"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 48
Isles 5, Minnesota 3
Brock Nelson tied a career high with his 20th goal of the season as he broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period to lead the Islanders to a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild before a crowd of 13,331 at Barclays Center.
Jean-Francois Berube, who had won four straight games while on a conditioning stint in Bridgeport, stopped 40 Wild shots for his 1st National Hockey League win.
With the win, the Isles climbed within one point of the Rangers in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division; the Isles have two games in hand on the Rangers.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
14:34 MIN Charlie Coyle (14) ASST: Matt Dumba (7), Nino Niederreiter (15) 1 - 0 MIN
2ND PERIOD
03:20 NYI Mikhail Grabovski (8) ASST: John Tavares (19), Ryan Strome (13) 1 - 1 Tie
05:07 NYI Anders Lee (7) ASST: Travis Hamonic (8), Josh Bailey (14) 2 - 1 NYI
18:36 MIN Jason Pominville (6) ASST: Jason Zucker (9), Jarret Stoll (4) 2 - 2 Tie
19:18 NYI Brock Nelson (20) ASST: Calvin de Haan (7) 3 - 2 NYI
3RD PERIOD
02:49 NYI PPG - Frans Nielsen (15) ASST: Nick Leddy (16), Kyle Okposo (24) 4 - 2 NYI
04:52 NYI John Tavares (17) ASST: Mikhail Grabovski (15) 5 - 2 NYI
10:04 MIN PPG - Nino Niederreiter (9) ASST: Matt Dumba (8), Jared Spurgeon (15) 5 - 3 NYI
The Skinny:
The Isles are 8-8-1 in their last 17; they have outscored opponents 37-19 in the 8 wins (8-0-0), but have been outscored 29-9 in the 9 losses (0-8-1)… The Isles have outscored their opponents 54-40 in the third period this season…The Isles have outscored their opponents 12-2 in the third period over the last six games …Brock Nelson matched his career high in goals (20, also last season) by scoring 12th in the last 20 games…Mikhail Grabovski has goals in two straight games and points in three straight…JF Berube is the 45th goalie in Islander history to win a game…After going 0-1-1 vs. Chicago to open the season, the Isles are 7-1-0 in their last 8 games vs. the Central Division…Jason Pominville recorded his 600th point and Nino Niederreiter recorded his 100th point for Minnesota; Nino's goal was his first in 14 games while Pominville tallied for the first time in 17 games…Charlie Coyle scored for the 4th straight game…Calvin deHaan and Travis Hamonic were both +3; deHaan leads the team this season with a +11 rating…John Tavares also has a point in three straight games; Kyle Okposo and Tavares now share the team lead with 36 points…All 4 Minnesota natives (Nick Leddy, Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo and Anders Lee) on the Isles roster had a point tonight…Nelson is the 7th American-born player with multiple 20-goal seasons for the Isles (LaFontaine 6, Jason Blake and Mark Parrish 4, Randy Wood 3, Marty McInnis and Okposo 2)…The Isles are 78-20-16 when Tavares has at least two points, including 9-0-0 this season.
Lots of Work to Get Your First
As per the Elias Sports Bureau, Berube is the 4th Islander goalie to make at least 40 saves for his first NHL win.
The others are: Tommy Salo (40 saves vs. Quebec on 4-18-95), Roberto Luongo (43 saves in Boston on 11-28-99) and Peter Mannino (40 saves in Chicago on 3-15-09).
The Schedule
The NHL announced today that the January 23rd snow-out with Philadelphia will be made up on Sunday, April 10th, which is the day after the regular season was scheduled to end… Today's game began a stretch of 35 games in 69 days to end the regular season. The Isles will play five games in the final seven days of the regular season.
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 16-8-3 on home-ice (35 points). In the past 28 seasons, the Isles have earned more than 35 points in the first 27 home games only twice (40 in first 27 at home last season and 37 in 27 in 2003-04).
This was the final game of a snow-adjusted nine-game stretch in which the Isles will play seven times at home. The Isles went 5-3-1 in this stretch, and scored at least 5 goals in four of the five wins:
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 (Won 5-3)
Beginning on Thursday in Washington, the Isles will play 16 of their next 22 games and 20 of their final 34 games on the road.
The Shots:
Isles 12-15-11=38
Minnesota 20-8-15=43
Home and Road
The Islanders are 26-16-6 overall; 17-8-3 at home and 9-8-3 on the road.
Minnesota is 23-18-9 overall; 14-8-3 at home and 9-10-6 on the road.
Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc.
