The Skinny: Isles 1, New Jersey 0

"The Skinny"  

 By Eric Hornick

Game 57  

Isles 1, New Jersey 0

Casey Cizikas scored just 1:59 into play and Jaroslav Halak made it stand up as the Islanders began a franchise record-tying seven game road trip by blanking the New Jersey Devils 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 16,514 at Prudential Center.

The Isles improve to 5-1-1 in their last seven games, as they remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of Pittsburgh and four ahead of New Jersey.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

01:59    NYI       Casey Cizikas (6) ASST: Nick Leddy (24), Matt Martin (7) 1 - 0 NYI          

2ND PERIOD

NONE

3RD PERIOD

NONE

The Skinny:

Casey Cizikas is 2-3-5 in the last five games…Three of Cizikas' six goals this season have been game-winners, including two versus New Jersey; seven of Cizikas' 27 career goals have been game-winners (six in one-goal games)… John Tavares' point streak ended at seven games…Tavares won a majority of his face-offs for the 13^th straight game; he was won 63.4% of his draws in that span…The Isles improve to 3-5-2 in Metropolitan Division games in 2016; the Isles went 7-0-2 vs. the Met before the calendar change… An Islander defenseman has points on the last seven goals by the team… The Isles have outscored their opponents 62-44 in the third period this season, including 20-6 over the last 15 games…The Isles have won the back-end of the last 4 back-to-backs, and are 6-0-1 in the last seven back ends…The Isles improve to 17-2-2 when leading after one period and 22-1-2 when leading after two periods…This was only the 19^th 1-0 win in Isles history, including two games in which the only goals were scored in a shootout.

The Only One Jaro Needs

This was the third time that Jaroslav Halak won a game that the Isles scored one goal or less.

8-Nov-14           @         Arizona             (Won 1-0)

24-Nov-14         Vs        Philadelphia      (Won 1-0, shootout)

19-Feb-16         @         New Jersey       (Won 1-0)

Halak has now recorded 9 shutouts as an Islander.

Most Shutouts by an Islander:

1          Glenn Resch                 25         (282 games)

2          Billy Smith                    22         (675 games)

3          Rick DiPietro                 19         (318 games)

4          Tommy Salo                 14         (187 games)

5          Evgeni Nabokov           9          (123 games)

5          Jaroslav Halak              9          (90 games)

Two Strong in Net

Both Thomas Greiss (16) and Jaroslav Halak (14) now have at least 14 wins.  It's the first time since the 2003-04 season (Rick DiPietro – 23 and Garth Snow – 14) that two Isles goalies have recorded 14 wins in the same season.  St. Louis and Dallas are the only other NHL teams with two goalies with at least 14 wins this season.

Blanking the Devils

The Isles shutout the Devils in each of the last two games and did not allow a New Jersey goal in the final 135:57 of the season series.  Both Greiss and Halak earned a shutout; it’s the first time the Isles have blanked the same opponent twice in one season since Rick DiPietro shutout Tampa Bay twice in the 2007-08 season and the first time two Islander goalies have shutout an opponent since 2003-04, when both Rick DiPietro and Garth Snow blanked Atlanta in consecutive games against the Thrashers.

The Isles last had consecutive shutouts against one opponent on March 27, 2009 and January 12, 2010 (against Detroit)

First Time in a Long Time

There were only 39 face-offs, the 4^th lowest total in an Islander game since 2000, and the fewest in three seasons:

34 on 7-Apr- 01	@	Boston
37 on 17-Feb-07	Vs	New Jersey
37 on 7-Nov-13	@	Carolina
39 on 19-Feb-16	@	New Jersey

Moving On Up

Josh Bailey played in his 532nd game as an Islander, tying Tomas Jonsson for 20^th place on the Isles' all-time list.

The Captain's Countdown

John Tavares has 196 career goals; with four more goals he will become only the 11^th player in Islander history to record 200 goals.

The Magic Number is 196

With tonight's win, Jack Capuano has 196 wins as the Islander coach, Jaroslav Halak has 196 NHL wins and John Tavares has 196 goals.

Most Points in The Post-Cup Era through 57 games

·         75 in 2014-15

·         69 in 2015-16

·         67 in 2001-02

·         66 in 1985-86

·         64 in 1984-85

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 1-0-0 on their current 7-game road trip.  This is the 5^th time in club history that the Isles will play seven consecutive road games, but the 2^nd 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 first 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 Minnesota 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

25-Feb-16         @ Flames

28-Feb-16         @ Oilers

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                 10-9-5=24

New Jersey       9-11-7=27

Home and Road

The Islanders are 30-19-7 overall; 19-8-4 at home and 12-11-3 on the road. 

New Jersey is 29-23-7 overall; 14-12-4 at home and 15-11-3 on the road.

By Division

The Isles are 11-5-3 in Division games and are 20-14-4 in games against other divisions. They are 5-10-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 7-2-1 vs. the Central Division, and 8-2-1 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 15-4-2 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, 14-9-2, has the 2nd highest win total).  Only 8 Western Conference teams have more wins against the West than the Isles do.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39^th of his career; he improves to 14-12-4 on the season.  Halak, who now has 196 career wins, is 9-4-2 in his career against New Jersey.  This was his 3^rd career shutout vs. the Devils. 

