The Skinny: Toronto 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 52

Toronto 5, Isles 0

Rookie defensemen Travis Dermott and Justin Holl each scored their first NHL goal and Fredrik Andersen made 28 saves for his 14th career shutout as the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped the Isles' 5-game road point streak with a 5-0 win over the Islanders before a crowd of 19,267 at Air Canada Centre.

The Isles, who finished January with a 5-7-1 record, were shutout for the 4th time this season.  

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

05:37 Toronto Kasperi Kapanen (3) 0-1

13:39 Toronto Auston Matthews (23) ASST: Zach Hyman (18), Jake Gardiner (27) 0-2

2ND PERIOD

10:32 Toronto Mitchell Marner (8) ASST: Nazem Kadri (12), Connor Carrick (4) 0-3

18:59 Toronto Travis Dermott (1) ASST: William Nylander (27) 0-4

3RD PERIOD

03:42 Toronto Justin Holl (1) ASST: Auston Matthews (16), Travis Dermott (2) 0-5

The Skinny 

The Isles are 10-15-3 in their last 28 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 173 goals in the first 52 games (first time since 1993-94 when they also had 176) and allowed 189 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 202) …Thomas Greiss has faced 104 shots in his last two stars… The Isles, who allowed at least 50 shots for the second time this month,  have allowed the most shots in the NHL (1,826); the Isles had won the last three games that they allowed at least 50 shots…It was the 135th career win for Andersen, matching Garth Snow's career total…John Tavares played his 639th Islander game, passing Derek King for 10th place on the all-time Isles list…Auston Matthews recorded his 63rd career goal; since he entered the NHL last season only Nikita Kucherov (67) has more goals…Jake Gardiner assisted on Matthews' goal; he has a six-game assist streak (10 assists)…The Leafs have won three straight for the first time since early December...The Isles have scored only five goals in the last four games and have been held to two goals or fewer in six of the last seven games.

First Time for Everyone

Justin Holl is the 2nd player to score in his NHL debut against the Isles this season. Columbus' Pierre Luc-DuBois did so in the season opener.  Holl is the first defenseman to score against the Isles in his NHL debut in the last 30+ seasons.

Barzal Closing in on All-time Top 3 in Isles Rookie Scoring

Barzal is the 14th Islander rookie to have 50 points in a season; however only four have had more than 54 points (Bryan Trottier 95, Mike Bossy 91, David Volek 59, Stefan Persson 56).  Barzal needs only 9 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie, Post-Cup Era 

1 Bryan Berard 40 1996-97

2 Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

3 Pat LaFontaine 35 1984-85

MATHEW BARZAL 35 2017-18 

Hey Josh, You're an All-Star

Josh Bailey is 12-43-55 on the season, matching his career high in assists and leaving him one point shy of his career high.  

One and Done

The Isles are 15-0-0 this season when leading after one period.  Dating back to last season the Isles have won 19 straight games and are 22-0-1 in their last 23 games when leading after twenty minutes.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals nine times at home (8-1-0) and sixteen times overall (15-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals six times at home (0-5-1) and fourteen times overall (0-13-1).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 20 times this season (17-3-0). 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.

First Goal 

The Isles are 17-3-0 when they score first and are 8-19-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 25-22-5 (55 points) this season; they were 24-18-10 (58 points) through 52 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak is tied with former Isles Dwayne Roloson for 66th place on the all-time NHL win list. Each have 227 NHL wins, one shy of Antti Niemi's total.  

Greiss, Greiss, Baby

Thomas Greiss is 10-7-2 on the season, including 7-5-0 in his last 12 decisions.

Fastest to 45

Doug Weight is now 49-34-9 as an NHL coach. On January 7th vs. the Devils, he reached 45 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 45 Wins by an Islander Coach:

83 – Doug Weight (45-30-8)

89– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(45-31-9-4)

91 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (45-34-12)

95- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (45-37-13)

97—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (45-37-11-4)

The Shots

Isles     3-11-14=28

Toronto 13-19-18=50

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 18-15-2 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 25-22-5 overall; 13-8-3 at home and 12-14-2 on the road.  

