The Skinny: Washington 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 13

Washington 4, Isles 3

On a night that the Islanders held Alex Ovechkin without a point, Lars Eller scored two goals and added an assist as the Washington Capitals defeated the Islanders 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,506 at Capital One Arena.

The Isles had battled back to tie on three separate occasions, twice by scoring power play goals, but Eller tallied the winner with 3:21 to play. It was the third consecutive game that the Isles had scored multiple power play goals.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

05:55 Washington Taylor Chorney (1) ASST: Chandler Stephenson (1), Lars Eller (5) 0-1

13:01 New York PPG - John Tavares (12) ASST: Anders Lee (7), Josh Bailey (12) 1-1

16:19 Washington Lars Eller (2) ASST: Chandler Stephenson (2), Madison Bowey (4) 1-2

2ND PERIOD

16:18 New York PPG - Anders Lee (7) ASST: Josh Bailey (13), Mathew Barzal (5) 2-2

16:30 Washington Alex Chiasson (1) ASST: John Carlson (8), Jay Beagle (3) 2-3

3RD PERIOD

07:00 New York Anders Lee (8) ASST: Thomas Hickey (3), John Tavares (5) 3-3

16:39 Washington Lars Eller (3) ASST: Tom Wilson (2), John Carlson (9) 3-4

The Skinny: 

The Isles allowed the first goal for the 10th time in the first 13 games … John Tavares scored only once and that was newsworthy as it was the first time this season he tallied exactly one goal; JT also added an assist as his 17 points this season have come in just six games…Tavares remains second in the NHL with 12 goals…Josh Bailey assisted on both power play goals …Mathew Barzal now has eight points in the last eight games.…Anders Lee scored twice and added an assist for his third consecutive multipoint game.. The Isles have scored 22 of their 47 goals in the third period, outscoring opponents 22-13…Lars Eller recorded his first 3-point game as a Capital; his assist was his 100th NHL assist…Taylor Chorney scored his 4th career goal in his 150th game; it was his first goal since New Year's Day…John Tavares played in his 600th NHL game; he is the first 2009 draft choice to reach that total…The Isles are 0-3-0 in the last three games and 1-3-2 in the last six games that they allowed under 20 shots…The Isles PP is 7-14 in the last three games after starting the season 2-33; the Caps have not scored a power play goal in their last five games (0-13)…Jaroslav Halak's win streak ended at 3 games.

 

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

Josh Bailey's 7-game assist streak and 8-game point streak are the longest current streaks in the NHL; 12 of Bailey's 13 assists have come during the seven-game streak.  Bailey is now just two games shy of tying the Islander club record for consecutive games with an assist - 9 (shared by several).

Fast Starts

• John Tavares is the first Islander with 12 goals in the first 13 games since Mark Parrish had 12 in 2001-02

• Josh Bailey is the first Islander with 13 assists in the first 13 games since Alexei Yashin had 13 in 2007-08.

• Tavares (12) and Anders Lee (8) are the first Islander teammates to combine for 20 goals in the first 13 games since Mike Bossy (17) and Brent Sutter (13) scored 30 in the first 13 in 1984-85.

Fastest to 30

Doug Weight is now 31-17-5 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 14 straight periods, have scored a second period goal in nine straight games and have scored 15 goals in the third period of the last six games.

The 14-period streak matches a similar streak last January 31- February 9.  Over the last eight seasons, the only longer steak is a 15-period streak from December 20 – December 31, 2016.

 (Other) First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles have scored at least 2 power play goals in three consecutive games for the first time in the John Tavares era.  It last happened on November 22-24-26, 2008 (2 at Buffalo, 2 at Montreal, 2 vs. Pittsburgh))

• The Isles have scored 7 power play goals in a three-game period for the first time since February 11-14-16, 2013 (4 vs. Carolina, 0 at Rangers, 3 vs. New Jersey)

 

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

Passing Grabner, Tying Green

Anders Lee has 92 goals as an Islander, tying Travis Green for 36th on the team's all-time list. 

The Shots

Isles              14-8-16=38

Washington  11-6-2=19

The Isles are 1-2-1 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 11th game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles are 6-4-1 in this stretch; the only Eastern Conference opponents they will face during this stretch are the Rangers (4-3 SO Win) and Capitals (4-3 Loss).

Home and Road

The Islanders are 7-5-1 overall; 4-0-1 at home and 3-5-0 on the road.  

Washington is 6-6-1 overall; 2-3-0 at home and 4-3-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 1-2-0 in Division games and 6-3-1 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 2-2-0 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 15 saves but falls to 5-3-0 on the season.  He is 8-8-0 in his career against Washington.

Braden Holtby made 35 saves to improve to 6-3-0 on the season; he is 13-3-3 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles were 2-4 on the power play, Washington was 0-4.  

The Isles are 4-1-0 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 2-3-1 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 7-2-0 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 1-3-1 in games decided by a single goal including 0-3 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 4-5-1 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 4-4-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:09); Washington: John Carlson (27:28)

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

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (19:17). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (7-5-1).

Face-offs

Isles 20, Washington 32 (38%). In an unusual occurrence, only the 4 Islander centers took faceoffs in this game.  

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Lars Eller won 9 of 12 for Washington.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/17; 2nd period 3/11; 3rd period 10/24.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 16/41; Power play 2/5; Penalty kill 2/6.

Hit Count

Isles 12 (Ryan Pulock -3) 

Washington 10 (Devante Smith-Pelly 4)

Fights

None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 20 shots; Johnny Boychuk led the team with 4. 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 72, Washington 48 

5-on-5 Isles 58, Washington 38

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Johnny Boychuk +17

Washington: Lars Eller +1

Night and Day 

The Isles are 7-5-0 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 – 201(including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 164 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 162, Calvin deHaan 98

Scratches

(Shane Prince-IR), Adam Pelech (injured), Alan Quine-Conditioning, Scott Mayfield

Total games lost: 27

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 652 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. John Tavares 600

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 247

…

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

…

36. Travis Green 92 and Anders Lee 92

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 307

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 213

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 554

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 322

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet in Brooklyn on December 11th before they conclude the season series with a home-and-home series in mid-March.

The loss snapped the Isles' two-game win streak vs. Washington; the Isles haven't won three straight vs. Washington since 2007-08.

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

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5th – COLORADO AT ISLANDERS 6:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 5:30PM), WNYM 970 AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles will play only five home games in November; the first two will come in the homestand beginning on Sunday as the Isles welcome Matt Duchene and the Avs to Brooklyn.

The home team has dominated this series in recent years, with the Isles winning three straight at home by a combined score of 16-4; the Avalanche have won the last four games in Denver, including once in overtime.

The Isles will face the Avs on New Year's Eve in Denver to complete the season series.

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