The Skinny: Boston 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  

 By Eric Hornick

 

Game 66  

Boston 3, Isles 1

David Pastrnak scored two goals and Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists as the Boston Bruins overcame John Tavares' 200^th career goal to defeat the Isles 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden.

It's only the 2^nd regulation loss in the last ten games for the Isles (7-2-1).  The Isles fall to 11-3-2 in their last sixteen games, as they remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division, four points ahead of Pittsburgh (who announced today that Evgeni Malkin will be out 6 to 8 weeks with an injury).  The Isles fall three points behind the Rangers (who lost in OT to Detroit), and still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts.

The loss ends the Isles 5-game point steak (4-0-1).

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

18:26    BOS     PPG - Loui Eriksson (26) ASST: Ryan Spooner (34), Torey Krug (32)      1 - 0 BOS    

 

2ND PERIOD

10:48    NYI      John Tavares (26) ASST: Kyle Okposo (36)        1 - 1 Tie           

19:51    BOS     David Pastrnak (11) ASST: David Krejci (38), Loui Eriksson (26)  2 - 1 BOS    

 

3RD PERIOD

17:26    BOS     David Pastrnak (12) ASST: Loui Eriksson (27)    3 - 1 BOS

 

The Skinny:

Kyle Okposo now has 53 points on the season; it's the second-highest total of his career (69 in 2013-14) ...Nick Leddy's point streak ended at four games; his multi-point streak ended at three games…The Isles fall to 5-11-3 in games against the Atlantic Division…Boston improves to 7-1-2 in their last 10 games…The Isles are 3-3-2 in afternoon games this season and 7-9-4 in afternoon games over the last three seasons...The Bruins have sold out 290 consecutive games, including playoffs…Excluding empty-nets, the Isles have now scored 4 goals and allowed 4 goals in the final 30 seconds of periods…The Isles have allowed six power play goals in their last 17 times short (64.3%)…David Pastrnak now has 5 career game winning goals in 85 NHL games; Pastrnak is 4-0-4 in the last six games and 6-0-6 in the last ten games.  He is the first teenager since Nathan McKinnon (10-30-14 for Colorado) to score twice in a game against the Isles…The Isles have allowed at least one goal in six straight first periods (outscored 8-7) and allowed a goal in each regulation period for the second straight games…It was Tavares' 10^th goal since the all-star break; none of his teammates have more than six in that span (Lee- 6).

 

The Captain Hits 200

John Tavares' goal, his third in three games, was the 200^th of his career.  He is the 11^th player in Islander history to record 200 goals.

Most Points in The Post-Cup Era through 66 games

·        87 in 2014-15

·        82 in 2015-16

·        76 in 2006-07

Home Sweet Home

The Isles are 20-8-4 on home-ice (44 points).  In the past 28 years, the Isles have earned more than 44 points in the first 32 home games only twice (46 in first 32 at home last season and 45 in 32 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 17-13-4 on the road this season.  In the Post-Cup era, the Isles have earned more than 38 points in the first 34 road games only once (41 in first 34 on road last season).

 

This was the tenth 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.

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 (Won 3-2)

3-Mar-16          @ Jets (Won 4-3 OT)

6-Mar-16          @ Rangers (Won 6-4)

8-Mar-16          Vs Penguins (Won 2-1)

9-Mar-16          @ Maple Leafs (Lost/SO 4-3)

12-Mar-16         @ Bruins (Lost 3-1)

14-Mar-16         Vs Panthers

15-Mar-16         @ Penguins

17-Mar-16         @ Predators

19-Mar-16         @ Stars

The Shots:

Isles      5-12-9=26

Boston 14-11-6=31

 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 37-21-8 overall; 20-8-4 at home and 17-13-4 on the road. 

Boston is 39-23-8 overall; 16-16-5 at home and 23-7-3 on the road.

 

By Division

The Isles are 13-5-3 in Division games and are 24-16-5 in games against other divisions. They are 5-11-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 9-2-1 vs. the Central Division, and 10-3-1 vs. the Pacific Division. 

 

The Isles are 34-11-3 since the start of last season against the Metropolitan Division. 

How The West is Won

The Isles are 19-5-2 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). 

The Isles are guaranteed to finish with at least the 2^nd-best record of an Eastern team vs. the West.  (Washington is 14-4-3 and still has 7 games left against the West, including Saturday's game in San Jose)

The Isles' only remaining games against the West are on March 17 in Nashville and March 19 in Dallas.

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 28 saves but falls to 18-7-4 on the season and 0-2-0 in his career against Boston. It's Greiss' first regulation loss since January 2^nd vs Pittsburgh, ending a 7-0-2 run.

Tuukka Rask made 25 saves and improves to 28-18-7 on the season; he is 10-3-0 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-0 on the power play, while Boston was 1-1

It is the first time since January 2^nd- -3^rd that the Isles have allowed three power play goals in 2-game period.  The Isles went without a power play for the first time since November 1 vs. Buffalo; the Isles are 1-6-3 in the last 10 games in which they have been held without a power play.

