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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, April 01, 2017

The Skinny: Isles 2, New Jersey 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
Game 77
Isles 2, New Jersey 1
Anders Lee scored a first period power play goal to take over the team lead in goals and Anthony Beauvillier added a second period tally as the Isles snapped their three game losing streak (and 5-game Barclays Center winless streak) with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils before a crowd of 13,766 at Barclays Center.
Adam Henrique's power play goal broke Jaroslav Halak's shutout with his 20th goal of the season.
With the win, the Isles climbed back within four points of Boston for the 2nd Wild Card spot.  Their tragic number remains 7.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
05:44    New York    PPG - Anders Lee (29) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (16), John Tavares (38)            0-1
2ND PERIOD
17:54    New York   Anthony Beauvillier (9) ASST: Joshua Ho-Sang (6), Jason Chimera (13)            0-2
3RD PERIOD
11:23    New Jersey PPG - Adam Henrique (20) ASST: John Quenneville (3), Pavel Zacha (16)            1-2
The Skinny:
The Isles are 19-12-4 (.600) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 30-19-8 in their last 57 games…The Isles are 4-6-1 in the last 11 games... The Isles power play is now 3-32 in the last ten games (9.3%)... The Isles killed two of three New Jersey power plays; the PK is 10-12 in the last 5 games and 31-36 (86.1%) in the last 15 games… Jason Chimera recorded his 400th career point…New Jersey has lost five straight games (0-3-2) and haven't won on the road since February 4th ; the Devils are 2-13-4 in their last 19 games…The Isles have opened the scoring 40 times this season but this was only the third time that they did so with a power play goal…With the win, the Isles avoid a winless March at home for the first time since 2001…The Isles had 9 power plays; it's their most since April 9, 2010 vs. Pittsburgh.
The Injury
John Tavares suffered a lower body injury late in the game and did not return.
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 14-10-12 in one-goal games, winning only 14 of the 36 games (.389).  That .389 percentage of 1-goal games won is the second lowest in the NHL –ahead of just Toronto (.371).  (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 3-3-0 in this stretch (1-2-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road), with five of the six 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 (Won 2-1)
·        April 2 @ Sabres
·        April 4 @ Predators
·        April 6 @ Hurricanes
·        April 8 @ Devils
·        April 9 Vs Senators
Changing Times
Beginning with the Devil game, each of the final six Islander games will start at a different (Eastern) time.  Both the game in Nashville and the game in Carolina will start at 7pm local time, but the Nashville game will be at 8pm Eastern.
56 in 46
The Isles are now 25-15-6 in their last 46 games (since December 20th vs. Boston). In those games, the PP is 22-136 (16.2%) and the penalty kill is 18-109 (83.5%).
In Goal, #1
Thomas Greiss has played in 17 of the last 19 games (7-7-2 with one no decision), in 36 of the last 42 games (17-13-5 with one no-decision and three shutouts) and 38 of the last 46 games (19-13-5 with one no-decision and three shutouts). Greiss has appeared in a career high 50 games, and set career highs for both wins (25) and shutouts (3).
50 Game Club
Thomas Greiss is 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
35
12
22
34
+3
2
Anders Lee
34
14
11
25
-1
3
Josh Bailey
35
7
16
23
+3
4
Nick Leddy
35
4
16
20
0
5
Brock Nelson
34
8
9
17
-6
Andrew Ladd
32
13
4
17
-6
7
Ryan Strome
30
7
9
16
-3
8
Jason Chimera
35
10
4
14
+4
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 Snapped at Five
The Isles recorded their first home win since beating New Jersey on February 19th; they had gone 0-4-1 in their last five home games. The power play is 1-24 at home over the last six games.
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             10-16-12=38
New Jersey  6-10-11=27
The Isles are 18-10-5 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 36-29-12 overall; 21-12-7 at home and 15-17-5 on the road. 
New Jersey is 27-36-14 overall; 15-15-8 at home and 12-21-6 on the road.  
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 13-10-5 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 22-20-8 against the East and 14-9-4 against the West.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to improve to 8-9-5 on the season and 10-4-2 in his career against New Jersey (with a 1.86 GAA and a 93.3 save percentage).
Keith Kinkaid made 36 saves but falls to 7-12-3 on the season and 0-3-1 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays
The Isles went 1-9 on the power play; New Jersey was 1-3.
The Isles are 16-7-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 20-22-6 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-14-5 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 2-21-9 when they do not.  The only other Islander win was on November 28th vs. Calgary (2-1 in OT) and their last regulation win was on March 8, 2016 vs. Pittsburgh.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 14-10-12 in games decided by a single goal including 7-10 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 23-9-8 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 6-4-5 on the back-end. 
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 2-3-2 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: Nick Leddy (23:22) Johnny Boychuk (23:52); New Jersey: Ben Lovejoy (22:40)


Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (7-0-0), Nick Leddy (14-21-9), John Tavares (2-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (8-4-1), Dennis Seidenberg (1-1-1), Calvin de Haan (3-2-1), Tied (1-0-0).
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 20:26 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (28-21-10), 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 29, New Jersey 38 (43%). 
John Tavares won 12 of 23 for the Isles; Adam Henrique won 9 of 14 for New Jersey.

Face-offs by period: 1st period- 10/23; 2nd period 11/22; 3rd period 8/22
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 19/47; Power play 7/14; Penalty kill 3/6.

Hit Count
Isles 27, New Jersey 22.  Dennis Seidenberg, Alan Quine and Calvin deHaan Lee led the Isles with four hits; Stefan Noesen led New Jersey with four).
Fights
Anders Lee fought Ben Lovejoy in the final minute.  Season total – 17: (Hamonic 4, Mayfield 3, Chimera 2, Strome 2, Lee 2, Boychuk 1, deHaan 1, Hickey 1, Ladd 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 17 blocked shots; Adam Pelech led the Isles with four.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 58, New Jersey 56
5-on-5 Isles 34, New Jersey 43
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Anthony Beauvillier & Joshua Ho-Sang +8; Beauvillier & Ho-Sang 68%
New Jersey: Taylor Hall +10
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 183 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 144, Calvin deHaan 80, John Tavares 77
Scratches
Scott Mayfield, JF Berube, Nikolay Kulemin (injured), Ryan Strome (injured), Casey Cizikas (injured), Travis Hamonic (injured)
Total games lost: 170
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 634
15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 587
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 302
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 537
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
The Isles lead the season series two games to one (and 4 points to 2).  The teams will complete the season series in New Jersey on April 8th.
The Isles have won 7 straight at home against New Jersey and are a perfect 4-0-0 at Barclays Center against the Devils.  Overall, the Isles are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games against New Jersey.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 41-24-3-1 on the season following a 3-1 win in Lehigh Valley on Friday.
Jake Bischoff (his first professional goal), Michael dal Colle and Joshua Winquist scored for the Sound Tigers.  Eamon McAdam needed to make just 20 saves for the win.
Bracken Kearns 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 48 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 game of their six game road trip on Saturday in Hershey. Bridgeport trails the Bears by just one point for the final playoff spot and could tie or pass Hershey on Saturday.
Up Next
SUNDAY, APRIL 2nd –ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO– 3:00PM
[MSG+/MSG GO (Isles Pre-Game begins at 2:30), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles begin a four game road trip with their final matinee of the season, as they face the Sabres in Buffalo.
The teams split a pair of games a week apart in December, with each team winning at home; the Sabres' win came in overtime.  Overall, the Isles are 7-1-5 in their last 13 games against the Sabres, including 4-0-3 in Buffalo.
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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