Toronto is 29-18-5 overall; 14-8-2 at home and 15-10-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 7-7-1 in Division games and 18-15-4 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 13-15-1 against the East and 12-7-4 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 13-8-3 at home; they are 6-7-0 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

Thomas Greiss made 45 saves but falls to 10-7-2 on the season and 4-3-1 in his career against Toronto. 

Frederik Andersen made 28 saves to improve to 25-14-4 on the season and 4-1-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Toronto was 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 14-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-14-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-15-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-7-3 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-16-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 2-4 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 5-5-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 3-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play two sets of back-to-backs in February (February 8 in Buffalo – February 9 vs. Detroit; February 15 vs Rangers – February 16 in Carolina)

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 16-14-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Dennis Seidenberg (20:34); Toronto: Jake Gardiner (23:14).

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards in ice-time (19:03). 

Face-offs

Isles 28, Toronto 39 (23%) 

No Islander won more draws than he lost: Auston Matthews won 8 of 11 for Toronto.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/20; 2nd period 7/23; 3rd period 12/24.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 28/61, Power play 1/3, Penalty kill 1/3.

Hit Count

Isles 39 (Casey Cizikas-7)

Toronto 19 (Andrea Borgman-5)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 9: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Johnston 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Dennis Seidenberg-5)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 62, Toronto 85.

5-on-5 Isles 59, Toronto 75.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ryan Pulock and Jordan Eberle +8

Toronto: Travis Dermott and Connor Brown +16

Night and Day 

The Isles are 21-22-4 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 240 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 203 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 134, Nick Leddy 129.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 120 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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 129

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

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

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), (Johnny Boychuk -IR), (Shane Prince- IR), Dennis Seidenberg, Alan Quine, Ryan Johnston

Total games lost: 162

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 three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 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 687*** 10. John Tavares 639

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 261

…

20. Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 22. Josh Bailey, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 110

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 333

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 243

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 594

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 361

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 157 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 113

Wins (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 83 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

Toronto leads the season series one game to none (and two points to zero).  The Isles will return to Toronto on February 22nd before the series shifts to Brooklyn on March 30th.

The Isles have been outscored 12-1 in the last two games against Toronto; it's the first time since 2011-12 that Toronto has beaten the Isles in consecutive games.

On the Farm

Bridgeport reached the All-Star Break with a 22-16-4-2 record.  The Sound Tigers are currently tied with Charlotte for the last playoff spot in their division.

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 16-8-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers host Springfield on Friday and host Belleville on Saturday.

Up Next

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd –COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

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

February begins with the Isles playing six of their first seven games on home-ice; the Islanders begin the stretch as they host Columbus.

The Blue Jackets won the first two games of the season series in Columbus, but the Isles are 8-0-4 on home-ice in their last 12 home games against the Jackets.  Columbus hasn't won a regulation game in New York since November 29, 2002; current Islander assistant coach Luke Richardson played 23:46 in that game for the Jackets.

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

The Skinny: Florida 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 51

Florida 4, Isles 1

Harri Sateri made 32 saves for his first NHL win as the Florida Panthers built a 3-0 lead and defeated the Islanders 4-1 before a crowd of 10,423 at Barclays Center.

