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The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 30 Los Angeles 3, Isles 1 Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala scored to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead an...

Thursday, October 27, 2016

The Skinny: Montreal 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
Game 7
Montreal 3, Isles 2
Shea Weber's power play goal with 2:57 remaining broke a 2-2 tie as the Montreal Canadiens remained unbeaten in regulation time with a 3-2 win over the Islanders before a crowd of 12,194 at Barclays Center.
Dennis Seidenberg had tied the game with his second goal of the season just 2:47 earlier, but Weber's winner prevented the Islanders from matching their best home record through five games in the post-Cup era.  

The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
No Scoring
2ND PERIOD
03:10    Montreal           Paul Byron (2) ASST: Brendan Gallagher (3), Alexei Emelin (2)   0-1
15:17    New York         PPG - John Tavares (4) 1-1
3RD PERIOD
11:21    Montreal           Phillip Danault (2) ASST: Brian Flynn (1), Shea Weber (6)           1-2
14:16    New York         Dennis Seidenberg (2) ASST: Calvin de Haan (1), Ryan Strome (3)            2-2
17:03    Montreal           PPG - Shea Weber (3) ASST: Jeff Petry (3), Max Pacioretty (5)   2-3

The Skinny
John Tavares' goal was his 211th, tying Derek King for 9th place on the all-time Isles list… The Isles scored and allowed a power play goal in this game after scoring only one and allowing only one in the first six games … The Islander defense has scored six goals in the last three games and has combined for 7-7-14 this season; it's the first time the Isles defense has scored in three straight games since March 1-6, 2016, matching their longest such streak since scoring in 4 straight games in October 2014…Nikolay Kulemin missed his first game with an injury since joining the Isles…Shea Weber had 2 points and improved his league-leading +/- to +12.  He is 3-4-7 and +9 in the last 4 games…Ryan Strome extended his point streak to three games...Brian Flynn's assist was his first point since New Year's Day in Boston.
Youth Be Served
Matt Barzal replaced Nikolay Kulemin in the lineup as the Isles played two teenagers for the first time since the 2000-01 season.  Tim Connolly appeared in every game that season while fellow teens Taylor Pyatt and Rick DiPietro played in 78 games and 20 games respectively.
Barzal, who is 13 days older than Anthony Beauvillier, was 19 years, 153 days on Wednesday.  The Isles have used two players younger than that in the same game only once in their history.  On October 6, 2000, the Isles opened their season in Tampa Bay with Taylor Pyatt (19-048) and Tim Connolly (19-152) in the lineup.
First Time in a Long Time
Both Calvin deHaan and Dennis Seidenberg blocked 7 shots, becoming the first Isles teammates to block that many in the same game since February 10, 2009, when Brendan Witt and Bruno Gervais did so against Los Angeles.
The Isles blocked 28 shots in all, which is the most that they have matched since also blocking 28 last October 20th in Columbus.  The 28 blocks are the most in a home game for the Isles since they blocked 30 vs. Toronto on January 24, 2012.
Lots of Home Cooking
The Isles are 3-2-0 in the first five games of an 11-game stretch in which the Isles will play 10-out of-11 at home for the first time in their history.  This includes two separate five game homestands, separated by tomorrow's game in Pittsburgh.
The Shots
Isles          8-5-15=28
Montreal   5-12-12=29
The Isles are 3-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, but are 0-4-0 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 3-4-0 overall; 3-2-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road. 
Montreal is 6-0-1 overall; 3-0-0 at home and 3-0-1 on the road.  The Canadiens are the last team in the NHL without a regulation loss for the second straight season.

By Division
The Isles are 0-2-0 in Division games and 3-2-0 in games versus other divisions (0-1-0 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 26 saves but falls to 1-2-0 on the season and 0-3-0 in his career against Montreal.
Al Montoya made 26 saves and improves to 3-0-1 on the season and 4-0-0 against the Isles in his career.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-2 on the power play, while Montreal was 1-1.  There was only 1:48 of power play time for both teams in the entire game.
The Isles are 0-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-2-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-2-0 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 3-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-3-0 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 2-0-0 when they score first and are 1-4-0 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 213-179-56 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 448
3.      Mike Milbury 191
4.      Terry Simpson 187
5.      Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.      Al Arbour 740
2.      Jack Capuano 213
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 213 wins places him 67th all-time, 2 behind Brent Sutter and 6 behind Herb Brooks.

Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 0-2-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-0-0 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.  
This set of back-to-backs will conclude Thursday in Pittsburgh.
Tired vs. Rested
·        The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
·        The Isles are 2-1-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (22:54); Montreal: Shea Weber (24:30).
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (1-0-0), Nick Leddy (2-4-0).
John Tavares led the forwards with 19:56 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (1-3-0), Josh Bailey (1-1-0), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 28, Montreal 23 (55%)
Casey Cizikas won 12 of 19 for the Isles; Andrew Shaw won 4 of 5 for Montreal.
After the Isles won 16 of 34 draws in the first two periods, they won 12 of 17 in the third period.
The Isles won 27 of 49 draws at even strength, 0 of 1 on the power play and 1 of 1 on the penalty kill. (Official stats credited Isles with an even-strength win on the game's final faceoff.)

Hit Count
Isles 20, Montreal 19. Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas led the Isles with four hits.

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 0.
The Isles were involved in 23 fights last season.

Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 28 blocked shots, including seven by Calvin deHaan and by Dennis Seidenberg.

For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 54, Montreal 74 (including 34-12 in Montreal's favor in the 2nd period)
5-on-5 Isles 49, Montreal 71
5-on 5 leaders:
Isles: Josh Bailey +8; Anthony Beauvillier 60%
Montreal: Nathan Beaulieu +16
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 112 (including 105 for Washington); Josh Bailey 75.
Scratches
Jaroslav Halak, Nikolay Kulemin (injured)  
Injured Reserve: Shane Prince, Ryan Pulock
Total games lost: 15
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 564
22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Kyle Okposo 529*** 24. John Tavares 517

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 266
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 477
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. Josh Bailey 255

Season Series Stats
The Canadiens lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none).  The teams will meet again on January 26th in Brooklyn and February 23rd in Montreal.
The Isles have lost seven straight vs. Montreal, all in regulation, since a 2-0 win in Montreal on April 10, 2014, and have been outscored 26-14 in the seven games.
  
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 2-2-0 heading into their busy weekend. Bridgeport visits Springfield on Friday and then hosts Lehigh Valley at 7pm Saturday and Springfield at 3pm Sunday.
Up Next
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27th –ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), WFAN 660/101.9, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Islanders will look for their first road victory of the season as they visit the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Isles went 1-2-1 against the Penguins last season, with their only win coming in the game that Jaroslav Halak suffered his season-ending injury. Thomas Greiss "saved" the game for Halak's 200th NHL win.
The Isles are 5-5-1 in their last 11 visits to Pittsburgh.
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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