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The Skinny: Isles 6, Toronto 3

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 34 Isles 6, Toronto 3 The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:48 and the Maple Leafs ...

Saturday, December 10, 2016

The Skinny: Columbus 6, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
 
Game 27
Columbus 6, Isles 2
Josh Anderson stole a Nick Leddy pass and converted it for the lead goal as the Columbus Blue Jackets broke open a tight game with four third period goals and defeated the Islanders 6-2 before a crowd of 16,928 at Nationwide Arena.
 
John Tavares had scored his team-leading 9th goal to extend his point streak to five games for the Isles, who were tied after each of the first two periods before allowing four goals in a 12:04 span of the third.
 
The Scoring:                                                                           
1ST PERIOD
05:59    New York         Josh Bailey (5)  1-0
13:59    Columbus         PPG - Jack Johnson (1) ASST: Cam Atkinson (17), Brandon Dubinsky (6)        1-1
 
2ND PERIOD
10:16    Columbus         Cam Atkinson (10) ASST: Jack Johnson (6), David Savard (7)     1-2
12:32    New York         John Tavares (9) ASST: Anders Lee (3), Travis Hamonic (6)       2-2
 
3RD PERIOD
02:19    Columbus         Josh Anderson (8)         2-3
09:23    Columbus         Brandon Saad (8) ASST: Oliver Bjorkstrand (1), Markus Nutivaara (4)            2-4
12:39    Columbus         Lukas Sedlak (2) ASST: Seth Jones (7), Matt Calvert (2) 2-5
14:23    Columbus         Seth Jones (4) ASST: William Karlsson (6), Scott Hartnell (11)    2-6

The Skinny
The loss broke an Islander six-game point streak (5-0-1) ... The Isles scored the first goal for the 7th time in the last eight games …The Isles fell back to NHL-.500 (11-11-5) … JF Berube dressed as the back-up goalie for the tenth straight game and made his first appearance of the season following the 6th Columbus goal.… Travis Hamonic's assist raised the season total for the Isles defense to 19-38-57 … Josh Bailey has points in seven of the last eight games… The loss broke Islander five-game winnings (5-0-0) and nine-game point streak (7-0-2-) against the Jackets…This was the Isles' first road game all season against a team that missed the playoffs last year.  …The Isles failed to score at least three goals for the first time in six games…Jack Johnson's power play goal was the first allowed by the Isles in nine games…Seth Jones, Jack Johnson and Cam Atkinson each had a goal and an assist for the Jackets; Johnson's goal was his 5th career tally vs the Isles but his first in his last 42 games…Columbus is off to the best start in their franchise history; they won six straight games, are 7-0-1 in their last eight games and are 15-2-3 in their last 20 games…Columbus improves to 8-2 in games decided by at least 3 goals…The Jackets are the NHL's highest-scoring team at home, having tallied 55 times in 14 games (3.93 goals per game)…The Isles allowed four goals in a period for the first time since March 25 in Tampa Bay.…The teams traded power plays over a six minute span in the first period as three times the team on the power play took a penalty; John Tavares took the last of the four penalties and was in the box for Jack Johnson's goal.
 
The Injury
Johnny Boychuk left the game after blocking a shot on the sequence leading to Columbus' final goal; he did not return.
 
December to Remember?
The Isles are 3-1-1 in December.  They went 5-0-1 in their first six games last December.
 
Countdown to 500
John Tavares extended his point streak to five games, and recorded his 493rd career point. He needs just seven points to become the 10th player in Islander history with 500 career points.

Last Minute Heroes
The Isles have scored twice in the final minute of regulation to either tie or win a game:
·        11/25 – SJ Sharks -- Nick Leddy (19:02); tied game, but Isles lost in regulation
·        11/30 – Pit Penguins – Anders Lee (19:33); Game Winning goal
 
Fit to Be Tied
The Isles have allowed the final goal of regulation in seven of their eight games that have gone to overtime this season, including three in the final minute:
 
·        10/16 – Ana Ducks – Ryan Getzlaf (19:00); Isles won in OT
·        11/3 – Phi Flyers – Jakob Voracek (19:02/PP); Flyers won in SO
·        11/12 – Fla Panthers – Jonathan Marchessault (19:46); Panthers won in OT
 
Late Losses
The Isles have been tied in the third period in seven of their 11 regulation losses (and 11 of their 15 overall losses) but have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation five times:
 
·        10/18 – SJ Sharks - Joe Pavelski (17:49)
·        10/26 – Mtl Canadiens - Shea Weber (17:03)
·        10/27 – Pit Penguins - Sidney Crosby (17:35)
·        11/23 – LA Kings – Dwight King (17:07)
·        11/25 – SJ Sharks – Patrick Marleau (19:37)
 
Home Til the Holidays
The Isles are in a stretch where they will play 10 out of 14 at home.  By the time the Isles host the Capitals on December 27th, the Isles will have played 22 of their first 34 games at home.
 
The Isles are 4-0-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road during this stretch.  The Isles do not play consecutive road games again until after Christmas.
 
The Shots
Isles         10-11-9=30
Columbus   7-19-13=39
 
The Isles are 6-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents and 1-1-0 when the shots are even but are 4-7-3 when they are outshot.
 
Home and Road
The Islanders are 11-11-5 overall; 9-4-4 at home and 2-7-1 on the road.  The 5 points in the first 10 road games matches the Isles' fewest thru 10 games since 1988-89.
Columbus is 17-5-4 overall; 10-3-1 at home and 7-2-3 on the road. It's the first time since 2009 that Columbus has been 12 games over NHL-.500.
 
