The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 6

Los Angeles 3, Isles 2

Drew Doughty scored a shorthanded goal 5:44 into the third period to give the Kings a 3-1 lead and Los Angeles survived a late Islander rally as they defeat the Isles 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,230 at STAPLES Center.  The Isles head home from California with a 1-2-0 record.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

12:44 Los Angeles Anze Kopitar (4) ASST: Drew Doughty (3), Dustin Brown (3) 0-1

2ND PERIOD

08:56 New York Josh Bailey (2) ASST: Mathew Barzal (1), Andrew Ladd (2) 1-1

11:32 Los Angeles PPG - Jake Muzzin (1) ASST: Oscar Fantenberg (2), Tyler Toffoli (2) 1-2

3RD PERIOD

05:44 Los Angeles SHG - Drew Doughty (2) ASST: Anze Kopitar (4) 1-3

14:20 New York Casey Cizikas (3) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (1), Thomas Hickey (2) 2-3

The Skinny:

The Isles allowed the first goal for the 5th time in the first six games…Josh Bailey's goal was the first allowed by the Kings in the second period this season… The Isles are off to a good start in third periods, outscoring opponents 7-3 ... The Isles have gone six games into the season without a power play goal for the first time since the 1977-78 season… Brock Nelson celebrated his 26th birthday...After having at least 29 shots in each of the first four games, the Isles only had a total of 48 shots in the two games this weekend …  No Islander has ever scored in all three games of a California trip …Dustin Brown, Jake Muzzin, and Anze Kopitar each extended their point streak to 4 games… The Isles have now allowed 3 shorthanded goals…Casey Cizikas tied Brock Nelson for the club lead in goals (3) …The Kings improve to an NHL-best 4-0-1 record…Drew Doughty is the first Kings defenseman to score a shorthanded game winning goal since Aaron Miller vs. Anaheim on December 16, 2001; Cam Fowler (12-9-13 for Anaheim) was the last to do so against the Isles.

Milestone Night

Josh Bailey's 2nd period goal produced milestones for two teammates as Mathew Barzal recorded his first point and Andrew Ladd was credited with his 500th NHL point; he is the 460th player in NHL history to reach that mark.

Most Assists, First Six Isles Games of a Season by a Rookie (since 1987-88)

• Rich Pilon 5 (1988-89)

• Josh Ho-Sang 4 (2017-18)

• Anthony Beauvillier 4 (2016-17)

• John Tavares 4 (2009-10)

• Derek King 4 (1987-88)

Most Games Without Isles Scoring a Power Play Goal (Start of Season)

• 7 - 1973-74

• 6 - 1977-78

• 6 -  2017-18

The Shots

Isles               7-7-11=25

Los Angeles   11-9-7=27

The Isles are 1-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even, and 1-2-0 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 fourth game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles are 1-2-1 in this stretch; the only Eastern Conference opponents they will face during this stretch are the Rangers (10/19 at MSG) and Capitals (11/2 in DC).

Chasing Bourne

John Tavares is 237-303=540 in his Islander career, leaving him one goal, one assist and two points behind Bob Bourne on the all-time Islander lists.

Career goals as an Islander:

7. Bob Bourne 238

8. John Tavares 237

9. Bobby Nystrom 235

Chasing Butch

Anders Lee has 86 career goals, one shy of Butch Goring on the all-time Isles list.

Home and Road

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

Los Angeles is 4-0-1 overall; 3-0-1 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

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

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves to fall to 1-2-0 on the season; he is 6-10-2 in his career against Los Angeles. 

Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in his first start of the season; he is 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play; Los Angeles was 1-3.  

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

Three is a Magic Number

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

The Isles were 15-10-12 in one-goal games last season.

First Goal 

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

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, 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 0-0-0 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 1-2-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (22:29); Los Angeles: Alec Martinez (24:08)

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

John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 21:55. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (2-3-1)

Face-offs

Isles 14, Los Angeles 31 (31%).  

Matthew Barzal won 3 of 5 for the Isles but his teammates won only 11 of 40; Nick Shore was a prefect 8 for 8 for Los Angeles.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 5/16; 2nd period 2/16; 3rd period 7/13

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 13/38; Power play 1/3; Penalty kill 0/4.

Hit Count

Isles 34 (Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas 6)

Los Angeles 26 (Dustin Brown 5) 

Fights

None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 14 shots; Scott Mayfield and Thomas Hickey led the Isles with 3.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 61, Los Angeles 47 

5-on-5 Isles 49, Los Angeles 35

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: 3 with +12 (Leddy, Lee, and Boychuk)

Los Angeles Jake Muzzin +4

Day and Night

The Isles are 2-3-0 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 – 194 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 157 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 155, Calvin deHaan 91 

Scratches

(Alan Quine-IR, Shane Prince-IR), Anthony Beauvillier, Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 15

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

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

….

8. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 645

…

15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 593

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. John Tavares 237

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 108

…

36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38. Butch Goring 87 *** 39. Anders Lee 86

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 

…

7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 303

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 201

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 540

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 309

Season Series Stats

Los Angeles leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will conclude their season series on December 16th in Brooklyn. 

STAPLES has been a tough spot for the Isles since the building opened in 1999.  The Isles are now 3-9-0 all-time in that building, including just a shootout win and seven losses in their last eight trips.  The only Islander goalie to win a game in regulation in that building is Garth Snow, who did so twice.

On the Farm

Bridgeport 1-2-0 after splitting a pair of games in Charlotte this weekend. Bridgeport won 5-3 on Friday in Kristers Gudlevkis' Sound Tiger debut as Scott Eansor scored twice; the Checkers earned a split with a 3-2 win despite power play goals by Eansor and by Steve Bernier.

The Sound Tigers are off until Friday when they visit Lehigh Valley; they host Laval in the home opener on Saturday. 

Up Next

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19th— ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The road trip concludes as the Isles return to the metropolitan area to face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.  

T

he Isles won 3 out of 4 games from the Rangers last season and they are 7-1-0 against the Rangers over the past two seasons.  The Isles have played very well in Manhattan in recent years, going 8-2-0 in their last ten games on Garden ice.

This will be the first of four meetings between the teams and the only game between the rivals in the first three months of the season; the teams won't play again until they end their respective byes by facing each other at MSG for a January 13th matinee.

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