The Isles are 9-3-2 in Division games and are 17-13-4 in games against other divisions. They are 4-9-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 7-2-1 vs. the 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
Jean-Francois Berube made 40 saves to record his first NHL win; he is 1-1-0 on the season. Berube is also 4-1-0 (1.25 GAA, .960 save percentage) at Bridgeport this season.
Devyn Dubnyk made 25 saves before being replaced after the Isles' 5th goal; Dubnyk falls to 18-16-5 on the season. Darcy Kuemper made 8 saves in relief for Minnesota.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-1 on the power play, while Minnesota was 1-4.
The Isles are 16-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-13-3 when they do not. The Isles are 8-7-1 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 22-2-0 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 9-13-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 191-164-52 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. With 191 wins, Capuano has now won as many as any Islander other than Al Arbour has coached:
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 407
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 191
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 191 wins, three fewer than Bob Gainey and five fewer than Cecil Hart and Fred Creighton.
They Tweeted It
@SA3886 Best end of game #YesYesYes yet surrounding @JRouby at center ice..#Isles, #IslesTwitter, #IslesOnMSG
@Halak41Greiss1 @JRouby Congrats man! Your first #NHL win & its with our #Isles! I have a feeling that your goina be a big part of our @NYIslanders future!
@staciecamirand Literally losing my voice at this game rn #isles (That can happen when you SEE IT LIVE!)
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: Travis Hamonic (27:18); Minnesota: Ryan Suter (29:37)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (16-3-3), 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 19:20 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (16-12-5), 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 33, Minnesota 38 (46%). The 71 face-offs were the most in an Islander game in nearly a year (72 on 2/21/15 at Washington).
John Tavares won 14 of 26 for the Isles; Erik Haula won 9 of 11 for Minnesota.
The Isles won 12 of 21 draws in the middle period but won only 21 of 50 draws in the other 40 minutes.
The Isles won 28 of 58 draws at even strength, 1 of 3 on the power play and 4 of 10 on the penalty kill.
Heavy Hitters
Isles 18, Minnesota 19. Matt Martin led the Isles with 5 hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 231. 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 11 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic and Brock Nelson led the team with 2.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 69, Minnesota 64. 5-on-5: Isles 65, Minnesota 39.
(Note that Minnesota's attempts with a 6th attacker did not count towards the 5-on-5 stat)
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with a +26 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Josh Bailey had a club-leading 78% Corsi For percentage. Nate Prosser led Minnesota with a +3 5-on-5 Corsi rating.
Ironmen
· Nikolay Kulemin -198 (68 for Maple Leafs and 130 for the Isles)
· Brock Nelson -183 (all for Isles)
· Anders Lee -124 (all for Isles)
Missing Men
Adam Pelech, Eric Boulton and Johnny Boychuk are on injured reserve. Scott Mayfield replaced Brian Strait in the lineup; Steve Bernier and Thomas Greiss were scratched.
The Isles have lost 111 games this season due to injury/illness.
Missing a Piece (or two)
The Isles are 13-14-2 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 5-4-1 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:
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 573
…
20. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 21. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 22. Josh Bailey 523 *** 23. Dave Lewis 514 *** 24. Mick Vukota 510*** 25. Rich Pilon 509 *** 26. Kyle Okposo 496 *** 26. Ed Westfall 493***
28. Radek Martinek 479*** 29. John Tavares 477
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 191
…
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 114
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 246 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 214 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 212
…
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. David Volek 154 *** 27. Josh Bailey 151
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 437 ***
14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 341 *** 16. Pierre Turgeon 340
17. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 18. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 19. Frans Nielsen 328
…
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Josh Bailey 239
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0. The teams will finish the season series on February 23rd in Minnesota.
The Isles had gone 0-2-1 in the last three games against the Wild; this was 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.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 23-19-2-1 after sweeping three games last week to run their winning streak to four games. Bracken Kearns headed into the All-Star Break with 35 points and a +13 rating. Joe Whitney (now out injured) leads the team with 14 goals. The Sound Tigers begin their second half on Friday vs. Lehigh Valley, and then visit Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday.
Up Next
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4th – ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:30PM
[NBCSN (NHL Live Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles begin a stretch of 10 road games in the next 14 as they begin a two-game road trip in Washington in a nationally-televised game.
Washington Captain Alexander Ovechkin, who was suspended from tonight's game vs. Florida after missing this weekend's all-star game, is eligible to return for Washington; Ovechkin is 27-15-42 in 38 career games against the Isles.
This is the second meeting of the teams this season; Washington defeated the Isles 4-1 in Brooklyn back on January 7th. This will also be the Isles' first visit to Verizon Center since the Capitals defeated the Isles in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals last spring.
John Forslund and Pierre McGuire will have the call on NBCSN.
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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