The Isles have lost 3 straight home games and finish January 1-5-0 at home.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

08:57 Florida Michael Matheson (5) ASST: Mark Pysyk (5), Colton Sceviour (7) 0-1

2ND PERIOD

14:40 Florida Evgenii Dadonov (11) 0-2

3RD PERIOD

04:14 Florida Keith Yandle (5) ASST: Vincent Trocheck (27) 0-3

05:09 New York Adam Pelech (2) ASST: Josh Bailey (43), Jason Chimera (8) 1-3

18:49 Florida EN - Jonathan Huberdeau (17) ASST: Vincent Trocheck (28)    1-4

The Skinny 

The Isles are 10-14-3 in their last 27 games and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 173 goals in the first 51 games (first time since 1993-94 when they also had 173) and allowed 184 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 196)…Adam Pelech scored a goal in his 100th NHL game…Josh Bailey recorded his 43rd assist, matching a career high; Bailey is the first Islander winger with multiple 43-assist seasons since Mike Bossy…Mathew Barzal's assist streak ended at four games…The Isles have allowed 35 shots in nine straight home games (all with Jaroslav Halak in goal); it's the first time in at least 30 years that this has happened…The Isles were not shorthanded for the first time since March 18, 2017 (vs Columbus) and matched the team record with 0 penalty minutes.. Evgenii Dadonov has three goals in two career games against the Isles…Florida is 12-0-0 when leading after two periods…The Isles have allowed the most shots in the NHL (1,776) while Florida has allowed the most shots per game (35.2) …Vincent Trocheck has five assists in two games against the Isles…Keith Yandle played his 681st consecutive game; it is the longest active streak and the 7th longest streak in NHL history.

 

Barzal Closing in on All-time Top 3 in Isles Rookie Scoring.

Barzal is the 14th Islander rookie to have 50 points in a season; however only four have had more than 54 points (Bryan Trottier 95, Mike Bossy 91, David Volek 59, Stefan Persson 56).  Barzal needs only 9 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie, Post-Cup Era 

1 Bryan Berard 40 1996-97

2 Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

3 Pat LaFontaine 35 1984-85

MATHEW BARZAL 35 2017-18 

NHL Leading Goal Scorers

1. Alex Ovechkin 30

2. Anders Lee 27

Nikita Kucherov 27

William Karlsson 27

5 John Tavares 26

Sean Couturier 26

Evgeni Malkin 26

Hey Josh, You're an All-Star

Josh Bailey recorded his fifth assist in five games since returning from injury. Bailey is now 12-43-55 on the season, matching his career high in assists and leaving him one point shy of his career highs.  Bailey is now tied-2nd in the NHL in assists, behind only Jakub Voracek (47)).

One and Done

The Isles are 15-0-0 this season when leading after one period.  Dating back to last season the Isles have won 19 straight games and are 22-0-1 in their last 23 games when leading after twenty minutes.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals nine times at home (8-1-0) and sixteen times overall (15-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals six times at home (0-5-1) and thirteen times overall (0-12-1).  They have allowed at least five goals in five of their seven regulation losses at home.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 20 times this season (17-3-0). 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.

First Goal 

The Isles are 17-3-0 when they score first and are 8-18-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 25-21-5 (55 points) this season; they were 23-18-10 (56 points) through 51 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak remains tied with former Isles Dwayne Roloson for 66th place on the all-time NHL win list.  

Greiss, Greiss, Baby

Thomas Greiss is 10-6-2 on the season, including 7-4-0 in his last 11 decisions.

Fastest to 45

Doug Weight is now 49-33-9 as an NHL coach. On January 7th vs. the Devils, he reached 45 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 45 Wins by an Islander Coach:

83 – Doug Weight (45-30-8)

89– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(45-31-9-4)

91 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (45-34-12)

95- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (45-37-13)

97—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (45-37-11-4)

The Shots

Isles     7-10-16=33

Florida 12-16-12=40

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 18-14-2 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 25-21-5 overall; 13-8-3 at home and 12-13-2 on the road.  

Florida is 20-22-6 overall; 11-8-3 at home and 9-14-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 7-7-1 in Division games and 18-14-4 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 13-14-1 against the East and 12-7-4 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 13-8-3 at home; they are 6-7-0 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 36 saves but falls to 15-15-3 on the season and 10-4-2 in his career against Florida. 

Harri Sateri made 32 saves to improve to 1-3-0 on the season and 1-0-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Florida did not have a power play.

