"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 80
Isles 3, Carolina 0
That noted philosopher Yogi Berra once said "It ain't over til it's over". Well, it ain't over yet as the Islanders got first period goals from Brock Nelson and Scott Mayfield and an early second period power play goal from Andrew Ladd to take a 3-0 lead. Jaroslav Halak did the rest, making 29 saves to win his fifth straight start, as the Isles defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 before a crowd of 9,769 at PNC Arena.
The win, coupled with a Tampa Bay 4-1 win in Toronto, keeps the Isles mathematically alive in the playoff race as both the Isles and Bolts close within three points of the Leafs, with all three teams having two games to play.
Ottawa defeated Boston in a shootout to clinch a playoff spot so it is the Isles, Leafs and Lightning in competition for the final playoff spot.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
01:27 New York Brock Nelson (19) 1-0
04:39 New York Scott Mayfield (2) ASST: Anders Lee (18), Anthony Beauvillier (14) 2-0
2ND PERIOD
00:39 New York PPG - Andrew Ladd (22) ASST: Josh Bailey (41), Nick Leddy (32) 3-0
3RD PERIOD
No Scoring
The Skinny:
The Isles are 22-12-4 (.632) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 33-19-8 in their last 60 games… The Isles go over NHL .500 on the road for the first time this season and have assured themselves of their 5th straight season of NHL .500 or better on the road FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR HISTORY…Jaroslav Halak recorded his 41st career shutout (2nd this season, both on the road) …The Isles have won four straight games for the first time since March 2016…The Isles have killed 21 of the last 24…Dennis Seidenberg went +1, improving his team-leading +/- to +25. Only two Islanders has finished a season with a +25 rating since 1994-95 (Adrian Aucoin +29, Kenny Jonsson +25, both in 2003-04) … Anders Lee's assist leaves him one point shy of reaching 50 for the first time in his career while Brock Nelson's goal leaves him one shy of third straight 20-goal season; Nelson also matched a career high with his 42nd point... Both Nick Leddy (43) and Josh Bailey (54) extended their career highs in points…The Hurricanes suffered their 4th straight regulation loss (0-4-0) after they had gone the previous 13 games without a regulation loss (9-0-4).
The Playoff Chase
The Isles need to finish ahead of both Toronto and Tampa Bay to make the playoffs.
Standings:
Toronto 93 points, 38 ROW in 80 games
ISLES 90 points, 37 ROW in 80 games
Tampa Bay 90 points, 36 ROW in 80 games
The Isles will make the playoffs IF:
· The Isles win their last 2 (both ROWs) and Leafs go no better than 0-1-1 in their last 2
OR
· The Isles win their last 2, the Leafs lose their last 2 (both in regulation), and the Lightning don't earn more ROWs than the Isles do.
There is still a possibility of a 3-way tie between the Isles/Leafs/Lightning (at 94/38). However, the three-way tie does not help the Isles, who lost the season series (for playoff purposes) to both Tampa Bay (4 points to 0) and Toronto (3 points to 2). The tiebreaker for playoff purposes is as follows: "If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing."
Remaining Schedules:
Friday: Tampa Bay @ Montreal (7:30)
Saturday: Isles @ Devils (6:00), Pittsburgh @ Toronto (7:00)
Sunday: Ottawa @ Isles (5:00), Buffalo @ Tampa Bay (5:00), Columbus @ Toronto (6:00)
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 17 players to score at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons and one of only ten to do so six times in the last seven seasons. He is now four points shy of 500 for his career (232-264-496); his goal tonight broke a tie with two Original Islanders: Ed Westfall and Billy Harris on the all-time NHL list.
Flying since Thanksgiving
Anders Lee has scored 30 goals in his last 61 games (since November 23rd). Only 4 players in the NHL have more goals in that span: Brad Marchand (33), Auston Matthews (33), Max Pacioretty (31) and Sidney Crosby (31).
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 15-10-12 in one-goal games, winning only 14 of the 36 games (.405). That .405 percentage in 1-goal games won is the second lowest in the NHL – the Leafs are 14-7-15 (.389) in 1-goal games. (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 6-3-0 in this stretch (1-2-0 at home and 5-1-0 on the road), with six of the nine 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 (Won 4-2)
· April 4 @ Predators (Won 2-1)
· April 6 @ Hurricanes (Won 3-0)
· April 8 @ Devils 6pm
· April 9 Vs Senators 5pm
62 in 49
The Isles are now 28-15-6 in their last 49 games (since December 20th vs. Boston). In those games, the PP is 23-143 (16.1%) and the penalty kill is 18-117 (84.6%).
Jaro, Jaro
Jaroslav Halak is 5-1-0 since his recall from Bridgeport (and 5-0-0 as a starter). He has played to a 1.51 GAA and 94.9 save percentage in those six games.
Most Wins Since March 24
1. Jaroslav Halak 5
2. Six with 4
Lowest Goals Against Average Since March 24 (minimum 3 starts)
1. Tuukka Rask 0.79
2. Keith Kinkaid 1.32
3. Carey Price 1.50
4. Jaroslav Halak 1.51
Highest Save Percentage Since March 24 (minimum 3 starts)
1. Tuukka Rask .970
2. Keith Kinkaid .962
3. Carey Price .951
4. Jaroslav Halak .949
Most Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
1
|
Roberto Luongo
|
966
|
73
|
2
|
Henrik Lundqvist
|
741
|
61
|
3
|
Marc-Andre Fleury
|
690
|
44
|
Jonathan Quick
|
490
|
44
| |
5
|
Pekka Rinne
|
507
|
43
|
6
|
Jaroslav Halak
|
394
|
41
|
Most Shutouts as an Islander
1. Chico Resch 25
2. Billy Smith 22
3. Rick DiPietro 16
4. Tommy Salo 14
5. Jaroslav Halak 11
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). Greiss has appeared in a career high 50 games, and set career highs for both wins (25) and shutouts (3).
