The Skinny: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1. Series tied 1-1.

"The Skinny"   

By Eric Hornick

 

Eastern Conference Second Round Game 2

Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

 

Tyler Johnson scored two goals and added an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning evened the Eastern Conference 2^nd round series with a 4-1 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 19,092 at Amalie Arena.

 

Johnson now has 18 career playoff goals, tying Brad Richards for 3^rd place on the all-time Lightning list.

 

The series is tied, 1 game to 1.  Game 3 will be in Brooklyn at 7pm on Tuesday, and will be nationally televised by NBCSN.

 

The Scoring:

 

1ST PERIOD

06:03    TBL      Tyler Johnson (3) ASST: Ondrej Palat (1), Victor Hedman (3)      1 - 0 TBL           

11:55    TBL      Jonathan Drouin (1) ASST: Valtteri Filppula (1)   2 - 0 TBL         

15:15    NYI      PPG - Nikolay Kulemin (1) ASST: Thomas Hickey (3), Alan Quine (4)      2 - 1 TBL     

 

2ND PERIOD

11:59    TBL      PPG - Victor Hedman (1) ASST: Tyler Johnson (6), Jonathan Drouin (6)  3 - 1 TBL     

 

3RD PERIOD

17:42    TBL      EN - Tyler Johnson (4) ASST: Jason Garrison (4)           4 - 1 TBL

The Series (Series tied 1-1)

Game 1: Isles 4, Tampa Bay 3

Game 2: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

Game 3: Tuesday at Islanders 7pm (NBCSN)

Game 4:  May 6 at Islanders 7pm (NBSCN)

Game 5:  May 8 at Tampa Bay (TBD)

*Game 6: May 10 at Islanders (TBD)

*Game 7: May 12 at Tampa Bay (TBD)

 

Win Another for Mother

With Tampa Bay's win, this series will return to Tampa Bay next Sunday for only the 2^nd Mother's Day game in franchise history. In 1975, the Isles evened their semi-finals series with Philadelphia at 3 games each with a 2-1 Mother's Day win.  A large banner in the Coliseum that afternoon proclaimed "Win Another for Mother".   There might have been a "Mother's Day Miracle at the Coliseum just past midnight in 1982, but Mike Bossy's goal with 2 seconds left in overtime beat Vancouver in game 1 as the Isles marched towards their third consecutive Cup.

The Skinny

The Isles are 10-20 all-time in game 2's played on the road and 27-24 in game 2's overall…Alan Quine extended his point streak to four games; among rookies, only Artemi Panarin (7 points for Chicago) has more points in this year's playoffs than Quine's 5…Jack Capuano saw his all-time playoff record fall to 10-11; he is now 2^nd in both game coached and wins to Al Arbour among Isles coaches … The Isles have scored 4 first period goals in the series; Tampa Bay did not allow a first period goal to Detroit (5 games). …The Lightning have scored first in six of their seven playoff games; the Isles have allowed the first goal in seven of eight games…. Going back to last year's post-season, the Lightning are 16-2 when scoring the first goal… The Isles saw their playoff winning streak end at three games; the Isles have not won four consecutive playoff games since winning games 3 – 6 vs. Montreal in 1984…The Isles have not led a series 2 games to 0 since the 1983 Cup Final; the Isles have split the first two games 15 times and trailed 2-0 eight times…The Isles have split the first two games of their last seven series; they won only one of the first six – the last one!...Victor Hedman's goal was the first by a Tampa Bay defender in this year's playoffs and tied Dan Boyle and Pavel Kubina for most career playoff goals by a Lightning defender (3).  Hedman already held both the assist and point record; he's now 3-24-27… According to Elias Sports Bureau, Jonathan Drouin (21 years, 34 days) is the youngest player in Lightning history to score a game-winning goal in the postseason…The Lightning are now 6-0 in their last six game 2's.  Four of the six wins have evened a series in which the Lightning lost the opener.

First Time in a Long Time

The Isles have been held to 22 shots or fewer in consecutive playoff games for the first time since games 3 and 4 vs. the Rangers (1994) and game 1 vs. Toronto (2002).

Lead/Tie/Trail

In game 2, the game was tied for the first 6:03 and the Lightning led the remaining 53:57.

 

For the series, the Isles have led for 42:32, the Lightning led for 56:36 and the game was tied for 20:52. The Isles led game 1 for nearly as much time as they led the series vs. Florida (45:55).  The Isles led game 1 by at least two goals for 37:31 after holding a two goal lead for only 55 seconds against Florida.

 

The Isles had a three-goal lead during game 1 while Tampa Bay finished the game with a three-goal advantage.  There was no point in the Isles' series with Florida in which they led or trailed by three goals.

 

Point Per Game Man

John Tavares now has 22 points in 21 career playoff games; he is the only Islander other than Mike Bossy (1.24 points per game) to play more than two playoff games for the Isles and average over one point per game.  (Bryan Trottier had 170 points in 175 games, falling just shy of 1.00.)

 

With 11 goals in those 21 games, only Bossy (.66) and Ray Ferraro (.64) have averaged more goals per playoff game as an Islander than Tavares (.52) [Minimum 5 goals]

 

Moving On Up

Tavares is the 24^th player in Isles history to record at least 22 playoff points (having tied and then passed Ray Ferraro in game 1); his 11 goals tie him with Ken Morrow for 20^th place.

 

Playoffs All-time

The Isles improve to 144-117 in 261 all-time playoff games.  They are 82-42 at home (including 2-1 at Barclays) and 62-75 on the road. The Isles were 77-32 in home playoff games from 1975 to 2002, but won only three of their last 12 home games at Nassau Coliseum.

Home Sweet Home

The Isles went 25-11-5 on home-ice (55 points).  It's the first time since 1983-84 and 1984-85 that the Isles have earned at least 52 points at home in consecutive seasons.

Road Warriors

The Isles finished their road schedule with a record of 20-16-5. It's the 10^th time in franchise history that the Isles have won 20 road games in a season. 

 

The Shots

Isles            12-5-3=20

Tampa Bay  5-14-12=31

 

Tampa Bay has outshot the Isles 54-18 in the final 40 minutes of the first two games.

 

Shots by Game

·        Game 1: Isles 22, Tampa Bay 35

·        Game 2; Isles 20, Tampa Bay 31

·        Total:      Isles 42, Tampa Bay 66

 

By Division (Regular Season)

The Isles are 18-8-4 in Division games and are 27-19-6 in games against other divisions. They are 8-12-4 vs. the Atlantic Division, 9-4-1 vs. the Central Division, and 10-3-1 vs. the Pacific Division. 

 

How The West Was Won

The Isles went 19-7-2 against the Western Conference, including 12-0-2 at home. The Isles finished with the best record of any Eastern team vs. the West. 

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 27 saves but falls to 1-1 in the series and 5-3 in the playoffs.

Ben Bishop made 19 saves and improves to1-1 in the series and 5-2 in the playoffs.

Power Plays

In the game, the Islanders were 1-5 on the power play while Tampa Bay was 1-5.

For the series, the Isles are 2-9 on the power play, while Tampa Bay is 1-7.

For the playoffs, the Isles are 7-30 on the power play and have killed 19 of 22 opponents' power plays.

Power Plays by Game

·        Game 1: Isles 1-4, Tampa Bay 0-2

·        Game 2: Isles 1-5, Tampa Bay 1-5

·        Series:    Isles 2-9, Tampa Bay 1-7

 

The Isles are 4-2 in the playoffs when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-2 when they allow at least one power play goal in the playoff and are 4-1 when they do not.

In the regular season, the Isles were 27-5-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 18-22-6 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-13-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 32-14-7 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 3-0 in the playoffs when scoring at least 3 goals and are 2-3 when they do not.

In the regular season, the Isles were 37-4-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-23-8 when they did not. 

One Goal Games

The Isles are 4-1 in playoff games decided by a single goal. The Isles are 1-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 1-0 in playoff games when they score first and are 5-2 when they allow the opening goal.  The Isles scored first in game 5 vs. Florida, but have allowed the first goal in the other seven games.

The Isles were 29-7-5 in the regular season when they scored first and were 16-20-5 when they allowed the opening goal.   

Coach Cappy

Jack Capuano is now 10-11 in playoff games behind the Islander bench.  Among the nine New York area teams, only the Yankees' Joe Girardi has led his team longer than Capuano. 

Capuano is only the 2^nd coach to lead three Islander teams to the playoffs, joining Al Arbour.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

·        Al Arbour 123

·        Jack Capuano 10

·        Terry Simpson 9

·        Peter Laviolette 4

·        Ted Nolan 1

·        Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

·        Al Arbour 209

·        Jack Capuano 21

·        Terry Simpson 20

·        Peter Laviolette 12

·        Steve Stirling 5

·        Ted Nolan 5

Most playoff series wins:

·        Al Arbour 29

·        Jack Capuano 1

·        Terry Simpson 1

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

·        Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

·        Jack Capuano 4 (4-3)

·        Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

·        Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

·        Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:25); Florida: Victor Hedman (27:25). Hedman has led the Lightning in ice-time in every game in this year's playoffs.

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (4-2), Travis Hamonic (1-1)

John Tavares led the forwards with 22:25 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: Frans Nielsen (1-0), John Tavares (4-2), Tie (0-1)

Face-offs

Isles 26, Tampa Bay 30 (46%)

Frans Nielsen won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Brian Boyle won 7 of 12 for Tampa Bay.

The Isles won 14 of 25 draws in the middle period, but won only 12 of 31 in the other 40 minutes.

The Isles won 19 of 39 draws at even strength, 2 of 8 on the power play and 5 of 9 on the penalty kill.

Face-offs Game by Game:

·        Game 1: Isles 32, Tampa Bay 21

·        Game 2: Isles 26, Tampa Bay 30

·        Series:   Isles 58, Tampa Bay 51

Heavy Hitters

Isles 33, Tampa Bay 31.  Matt Martin and Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with 5 hits each.

Hits Game by Game:

·        Game 1: Isles 29, Tampa Bay 33

·        Game 2: Isles 33, Tampa Bay 31

·        Series: Isles 62, Tampa Bay 64

 Most Hits in a Season (since 2005-06):

1          Matt Martin       2014-2015        NYI      382

2          Matt Martin       2011-2012        NYI      374

3          Matt Martin      2015-2016        NYI      365

4          Matt Martin       2013-2014        NYI      359

5          Cal Clutterbuck 2008-2009        MIN      356

6          Cal Clutterbuck 2014-2015        NYI      343

7          Cal Clutterbuck 2010-2011        MIN      336

8          Cal Clutterbuck 2009-2010        MIN      318

 

Fights

There were no fights in the game and there have been no fights in the series. Playoff total – 0.

Regular season total – 23 (Martin-11, Lee-3, Bernier, Boychuk, Cizikas, Hamonic, Leddy, Mayfield, Okposo, Pulock, Strait). 

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 14 blocked shots; Johnny Boychuk led the team with four.

Most Blocked Shots by an Islander (since 2005-2006)

1              Brendan Witt                    2006-2007    207

2              Sean Hill                          2006-2007    202

3              Calvin de Haan                2015-2016    198

3              Andrew Mac Donald          2013-2014    198

5              Andrew Mac Donald          2011-2012    185

 

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations:  Isles 39, Tampa Bay 59 (Including 47-16 in Tampa Bay's favor in the final 2 periods and 45-12 Tampa Bay after the 3:12 mark of the 2^nd period)  

5-on-5: Isles 29, Tampa Bay 39

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

 

Calvin deHaan led the Isles with a +4 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Matt Martin led the team with a 58% Corsi For percentage.  Braydon Coburn and Nikita Kucherov led Tampa Bay with a +8 5-on-5 Corsi rating.

Corsi (All Situations) Game by Game:

·        Game 1: Isles 44, Tampa Bay 65

·        Game 2: Isles 39, Tampa Bay 59

·        Series: Isles 83, Tampa Bay 124

Corsi (5-on-5) Game by Game:

·        Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 54

·        Game 2: Isles 29, Tampa Bay 39

·        Series: Isles 60, Tampa Bay 93

Missing Men

Ryan Pulock

Josh Bailey

Anders Lee

Brian Strait

James Wright

Adam Pelech

Mikhail Grabovski

Jaroslav Halak

 

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers were eliminated with a 6-4 loss to Toronto on Thursday.

 

North Division Semifinals – Series "C" (best-of-5) 
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. A5-Bridgeport Sound Tigers 
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 23 – Toronto 4 at Bridgeport 1 
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Toronto 3 at Bridgeport 0 
Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Bridgeport 4 at Toronto 6 

Up Next

ISLANDERS VS LIGHTNING

 

GAME 3: TUESDAY, MAY 3rd – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS  7:00PM

[NBCSN, WCBC 880, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

 

GAME 4: FRIDAY, MAY 6th – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS  7:00PM

[NBCSN, WCBS 880, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

 

GAME 5: SUNDAY, MAY 8th – AT TAMPA BAY Time TBD

 

GAME 6: IF NECESSARY: TUESDAY, MAY 10th – AT ISLANDERS Time TBD

GAME 7: IF NECESSARY: THURSDAY, MAY 12th– AT TAMPA BAY Time TBD

 

 A 1-hour Islander playoff post-game will follow each game on MSG Networks.