The Isles are 14-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-13-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-15-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-6-3 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-15-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 2-4 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including today, the Isles are 5-5-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 3-6-0 on the back-end. This back-to-back set concludes January 31st in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-3-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 16-14-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:01); Florida: Mike Matheson (22:49).

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards in ice-time (18:55). 

Face-offs

Isles 21, Florida 28 (43%) 

John Tavares won 9 of 17 for the Isles: Vincent Trocheck won 8 of 12 for Florida.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 8/16; 2nd period 7/15; 3rd period 6/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 21/48, Power play 0/1, Penalty kill 0/0.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Florida 19 (Vincent Trocheck -4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 9: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Johnston 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 11 shots (3 with 2).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 56, Florida 62.

5-on-5 Isles 51, Florida 59.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Thomas Hickey +3

Florida: Mike Matheson +10

Night and Day 

The Isles are 21-21-4 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 239 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 202 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 133, Nick Leddy 128.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 120 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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 128

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

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

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), (Johnny Boychuk -IR), (Andrew Ladd-IR), (Shane Prince- Injured), Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 158

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 three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 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 686*** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. John Tavares 638

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 261

…

20. Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 22. Josh Bailey, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 110

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 333

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 243

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 594

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 361

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 157 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 112

Wins (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 83 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied one game to one (Florida has earned three points to the Isles' two).  

The road team has had some success in this series in recent years.  The Isles are 2-5-0 in their last seven (regular season) home games against the Cats while they are 3-0-3 in their last six trips to Sunrise.

On the Farm

Bridgeport reached the All-Star Break with a 22-16-4-2 record.  The Sound Tigers are currently tied with Charlotte for the last playoff spot in their division.

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 16-8-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers host Springfield on Friday and host Belleville on Saturday.

Up Next

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31st –ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:30PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 7:00PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles close out January with their first meeting of the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  While the Isles will be on the back-end of a back-to-back, Toronto will be playing their first game since the All-Star Break.  The Isles will need a victory to end January at NHL-.500 as they are 5-6-1 this month.

Last season, the Isles won twice in Brooklyn, including a wild 6-5 overtime game, before dropping a 7-1 defeat in Ontario on Valentine's Day.

The Isles will return to Toronto on February 22nd before welcoming the Leafs to Brooklyn on March 30th.

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

It Happened at the Coliseum... and it's Happening Again

At a press conference at the Coliseum this morning, Governor Cuomo announced that the Islanders will indeed begin playing part of their regular season schedule on Long Island beginning next season.

The first Coliseum game will be either in "September or October" which indicates it should be in the preseason.  However, some time in the fall, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum will host its 1,666th regular season game.

Per Newsday's Jim Baumbach, it will be 60 games over the next three seasons (54 regular season and 6 pre-season).  This would appear to include 12 regular season games in 2018-19, and 21 in both 2019-20 and 2020-21.  Per Baumbach, Jon Ledecky said that (location of playoff games) "will be up to the NHL".

Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, noted that if the team wants to play more games on Long Island that they will be encouraged.

Jon Ledecky ended his presentation by including the Isles ticket line (844-33-ISLES) and noting "Let's Rock the Barn".

You can go home again.  And until the beautiful new Barn is built next to the Track, that home will include the place where I (and so many others) grew up.

Oh, and by the way -- 33 years ago tonight, Bryan Trottier recorded his 1,000th NHL point, and It Happened at the Coliseum.  Read about it here: 

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 29th

It Happened at the Coliseum … on JANUARY 29th All the numbers on the New York Islanders from the team's long-time television statistician.

I guess I'll have to think about updating that series.  

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

The Skinny: Isles 2, Vegas 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 50

Isles 2, Vegas 1

Ross Johnston scored his 1st NHL goal and Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves as the Islanders became the first opponent to sweep a season series from the Golden Knights, as they defeated Vegas 2-1 before a crowd of 18,184 at T-Mobile Arena.

