"The Skinny"
Game 76
Philadelphia 6, Isles 3
The Philadelphia Flyers scored four goals in a 4:49 span of the first period and built a 5-0 lead before the session was over as they defeated the Isles 5-3 before a sellout crowd of 19,703 at Wells Fargo Center.
Cal Clutterbuck recorded his 100th career goal early in the second period; Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd added goals in the third.
With the loss, the Isles fall six points behind Boston for the 2nd Wild Card spot. Their tragic number is 7.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
04:30 Philadelphia Dale Weise (6) ASST: Sean Couturier (17), Brayden Schenn (28) 0-1
05:49 Philadelphia Sean Couturier (13) ASST: Brandon Manning (9), Brayden Schenn (29) 0-2
08:06 Philadelphia Radko Gudas (6) ASST: Dale Weise (6), Sean Couturier (18) 0-3
09:19 Philadelphia Jordan Weal (7) ASST: Wayne Simmonds (21), Valtteri Filppula (30) 0-4
15:42 Philadelphia PPG - Wayne Simmonds (30) ASST: Shayne Gostisbehere (28), Jakub Voracek (39) 0-5
2ND PERIOD
03:14 New York Cal Clutterbuck (4) ASST: Calvin de Haan (17), Casey Cizikas (17) 1-5
3RD PERIOD
00:40 New York Jason Chimera (18) ASST: Calvin de Haan (18) 2-5
16:02 New York Andrew Ladd (21) ASST: Casey Cizikas (17), Adam Pelech (6) 3-5
18:19 Philadelphia EN - Valtteri Filppula (10) ASST: Wayne Simmonds (22), Chris VandeVelde (7) 3-6
The Skinny:
The Isles are 18-12-4 (.588) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 29-19-8 in their last 56 games…The Isles are 3-6-1 in the last 10 games and have lost three straight games for the first time since mid-December... The Isles power play is now 2-23 in the last nine games (8.7%), with both goals scored against the Rangers on March 22nd... The Isles killed one of two Philadelphia power plays; the PK is 8-9 in the last 4 games and 29-33 (87.9%) in the last 14 games… Calvin deHaan played a season-high 26:05…The loss ended the Isles' three-game road win streak…Steve Mason recorded his 199th NHL win…The Flyers have won three straight games.
Gordie, Gordie
Both Dale Weise and Wayne Simmonds had Gordie Howe Hat Tricks (both were complete before the first period ended); Weise completed his hat at 8:28 of the first period, marking the earliest in Flyer history. It's the first time since 1992 that Flyer teammates have had hat tricks in the same game.
Experience Counts … 18 Times
Jason Chimera is only the second Islander age 36 or over to score 18 goals in a season; Bill Guerin, who turned 37 early in the 2007-08 season, scored 23 times that season. Guerin also scored 16 times the next season, before being dealt to Pittsburgh.
This Generation's Mr. Islander Is Tied with Mr. Islander
John Tavares has 235 career goals, tying him with Bobby Nystrom for eighth place on the club's all-time list.
Career goals as an Islander:
7. Bob Bourne 238
8. Bobby Nystrom 235
8. John Tavares 235
One Goal Games
The Isles are 13-10-12 in one-goal games, winning only 13 of the 35 games (.371). That .371 percentage of 1-goal games won is the second lowest in the NHL –ahead of just Toronto (.353). (The Isles were 21-6-10 in one-goal games last season.)
The Stretch Run
The Isles are playing their final 11 regular-season games in a span of 19 days. The Isles are 2-3-0 in this stretch (0-2-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road), with four of the five games decided by empty net or less:
· March 22 @ Pittsburgh (Won 3-2)
· March 24 @ Penguins (Won 4-3 OT)
· March 25 Vs Bruins (Lost 2-1)
· March 27 Vs Predators (Lost 3-1)
· March 30 @ Flyers (Lost 6-3)
· March 31 Vs Devils
· April 2 @ Sabres
· April 4 @ Predators
· April 6 @ Hurricanes
· April 8 @ Devils
· April 9 Vs Senators
54 in 45
The Isles are now 24-15-6 in their last 45 games (since December 20th vs. Boston). In those games, the PP is 21-127 (16.6%) and the penalty kill is 17-106 (84.0%).
In Goal, #1
Thomas Greiss has played in 17 of the last 18 games (7-7-2 with one no decision), in 36 of the last 41 games (17-13-5 with one no-decision and three shutouts) and 38 of the last 45 games (19-13-5 with one no-decision and three shutouts). Greiss has already appeared in a career high 50 games, and set career highs for both wins (25) and shutouts (3).
