"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 60
Edmonton 3, Isles 1
The Edmonton Oilers scored three unanswered goals in the third period to rally for a 3-1 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 16,839 in the Isles' final visit to Rexall Place.
The loss ends the Isles' three game win streak and their five-game point streak (4-0-1).
The Isles are 7-2-1 in their last ten games, as they remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of Pittsburgh. The Isles remain five points behind the Rangers, and still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
NONE
2ND PERIOD
17:43 NYI Casey Cizikas (7) ASST: Nick Leddy (25), Cal Clutterbuck (7) 1 - 0 NYI
3RD PERIOD
10:12 EDM Anton Lander (1) ASST: Jordan Oesterle (1), Brandon Davidson (6) 1 - 1 Tie
11:07 EDM Leon Draisaitl (16) ASST: Taylor Hall (34), Zack Kassian (3) 2 - 1 EDM
16:57 EDM Brandon Davidson (4) ASST: Jordan Eberle (18), Connor McDavid (19) 3 - 1 EDM
The Skinny:
The Isles have not swept Alberta since 1982... It is the 2nd time this season that the Isles have lost a game in regulation that they led after 2 periods (23-2-2)…Cizikas is 3-5-8 in the last eight games; Cizikas now has points in four straight games… John Tavares failed to win at least one-half of his draws for the first time in 16 games; the Isles had allowed only six third period goals in the previous 17 games and had not been outscored in any of them…Anton Lander's tying goal was his 9th in 185 NHL games—and 1st in his last 65 games (3/16/15 vs Toronto)…The Oilers had lost four straight games at home and were 0-5-2 in their last seven…Entering the third period, Edmonton has scored only three goals in their previous 11 periods…Edmonton's last win over a team currently in a playoff spot came on January 18th vs. Florida…The Isles allowed three goals in a period for only the 7th time this season (19 times last season)..Ryan Pulock played 14:46 in his NHL debut…In addition to his goal, Casey Cizikas blocked four shots. It is the 5th time this season that an Isle forward has blocked at least four shots (three times by Cizikas).
Two Strong in Net
Both Jaroslav Halak (16) and Thomas Greiss now have at least 16 wins. It's the first time since the 2002-03 season (Chris Osgood-17 and Garth Snow – 16) that two Isles goalies have recorded 16 wins in the same season. St. Louis and Dallas are the only other NHL teams with two goalies with at least 16 wins this season.
2 with 2 to Go
Jack Capuano has 198 wins as the Islander coach and Jaroslav Halak has 198 NHL wins.
The Captain's Countdown
John Tavares now has 197 career goals; with three more goals he will become only the 11th player in Islander history to record 200 goals.
PK Islander
The Isles killed the only Edmonton power play. The NHL's top-rated penalty kill has now allowed only 22 power play goals in 175 times short (87.4%). On the road, the Isles have allowed 12 goals in 85 times short (86.0%).
Most Points in The Post-Cup Era through 60 games
· 80 in 2014-15
· 73 in 2015-16
· 70 in 2001-02
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 19-8-4 on home-ice (42 points). In the past 28 years, the Isles have earned more than 42 points in the first 31 home games only twice (46 in first 31 at home last season and 44 in 31 in 2003-04).
The Isles have clinched an above NHL-.500 finish at home. It is the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07 that the Isles have recorded successive home seasons above NHL-.500.
Road Warriors
The Isles are 3-1-0 on their current 7-game road trip. This is the 5th time in club history that the Isles are playing seven consecutive road games, but the 2nd consecutive season:
· 1981-82 (1-5-1)
· 2000-01 (2-3-2)
· 2009-10 (3-2-2)
· 2014-15 (5-2-0)
This was also the fourth game of a stretch in which the Isles are playing 12 out of 14 games on the road for only the 2nd time in their history. From November 11 – December 9, 2009 (John Tavares' rookie season), the Isles went 5-7-2 in a stretch in which they played 12 of 14 on the road. However the Isles changed time zones only twice in that stretch (when they visited Edmonton and St. Louis). The Isles will change time zones seven times during these trips.
19-Feb-16 @ Devils (Won 1-0)
23-Feb-16 @ Wild (Won 4-1)
25-Feb-16 @ Flames (Won 2-1 OT)
28-Feb-16 @ Oilers (Lost 3-1)
1-Mar-16 @ Canucks
3-Mar-16 @ Jets
6-Mar-16 @ Rangers
8-Mar-16 Vs Penguins
9-Mar-16 @ Maple Leafs
12-Mar-16 @ Bruins
14-Mar-16 Vs Panthers
15-Mar-16 @ Penguins
17-Mar-16 @ Predators
19-Mar-16 @ Stars
The Shots:
Isles 5-14-18=37
Edmonton 6-14-6=26
Home and Road
The Islanders are 33-20-7 overall; 19-8-4 at home and 14-12-3 on the road.
Edmonton is 23-34-7 overall; 16-14-2 at home and 7-20-5 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 11-5-3 in Division games and are 22-15-4 in games against other divisions. They are 5-10-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 8-2-1 vs. the Central Division, and 9-3-1 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles are 32-11-3 since the start of last season against the Metropolitan Division.
How The West is Won
The Isles are 17-5-2 against the Western Conference, including 12-0-2 at home. The Isles have the most wins of any Eastern Conference team against the Western Conference (Tampa Bay is 15-9-2 and the Rangers are 15-8-2). Only 8 Western Conference teams have more wins against the West than the Isles do.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 25 save but falls to 16-13-4 on the season. Halak, who has 198 career wins, is 8-3-1 in his career against Edmonton.
