The Skinny: Isles 3, Buffalo 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Isles 3, Buffalo 2 (OT)

Mathew Barzal became the first Islander rookie since Thomas Hickey to score an overtime goal as the Islanders rallied from a late 2-1 deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 before a crowd of 15,027 at Barclays Center.

Josh Bailey had tied the game following video review with just 69 seconds to play.  Bailey and John Tavares, who both entered the final minutes with long point streaks on the line, combined for the tying tally and then both earned off-ice assists on Barzal's winner.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

03:41 New York Jason Chimera (2) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (7), Casey Cizikas (6) 1-0

09:43 Buffalo Zemgus Girgensons (3) ASST: Jack Eichel (20), Marco Scandella (10) 1-1

3RD PERIOD

11:33 Buffalo Kyle Okposo (6) ASST: Evander Kane (19) 1-2

18:51 New York Josh Bailey (11) ASST: John Tavares (26) 2-2

OT PERIOD

01:08 New York Mathew Barzal (13) ASST: Josh Bailey (37), John Tavares (27) 3-2

The Skinny 

The Isles have gotten four overtime goals from four players this season (Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy, Jordan Eberle and Mathew Barzal) … Barzal tied the club record for overtime goals by a rookie (1). He is the tenth Islander rookie to score an overtime goal, and the first since Hickey did so in Montreal in 2013…Barzal join Sonny Milano, Clayton Keller and Christian Fischer as NHL rookies who have scored this season in overtime…Josh Bailey passed Jacob Voracek for the NHL lead in assists (37) … Bailey (11-37-48) and John Tavares (21-27-48) remain tied for the team scoring lead; the linemates have combined for 33 points on the last 26 Islander goals... Bailey now has a nine-game point streak (6-11-17), Tavares has an eight-game streak(4-13-17), while Barzal (5-3-8) has a five- game point streak and a three-game goal streak… Josh Bailey's 37 assists and 48 points are already the second-highest totals of his career… Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 133 goals in the first 37 games (first time since 1993-94, when they had also scored 130 133) and allowed 129 goals (matching the highest since 2008-092005-06, when they allowed 1341295)…Both teams scored a goal in the third period; the Isles have outscored opponents 47-37 in the final session… Jaroslav Halak improves to 7-1-1 as a starter at Barclays Center…Jason Chimera scored for the second time this season; sixteen of his 20 goals last season came after Christmas… Evander Kane recorded his 20th third period point of the season on Kyle Okposo's goal as he temporarily tied John Tavares for the NHL lead in that category.  Tavares' assist on Bailey's goal was John's 21st point in the third period this season… It was Okposo's first career goal against the Isles…The Isles were shorthanded four times for the first time in ten games; the PK improved to 9-9 over the last three games…Zemgus Girgensons has scored four of his 40 NHL goals against the Isles…Jack Eichel recorded a point for the third straight game.

December to Remember

John Tavares is now 5-15-20 this month, while Josh Bailey is 6-14-20.  The 20 points lead the NHL this month; Tavares' 15 assists are also the highest total in the league.   Mathew Barzal leads all rookies with 12 points this month and his 7 goals are tied with Brock Boeser for the high total…Anders Lee leads the NHL with 9 goals this month.

Hitting the Century Marks

The Isles have now earned 100 standings points in calendar year 2017.  It is the first time that the Isles have earned 100 points in a calendar year in the Post-Cup era.  The Isles last earned 100 points in a calendar year in 1983, when they tallied 105.

This was the Isles' 100th regular season game at Barclays Center.  The Isles are 59-26-15 all-time in Brooklyn.

Moving On Up (Isles lists)

John Tavares recorded two assists, leapfrogging Patrick Flatley for 6th place.  Tavares played in his 624th game, passing Billy Harris for 11th place.

Josh Bailey's tying goal was his 117th as an Islander, breaking a tie with Ray Ferraro for 25th place.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals nine times at home (8-1-0) and thirteen times overall (12-1-0). The Isles have also scored one shootout winner for a five goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first fourteen times this season (13-1-0). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

A Favorable Comparison

The Isles are 20-13-4 this season; they were 15-15-7 through 37 games last season and won only 20 of their first 46 games last season (20-17-9).  Their 19th win came in Doug Weight's fourth game as Islander head coach. 

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak recorded his 223rd career win, which leave him two wins shy of Ken Wregget for 67th place on the all-time NHL win list.   

Greiss, Greiss, Baby

Thomas Greiss is 9-5-2 on the season, including 6-3-0 in his last nine decisions.

