The Skinny: Isles 6, Carolina 4

“The Skinny”

By Eric Hornick

Game 18

Isles 6, Carolina 4

Johnny Boychuk’s second goal of the season broke a 4-4 tie with 4:25 to play and Mathew Barzal scored a goal and added two assists as the Isles rallied for a 6-4 victory before a crowd of 11,188 on Military Appreciation Night at Barclays Center.

Boychuk was on-ice for all five even strength/shorthanded goals scored by the Isles as he became the first Islander in 15 years to go +5 in a game.  The Isles remain unbeaten in regulation this season in Brooklyn (6-0-2).

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

16:21    New York  Mathew Barzal (4) ASST: Andrew Ladd (5), Nick Leddy (10)   1-0

16:57    New York  SHG - Cal Clutterbuck (3)      2-0

17:30    Carolina    PPG - Elias Lindholm (4) ASST: Sebastian Aho (11), Teuvo Teravainen (8)            2-1

19:31    New York  Nick Leddy (4) ASST: Anders Lee (9), Josh Bailey (16)           3-1

2ND PERIOD

02:54    Carolina    Noah Hanifin (2) ASST: Jordan Staal (8), Jeff Skinner (3)        3-2

11:19    Carolina    Derek Ryan (4) ASST: Brett Pesce (2), Brock McGinn (5)        3-3

19:08    Carolina    Sebastian Aho (2) ASST: Teuvo Teravainen (9), Jordan Staal (9)        3-4

3RD PERIOD

07:22    New York  PPG - Josh Bailey (4) ASST: Anders Lee (10), Mathew Barzal (12)     4-4

15:35    New York Johnny Boychuk (2) ASST: Casey Cizikas (3), Cal Clutterbuck (4)        5-4

18:42    New York EN - Jordan Eberle (7) ASST: Mathew Barzal (13)       6-4

The Skinny:

The Isles scored the first goal for the second straight game; the Isles are 6-0-0 when they score first and 6-0-0 when they lead after one period…This was the Isles’ first in this season when trailing after two periods (1-6-1).. Carolina has won only three of the six games they have led after two periods (3-1-2)… Jordan Eberle scored for the 7^th time in 7 games… In addition to Johnny Boychuk’s +5, Casey Cizikas was +3… Boychuk is +8 in the last two games and is now +7 on the season... The Canes had scored only 11 goals in the 2nd period this season, before scoring three tonight… The Isles have scored at least five goals eight times in the first 18 games and have scored at least six goals five times; that’s the most times they have scored 5 goals in the first 18 games since doing so 12 times in 1984-85; the Isles scored 6 goals six times in the first 18 games in 1987-88…Mathew Barzal had his second 3+ point game of the season; he is the first Isles rookie to do so since Michael Grabner in 2011.  Barzal’s 17 points are the most by an Islander rookie through 18 games since Pat LaFontaine had 24 in 1984-85.…The Isles scored three first period goals in consecutive games for the first time since December 6-9, 2014…Anders Lee now had 11 points in the third period this season…Cal Clutterbuck recorded his first shorthanded goal of the season, his 8^th shorthanded goal as an Islander and his 14^th career short; Clutterbuck also assisted on the winning goal in his final game before turning 30 on Saturday…Teuvo Teravainen recorded his 100^th and 101^st career points…The Isles ended Carolina’s 5-game point streak (3-0-2) as they moved ahead of Washington, and into 4^th place in the Metro…The Isles have scored 66 goals in their first 18 games; it’s their highest goal total through 18 games in 30 years (81 in 1987-88).

First Times in Ridiculously Long Times – Johnny Boychuk edition

·        Johnny Boychuk is the first Islander to go +5 in a game since both Jason Wiemer and Dave Scatchard went +5 against Tampa Bay on November 21, 2002.

·        Boychuk is the first Islander defenseman to go +5 since Joe Reekie went +5 against Toronto on March 28, 1990.

·        Boychuk is the first Islander to go +5 and score the game-winning goal since Mike Bossy did so on October 20, 1984 vs. Los Angeles

Islanders with Game Winning Goal and +5 Rating  (per NHL.com)

·        Bryan Trottier 10-11-1975 vs. LA Kings  (3-2-5, +5)

·        Mike Bossy 11-26-1983 vs. Chicago (3-2-5, +6)

·        Dave Langevin 3-3-1984 vs. Toronto (1-0-1, +5)

·        Mike Bossy 10-20-1984 vs. Los Angeles (4-3-7, +5)

·        Johnny Boychuk 11-16-2017 vs. Carolina (1-0-1, +5)

First Times in Ridiculously Long Times – Hurricanes/Whalers edition

·        The Isles scored six goals against the Hurricanes for the first time since January 22, 2008 in Raleigh.

·        The Isles scored six goals against the Hurricanes franchise in New York for the first time since April 11, 1997 – the final road game before the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina.

