The Skinny: Isles 6, Vegas 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 12

Isles 6, Vegas 3

In their first game against Vegas, John Tavares and Josh Bailey both rolled 11s.  Tavares' two goals gave him 11 while Bailey's three assists also gave him 11 as the Isles rebounded from allowing an early shorthanded goal to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 in the first-ever meeting of the teams before a crowd of 11,113 at Barclays Center.

The Isles connected twice on the power play in the second period, giving them five power play goals in the last two games.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

09:31 Vegas SHG - William Karlsson (3) ASST: Cody Eakin (5) 0-1

13:50 New York Andrew Ladd (3) ASST: Nick Leddy (5), Johnny Boychuk (3) 1-1

15:46 Vegas PPG - Alex Tuch (3) ASST: Colin Miller (5), Brad Hunt (6) 1-2

2ND PERIOD

14:50 New York PPG - John Tavares (10) ASST: Nick Leddy (6), Josh Bailey (9) 2-2

17:44 New York PPG - Mathew Barzal (3) ASST: Anders Lee (5), Josh Bailey (10) 3-2

3RD PERIOD

04:44 New York Cal Clutterbuck (2) ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (1), Nikolay Kulemin (2) 4-2

08:26 New York Nikolay Kulemin (1) ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (2) 5-2

12:38 New York John Tavares (11) ASST: Josh Bailey (11), Anders Lee (6) 6-2

14:41 Vegas PPG - Colin Miller (2) ASST: Brad Hunt (7), Alex Tuch (2) 6-3

The Skinny: 

The Isles allowed the first goal for the 9th time in the first 12 games … John Tavares recorded his fourth mutil-goal game of the month; his 15 points this season have come in just five games…Tavares is now second in NHL with his 11 goals; he is the first Islander since Mark Parrish to score 11 times in October… Josh Bailey extended his point streak to seven games (matching a career high) and his assist streak to six games; Bailey's 11 assists are the most in October for any Islander since Robert Reichel in 1997-98 (12)… The Isles' defense contributed five assists…Mathew Barzal recorded his first power play goal; he has seven points in the last seven games…Anders Lee added two assists for the second straight game as he extended his point streak to six games; he had only two multi-assist games last season... Tavares is now 45-42-87 in 85 career October games… The Isles have scored 21 of their 44 goals in the third period, outscoring opponents 21-12…The Isles had four players with multiple assists and six players with multiple points…The loss denied Vegas from becoming the first team in NHL history to win six straight in their inaugural season…Vegas lost goalie Oscar Dansk to injury in the second period.  Maxime Lagace became the fourth goalie to appear in Vegas' first 10 games as he made his NHL debut…Nikolay Kulemin scored for the first time since March 22nd at The Garden against the Rangers…The Isles end October with at least seven wins for the first time since going 9-0-1-1 in 2001…Vegas had allowed only two second period goals in the first nine games and entered play having allowed an NHL-low 19 goals…The Isles are 5-1-0 in their last six, and the power play has performed at a 30.4% clip (7-23) during that stretch…. The Isles 7th win last season came in game 21 (7-10-4); John Tavares scored his 11th goal last season on New Year's Eve.

Hey Josh Bailey, Can You Assist on Some More Goals?

Josh Bailey's 6-game assist streak and 7-game point streak are the longest current streaks in the NHL; ten of Bailey's 11 assists have come during the six-game streak.  Bailey recorded his 2^nd 3-assist game of the season; the last Islander to record two 3-assist games in October was Vladimir Malakhov in 1993-94.

Bailey's 6-game assist streak is the longest by an Islander since Frans Nielsen had a 6-game streak in 2014 (1/14-1/23/14; 6 assists) while the 7-game point streak is his longest since John Tavares had a 7-game streak in 2016 (2/6-2/16/16; 5-6-11).

The Islander club record for consecutive games with an assist is 9 (shared by several).

Total Team Effort

For the second straight game, six different Islanders recorded multiple points (only Tavares and Lee did it in both game) Prior to Saturday, the Isles had gone 7 ½ years without having six players record multiple points (April 1, 2010 vs. Philadelphia).

Fastest to 30

Doug Weight is now 31-16-5 as an NHL coach. On October 28 in Nashville, he reached 30 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 30 Wins by an Islander Coach:

51 – Doug Weight

60 – Peter Laviolette 2001-02 (30-20-7-3)

61 – Ted Nolan 30-23-8

These Guys Can Score

The Isles have scored at least one goal in 11 straight periods, have scored a second period goal in eight straight games and have scored 14 goals in the third period of the last five games.

The Isles have scored at least four goals in 5 straight games (six straight games if you include a 4-3 shootout win vs. the Rangers)

 

 (Other) First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles are 4-0-1 in their first five home games.  It is their best home start since opening 5-0-0 in 1982-83.

