The Skinny: Isles 5, Winnipeg 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 36

Isles 5, Winnipeg 2

Mathew Barzal became the first Islander rookie since Michael Grabner to record a hat trick, each set-up by Jordan Eberle, as the Islanders defeated the Winnipeg 5-2 before a crowd of 13,589 at Barclays Center.

Andrew Ladd also earned two assists on the Barzal tally as the entire line were selected as the Three Stars.  The win guarantees the Islanders (19-13-4, but only 4-6-2 in December) will spend the Christmas break in a playoff spot.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

01:31 New York PPG - Anders Lee (22) ASST: Josh Bailey (36), Nick Leddy (20) 1-0

02:20 New York Mathew Barzal (10) ASST: Jordan Eberle (13), Andrew Ladd (8) 2-0

13:42 Winnipeg Tucker Poolman (1) ASST: Ben Chiarot (3), Nikolaj Ehlers (12) 2-1

19:24 New York Mathew Barzal (11) ASST: Jordan Eberle (14), Johnny Boychuk (6) 3-1

2ND PERIOD

No Scoring

3RD PERIOD

11:22 New York Mathew Barzal (12) ASST: Jordan Eberle (15), Andrew Ladd (9) 4-1

15:01 New York Anthony Beauvillier (4) ASST: John Tavares (25) 5-1

18:24 Winnipeg Adam Lowry (7) ASST: Kyle Connor (10), Joel Armia (9) 5-2 

The Skinny (through Saturday afternoon)

Mathew Barzal tied the club record for goals by a rookie (3) with his first NHL hat trick.  It was also his first career multi-goal game.  Barzal is the first Islander rookie with a hat trick since Michael Grabner (2-13-11 vs. Buffalo) and the youngest Islander rookie with a hat trick since Pat LaFontaine (3-3-84 vs Toronto) … Barzal is the first Islander to record a hat trick against the (current) Jets since the franchise relocated from Atlanta; the Isles' last hat trick against "Winnipeg" was by Ziggy Palffy in 1996…Jordan Eberle record his first three assist game as an Islander, tying his career high…The Isles have recorded two hat tricks this month (Bailey on 12/13 vs. Columbus); it's the first time since February, 2011 (Grabner and Matt Moulson) that two different Isles have recorded hat tricks in a calendar month…Josh Bailey tied Jacob Voracek for the NHL lead in assists (36); an NHL-leading 18 of those assists have come on the power play.  Bailey has points on 21 of the Isles' 28 power play goals….After trailing 2-0 in four of the last five games (and being outscored 11-3 in those first periods), the Isles struck for 2 goals in the first 2:20.  It was the earliest two Islander goals since October 20, 2005, when Miro Satan and Jason Blake scored in the first 1:55 in a game against the Rangers and only the 13th time in club history the Isles have scored twice in the first 2:20 … Josh Bailey (10-36-46) and John Tavares (21-25-46) remain tied for the team scoring lead; the linemates have combined for 29 points on the last 23 Islander goals... Bailey now has an eight-game point streak (5-10-15), Tavares has a seven-game streak(4-11-15), Barzal (4-3-7) and Eberle (1-5-6) each have four game streaks… Josh Bailey's 36 assists and 46 points are already the second-highest totals of his career…For the seven time in the last eight games, the score was 2-0 at some point …The Isles improve to 22.8% on the power play; the Isles haven't finished a season with a 20% power play efficiency since the 1993-94 season; at home they are even better: 28.1%...Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 130 goals in the first 36 games (first time since 1993-94, when they had also scored 130) and allowed 127 goals (the highest since 2005-06, when they allowed 1295)…The Isles outscored the Jets 2-1 in the third period; they have outscored opponents 46-36 in the final session… Anthony Beauvillier recorded his first goal since December 1st against Ottawa…Jaroslav Halak improves to 6-2-1 as a starter at Barclays Center this season…Tucker Poolman scored his first NHL goal…It was the Jets' 11th regulation loss; 8 of them have been by three goals or more…The Isles remain perfect in games they lead after one period (11-0-0) and two periods (14-0-0)…The Isles improve to 9-1-0 on Saturday; they are 10-12-4 the rest of the week…Paul Maurice coached his 1,402nd game, passing Ron Wilson for 8th in NHL history.

Youngest Isles Hat Tricks by a Rookie (revised to fix Patty's birth year)

1. Pat LaFontaine (19 years, 10 days on 3/3/84 vs Maple Leafs)
2. Bryan Trottier (19 years, 86 days on 10/11/75 vs. Kings)

3. Brent Sutter (19 years, 237 days on 2/2/82 vs Caps)

4. Mathew Barzal (20 years, 211 days on 12/23/17 vs. Jets)

John Tavares had two hat tricks as a "younger" 20-year-old than Barzal, but both were in his sophomore season.

No Goals in the Second Period

The Isles have scored 45 goals and allowed 45 goals in the second period.  This was only the second time this season that neither team scored in the middle session and only the 4th time since Doug Weight became the Isles head coach in January.

Leading goal scorers in NHL (through Saturday afternoon)

1. Alex Ovechkin 23

       Nikita Kucherov 23

3 Anders Lee 22

4      John Tavares 21

21 Club 

Anders Lee has 22 goals and John Tavares has 21; they are the first Islanders to score 21 goals in 25 years to score 21 goals before Christmas (Pierre Turgeon in 1992-93) while Lee is the first to score 22 by Christmas since Pat LaFontaine in 1989-90.