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 3-4-2 in Division games and 8-7-3 in games versus other divisions (1-4-2 vs. Atlantic, 2-0-0 vs. Central and 5-3-1 vs. Pacific).   The Isles are 4-8-4 against the East and 7-3-1 against the West.
 
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 32 saves before leaving after the final Columbus goal as he falls to 5-7-5 on the season and 12-5-3 in his career against Columbus; JF Berube stopped the only shot he saw in his first game action of the season.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to improve but falls to 12-4-2 on the season and 12-4-0 against the Isles in his career.  This season, Allen is 10-0-2 at home but only 3-4-1 on the road.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play, while Columbus was 1-4. 
The Isles are 3-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-7-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-6-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 8-5-2 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 10-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-10-3 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 5-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 2-4-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal
The Isles are 7-2-3 when they score first and are 4-9-2 when they allow the opening goal. 

Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 221-187-60 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 468
3.      Mike Milbury 191
4.      Terry Simpson 187
5.      Scott Gordon 181
 
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.      Al Arbour 740
2.      Jack Capuano 221
3.      Terry Simpson 81
4.      Peter Laviolette 77
5.      Ted Nolan 74

Capuano ranks 73rd in NHL history with 468 games coached, three behind Ted Nolan and four behind Bob Gainey. His 221 wins places him tied-64th all-time with behind Bob McCammon, and eight behind Robbie Ftorek.

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-2-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 2-2-0 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; the next set is December 15th vs Chicago and December 16th in Buffalo.
 
Tired vs. Rested
·        The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
·        The Isles are 4-2-2 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·        The Isles are 1-2-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
·        The Isles are 5-7-3 when both teams are rested.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (22:50); Columbus: Seth Jones (22:25)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (4-0-0), Nick Leddy (5-8-3), John Tavares (1-0-0), Johnny Boychuk (1-3-1), Dennis Seidenberg (0-0-1)
Brock Nelson led the forwards with 18:00 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (6-8-3), Josh Bailey (3-1-2), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-1-0)

Face-offs
Isles 26, Columbus 29 (47%). 
Alan Quine won four of seven for the Isles; William Karlsson won 8 of 11 for Columbus.
The Isles won 12 of 22 face-offs in the first period but only 14 of 33 in the final forty minutes
The Isles won 22 of 49 draws at even strength, 2 of 3 on the power play and 2 of 3 on the penalty kill.  

Hit Count
Isles 14, Columbus 9.  Alan Quine led the Isles with three hits; Jenner Boone had four to lead Columbus.

Fights
Travis Hamonic fought Brandon Dubinsky in the first period.   Season total – 5: (deHaan 1, Hamonic 3, Mayfield 1).
The Isles were involved in 23 fights last season.

Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 15 blocked shots, including three from Calvin deHaan and from Johnny Boychuk.

For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 51, Columbus 64
5-on-5 Isles 44, Columbus 51
 
5-on 5 leaders:
Isles: Anders Lee and Calvin deHaan +1; Anders Lee 52%
Columbus: Josh Anderson +7
 
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 132 (including 105 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 95
 
Scratches
Thomas Greiss, Scott Mayfield, Anthony Beauvillier
 
Injured Reserve: Adam Pelech
Total games lost: 47
 
Missing a Piece (or two)
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Isles are 19-18-4 in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 3-1-1 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 584 *** 17. Ken Morrow 550 *** 18. Duane Sutter 547 *** 19. Lorne Henning 543 *** 20. John Tavares 537

Goals
1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. Bob Nystrom 235 **** 9. John Tavares 216

Assists
1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553
10. Derek King 288 *** 11. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 13. John Tavares 277
19. Ed Westfall 181 *** 20. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 21. Duane Sutter & Alexi Yashin 171 *** 23. Josh Bailey 169

Points
1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
9. Bobby Nystrom 513 *** 10. Derek King 499 *** 11. John Tavares 493
21. Duane Sutter 292 *** 22. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24 Josh Bailey 267

Season Series Stats
Columbus leads the season series one game to none (and two points to zero).  The teams will meet in Brooklyn on January 24th.
The loss was the Isles' first in regulation to Columbus since April 6, 2014 (7-0-2) and their first to the Jackets since Columbus won the final regular season game in Nassau Coliseum history on April 11, 2015 in a shootout (5-0-0)
 
On The Farm
Andrew Rowe scored two goals and rookie Devon Toews scored the winning goal 3:30 into overtime as the Sound Tigers improved to 16-7-0-0 with a 4-3 win in Binghamton.  Fellow rookie Eamon McAdam stopped 30 shots as he remained perfect in seven decisions; the Sound Tigers are now 7-0 in extra time this season.
 
Bracken Kearns continues to lead the Sound Tigers in scoring (8-11-19), while Kearns and Steve Bernier share the team lead in goals with eight.  Rookie Devon Toews leads the team with 12 assists and is second on the team in points (3-12-15).
 
The Sound Tigers will host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday at 5pm.
 
Up Next
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13th–WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS -  7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles pre-game at 6:30), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
 
The Isles will look to extend their home point streak to seven games as they face the Washington Capitals for the second time this month.
 
The Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six games at Barclays Center and have earned points in 10 of their last 12 home games (6-2-4, with both regulation losses to Tampa Bay).
 
The teams have split a pair of games in DC this season with Washington winning 2-1 in October before Jaroslav Halak blanked the Caps 3-0 to open December.  The December 1st win was the Isles' first in regulation over the Caps since February 4, 2014; the Isles have not beaten Washington at home in regulation time since March 9, 2013 (2-1-3).
 
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

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