The Isles are 23-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 11-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 26-11-5 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 30-3-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-18-7 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 16-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 8-6-0 in regulation. They are 4-4 in games decided in overtime and are 4-4 in shootouts.  The Isles are 6-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 25-5-4 when they score first and are 12-16-4 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One

Jack Capuano, the 2^nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 202-169-54 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 425

3.      Mike Milbury 191

4.      Terry Simpson 187

5.      Scott Gordon 181

 

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1.      Al Arbour 740

2.      Jack Capuano 202

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. His 202 wins is now 71st all-time.  (Tied/69 – Gerry Cheevers and Todd Richards 204)

They Tweeted It

@mets_score Congratulations to John Tavares on scoring his 200th career NHL goal! #Isles

@CompleteHkyNews Congratulations to New York Islanders forward John Tavares on scoring his 200th career goal!

@NertNillz Its clear as day that Tavares is HOT right now. Stats in last 8 games are unreal.  (Longer than that: 10-10-20 in 19 games since All-Star Break)

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 3-4-4 on the front-end and 7-2-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The next back-to-back set will be on March 14^th vs Florida and March 15^th in Pittsburgh.

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 4-1-2 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:52); Boston: Zdeno Chara (22:11)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (22-4-5), Johnny Boychuk (5-3-0), Calvin deHaan (2-3-1), Nick Leddy (6-8-2), John Tavares (0-2-0), Tied (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the forwards with 21:39 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (25-17-7), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (2-2-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (4-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-1-0). 

Face-offs

Isles 30, Boston 30 (50%)

Casey Cizikas won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Ryan Spooner won 7 of 12 for Boston. 

The Isles won 10 of 17 in the third period after winning only 20 of 43 in the first two periods.

The Isles won 29 of 58 draws at even strength, 0 of 0 on the power play and 1 of 2 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 38, Boston 26.  Matt Martin led the Isles with 7 hits, as Martin extended his NHL-leading total to 315.  It's the 4^th time in his career that he has recorded 300 hits and the 13^th time in NHL history a player has had at least 300 hits, tying Cal Clutterbuck's NHL-record for 300-hit seasons (Hits first recorded in 2005-06).

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 18 (Martin-10, Bernier, Boychuk, Cizikas, Hamonic, Leddy, Lee, Okposo, Strait).

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 18 blocked shots, including three from Brian Strait.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 57, Boston 62.  5-on-5: Isles 50, Boston 58.  

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

 

Ryan Pulock led the Isles with a +6 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Pulock also had a club-leading 61% Corsi For percentage. Adam McQuaid led Boston with a +17 5-on-5 Corsi rating.

Ironmen

·        Nikolay Kulemin -216 (68 for Maple Leafs and 148 for the Isles)

·        Brock Nelson -201 (all for Isles)

·        Anders Lee -142 (all for Isles)

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Post Cup Era 

·        Matt Moulson 10/3/2009- 4/4/2013  284

·        John Tavares 10/16/10 – 12/23/2013  246

·        Richard Park 10/5/2006 – 2/18/2009 221

·        Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220

·        Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981- 1/12/1984 219

·        Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215

-------------------

·        Brock Nelson 12/7/2013 – CURRENT 201

Missing Men

Adam Pelech and Mikhail Grabovski are on injured reserve. Jaroslav Halak (injured), Marek Zidlicky (injured). Calvin deHaan (injured), Eric Boulton, and Steve Bernier were scratched.

The Isles have lost 164 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 591*** 16. Ken Morrow 550 *** 17. Duane Sutter 547 *** 18. Lorne Henning 543 *** 19. Josh Bailey 541 *** 20. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 21. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Dave Lewis and Kyle Okposo 514 *** 25. Mick Vukota 510 *** 26. Rich Pilon 509 *** 27. John Tavares 495

Goals

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

….

9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 200

…

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 134 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Alexei Yashin 119 *** 21. Frans Nielsen, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, and Steve Thomas 118

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 255*** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249***16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 223

…

25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. David Volek 154 *** 27. Josh Bailey 153

Points

1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052

…

10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 455***13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 357 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 341

…

24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Josh Bailey 245

Season Series Stats

Boston wins the season series 3 games to 0 and 6 points to 0.

Overall, the Isles have lost five straight to Boston; it's their longest losing streak to the Bruins since a 6-game skein from 2007 to 2009.

 

On The Farm

Bridgeport is 31-23-3-3 on the season after a 5-2 loss to Syracuse on Friday.  The Sound Tigers have a home-and-home series this weekend as they visit Lehigh Valley Saturday before hosting the Phantoms on Sunday.

Up Next

MONDAY, MARCH 14th–FLORIDA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM

[MSG+ (Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

 

The Isles will look to avoid a season sweep as they entertain the Panthers.

 

Florida defeated the Isles 3-2 in a shootout on November 27^th; the first nine shooters all scored in the shootout before Roberto Luongo stopped Brock Nelson.  The Isles outshot Florida 34-16 at Barclays on December 15^th but the Panthers won the game 5-1.

 

The Isles are 0-2-2 in their last four games against Florida including 0-2-0 at home.  The Isles have not lost three straight home game to Florida since the Panthers were victorious in their first three visits ever to Nassau Coliseum (January 17- March 26, 1994).

 

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