40-40 Club

The Isles have allowed 40 shots on goal in each of the last two games, both at home.  The last time the Isles allowed at least 40 shots in consecutive games, both at home, was on March 29 – April 1, 2008.

Casey on the Draw

Casey Cizikas has won 73 of 106 draws over the last five games (69%), including 15 of 22 today.

Casey is a team-best 55.2% on draws – the highest by a regular Islander center since Zenon Konopka (57.7 in 2010-11).  Konopka (52.3 in 2010-11) was also the last regular Isle center to win at least 50% of his draws while shorthanded; Cizikas has won 46 of 96 shorthanded this season.

Moving On Up (Isles lists)

John Tavares recorded one assist, leaving him just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 6th place.  Tavares played in his 623rd game, passing Stefan Persson and tying Billy Harris for 11th place.

Josh Bailey played in his 675th game, still 9th among skaters, but breaking a tie with Billy Smith (674).

Jaroslav Halak recorded his 78th win, breaking a tie will Roland Melanson for 5th 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 thirteen times this season (12-1-0). 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 19-13-4 this season; they were 15-15-6 through 36 games last season and won only 19 of their first 44 games last season (19-17-8).  Their 19th win came in Doug Weight's second game as Islander head coach. 

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak recorded his 222nd career win, passing Ilya Bryzgalov for 68th 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 43-24-8 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         12-7-10=29

Winnipeg 12-10-18=40

The Isles are 6-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 13-7-2 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 second game of a five game homestand.  The Isles are 2-1-1 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

The Isles are playing 15 games this month, matching their record for most December games (done several other times).  

Home and Road

The Islanders are 19-13-4 overall; 11-3-3 at home and 8-10-1 on the road.  

Winnipeg is 20-11-6 overall; 12-3-1 at home and 8-8-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 5-4-1 in Division games and 14-9-3 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 9-8-1 against the East and 10-5-3 against the West.  The Isles have beaten each of the top 3 teams in each Western Division (including San Jose twice).

Our House

The Isles are 11-3-3 at home; they are 4-2-0 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 38 saves to improve to 10-8-2 on the season and 7-3-0 in his career against Winnipeg.  

Steve Mason made 24 saves but falls to 2-6-1 on the season and 9-4-3 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 2:44 of PP time; Winnipeg was 0-3 in 4:29 of PP time. 

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 18-5-2 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 6-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 1-4 in regulation. They are 3-3 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 12-1-0 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 10-9-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:49); Winnipeg: Jacob Trouba (24:07)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (3-1-1), Nick Leddy (11-11-2), John Tavares (2-1-0), Calvin deHaan (2-0-0).

Andre Ladd led the forwards in ice-time (17:08). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (16-10-4), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Brock Nelson (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-2-0), Andrew Ladd (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Winnipeg 26 (56%). 

Casey Cizikas won 15 of 22 for the Isles; Mark Schiefele won 10 of 18 for Winnipeg.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 13/24; 2nd period 13/21; 3rd period 7/14.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 29/53; Power play 3/3; Penalty kill 1/3.

Hit Count

Isles 30 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Winnipeg 26 (Brandon Tanev and Mathieu Perreault -4)

Fights

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

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots; Nick Leddy led the way with four.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 44, Winnipeg 71 (including 47-20 in Winnipeg's favor in the final 34 minutes).

5-on-5 Isles 38, Winnipeg 61

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Andrew Ladd +1

Winnipeg: Mathieu Perreault +14

Night and Day 

The Isles are 17-13-3 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 – 224 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 187 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 185, Nick Leddy 113.

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 113

     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), Dennis Seidenberg, Steve Bernier, Alan Quine

Total games lost: 89

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored twice 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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal once 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 675 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris and 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. Ray Ferraro and Josh Bailey 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. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 7. John Tavares 327

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 236

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 583

…

14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 352

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 144 *** 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 78 *** 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 one game to none (and two points to none).  The teams will conclude the season series on Friday in Winnipeg.

The Isles have won 5 of the last 6 games between the teams.  Since the Jets relocated from Atlanta, the Isles are only 4-4-0 at home against Winnipeg, but they are 7-0-1 in Manitoba.

On the Farm

Bridgeport split a pair of games this weekend to reach the Christmas break with a 14-13-1-1 record

On Friday, Bridgeport dropped a 5-2 decision in Springfield. The Sound Tigers rebounded to defeat Hartford 5-1 on Saturday.  Seven different Sound Tigers scored in the two games; Michael dal Colle had three assists, giving him six points in the last six games (1-5-6).

Tanner Fritz continues to lead Bridgeport with 30 points (8-22-30); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 12. Christopher Gibson is 10-6-1 in the nets while Krister Gudlevskis is 4-6-2.

Bridgeport returns to action at home on Wednesday against Hershey. 

Up Next

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27th –BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30PM), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles conclude the homestand as they entertain the Buffalo Sabres in the first game after the Christmas break.

The Isles defeated the Sabres 6-3 in the home opener; each team scored twice shorthanded in that game—the only time that has happened in Islander history.

The Isles have won the last three meetings, outscoring Buffalo 15-6; the Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six vs. Buffalo and are 9-1-5 in their last 15 games against the Sabres.

The season series concludes on February 8th in Buffalo.

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