The Skinny: Isles 5, St. Louis 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 17

Isles 5, St. Louis 2

Friday night in Dallas was the 8th time under Doug Weight that the Isles had lost a game by 3 goals or more. Saturday night in St. Louis was the 8th time that the Isles won the following game.

John Tavares scored his 13th goal of the season early in the first period to give the Isles a lead they would never relinquish as Thomas Greiss (the game's #1 Star) made 35 saves as the Isles defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-2 before a crowd of 18,761 at Scottrade Center.

It was only the fourth loss in regulation for the Blues, who still hold the best record in the Western Conference.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

03:21 New York John Tavares (13) ASST: Anders Lee (8) 1-0

10:07 New York Casey Cizikas (4) ASST: Nick Leddy (8)              2-0

13:18 New York Jordan Eberle (6) ASST: Andrew Ladd (4) 3-0

2ND PERIOD

03:35 New York Joshua Ho-Sang (1) ASST: Alan Quine (1), Nick Leddy (9) 4-0

11:31 St. Louis Brayden Schenn (5) ASST: Jaden Schwartz (13), Vince Dunn (1) 4-1

3RD PERIOD

06:41 St. Louis Scottie Upshall (2) ASST: Robert Bortuzzo (3), Kyle Brodziak (4) 4-2

15:33 New York Anders Lee (9) ASST: Adam Pelech (5), Calvin de Haan (7) 5-2

The Skinny: 

The Isles scored the first goal for only the 5th time in the first 17 games (5-0-0); the Isles improved to 5-0-0 when leading after one period and 8-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes… The Isles have scored in the second period in 12 of the last 13 games… The Isles deprived Jake Allen of his 100th career win…Only Nikita Kucherov (16) has more goals than John Tavares (13) …Emergency recall Joshua Ho-Sang scored his first NHL goal of the season; he is 1-4-5 in 7 NHL games this season…Alan Quine earned his first assist on the Ho-Sang goal…Jordan Eberle scored for the 6th time in 6 games… The Isles' defense contributed 4 assists…Anders Lee and Johnny Boychuk were both +3 for the Isles; Thomas Steen and Paul Stastny were both -4 for St. Louis…The Isles ended Vladimir Tarasenko's point streak at three games…The Blues had allowed only six goals in the first period this season, before the Isles scored three tonight…the Blues are 15-6-1 at home under Mike Yeo…The Isles have scored at least five goals seven times in the first 17 games; it's the first time that has happened since 1987-88 (also 7 times in the first 17 games).

Most Goals by an Islander (first 17 games, since 1987-88)

15- Pat LaFontaine 1987-88

13- Pat LaFontaine 1990-91

13- Mark Parrish 2001-02

13- John Tavares 2017-18

Century Mark

Thomas Greiss appeared in his 100th game as an Islander, and improved to 53-31-11 for the Isles.  He is the 13th Islander goalie to appear in 100 games.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night

The Isles are 5-0-0 on Saturday's this season; they won only three Saturday games all last season (3-8-5).  

Fastest to 30

Doug Weight is now 33-18-6 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

Notre Dame Guy Beats the Green

Anders Lee's goal was his 93rd as an Islander, passing Travis Green for 36th on the team's all-time list. 

The Shots

Isles        12-12-5=29

St. Louis 12-14-11=37

The Isles are 1-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 8-3-0 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.

How the West Was Won

This was the final game of a stretch in which the Isles played 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles went 8-5-2 in this stretch; the only Eastern Conference opponents they faced during this stretch were the Rangers (4-3 SO Win) and Capitals (4-3 Loss).

Twelve of the next 13 Islander games are against Eastern foes.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 9-6-2 overall; 5-0-2 at home and 4-6-0 on the road.  

St. Louis is 13-4-1 overall; 7-2-0 at home and 6-2-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 1-2-0 in Division games and 8-4-2 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 2-2-0 against the East and 7-4-2 against the West.

Our House

The Isles are 5-0-2 at home, matching their best home start since 1982-83 (7-0-0).  The Isles are 4-0-2 vs. the Western Conference at Barclays Center this season and are 25-4-5 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 35 saves as he improves to 4-2-2 on the season and 6-2-1 in his career against St. Louis.

Jake Allen made 14 saves before being replaced after the 4th Islander goal; Allen is 9-4-1 on the season and 2-2-0 against the Isles.  Carter Hutton stopped 10 of 11 in relief.

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play; St. Louis was 0-3.  

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 9-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-4-2 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-3-2 in games decided by a single goal including 0-3 in regulation. They are 0-1 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 5-0-0 when they score first and are 4-6-2 when they allow the opening goal. 

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 1-2-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 2-1-0 on the back-end.  The next back-to-back sets are November 18th in Tampa Bay and November 19th in Carolina and then November 24th in Philadelphia and November 25th in Ottawa.

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 3-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 4-5-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Calvin deHaan (21:51); St. Louis: Alex Pietrangelo (28:22)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (3-1-1), Nick Leddy (3-4-0), John Tavares (1-1-0). Calvin deHaan (2-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (19:08). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (9-5-2), Brock Nelson (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 32, St. Louis 34 (48%). 

Casey Cizikas won 13 of 21 for the Isles; Kyle Brodziak won 8 of 10 for St. Louis.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/20; 2nd period 12/28; 3rd period 10/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 29/59; Power play 0/2; Penalty kill 3/5.

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Cal Clutterbuck and Calvin deHaan -4) 

St. Louis 24 (Chris Thorburn & Robert Bertuzzo -5)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 2: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 15 shots; Adam Pelech and Johnny Boychuk each had 3. 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 49, St. Louis 69 

5-on-5 Isles 45, St. Louis 54

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Johnny Boychuk +7

St. Louis: Brayden Schenn +11

Night and Day 

The Isles are 9-6-1 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 – 205 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 168 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 166, Calvin deHaan 102

Scratches

(Shane Prince-IR), (Nikolay Kulemin -IR), Anthony Beauvillier (injured), Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 37

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 656 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. John Tavares 604

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 248

…

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

…

31. Mikko Makela & David Volek 95***33. Randy Wood 94*** 34.Greg Gilbert, Garry Howatt & Anders Lee 93

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 308

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 215

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 556

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 324

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Roland Melanson 136 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 133

…

11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Chris Osgood 103  *** 13. Thomas Greiss 100

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Rollie Melanson 77 *** 6. Jaroslav Halak 73

…

8.  Tommy Salo 62… 9. Evgeni Nabokov 57…10. Thomas Greiss 53

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series one game to one (the Isles earned 3 points to St. Louis' 2).

While the Isles have now won 2 of their last 3 games in St. Louis, this was their first regulation win in St. Louis since December 6, 1995. 

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 6-7-0-0 following a 2-1 loss to Hartford on Saturday.  Ryan Bourque had the only goal for Bridgeport; Christopher Gibson made 25 saves.

Tanner Fritz leads Bridgeport with 12 points (3-9-12) while Scott Eansor and Steve Bernier lead the team in goals with 7.

Bridgeport visits Hartford on Wednesday before returning home for a pair of game on Saturday/Sunday. 

Up Next

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16th – CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30PM), WNYM 970 AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles play their first divisional home game of the season as they entertain Carolina on Military Appreciation Night. 

Last season the Isles won the final two games of the series after Carolina had taken the opening three.  

Carolina has played particularly well against the Isles in New York in recent years; the Isles are only 2-6-2 in their last 10 home games against Carolina (with only one of those wins in regulation.  In two years of play at Barclays Center, the Canes own two OT wins and a shootout win; the lone Islander win came in a shootout.

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