"The Skinny"
Game 1
Rangers 5, Isles 3
Chris Kreider's breakaway goal broke a 2-2 tie as the New York Rangers defeated the Isles 5-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden in the season opener for both teams.
It was the Rangers' first win over the Isles since March 10, 2015, when the Blueshirts earned a 2-1 win in the final Coliseum meeting between the teams; the Isles swept all four games last season.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
13:41 Michael Grabner (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Pirri, Fast
2ND PERIOD
17:41 Mats Zuccarello (1), Tip-In. Assist: Skjei, Zibanejad
3RD PERIOD
00:47 Nick Leddy (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Cizikas, Hamonic
04:04 Cal Clutterbuck (1), Tip-In. Assist: Kulemin, Cizikas
09:45 Chris Kreider (1), Backhand Shot. Assist: Buchnevich, Holden
16:11 Brandon Pirri (1), power play, Slap Shot. Assist: Kreider, Zibanejad
17:37 J.T. Miller (1), Empty Net. Assist: Hayes
18:25 Brock Nelson (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Bailey, Beauvillier
The Skinny
Casey Cizikas matched career highs in assists (2) and points (2)…Jaroslav Halak had beaten Henrik Lundqvist eight straight times head-to-head, including all five times he had faced him as an Islander…Lundqvist had been 0-5-1 in his last six games vs. the Isles…Each team scored three goals in the third period; the first time that had happened in an Islander game since 4-11-2015 vs Columbus…Michael Grabner and Brandon Pirri scored their first goals for the Rangers; Anthony Beauvillier assisted on a late Brock Nelson goal for his first point as an Islander… Beauvillier is the youngest to appear in a game for the Isles since Nino Niederreiter. Nino played 64 games for the Isles and was younger than Beauvillier in the first 27 of them…An Islander defenseman has scored the season's first goal in six of the last eight seasons…Anthony Beauvillier, Jason Chimera, Andrew Ladd and Dennis Seidenberg all made their Islander debuts…Michael Grabner became the 72nd player to play for both the Islanders and the Rangers.
Openers
The Isles are 11-22-11 all-time in season openers and are 11-24-9 all-time in road openers.
Chhh, chhh Changes
The Islander 23-man roster looks quite a bit different than it did last October.
Of the 23 players on this year's roster, only 15 were on the Opening Night roster last year: Josh Bailey, Jean-Francois Berube, Johnny Boychuk, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Calvin De Haan, Thomas Greiss, Jaroslav Halak, Travis Hamonic, Nikolay Kulemin, Nick Leddy, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, and John Tavares. Thomas Hickey started last season on Injured Reserve and is on the Opening Night Roster this year. The seven newcomers are: Andrew Ladd, Jason Chimera, Alan Quine, Anthony Beauvillier, Matthew Barzal, Shane Prince, and Denis Seidenberg.
Eric Boulton begins the year on Injured Reserve while Mikhail Grabovski failed his physical and is not on the roster.
The 23 players represent six nationalities: American (Leddy, Lee, Nelson, Prince), Canadian (15 players), German (Seidenberg & Greiss), Russian (Kulemin) and Slovakian (Halak)
The Shots
Isles 10-8-10=28
Rangers 13-12-14=39
Home and Road
The Islanders are 0-1-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.
The Rangers are 1-0-0 overall; 1-0-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.
By Division
The Isles are 0-1-0 in Division games and 0-0-0 in games versus other divisions.
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
Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves but falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 13-7-0 against the Rangers.
Hernik Lundqvist made 25 saves as he improved to 1-0-0 on the season and 30-17-6 against the Isles. Lundqvist has more career wins vs. the Isles than any other goalie.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play, while the Rangers were 1-5.
The Isles are 0-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.
Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 0-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-0-0 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 0-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 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 0-0-0 when they score first and are 0-1-0 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 210-176-56 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 442
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 210
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 210 wins places him 67th all-time, 5 behind Brent Sutter and 9 behind Herb Brooks.
Back-to-Backs
The first back-to-back of the season will be on Saturday in Washington and Sunday vs. Anaheim. Last season, the Isles went 5-5-5 on the front-end and 9-3-3 on the back end of back-to-backs.
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 0-0-0 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 (23:01); Rangers: Ryan McDonagh (23:11)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (0-1-0).
John Tavares led the forwards with 18:20 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (0-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 31, Rangers 33 (48%)
John Tavares won 11 of 19 for the Isles; Mika Zibanejad won 15 of 25 for the Rangers.
The Isles won 23 of 42 draws over the first two periods, but only 8 of 22 in the third period.
The Isles won 24 of 49 draws at even strength, 2 of 4 on the power play and 5 of 11 on the penalty kill.
Hit Count
Isles 31, Rangers 24. Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with five hits.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 0.
The Isles were involved in 23 fights last season, including 11 by Matt Martin.
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 19 blocked shots, including four by Johnny Boychuk.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 58, Rangers 73.
5-on-5: Isles 51, Rangers 49
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks).
Nick Leddy led the Isles with a +12 5-on-5 Corsi rating and a 68% Corsi For percentage. Adam Clendening and Brady Skjei led the Rangers with a +11 5-on-5 Corsi rating.
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 106 (including 105 for Washington); Josh Bailey 68.
Scratches
JF Berube, Mathew Barzal, and Alan Quine. Eric Boulton is on injured reserve (games lost to injury:1)
Missing a Piece (or two)
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Isles are 16-17-3 in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 0-0-0 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 558
22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Kyle Okposo 529*** 24. Dave Lewis 514 *** 25. John Tavares 511
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tavares 207 *** 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 264
…
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. Josh Bailey 158
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 471
…
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. Josh Bailey 251
Season Series Stats
The Rangers lead the season series one game to none (and two points to zero).
The teams will meet again on December 6th and February 17th at Barclays Center before returning to Manhattan on March 22nd.
On The Farm
Bridgeport opens their season at home on Saturday vs. Providence and then host Worcester on Sunday at 3pm.
Up Next
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15th – ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 570 WMCA, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Islanders head to DC to face the Capitals in the first of five meetings between the teams this season.
This will be the first match-up since last April 5th, when Thomas Hickey's overtime goal clinched a playoff berth for the Islanders for the second straight season.
These games are usually quite close; 11 of the last 20 regular season matchups have gone to overtime.
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./
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