· 336 points (16th all-time, 4 behind Pierre Turgeon and 33 behind Stefan Persson)
· 489 games played (27th among Islander skaters all-time and 4 behind Ed Westfall)
Frans Nielsen has:
· 113 goals (25th all-time, 3 behind Ray Ferraro, and 5 behind Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas)
· 211 assists (16th all-time and 30 behind John Tavares)
· 324 points (19th all-time, 7 behind Ziggy Palffy, 9 behind Tomas Jonsson and 12 behind Kyle Okposo)
· 566 games played (15th among Islander skaters all-time and 28 behind John Tonelli)
Josh Bailey has:
· 149 assists (28th all-time, 1 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 5 behind David Volek)
· 237 points (tied-27th all-time with Travis Green, 1 behind Ray Ferraro and 12 behind David Volek)
· 516 games played (22nd among Islander skaters and 14 behind Pat LaFontaine)
Season Series Stats
Washington leads the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0. The next meeting will be on February 4th in Washington.
This was the first Washington regulation win in New York against the Isles in the last 8 meetings (Isles are 4-1-3 in the last 8).
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 19-14-2-1 after a 5-0 loss to Hershey on Sunday.
The Sound Tigers are off until Friday when they play in Providence; they also play Saturday in Hartford.
Up Next
SATURDAY, JANUARY 9th –ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 1:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 12:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles will look for their 7th win in the last 8 games with the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. The Isles have won the first two meetings this season, 3-1 in Brooklyn and 4-3 in a shootout in Philadelphia. Jaroslav Halak was in the nets for both wins; Kyle Okposo had the winning goal at home and the shootout deciding goal in Philly.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment