"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 74
Boston 2, Isles 1
Riley Nash scored both Bruin goals, including the winning tally 4:12 into the third period, as the Boston Bruins moved back into the second wild card with a 2-1 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 15,795 at Barclays Center.
John Tavares scored the only goal for the Isles, who led for just 36 seconds in the first period.
With the loss, the Isles fall two points behind Boston for the 2nd Wild Card spot; the Isles still have a game in hand. The Isles also remain one point ahead of Tampa Bay. Boston has 7 games to play, the Lightning 8 and the Isles 8.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
10:05 New York John Tavares (28) ASST: Josh Bailey (39), Brock Nelson (23) 0-1
10:41 Boston Riley Nash (6) 1-1
2ND PERIOD
No Scoring
3RD PERIOD
04:12 Boston Riley Nash (7) ASST: Dominic Moore (13) 2-1
The Skinny:
The Isles are 18-10-4 (.625) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 29-17-8 in their last 54 games…The Isles are 9-6-2 in the last 17 games... John Tavares tied Anders Lee for the team lead in goals (28-28) as he extended his point streak to six games…. The Isles had only 19 shots, matching a season-low (11/12 @ Florida) and allowed only 18 shots (fewest since 12/15/15, also against Florida). The 37 combined shots are the fewest in an Islander game since October 10, 2011 (outshot by Minnesota 21-14) … It was the Isles' 6th sellout at home this season… Riley Nash recorded his third career two-goal game; his first goal snapped Thomas Greiss' shutout streak vs. Boston at 83:29…The Isles went 0-6 on the power play; it was the first time since January 19th that the Isles had at least six power plays in a game…Zdeno Chara and David Backes each blocked eight shots; they are the first Bruin teammates to do so in the same game since 1999 (Hal Gill & Kyle McLaren vs. Edmonton)
First Time in a Looong Time
Neither team reached 20 shots for the first time since December 20, 2003 (in Philadelphia). It's the first time it happened in an Islander home game in at least 30 years.
Shot Drought
The Isles had five shots in the second period but none were at even strength (4 power play and one shorthanded). In fact, the Isles went a span of 41:36 without a shot on goal at even strength before Casey Cizikas got ne with just under five minutes to play.
This Generation's Mr. Islander Catches Mr. Islander
John Tavares now 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
Experience Counts … 17 Times
Jason Chimera is only the second Islander age 36 or over to score 17 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.
A Big One Goal Win
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 2-100 in this stretch (0-1-0 at home and 2-0-0 on the road), with all 3 games decided by one goal:
· March 22 @ Pittsburgh (Won 3-2)
· March 24 @ Penguins (Won 4-3 OT)
· March 25 Vs Bruins (Lost 2-1)
· March 27 Vs Predators
· March 30 @ Flyers
· March 31 Vs Devils
· April 2 @ Sabres
· April 4 @ Predators
· April 6 @ Hurricanes
· April 8 @ Devils
· April 9 Vs Senators
Most points in NHL since January 19th (Weight's First Game)
| 1 | Penguins | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 42 |
| Capitals | 30 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 42 | |
| 3 | Blackhawks | 27 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 41 |
| 4 | Islanders | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 40 |
| Senators | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 40 | |
| | Predators | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 40 |
Playoff Chase
| Metropolitan | GP | PTS | |||||
| 1. X-Washington | 74 | 106 | |||||
| 2. X-Pittsburgh | 74 | 103 | |||||
| 3. X-Columbus | 74 | 103 | |||||
| Atlantic | GP | PTS | |||||
| 1. Montréal | 75 | 93 | |||||
| 2. Ottawa | 74 | 90 | |||||
| 3. Toronto | 74 | 85 | |||||
| | | | |||||
| Wild Card | GP | PTS | |||||
| 1. NY Rangers | 75 | 96 | |||||
| 2. Boston | 75 | 84 | |||||
| 3. ISLANDERS | 74 | 82 | |||||
| 4. Tampa Bay | 74 | 81 | |||||
| 5. Carolina | 73 | 79 | |||||
| 6. Florida | 74 | 77 | |||||
| 7. Philadelphia | 74 | 76 | |||||
| 8. Buffalo | 75 | 74 | |||||
Sunday's games
Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh 7:00
NY Rangers @ Anaheim 9:00
Monday's games
Nashville @ Isles 7:00
Detroit @ Carolina 7:00
Florida @ Buffalo 7:00
Chicago @ Tampa Bay 7:30
Tuesday's games
Nashville @ Boston 7:00
Detroit @ Carolina 7:00
Buffalo @ Columbus 7:00
Ottawa @ Philadelphia 7:00
Florida @ Tampa Bay 7:30
Dallas @ Montreal 7:30
Washington @ Minnesota 8:00
NY Rangers @ San Jose 10:30
Wednesday's games
Chicago @ Pittsburgh 8:00
Washington @ Colorado 10:00
Thursday's games
Isles @ Philadelphia 7:00
Columbus @ Carolina 7:00
Dallas @ Boston 7:30
Florida @ Montreal 7:30
Detroit @ Tampa Bay 7:30
Toronto @ Nashville 8:00
Ottawa @ Minnesota 8:00
Friday's games
New Jersey @ Isles 7:30
Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers 7:00
Columbus @ Chicago 8:30
Washington @ Arizona 10:00
Isn't it Magic?
The Isles Magic Number remains 17 (over Boston) and 16 (over Tampa Bay). The magic number will not move on Sunday.
54 in 43
The Isles are now 24-13-6 in their last 43 games (since December 20th vs. Boston), which represents a. 105-point pace in that stretch. In those games, the PP is 21-123 (17.1%) and the penalty kill is 16-101 (15.9%).
In Goal, #1
Thomas Greiss has played in 15 of the last 16 games (7-6-2), in 34 of the last 39 games (17-12-5 with three shutouts) and 36 of the last 43 games (19-12-5 with three shutouts). Greiss has already appeared in a career high 48 games, and set career highs for both wins (25) and shutouts (3).
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 six points shy of 500 for his career (230-264-494) and his next goal will tie him with two Original Islanders: Ed Westfall and Billy Harris on the all-time NHL goal list.
Weight Lifted
Isles leading scorers since Doug Weight became the Isles' interim coach:
| | | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- |
| 1 | John Tavares | 32 | 12 | 21 | 33 | +7 |
| 2 | Anders Lee | 31 | 13 | 11 | 24 | +3 |
| 3 | Josh Bailey | 32 | 6 | 16 | 22 | +7 |
| 4 | Nick Leddy | 32 | 4 | 15 | 19 | +2 |
| 5 | Brock Nelson | 31 | 8 | 9 | 17 | -6 |
| 6 | Andrew Ladd | 29 | 12 | 4 | 16 | -4 |
| | Ryan Strome | 30 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -3 |
| 8 | Jason Chimera | 32 | 9 | 4 | 13 | +4 |
A Different Road
The Isles are 13-10-2 in their last 25 road games, after winning only 2 of their first 11 road games (2-6-3). They are 8-3-1 in their last 12 road games after going 7-13-4 in their first 24 on the road.
Solid at Home
The Isles have earned points in 12 of their last 14 home games (9-2-3), although they are 0-3-1 in their last four home games. The Isles have not won in Brooklyn since February 19th.
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 8-5-6=19
Boston 3-10-5=18
The Isles are 17-9-5 when they outshoot their opponents and 3-3-0 when the shots are even but are 15-16-6 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 35-27-12 overall; 20-11-7 at home and 15-16-5 on the road.
Boston is 39-30-6 overall; 19-16-0 at home and 20-14-6 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 12-9-5 in Division games and 23-18-7 in games versus other divisions (9-10-3 vs. Atlantic, 6-4-2 vs. Central and 8-4-2 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 21-19-8 against the East and 14-8-4 against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 16saves but falls to 25-17-5 on the season and 2-3-0 in his career against Boston, despite allowing only eight goals in the five games.
Anton Khudobin made 18 saves to improve to 6-5-1 on the season and 2-4-0 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-6 on the power play; Boston was 0-3.
The Isles are 15-7-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 20-20-6 when they do not. The Isles are 13-13-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-14-7 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 34-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-20-9 when they do not.
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 4-1 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 13-18-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 6-7-1 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-4-5 on the back-end.
The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs this season. Two back-to-back sets remain on the schedule: March 30/31 (@ Flyers, vs. Devils) and April 8/9 (@ 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 23-19-5 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (23:36); Boston: Zdeno Chara (23:32)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (7-0-0), Nick Leddy (14-20-9), John Tavares (2-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (7-4-1), Dennis Seidenberg (1-1-1), Calvin de Haan (3-1-1), Tied (1-0-0).
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 22:08 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (27-19-10), 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 22, Boston 23 (49%).
John Tavares won 7 of 13 for the Isles; David Krejci won 6 of 10 for Boston.
Face-offs by period: 1st period- 6/15; 2nd period 7/15; 3rd period 9/15
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 14/31; Power play 5/9; Penalty kill 3/5.
Hit Count
Isles 29, Boston 26. Adam Pelech led the Isles with six hits; Zdeno Chara and David Backes each had eight hits for Boston.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 13: (Hamonic 3, Mayfield 3, Strome 2, Boychuk 1, Chimera 1, deHaan 1, Hickey 1, Ladd 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 17 blocked shots; Dennis Seidenberg led the Isles with three.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 42, Boston 45
5-on-5 Isles 21, Boston 40
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Scott Mayfield/Shane Prince -1; Shane Prince 45%
Boston: Patrice Bergeron/Brad Marchand +10
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 180 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 141, Calvin deHaan 77, John Tavares 74
Scratches
Thomas Hickey, Nikolay Kulemin (injured), Johnny Boychuk (injured), Ryan Strome (injured), Alan Quine, JF Berube
Total games lost: 161
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Derek King 638 *** 10. Josh Bailey 631
…
15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 584
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. Ed Westfall, Benoit Hogue and Josh Bailey 105
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 301
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
The Isles win the season series two games to one (and 4 points to 2).
Thomas Greiss stopped 96 of 100 Bruin shots this season, including the Isles' first-ever shutout IN Boston.
Boston has won all three games they have played in Brooklyn; the Isles are 2-10-0 in their last 12 home games against the Bruins, including 0-5-0 in the last four.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 39-23-2-1 on the season (and 21-9-1-0 in their last 31) following a 4-3 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Andrew Rowe scored twice for the Sound Tigers while Eamon McAdam made 25 saves.
Bracken Kearns leads the Sound Tigers in goals (22) and points (22-25-47). Rookie Devon Toews leads the team in assists with 35. Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 12 goals (13-24-37 in only 45 games, including five game-winning goals – which is tied for the AHL lead among defensemen)
The Sound Tigers will play the third game of their six game road trip on Sunday in Lehigh Valley.
Up Next
MONDAY, MARCH 27th –NASHVILLE AT ISLANDERS– 7:00PM
[MSG+/MSG GO (Isles Pre-Game begins at 6:30), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
There are only eight games remaining in the regular season and the only two against the Western Conference are both against the Nashville Predators.
The Preds will visit Barclays on Monday night; the season series will conclude eight nights later in Nashville.
The Isles have won 4 of the last 5 from Nashville, including three straight at home.
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
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