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
|
37
|
16
|
12
|
28
|
+2
|
3
|
Josh Bailey
|
38
|
7
|
18
|
25
|
+4
|
4
|
Nick Leddy
|
38
|
4
|
18
|
22
|
+1
|
5
|
Brock Nelson
|
37
|
10
|
9
|
19
|
-5
|
6
|
Andrew Ladd
|
35
|
14
|
4
|
18
|
-7
|
7
|
Ryan Strome
|
30
|
7
|
9
|
16
|
-3
|
8
|
Jason Chimera
|
38
|
10
|
4
|
14
|
+3
|
A Different Road
The Isles are 16-11-2 in their last 29 road games, after winning only 2 of their first 11 road games (2-6-3). They are 11-4-1 in their last 16 road games after going 7-13-4 in their first 24 on the road.
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 11-6-6=23
Carolina 6-15-8=29
The Isles are 19-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 3-3-0 when the shots are even and are 17-17-6 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 39-29-12 overall; 21-12-7 at home and 18-17-5 on the road.
Carolina is 35-31-14 overall; 23-12-5 at home and 12-19-9 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 14-10-5 in Division games and 25-19-7 in games versus other divisions (10-10-3 vs. Atlantic, 7-5-2 vs. Central and 8-4-2 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 24-20-8 against the East and 15-9-4 against the West.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves to improve to 11-9-5 on the season and 3-4-1 in his career against Carolina.
Eddie Lack made 20 saves but falls to 7-7-3 on the season and 2-2-1 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles went 1-4 on the power play; Carolina was 0-3.
The Isles are 17-7-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-22-6 when they do not. The Isles are 14-14-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 25-15-7 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 36-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-21-9 when they do not. The only Islander wins when not scoring 3 goals were on November 28th vs. Calgary (2-1 in OT), March 31 vs. New Jersey (2-1), and April 4 @ Nashville (2-1 in OT).
One Goal Games
The Isles are 15-10-12 in games decided by a single goal including 7-10 in regulation. They are 6-8 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 24-9-8 when they score first and are 14-20-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
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 conclude the regular season with back-to-back games on April 8th-9th (at 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 26-21-5 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Calvin de Haan (22:40); Carolina: Justin Faulk (23:24)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (7-0-0), Nick Leddy (16-21-9), 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).
Andrew Ladd led the Isles forwards with 18:07 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (28-21-10), Josh Bailey (4-5-2), Andrew Ladd (2-0-0), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-2-0), Shane Prince (1-0-0), Joshua Ho-Sang (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 17, Carolina 29 (37%).
No Islander won more than he lost; Elias Lindholm won 10 of 11 for Carolina.
Face-offs by period: 1st period- 8/15; 2nd period 6/19; 3rd period 3/12
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 13/38; Power play 2/4; Penalty kill 2/4.
Hit Count
Isles 34, Carolina 21. Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with six hits; Elias Lindholm led Carolina with four.
Fights
There were no fights. 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 21 blocked shots; Dennis Seidenberg led the Isles with six.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 45, Carolina 61 (There were only 3 attempts in the final 8 minutes, all by Carolina)
5-on-5 Isles 37, Carolina 49
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Anders Lee +2; Anders Lee 53%
Carolina: Derek Ryan +12
Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 186 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 147, Calvin deHaan 83
Scratches
JF Berube, Nikolay Kulemin (injured), Ryan Strome (injured), Casey Cizikas (injured), Travis Hamonic (injured), John Tavares (injured), Shane Prince (injured)
Total games lost: 187
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 637
…
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 198
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 304
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 20 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 finished the season with a record of 2-3-1 in day games (0-0-1 at home and 2-3-0 on the road):
· 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 (won 4-2)
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
Carolina wins the season series three games to two (Carolina earned 7 points to the Isles' 5)
The Isles win two of the three games in Raleigh this season and are 6-2-0 in their last eight trips to Carolina.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 43-24-3-1 on the season and are one points ahead of Hershey in the battle for the final playoff spot (Bridgeport has five games to play while Hershey has only 4).
Bracken Kearns leads the Sound Tigers in goals (23) and points (23-25-48). Rookie Devon Toews leads the team in assists with 37. Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 13 goals and 43 points (13-30-43).
Bridgeport, who trails Providence by one point, begins a home-and-home series in Rhode Island on Friday. The Webster Bank Arena rematch will be on Saturday. Bridgeport will host Hartford to close out the season's final 3 games-in-3 days on Sunday at 3pm.
Up Next
SATURDAY, APRIL 6th –ISLANDERS AT NEW JERSEY– 6:00PM
[MSG+/MSG GO (Isles Pre-Game begins at 5:30), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles head to Newark for their final road game of the 2016-17 regular season as they face New Jersey.
The Isles are 7-1-1 in their last 9 games in Newark, losing their only previous visit this season on February 18th (by a 3-2 score).
The Isles won both games vs. the Devils this season in Brooklyn and are 11-1-1 in the last 13 games against New Jersey.
The Isles are 22-16-5 all-time in road finales, including a 3-2-0 against the Devils. Saturday is the 10th anniversary of the Isles' most-famous finale against the Devils, when Wade Dubielewicz poke-checked the Isles into the playoffs.
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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