50 Game Club
Thomas Greiss became the 11th different Islander goalie to appear in 50 games in a season. Rick DiPietro did it four times and Tommy Salo did so three times. The other eight, and now Greiss, have done so once. An Isles goalie has appeared in more than 53 games only 9 times (3 by DiPietro, 2 by Salo, and once by Smith, Osgood, Hextall, and Halak).
Let's Hear It for the Ladd
Andrew Ladd has reached the 20-goal mark for the 4th straight season and the sixth straight full season (he had 18 goals in the lockout year). He is one of 21 players to reach 20-goals in each of the last four seasons and one of only 14 to do so six times in the last seven seasons. He is now five points shy of 500 for his career (231-264-495) tying him in career goals with two Original Islanders: Ed Westfall and Billy Harris on the all-time NHL list.
Weight Lifted
Isles leading scorers since Doug Weight became the Isles' interim coach:
| | | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- |
| 1 | John Tavares | 34 | 12 | 21 | 33 | +3 |
| 2 | Anders Lee | 33 | 13 | 11 | 24 | -1 |
| 3 | Josh Bailey | 34 | 7 | 16 | 23 | +3 |
| 4 | Nick Leddy | 34 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 0 |
| 5 | Brock Nelson | 33 | 8 | 9 | 17 | -6 |
| Andrew Ladd | 31 | 13 | 4 | 17 | -6 | |
| 7 | Ryan Strome | 30 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -3 |
| 8 | Jason Chimera | 34 | 10 | 4 | 14 | +3 |
A Different Road
The Isles are 13-11-2 in their last 26 road games, after winning only 2 of their first 11 road games (2-6-3). They are 8-4-1 in their last 13 road games after going 7-13-4 in their first 24 on the road.
Home Winless Streak Is Five
The Isles are 0-4-1 in their last five home games and have not won in Brooklyn since February 19th. The power play is 0-15 at home during the winless streak.
Longest Home-Ice Point Streaks in Post -Cup Era
11 – 1/19/17 - 2/19/17 (9-0-2)
10 - 12/16/89 - 01/28/90 (9-0-1)
10 – 3/24/13 - 10/17/13 (7-0-3 – Multi-season Streak)
The Shots
Isles 10-22-9=41
Philadelphia 19-3-8=30
The Isles are 17-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents and 3-3-0 when the shots are even but are 15-17-6 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 35-29-12 overall; 20-12-7 at home and 15-17-5 on the road.
Philadelphia is 37-32-8 overall; 23-11-4 at home and 14-21-4 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 12-10-5 in Division games and 23-19-7 in games versus other divisions (9-10-3 vs. Atlantic, 6-5-2 vs. Central and 8-4-2 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 21-20-8 against the East and 14-9-4 against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made five saves before being replaced after the Flyers' third goal. Jaroslav Halak stopped 19 of 21 in relief but was charged with the defeat. Halak is 7-9-5 on the season and 9-5-1 in his career against Philadelphia.
Steve Mason made 27 saves to improve to 25-21-7 on the season and 9-3-3 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-2 on the power play; Philadelphia was 1-2.
The Isles are 15-7-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 20-22-6 when they do not. The Isles are 13-14-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-15-7 when they do not.
Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 34-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-21-9 when they do not. The lone Islander win was on November 28th vs. Calgary (2-1 in OT).
One Goal Games
The Isles are 13-10-12 in games decided by a single goal including 6-10 in regulation. They are 5-8 in games decided in overtime and are 2-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game (including one game that they allowed a goal after scoring an empty-netter).
First Goal
The Isles are 22-9-8 when they score first and are 13-20-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 6-8-1 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-4-5 on the back-end.
This back-to-back set will include at home on Friday against New Jersey. The Isles will play one final set of back-to-backs on April 8th-9th (@ Devils, vs Senators)
Tired vs. Rested
· The Isles are 4-1-3 when both teams played the night before.
· The Isles are 7-4-2 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
· The Isles are 1-3-2 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
· The Isles are 23-21-5 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Calvin deHaan (26:05); Philadelphia: Ivan Prokorov (26:27)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (7-0-0), Nick Leddy (14-21-9), John Tavares (2-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (7-4-1), Dennis Seidenberg (1-1-1), Calvin de Haan (3-2-1), Tied (1-0-0).