• The Isles have scored 5 power play goals in a 2-game span for the first time since January 29-31, 2013 (2 at Pittsburgh, 3 at New Jersey)

• The Isles have allowed 6 shorthanded goals in a month for the second time in their history (April 1995)

• The Isles have scored at least 6 goals in consecutive games for the first time since February 11-13, 2011 (9-3 vs Pittsburgh, 7-6 (OT) @ Buffalo)

• John Tavares is the first Islander in at least 30 years to have 4 multi-goal games in October; the only other NHL players to do so in the last 25 years are Alex Ovechkin (6) and Ilya Kovalchuk (4), both in Tavares' rookie season of 2009-10.

Most Hat Tricks by an Islander

1. Mike Bossy -39

2. Bryan Trottier -16

3. JOHN TAVARES -8

        Pierre Turgeon -8

Most Natural Hat Tricks by an Islander 

1. Derek King – 4

2. JOHN TAVARES -2 

        Mike Bossy -2 

        Bryan Trottier -2

        Jason Blake -2

Even with Grabner

Anders Lee has 90 goals as an Islander, tying Michael Grabner for 37th on the team's all-time list. 

Three Over NHL-.500

The win pushes the Isles three games over NHL-.500 for the second time this season (7-4-1).  The Isles did not go two games over NHL-.500 last season at any point until a January 24st win vs. Columbus.  

The Isles are now 58 games over all-time NHL .500 for the first time since they were blanked by Calgary 5-0 on December 2, 1999.  Islander goalie coach Fred Brathwaite earned the shutout in that game for the Flames.

 

The Shots

Isles     10-13-7=30

Vegas  15-11-8=34

The Isles are 1-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 6-2-0 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 tenth game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles are 6-3-1 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 7-4-1 overall; 4-0-1 at home and 3-4-0 on the road.  

Vegas is 8-2-0 overall; 6-1-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 1-1-0 in Division games and 6-3-1 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 2-1-0 against the East and 5-3-1 against the West.

Our House

The Isles are 4-0-1 at home; it's their best home start since 1982-83 (5-0-0).  The Isles are 3-0-1 vs. the Western Conference at Barclays Center this season and are 25-4-4 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves and improves to 5-2-0 on the season.  He is 1-0-0 in his career against Vegas.

Oscar Dansk made 17 saves before leaving following Tavares' first goal due to injury.  Maxime Lagace stopped 7 of 11 shots to take the loss in his NHL debut. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 2-5 on the power play, allowing a shorthanded goal while Vegas was also 2-5.  

The Isles are 4-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 5-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-2-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 7-1-0 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 3-0-0 when they score first and are 4-4-1 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 2-0-0 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 4-3-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:42); Vegas: Nate Schmidt (22:08)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (2-1-1), Nick Leddy (32-2-0), John Tavares (1-1-0). Calvin deHaan (1-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (19:52). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (7-4-1).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Vegas 27 (52%).  

Mathew Barzal won 6 of 8 for the Isles; Pierre-Edouard Bellemare won 9 of 13 for Vegas.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/14; 2nd period 17/26; 3rd period 7/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/44; Power play 4/8; Penalty kill 4/6.

Hit Count

Isles 15 (Cal Clutterbuck -5) 

Vegas 11 (Erik Haula-3)

Fights

None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 23 shots; Adam Pelech led the team with 5. 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 54, Vegas 68 

5-on-5 Isles 42, Vegas 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jordan Eberle +9

Vegas: William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault +11

Night and Day 

The Isles are 7-4-0 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 – 200(including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 163 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 161, Calvin deHaan 97

Scratches

(Shane Prince-IR), Alan Quine-Conditioning, Scott Mayfield, Thomas Hickey

Total games lost: 25

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 651 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. John Tavares 599

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 246

…

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

…

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

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 211

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 552

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 320

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 25th in Las Vegas.

On the Farm

Bridgeport finished October with a 3-5-0 record. 

The Sound Tigers are off until Friday, when they begin a 3-in-3 weekend in Providence.  The weekend will also end in Providence, but Bridgeport will host Springfield on Saturday.

Up Next

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd –ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

It's been a long time since the Isles have faced the Washington Capitals; nine months and two days to be exact.  The Isles head to DC for the first meeting this season with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.

While Alex Ovechkin has been scoring (10 goals) and helping (5 assists, plus a coat donation to a homeless man in Edmonton) the reigning President's Trophy champions have struggled, going 5-6-1 in their first 12, including 1-3-0 at the newly renamed Capital One Arena.

Last season, the Isles split a pair of games in DC and won the season series 3 games to 2.  While the Isles haven't won all that often in Washington in the Tavares era, they have earned points in 10 of 16 (5-6-5).

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