"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 9
Isles 5, Toronto 1
Shane Prince and Brock Nelson scored 2:39 apart to break open a close game as the Isles surged to a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs before a crowd of 12,057 at Barclays Center.
Prince and Nelson each assisted on the other's goal as well, giving Prince back-to-back 2 point games.
The Isles welcomed Matt Martin back with a first period video tribute.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
01:01 New York Travis Hamonic (2) ASST: Nick Leddy (2), Nikolay Kulemin (2) 0-1
07:22 New York Casey Cizikas (1) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (4), Nikolay Kulemin (3) 0-2
2ND PERIOD
No Scoring
3RD PERIOD
00:50 Toronto PPG - Jake Gardiner (1) ASST: William Nylander (7), James van Riemsdyk (2) 1-2
05:08 New York Shane Prince (2) ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (1), Brock Nelson (6) 1-3
07:47 New York Brock Nelson (3) ASST: Shane Prince (2), Dennis Seidenberg (2) 1-4
19:16 New York Josh Bailey (2) ASST: Nick Leddy (3), John Tavares (3) 1-5
The Skinny
Travis Hamonic's goal was the earliest by an Islander since Ryan Strome scored 54 seconds into the Isles' 3-2 shootout win in Columbus on February 9th … The Islander defense scored a goal for the 5th straight game, giving them eight goals in that span. The defense has combined for 9-12-21 this season; it's the first time the Isles defense has scored in 5 straight games since March 16-24, 2013…Brock Nelson had two points, giving him 29 points in 37 career October games (12-17-29) as he went 3-6-9 in nine games this month.…The Isles have won three straight games when they are rested, and the opponent is not, by a combined score of 14-6…Every Islander but Dennis Seidenberg had at least one shot on goal; both Seidenberg and Calvin deHaan were +3…James van Riemsdyk, who has had some big games against the Isles in the past, including his only hat trick, was -4 for Toronto, as was Tyler Bozak…The Isles have outscored their opponents 27-25 this season; they are +1 in both the 2nd period and overtime and are even in both the first period and third period… Anthony Beauvillier played in his 8th game of the season; he can play in one more game before the Isles need to make a decision whether to return him to Junior …Since opening the season 1-0-1, Toronto is 1-4-2 in their last seven games…The Isles allowed only one goal for the first time this season…13 of Shane Prince's 22 career points have come in 6 multi-point games
Offense From Defense
The Isles defense has scored at least once in at least five straight games, matching the longest streak in at least 29 years.
· 5 – CURRENT
· 5- March 16-24, 2013
· 5- January 15-24, 2002
· 5- October 21-30, 1997
· 5-October 16-26, 1993
One-Sided Win
This was the most one-sided game between the Isles and Leafs in the Tavares era. It's the first time the Isles have beaten the Leafs by at least 4 goals since a 6-2 Coliseum win on December 17, 1993.
Milestone Men
Casey Cizikas, Calvin deHaan and Ryan Strome are all closing in on games played milestones. Cizikas played in his 299th game, while both deHaan and Strome played in their 198th NHL games.
Late Losses
The Isles have been tied in the third period in four of their five regulation losses. In each of the last three games, the Isles have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation:
· 10/18 – San Jose - Joe Pavelski (17:49)
· 10/26 - Montreal - Shea Weber (17:03)
· 10/27 – Pittsburgh - Sidney Crosby (17:35)
Lots of Home Cooking
The Isles are 4-3-0 in the first six games of an 11-game stretch in which they play 10-out of-11 at home for the first time in their history. This includes two separate five game homestands, separated by a road game in Toronto.
The Shots
Isles 13-12-10=35
Toronto 10-17-7=34
The Isles are 4-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, but are 0-4-0 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 4-5-0 overall; 4-2-0 at home and 0-3-0 on the road.
Toronto is 2-4-3 overall; 2-1-0 at home and 0-3-3 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 0-3-0 in Division games and 4-2-0 in games versus other divisions (1-1-0 vs. Atlantic, 1-0-0 vs. Central and 2-1-0 vs. Pacific).
Last season the Isles went 18-8-4 in Division games and 27-19-6 in games against other divisions. The Isles went 19-7-2 against the Western Conference, including 12-0-2 at home.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 33 saves and improves to 2-2-0 on the season and 3-1-1 in his career against Toronto.
Jhonas Enroth made 29 saves but falls to 0-2-0 on the season and 2-5-0 against the Isles in his career.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Toronto was 1-3.
The Isles are 0-3-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-2-0 when they do not. The Isles are 1-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-2-0 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 4-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-4-0 when they do not. The Isles were 37-4-2 when they scored at least three goals (including SO winners) last season.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 2-3-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-3-0 in regulation. They are 1-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.
First Goal
The Isles are 3-0-0 when they score first and are 1-5-0 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 214-180-56 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 450
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 214
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 214 wins places him 67th all-time, 1 behind Brent Sutter and 5 behind Herb Brooks.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 0-2-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-1-0 on the back-end. Last season, the Isles went 5-5-5 on the front-end and 9-3-3 on the back end of back-to-backs.
The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs this season, but the next one is not until November 22 in Anaheim and November 23 in Los Angeles.
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 3-1-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
· The Isles are 0-1-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: John Tavares (21:54); Toronto: Martin Marincin (22:36).
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (1-0-0), Nick Leddy (2-5-0), John Tavares (1-0-0)
Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (2-4-0), Josh Bailey (1-1-0), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 30, Toronto 33 (48%)
John Tavares won 12 of 21 for the Isles; William Nylander won 8 of 10 for Toronto.
The Isles won 13 of 20 draws in the 1st period, 12 of 24 in the 2nd period but only 5 of 19 in the third.
The Isles won 26 of 52 draws at even strength, 2 of 4 on the power play and 2 of 7 on the penalty kill.
Hit Count
Isles 19, Toronto 23. Anders Lee led the Isles with 4 hits; Matt Martin had 4 hits for Toronto.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 0.
The Isles were involved in 23 fights last season.
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 22 blocked shots, including five by Travis Hamonic.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 59 Toronto 78 (including 26-15 in Toronto's favor in the 3rd period)
5-on-5 Isles 50, Toronto 66
5-on 5 leaders:
Isles: Shane Prince +4; 58%.
Toronto: Leo Komarov +10
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 114 (including 105 for Washington); Josh Bailey 77.
Scratches
JF Berube, Matthew Barzal, Alan Quine
Injured Reserve: Ryan Pulock
Total games lost: 17
Missing a Piece (or two)
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Isles are 17-17-3 in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 1-0-0 this season.
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
13. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 14. Garry Howatt 596 *** 15. John Tonelli 594*** 16. Josh Bailey 566
…
22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Kyle Okposo 529*** 24. John Tavares 519
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
8. Bob Nystrom 235 **** 9. Derek King and John Tavares 211 *** 11. John Tonelli 206
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 ***
…
11. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 13. John Tavares 267
…
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. Josh Bailey 161
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 478
…
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. Josh Bailey 256
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none). The teams will meet again in Brooklyn on February 6th before playing in Toronto on Valentine's Day.
The Isles are 9-3-2 in their last 14 games against Toronto.
On The Farm
Bridgeport took 2 out of 3 in their busy weekend as they improved to 4-3-0 on the season. Christopher Gibson made 27 saves on Friday and 22 saves on Saturday in wins over Springfield (5-1) and Lehigh Valley (5-4). Josh Ho-Sang and Michael dalColle each had a goal and an assist in the Saturday win. The Sound Tigers dropped a 2-0 decision (2nd goal an empty-netter) to Springfield on Sunday.
Bridgeport is back on the ice for a school day matinee at 11am Wednesday against Albany.
Up Next
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1st –TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS 7:30PM
[NBCSN (Pre-game at 6:30), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The homestand continues with the first meeting since last year's playoffs between the Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning eliminated the Islanders in 5 hard-fought games in the 2nd round last spring; both of the Brooklyn games were decided in overtime.
The Bolts have lost three straight since opening 5-1-0, including a 6-1 defeat at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
This is the first of five Islander games to be televised nationally this season. Rick Peckham and Brian Boucher will have the call of the game 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 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
