The Skinny: Isles 5, Arizona 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 9

Isles 5, Arizona 3

John Tavares recorded his 7th career hat trick and added an assist for his 10th career 4-point game as the Isles earned their third straight win as they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-3 before a crowd of 9,795 at Barclays Center.

Adam Pelech had three primary assists as he became the youngest Islander defensemen with a three-assist game since Kenny Jonsson as the Isles improved to 3-0-1 at home, matching their best home start in 33 years.  

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

04:47 Arizona PPG - Anthony Duclair (2) ASST: Clayton Keller (3), Derek Stepan (5) 0-1

2ND PERIOD

03:41 New York John Tavares (4) ASST: Jordan Eberle (5) 1-1

14:25 New York John Tavares (5) ASST: Adam Pelech (2), Jordan Eberle (6) 2-1

3RD PERIOD

01:32 Arizona Mario Kempe (2) ASST: Tobias Rieder (2), Christian Dvorak (3) 2-2

04:21 New York PPG - Brock Nelson (5) ASST: Adam Pelech (3), Josh Bailey (4) 3-2

08:57 Arizona Nick Cousins (1) ASST: Clayton Keller (4), Adam Clendening (1) 3-3

12:41 New York John Tavares (6) ASST: Adam Pelech (4), Calvin de Haan (5) 4-3

17:03 New York Scott Mayfield (1) ASST: John Tavares (4), Anders Lee (2) 5-3

The Skinny: 

The Isles allowed the first goal for the 7th time in the first nine games and the Coyotes scored first for the 7th time in nine games… John Tavares recorded his 36th career multi-goal game and his 42nd career 3+-point game… The Isles have outscored opponents 13-8 in the third period… Jordan Eberle is now the team leader in assists (6) after his first multi-point game as an Islander  … Brock Nelson scored for the 17th time in 46 career October games; his power play goal was the first by the Isles at home this season … Scott Mayfield's insurance goal was the first goal for the Islanders defense this season (latest into a season without a d-men goal since 1996-97, when they scored in their 11th game)..Rookie Clayton Keller,  the Coyotes leading scorer (6-4-10), recorded his first career multi-assist game…The Isles defense contributed 5 points (1-4-5)…The Coyotes are 0-8-1 to open the season, including seven straight regulation losses; only 2 teams since the end of World War II have opened with a winless streak of 11 games (1973-74 North Stars 0-5-6; 1995-96 Sharks 0-7-4) …Nick Cousins' goal was his first with Arizona…The Isles 5th win last season came in game 13 (5-6-2); they won only 5 of their first 17 games last season (5-8-4).

Lots of Goals 

The Isles have scored at least five goals in consecutive games for the first time since February 14-16, 2016 (W 6-3 CBJ, L 5-6 NYR).  Since that loss the Isles have won 29 straight games in which they scored 5 goals.  The Isles hadn't scored 5+ goals in consecutive regulation wins since January 6-7, 2014 (W 7-3 Dal, W 5-3 @TOR).

The Isles have also scored 3 goals in consecutive third periods for the first time since October 17-20, 2015 (vs SJS, at CBJ).

Comeback Kids

Since 2013-14, the Isles have won 68 games after allowing the first goal -- most in the NHL.

Most wins after allowing first goal (since 2013-14)

1 ISLES 68

2 Canucks 65 

   Ducks     65 

4 Penguins 63 

5 Kings 62  

   Lightning 62 

Two Over NHL-.500

The win pushes the Isles two games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season (5-3-1).  The Isles did not go two games over NHL-.500 last season at any point until a January 21st win vs. Los Angeles  

 

JT Passes Bourne and Tonelli, Ties Howatt 

John Tavares played in his 596th Islander game, tying Garry Howatt for 15th in club history among Isles skaters. 

JT's first goal was his 239th, breaking a tie with Bob Bourne for 7th place in goals.  His second goal was his 544th point, passing John Tonelli for 7th place in that category.

Chasing Grabner

Anders Lee has 89 goals as an Islander, one behind Michael Grabner for 37th on the team's all-time list. 