Lots of First Round Picks (Thanks, Elias Sports Bureau)

·        The Isles dressed eight of their own first round picks (Pulock, Bailey, Barzal, Nelson, deHaan, Ho-Sang, Beauvillier, Tavares) for the first time since the final game of the 1985-86 season when they dressed nine.  This was the final regular season game of Al Arbour’s first stint as Islander coach.

·        The Isles dressed 12 first round picks for the first time in franchise history (Leddy, Eberle, Hickey and Ladd in addition to the eight players above)

Moving up the NHL Leader Boards

·        Josh Bailey is now tied for 7^th in assists :16

·        Nick Leddy is now tied for 11^th in defenseman points: 14

·        Mathew Barzal is now 2^nd in rookie points:17 is tied-1^st in rookie assists:13 (with NJ’s Will Butcher) and is tied-1^st in 3-point games by a rookie: 2 (also Will Butcher, Nico Hischier and Brock Boeser)

Starting the 2^nd Century

Thomas Greiss appeared in his 101^st game as an Islander, and improved to 54-31-11 for the Isles.  He is the 13^th Islander goalie to appear in 100 games.

Fastest to 30

Doug Weight is now 34-18-6 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

The Shots

Isles        14-8-14=36

Carolina  9-12-11=32

The Isles are 2-2-2 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.

Busy Stretch

This was the first game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 6 games in 10 days, changing cities between each game and playing two sets of three games in four days, with the four road games being played in two sets of back-to-backs.  The Isles are 1-0-0 in this stretch.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 10-6-2 overall; 6-0-2 at home and 4-6-0 on the road. 

Carolina is 7-6-4 overall; 3-2-3 at home and 4-4-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 2-2-0 in Division games and 8-4-2 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 3-2-0 against the East and 7-4-2 against the West.

Our House

The Isles are 6-0-2 at home, matching their best home start since 1978-79 (7-0-1). 

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.

Most Points Through 8 Home Games

15- 1978-79

14- 2017-18

14- 1986-87

14-1984-85

14- 1982-83

14- 1976-77

If the Islanders can beat Philadelphia on Wednesday they will match their best-ever record through 9 home games (7-0-2 in 1978-79 and 8-1-0 in 1984-85).

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 28 saves as he improves to 5-2-2 on the season and 4-3-1 in his career against Carolina.

Scott Darling made 30 saves but falls to 5-4-4 on the season and 2-2-0 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play; Carolina was 1-3 but allowed a shorthanded goal. 

The Isles are 6-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-5-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-3-0 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 10-2-0 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 3-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 6-0-0 when they score first and are 4-6-2 when they allow the opening goal.

Back-to-Backs

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 18^th in Tampa Bay and November 19^th in Carolina and  November 24^th in Philadelphia and November 25^th 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 5-5-2 when both teams are rested.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:02); Carolina: Jordan Staal (22:13)

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

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (20:40). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (10-5-2), Brock Nelson (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Carolina 33 (48%).

Casey Cizikas won 9 of 15 for the Isles; Elias Lindholm won 7 of 10 for Carolina.

Face-offs by period: 1^st period 12/26; 2^nd period 8/19; 3^rd period 11/19.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/54; Power play 2/3; Penalty kill 2/7.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)

Carolina 24 (Jordan Staal -4))

Fights

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

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 17 shots; Johnny Boychuk led the way with 6.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations: Isles 60, Carolina 57

5-on-5 Isles 45, Carolina 49

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Andrew Ladd +10

Carolina: Sebastian Aho +10

Night and Day

The Isles are 10-6-1 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 – 206 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 169 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 167, Calvin deHaan 103

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Shane Prince-IR), Scott Mayfield, Dennis Seidenberg, Alan Quine

Total games lost: 39

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 657 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. John Tavares 605

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 110

…

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 216

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 326

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 101

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 54

Season Series Stats

The teams lead the season series one game to none (and two points to 0).  The teams will meet again on Sunday in Carolina.

This was the Isles’ first regulation win against Carolina at Barclays Center (2-0-3) and only their second regulation win in their last 11 home games against Carolina (3-6-2).;

The Isles have now won three straight against Carolina.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 7-7-0-0 following a 2-1 overtime win in Hartford on Wednesday.  Devon Toews scored both goals for his first 2-goal game as a professional; Christopher Gibson made 35 saves to improve to 4-4-0 on the season.

Tanner Fritz, who assisted on both goals, leads Bridgeport with 14 points (3-11-14) while Scott Eansor and Steve Bernier lead the team in goals with 7.

Bridgeport will host Charlotte on Saturday (7pm) and Springfield on Sunday (3pm).

Up Next

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18^th –ISLANDERS AT TAMPA BAY 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles begin a weekend back-to-back set with their first matchup in over a calendar year against the NHL’s best team in the first 6 weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning (15-2-2).

The Isles and Lightning meet three times each season, and last season all three games were contested in the first 14 days of November.  Tampa Bay won them all by a combined score of 14-2.

Prior to last season the Islanders had gone 8-2-2 in over four seasons against Tampa Bay.   

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.