Fastest to 40

Doug Weight is now 44-24-8 as an NHL coach. On December 4 in Florida, he reached 40 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 40 Wins by an Islander Coach:

66 – Doug Weight (40-20-6)

80– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 (40-28-8-4)

82 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 (40-30-12)

86—Steve Stirling 2003-04 (40-31-11-4)

The Shots

Isles     14-12-7-1=34

Buffalo 11-11-14-1=37

The Isles are 6-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 14-7-2 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 an Islander goal due to an offside so far this season.

Home for the Holidays

This was the final game of a five game homestand.  The Isles went 3-1-1 in this stretch:

12/16- Vs. Kings W 4-3 (OT)

12/19 – Vs. Red Wings L 3-6

12/21 -  Vs. Ducks L 4-5 (OT)

12/23 – Vs. Jets W 5-2

12/27 – Vs. Sabres W 3-2 (OT)

The Isles are playing 15 games this month, matching their record for most December games (done several other times).  They 5-6-2 this month, with two games to play.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 20-13-4 overall; 12-3-3 at home and 8-10-1 on the road.  

Buffalo is 9-21-7 overall; 5-10-2 at home and 4-11-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 5-4-1 in Division games and 15-9-3 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 10-8-1 against the East and 10-5-3 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 12-3-3 at home; they are 5-2-0 against the East and 7-1-3 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-5-6 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves to improve to 11-8-2 on the season and 10-2-0 in his career against Buffalo.  

Robin Lehner made 31 saves; he is 8-14-5 on the season and 3-4-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Buffalo was 0-4 in 8:00 of PP time. 

The Isles are 12-7-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-6-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 11-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-4-2 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 19-5-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-8-2 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 1-4 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal 

The Isles are 13-1-0 when they score first and are 7-12-4 when they allow the opening goal. 

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-3-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 3-4-0 on the back-end. 

The next back-to-back set is January 4th in Philadelphia and January 5th vs. Pittsburgh.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-2-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 11-9-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (24:47); Buffalo: Rasmus Ristolainen (27:12)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (4-1-1), Nick Leddy (11-11-2), John Tavares (2-1-0), Calvin deHaan (2-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (17:08). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (17-10-4), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Brock Nelson (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-2-0), Andrew Ladd (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 24, Buffalo 33 (42%). 

John Tavares won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Evan Rodrigues won 8 of 11 for Buffalo.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/16; 2nd period 9/18; 3rd period 7/22; Overtime 1-1.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/41; Power play 3/5; Penalty kill 3/11.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Dennis Seidenberg -6)

Buffalo 18 (Jordan Nolan and Zemgus Girgensons -4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 4: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 15 shots; Thomas Hickey, Casey Cizikas, and Adam Pelech led the way with three.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 57, Buffalo 62

5-on-5 Isles 42, Buffalo 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Andrew Ladd +8

Buffalo: Nathan Beaulieu +8

Night and Day 

The Isles are 18-13-3 in night games and 2-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season, will play six matinees this season; the next ones are January 7th vs New Jersey and January 13 at the Rangers (both 1pm).

Ironmen

Jason Chimera – 225 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 188 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 186, Nick Leddy 114.

Century Club

Nick Leddy has joined a select group of defensemen in Islander history who have played at least 100 consecutive regular season games:

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)

5. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)

6. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)

7. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130

8. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118

9. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117

10. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 114

11.Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)

12. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110

13. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104

14. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), Ryan Pulock, Steve Bernier, Alan Quine

Total games lost: 91

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—Ana Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

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 *** 8. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 676 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. John Tavares 623

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 256

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Josh Bailey 117 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall and Anders Lee 105

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 329

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 237

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 585

…

14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 354

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 145 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 109

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 79 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 58

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series two games to none (and four points to one).  The teams will conclude the season series on February 8th in Buffalo.

The Isles are 10-1-5 in the last 16 games between the teams; Buffalo's only regulation win came on November 1, 2015 in Brooklyn by a 2-1 score.

On the Farm

Tanner Fritz and Scott Eansor each scored a goal and added an assist while Joshua Ho-Sang helped set up a power play goal for Michael dal Colle as Bridgeport defeated Hershey 3-1 on Wednesday to improve to 15-13-1-1 on the season.

Fritz continues to lead Bridgeport with 32 points (9-23-32); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 13. Christopher Gibson is 11-6-1 in the nets while Krister Gudlevskis is 4-6-2.

The Sound Tigers play only once in the next seven days; they'll entertain Binghamton on Saturday. 

Up Next

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29th –ISLANDERS AT WINNIPEG 8:00PM 

[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 7:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles will wrap up the 2017 portion of the schedule on the road, and they begin a two-game road trip in Winnipeg.

The Isles defeated Winnipeg 5-2 behind a Mat Barzal hat trick on Saturday and will be looking to sweep the season series for the second time in three seasons.

The Isles have won five straight games in Winnipeg (three in extra time) and have not lost in regulation to the Jets in Manitoba since the franchise relocated from Atlanta (7-0-1).

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