Cory Schnieder made 23 saves but falls to 25-18-6 on the season; he is 2-5-1 in his career vs. the Isles despite allowing only 14 goals in the eight games. 

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-4 on the power play, while New Jersey was 0-1.

The Isles are 20-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-14-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 8-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-10-5 when they do not. 

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 26-3-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-16-7 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 12-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-7-0 in regulation. They are 2-4 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 21-4-3 when they score first and are 10-15-4 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One

Jack Capuano, the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 196-167-53 behind the Islander bench.  Among the 9 New York area teams, only the Yankees' Joe Girardi has led his team longer than Capuano.  With 196 wins, Capuano has now won more games than any Islander other than Al Arbour has coached:

Most games coached (Islanders):

1.     Al Arbour 1,500

2.     Jack Capuano 416

3.     Mike Milbury 191

4.     Terry Simpson 187

5.     Scott Gordon 181

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.     Al Arbour 740

2.     Jack Capuano 196

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 tied-72nd all-time with Cecil Hart and Fred Creighton (196 wins).

They Tweeted It

@gmen8069 5/6 points this week vs. Detroit/Caps/Devils is a great job by #Isles especially coming off that performance in Carolina

@IslesFan_Ben 27 saves for Jaroslav Halak tonight. #ShutOut #Isles

@Rarleo HUGE 2 points for the #Isles. Great win, and Jaro was at his best tonight.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, 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 8^th vs. Pittsburgh and March 9^th 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: Nick Leddy (22:27); New Jersey: Andy Greene (22:57)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (18-4-4), Johnny Boychuk (5-3-0), Calvin deHaan (1-3-1), Nick Leddy (6-7-2), John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 19:29 of ice-time.   Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (21-15-6), 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 18, New Jersey 21 (46%). 

John Tavares won 6 of 11 for the Isles but his teammates won only 12 of 28; Adam Henrique won 9 of 13 for New Jersey. 

The Isles won 8 of 16 draws in the first period but only 10 of 23 in the last two periods.

The Isles won 15 of 31 draws at even strength, 2 of 6 on the power play and 1 of 2 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 24, New Jersey 18.  Matt Martin was one of three Isles with three 5 hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 275.  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 – 13 (Martin-7, Bernier, Boychuk, Leddy, Lee, Okposo, Strait).

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots, including three from Thomas Hickey.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 46, New Jersey 45.  5-on-5: Isles 35, New Jersey 44.

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

Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin led the Isles with a +3 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Cizikas also had a club-leading 59% Corsi For percentage. Adam Larsson led New Jersey with a +10 5-on-5 Corsi rating.

Ironmen

·         Nikolay Kulemin -207 (68 for Maple Leafs and 139 for the Isles)

·         Brock Nelson  -192 (all for Isles)

·         Anders Lee -133 (all for Isles)

Missing Men

Adam Pelech and Eric Boulton are on injured reserve. Calvin deHaan (injured), Steve Bernier and JF Berube were scratched.

The Isles have lost 133 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 582

…

20. Tomas Jonsson and Josh Bailey 532 ***22. Pat LaFontaine 530*** 23. Dave Lewis 514 *** 24. Mick Vukota 510*** 25. Rich Pilon 509 *** 26. Kyle Okposo 505 *** 27. Ed Westfall 493***28. John Tavares 486

Goals

1.     Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310

….

9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 196

…

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. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 25. Frans Nielsen 115

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 252 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249***16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 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 448 ***13. Billy Harris 443 ***

14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 350 *** 16. Pierre Turgeon 340 ***

17. Tomas Jonsson 333 and Frans Nielsen 333

…

24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Josh Bailey 243

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series 3 games to 1 and 7 points to 2.

The Isles are 9-0-1 in the last ten vs. New Jersey; 5 of the 10 games have needed at least overtime to settle matters.

It's the Isles' longest point streak vs. the Devils since they went 6-0-4 vs. New Jersey from 11/7/1990 to 2/28/1992.

On The Farm

Bridgeport has earned points in 10 straight games; the Sound Tigers are 27-19-3-2 on the season.  Bridgeport will visit Lehigh Valley on Saturday before hosting Albany on Sunday.

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23^rd – ISLANDERS AT MINNESOTA 8:00PM

[MSG+2 (Pre-game at 7:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles will look for a sweep of the season series as they visit the Wild on Tuesday; the Isles defeated the Wild 5-3 at Barclays Center in the first game after the All-Star Break.

The Wild, who will host Chicago in an outdoor game on Sunday, is 3-0-0 under interim coach John Torchetti.  Minnesota has scored 5 goals in each of the three games; something they never did in three consecutive games under former coach Mike Yeo.

And Finally…

Lou Friedman, who covered the Islanders for many years for the Associated Press, passed away this week. May he Rest in Peace.  --30--

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