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 21:17 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (27-21-10), Josh Bailey (4-5-2), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-2-0), Shane Prince (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 34, Philadelphia 34 (50%).
John Tavares won 15 of 26 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 12 of 19 for Philadelphia.
Face-offs by period: 1st period- 16/25; 2nd period 8/27; 3rd period 10/16
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 31/61; Power play 2/4; Penalty kill 1/3.
Hit Count
Isles 47, Philadelphia 43. Dennis Seidenberg and Anders Lee led the Isles with seven hits; Michael del Zotto led Philadelphia with eleven (only the 6th NHL player with 11 hits in a game this season).
Fights
There were three fights, matching the season high. Travis Hamonic fought Dale Weise and Anders Lee fought Wayne Simmonds in the first period; Jason Chimera fought Brandon Manning in the third. Season total – 16: (Hamonic 4, Mayfield 3, Chimera 2, Strome 2, Boychuk 1, deHaan 1, Hickey 1, Ladd 1, Lee 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 12 blocked shots; four players each had two.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 80, Philadelphia 46 (including 62-22 in the final two periods)
5-on-5 Isles 73, Philadelphia 37
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Calvin deHaan +23; Casey Cizikas 82%
Philadelphia: Brayden Schenn & Sean Couturier -3
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 182 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 143, Calvin deHaan 79, John Tavares 76
Scratches
Scott Mayfield, Shane Prince, JF Berube, Thomas Hickey, Nikolay Kulemin (injured), Ryan Strome (injured)
Total games lost: 166
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
1. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Derek King 638 *** 10. Josh Bailey 633
…
15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 586
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. Bob Nystrom and John Tavares 235
…
25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 106
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553
…
8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 301
…
16. Frans Nielson and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 196
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tonelli 544 *** 8. Bob Bourne 542 *** 9. John Tavares 535
…
18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 302
Late Heroes
The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes 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
· 2/6 – Tor Maple Leafs – Andrew Ladd (18:31); Isles won in overtime
Late Losses
The Isles have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation seven times (including one game they rallied to win):
· 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)
· 2/3 – Det Red Wings – Danny DeKeyser (19:32)
· 2/6 – Tor Maple Leafs – Michael Nylander (17:59) (Isles won game in OT)
Fit to Be Tied
The Isles have allowed the final goal of regulation in 13 of their 19 games that have gone to overtime this season, including four 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
· 3/10 – Van Canucks – Troy Stecher (19:40); Isles won in OT
Better at Night
The Isles are 1-3-1 in day games (0-0-1 at home and 1-3-0 on the road) this season with one game to play:
· 11/25 - at SJ Sharks (lost 2-3)
· 1/16 – at Bos Bruins (won 4-0)
· 2/11 – at Ott Senators (lost 0-3)
· 3/5 - at Cal Flames (lost 2-5)
· 3/18 – vs Col Blue Jackets (lost/OT 2-3)
· 4/2 – at Buf Sabres
The Isles went 3-4-2 in day games last season (3-1-1 at home and 0-3-1 on the road).
Season Series Stats
Philadelphia wins the season series three games to one (and 6 points to 4). Since winning the first two games of the season series last year, the Isles have gone 1-4-2 against the Flyers.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 40-24-3-1 on the season following a 3-2 win in Springfield on Wednesday.
Joshua Winquist and Kellen Jones scored 90 seconds apart in the 2nd period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 advantage. Eamon McAdam needed to make just 19 saves for the win.
Bracken Kearns, who had the other Bridgeport goal, leads the Sound Tigers in goals (23) and points (23-25-48). Rookie Devon Toews leads the team in assists with 36. Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 13 goals (13-27-40 in only 47 games, including five game-winning goals – which is tied for the AHL lead among defensemen) and is tied with Toews for the point lead among defenders.
The Sound Tigers will play the final two games of their six game road trip on Friday in Lehigh Valley and Saturday in Hershey.
Up Next
FRIDAY, MARCH 31st –NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS– 7:30PM
[MSG+/MSG GO (Isles Pre-Game begins at 7:00), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles return home for the penultimate home game of the season as they host New Jersey. Note the 7:30 start time!
The teams split a pair of games on February 18 and 19, with both teams winning at home. The Isles' win was their most recent home victory; they have won 0-4-1 since. (Neither the Isles nor the Rangers have won since at home since they both won on February 19; the Rangers are 0-5-2 in that stretch). The Isles have not had a winless March at home since 2001 (0-6-0).
The teams will complete the season series next Saturday in New Jersey in a 6:00 start.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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