 

The Isles will look to take a 2-1 lead as the series moves to Barclays Center for games 3 and 4.

The Isles have played 17 best-of-7 series that have been tied 1 game each, and the game 3 winner has won the series 14 times. In those series:

·        The Isles have won game 3 seven times, and have won the series 6 of those 7 times

·        The Isles have lost game 3 ten times, and have won the series only 2 of those 10 times

 

Due to the NHL lockout, the entire 2013 series with Pittsburgh was played in May.  Other than that, Game 3 will be the first Islander May playoff game since May 24, 1993 in Montreal.  The Isles are 47-26 all-time in May playoff games.

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 http://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

Off-Day Skinny: Isles win with only 22 shots on Goal; Greiss is moving up Isles & NHL lists

The Isles won game 1 of the series on Wednesday night despite having only 22 shots on goal (including only 10 over the last two periods).

It's the first time in  (guess how many) years,  (yes, 23) that the Isles have won a playoff game with 22 shots or fewer.

The Isles had lost 12 straight games with 22 or fewer shots since defeating Pittsburgh in game 7 in 1993 on the David Volek goal at 5:16 of overtime.

================

Thomas Greiss recorded his 5th victory of the spring in Game 1.  Greiss is only the 2nd goalie in Islander history to record at least 5 playoff games in his first trip to the playoffs with the team.  Chico Resch won 8 games for the Isles in 1974-75.  However, Chico made his NHL debut the previous season, playing two games.  Thus, Greiss is the first to win 5 in his first season with the team.

Greiss is also the 10th Islander goalie to win 5 games in a playoff year:

(thanks, hockey-reference.com)
Rk          Player  Season GP  W L    GAA SO
1     Billy Smith*    1979-80 20 15 4      2.80  1
2     Billy Smith*    1981-82 18 15 3      2.52  1
3     Billy Smith*    1980-81 17 14 3      2.54  0
4     Billy Smith*    1982-83 17 13 3      2.68  2
5     Billy Smith*    1983-84 21 12 8     2.72  0
6      Glenn Healy   1992-93 18  9 8     3.19  0
7      Glenn Resch   1974-75 12  8 4      2.17  1
8     Kelly Hrudey   1986-87 14  7 7     2.71  0
9     Billy Smith*    1976-77 10  7 3      2.79  0
10   Thomas Greiss 2015-16  7  5 2  1.94  0

Counting a relief appearance in 2010, Greiss has made 8 playoff appearances.  He is 5-2 with a .940 save percentage.

Greiss is one of 5 goalies who played in an NHL game this season to win at least 5 of his first 8 playoff appearances, with a save percentage of at least .940.   (Ben Bishop just misses the list)

Player	W	SV%
Jonas Hiller	5	0.951
Michael Leighton**	6	0.948
Semyon Varlamov	6	0.945
Cam Ward	7	0.942
Thomas Greiss	5	0.940
Ben Bishop	5	0.933

** Leighton played in one NHL game this season.

A Prince of a Guy: Shane's place in Isles history

Shane Prince had a period (and a night) to remember in game 1.

In doing so, he tied some Islander history:

According to the geniuses at Elias Sports Bureau, Prince is the 4th Islander rookie to scored 2 goals in a game.

All 4 did so by scoring both of their goals in the same period, so Prince now shares two Islander records.

The other three:

Alex McKendry (1980 at Los Angeles, Game 4), Patrick Flatley (1984 vs. Washington, Game 5) and Pat LaFontaine (1984 at Edmonton, Game 5). 


And some extra from me: 

Mc Kendry scored at 1:46 and 10:15 of the third period in the series-clinching win (His goals made it 3-0 and 6-0).

Flatley scored at 9:16 and 16:57 of the second period in the series-cinching win (His goals tied the game at 2, and made the score 4-2)

LaFontaine also scored his goals in a series-clincher, but it was the game in which Edmonton dethroned the Isles as Stanley Cup champs.  Patty scored twice in the first 35 seconds of the third period (:13 and :35) as the Isles cut the Edmonton lead to 4-2.  They remain the fastest two goals from the start of a period by one player in Stanley Cup history.

The Isles certainly hope that Prince's career follows one of the Pat's and not McKendry.  McKendry played 10 regular season and six playoff games for the Isles; those were his only two goals.