The Shots

Isles          6-11-8=25

Arizona   14-9-12=35

The Isles are 1-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even, and 4-2-0 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged twice and been successful once.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks -- successful

The opponents have not challenged so far this season.

Go West, Young Men

This was the seventh game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles are 4-2-1 in this stretch; the only Eastern Conference opponents they will face during this stretch are the Rangers (4-3 SO Win) and Capitals (11/2 in DC).

Home and Road

The Islanders are 5-3-1 overall; 3-0-1 at home and 2-3-0 on the road.  

Arizona are 0-8-1 overall; 0-4-1 at home and 0-4-0 on the road.  

It's Early But…

The Isles win moved them into third place in the Metropolitan Division; the Isles are two points behind the Penguins and one point behind the Devils.

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 1-1-0 in Division games and 4-2-1 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 2-1-0 against the East and 3-2-1 against the West.

Our House

The Isles are 3-0-1 at home, matching their best home start since 1984-85 (also 3-0-1 in 2015-16).  The Isles are 1-0-1 vs. the Western Conference at Barclays Center this season and are 23-4-4 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves to improve to 3-2-0 on the season and 8-3-1 in his career against Arizona. 

Louie Domingues made 20 saves, but falls to 0-5-0 on the season and 2-2-0 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play; Arizona was 1-3.  

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-3-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 5-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-3-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-2-1 in games decided by a single goal including 0-2 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal 

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score first and are 3-3-1 when they allow the opening goal. 

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 1-1-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-1-0 on the back-end.  The next back-to-back set is November 10th in Dallas and November 11th in St. Louis.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 0-1-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 1-0-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 1-0-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 3-2-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (23:57); Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (25:55)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (2-1-1), Nick Leddy (1-1-0), John Tavares (1-1-0). Calvin deHaan (1-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (16:53). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (5-3-1)

Face-offs

Isles 33, Arizona 40 (45%).  

John Tavares won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Brad Richardson won 9 of 11 for Arizona.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 8/21; 2nd period 11/24; 3rd period 14/28.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/66; Power play 3/3; Penalty kill 3/4.

Hit Count

Isles 16 (Cal Clutterbuck and Jason Chimera each had 3) 

Arizona 21 (Nick Cousins 4)

Fights

None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 17 shots; Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with 4.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 49, Arizona 64 

5-on-5 Isles 44, Arizona 51

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Calvin deHaan +2

Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson +14

Night and Day 

The Isles are 5-3-0 in night games and 0-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season, will play six matinees this season.

Ironmen

Jason Chimera – 197 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 160 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 158, Calvin deHaan 94 

Scratches

(Alan Quine-IR, Shane Prince-IR), Joshua Ho-Sang, Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 21

Late Hero

The Isles have scored once in the final minute of regulation to either tie or win a game:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen twice this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ) and are 2-0-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-0-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 648 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 15. Garry Howatt and John Tavares 596

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. John Tavares 241

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 109

…

36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38 Anders Lee 89

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. John Tavares 306

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 204

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tavares 547

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 313

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series on January 22nd in Phoenix.

It has been nearly 15 years since the Isles were beaten by the Coyotes at home; the then-Phoenix Coyotes captured a 3-2 win on October 29, 2002 at the Coliseum as Landon Wilson beat Garth Snow for the winner with just 3:31 to play.  Since then the Isles are 7-0-1 in their last eight home games against the Coyotes.

On the Farm

Bridgeport improved to 2-4-0 on Sunday with a 6-3 victory over Hartford.  The Sound Tigers got goals from six different players, including Scott Eansor. Eansor is tied for the AHL lead (and the AHL rookie lead) with seven goals on the season.

The Sound Tigers visit Hartford on Friday before returning home to host Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.   

Up Next

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26th - ISLANDERS AT MINNESOTA 8:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles look to extend their winning streak to four games as they begin a two-game road trip on Thursday in St. Paul against the Wild.

The teams split a pair of games last season, with the home team winning both match-ups.  Overall, the Isles are 7-3-1 in the last 11 games against Minnesota.

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 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