Cam Talbot made 36 saves to improve to 13-22-4 on the season and 4-1-0 in his career vs. the Isles.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-4 on the power play, while Edmonton was 0-1.
The Isles are 21-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-15-4 when they do not. The Isles are 8-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 25-11-5 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 27-3-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-17-7 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 13-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-7-0 in regulation. They are 3-4 in games decided in overtime and are 4-3 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 22-5-3 when they score first and are 11-15-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 198-168-53 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 419
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 198
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 now 72nd all-time with 198 wins. (71- Craig Hartsburg 201, Tied/69 – Gerry Cheevers and Todd Richards 204)
They Tweeted It
@aviationhead747 Casey is all over the place in the middle of the action
@FromTheFaceoff Despite the loss, Pulock looked pretty good tonight
@LBG_Rob Have I said before how much I love Cizikas, Martin, and Clutterbuck? The three are beasts game in and game out #isles (You may have, just not in The Skinny!)
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-4-4 on the front-end and 7-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The next back-to-back set will be on March 8th vs. Pittsburgh and March 9th in Toronto.
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 3-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 5-3-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
· The Isles are 4-1-1 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: John Tavares (24:09); Edmonton: Brandon Davidson (22:12)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (20-4-4), Johnny Boychuk (5-3-0), Calvin deHaan (1-3-1), Nick Leddy (6-7-2), John Tavares (0-2-0), Tied (0-1-0)
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (22-16-6), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (1-2-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (4-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 24, Edmonton 28 (46%).
Casey Cizikas won 8 of 10 for the Isles but his teammates won only 16 of 42; Mark Letestu won 9 of 12 for Edmonton.
The Isles won 8 of 15 in the second period but only 16 of 37 draws in the first and third periods.
The Isles won 21 of 44 draws at even strength, 2 of 6 on the power play and 1 of 2 on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
Isles 33, Edmonton 23. Matt Martin led the Isles with eight hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 287. Martin has recorded at least 250 hits five times; he has five of the nine 250-hit seasons in club history. (Hits first recorded in 2005-06).
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 16 (Martin-9, Bernier, Boychuk, Cizikas, Leddy, Lee, Okposo, Strait).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 20 blocked shots, including four from Casey Cizikas and Johnny Boychuk.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 70, Edmonton 56. 5-on-5: Isles 44, Edmonton 54.
The Isles had 35 attempts in the 3rd period to Edmonton's 9 (but only 11-7 in 5-on-5's)
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Matt Martin led the Isles with a +8 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Martin also had a club-leading 63% Corsi For percentage. Jordan Eberle led Edmonton with a +13 5-on-5 Corsi rating.
Ironmen
· Nikolay Kulemin -210 (68 for Maple Leafs and 142 for the Isles)
· Brock Nelson -195 (all for Isles)
· Anders Lee -136 (all for Isles)
Missing Men
Adam Pelech, Calvin deHaan and Mikhail Grabovski are on injured reserve. Ryan Pulock made his NHL debut, replacing Marek Zidlicky in the lineup; Eric Boulton was activated from injured reserve and replaced Steve Bernier. JF Berube was also scratched.
The Isles have lost 144 games this season due to injury/illness.
Missing a Piece (or two)
The Isles are 13-15-2 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 5-5-1 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:
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 585 *** 16. Ken Morrow 550 *** 17. Duane Sutter 547 *** 18. Lorne Henning 543 *** 19. Josh Bailey and Claude Lapointe 535*** 21. Tomas Jonsson 532***22. Pat LaFontaine 530*** 23. Dave Lewis 514 *** 24. Mick Vukota 510*** 25. Rich Pilon 509 *** 26. Kyle Okposo 508 *** 27. Ed Westfall 493***28. John Tavares 489
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 197
…
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 132 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Alexei Yashin 119 *** 21. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 ***24. Frans Nielsen 117
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. John Tavares 254*** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249***16. Kyle Okposo 219 ***17. Frans Nielsen 218
…
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. David Volek 154 *** 27. Josh Bailey 152
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 451 ***13. Billy Harris 443 ***14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 351 ***
16. Pierre Turgeon 340 ***17. Frans Nielsen 335
…
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Josh Bailey 244
Goalie Games Played
1. Billy Smith 675 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318***3. Glenn Resch 282
…
9. Garth Snow 127***10. Evgeni Nabokov 123***11. Chris Osgood 103***12. Jaroslav Halak 93
Goalie Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157***3. Rick DiPietro 130
…
6. Glenn Healy 66***7. Tommy Salo 62***8. Evgeni Nabokov 57***9. Jaroslav Halak 54
Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25***2. Billy Smith 22***3. Rick DiPietro 19***4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Evgeni Nabokov & Jaroslav Halak 9
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 and 2 points to 2.
While the Isles have won 9 straight at home vs. Edmonton, the Isles are 0-5-1 in their last six trips to Northern Alberta. The last Isle win was on March 13, 2003 – a 5-2 win with Garth Snow in nets.
On The Farm
Bridgeport dropped two games out of three this weekend (splitting with Providence, losing to Albany) to fall to 29-22-3-2 on the season. Bridgeport hosts Hartford in a key Atlantic Division matchup on Wednesday.
Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH 1st – ISLANDERS AT VANCOUVER 10:00PM
[MSG+ (Pre-game at 9:45), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles will look to rebound as they head to Vancouver to face the Canucks. The Isles dominated the game with Vancouver at Barclays Center on January 17th, outshooting the Canucks 48-26, but fell 2-1 in a shootout.
The Isles are 0-2-1 in their last three games against the Canucks, but each of their last two March games in Vancouver have been memorable: In 2010, rookie John Tavares had five points in a 5-2 win while in 2014 the Isles exploded for seven third period goals for a 7- 4 win.
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