Jordan Eberle scored the winning goal for the Isles, off a set-up by Mathew Barzal. It was the 23rd time this season that both players earned points on the same goal.  Erik Haula's power play goal was the only one to beat Halak.

The Isles improve to 4-0-1 in their last five road games. It's the first time since they had a 7-game road winning streak in the 2013-14 season that the Isles have earned at least 9 points in a span of 5 road games.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

10:01 New York Ross Johnston (1) ASST: Ryan Pulock (11), Cal Clutterbuck (8) 1-0

3RD PERIOD

08:21 New York Jordan Eberle (17) ASST: Mathew Barzal (35), Anthony Beauvillier (5) 2-0

14:53 Vegas PPG - Erik Haula (17) ASST: David Perron (30), Colin Miller (19) 2-1

The Skinny 

The Isles are 10-13-3 in their last 26 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 172 goals in the first 50 games (first time since 1993-94 when they also had 172) and allowed 180 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 192)..The Isles are the first opponent to sweep the season series from Vegas…Since defeating the Isles in the 2013, Marc-Andre Fleury is 5-5-1 in 11 games against the Isles…Mathew Barzal has earned an assist on 13 of Jordan Eberle's 17 goals (11 primary assists)… Barzal has earned an assist in four straight games…Jordan Eberle recorded his 6th game-winning goal, one shy of the league lead shared by four players. It's the first time in his career that Eberle has recorded 6 game-winning goals…The Isles held the opposition without a goal through two periods for only the 4th time this season…David Perron recorded his 30th assist on the only Vegas goal; it's the most assists he has since he had 35 in his rookie season of 2008-09…The Isles have won all 18 games that they have led after two periods…Vegas is 11-11-4 when allowing the first goal; they are 21-1-0 when scoring first, with their only loss coming in Brooklyn on October 30th…. With the win, the Isles remain exactly tied with the Rangers (25-20-5 with 22 ROW) …Both teams are one point behind Philadelphia and New Jersey and two points behind Pittsburgh and Columbus…Nevada is the 21st state in which the Isles have played a game; Nevada will pass Oklahoma on the Isles games played list next season.

 

Ross Johnston Joins the Club

Ross Johnston, in his 4th NHL game (3rd this season), became the 365th Islander to score a goal.

51 in 50

Mathew Barzal has 51 points in 50 games this season; Since 1996-97, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are the only rookies to have reached the 50-point mark in the first 53 games of the season

Barzal is the 14th Islander rookie to have 50 points in a season; however only four have had more than 54 points (Bryan Trottier 95, Mike Bossy 91, David Volek 59, Stefan Persson 56).  Barzal needs only 9 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie, Post-Cup Era 

1 Bryan Berard         40 1996-97

2 Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

3 Pat LaFontaine         35 1984-85

MATHEW BARZAL 35 2017-18 

NHL Leading Goal Scorers

1. Alex Ovechkin 30

2. Anders Lee 27

Nikita Kucherov 27

William Karlsson 27

5 John Tavares 26

Sean Couturier 26

Closing in on Career Highs

Josh Bailey was held pointless after earning four assists in three games since returning from injury. Bailey is now 12-42-54 on the season, leaving him one assist and two points shy of his career highs.  Bailey is now tied-3rd in the NHL in assists, being only Jakub Voracek (47) and Claude Giroux (43).

Bailey's next assist will make him the first Islander winger with multiple seasons of at least 43 assists since Mike Bossy!

One and Done

The Isles are 15-0-0 this season when leading after one period.  Dating back to last season the Isles have won 19 straight games and are 22-0-1 in their last 23 games when leading after twenty minutes.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals nine times at home (8-1-0) and sixteen times overall (15-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Chili

The Isles have scored at least six goals seven times this season.  The Isles have won 44 straight games, dating back to 2005, when they score at least six times. 

Seventh Heaven

The Isles have scored seven goals twice this season. The Isles have won 43 straight games, dating back to a 1991 tie in St. Louis, when they score at least seven times. 

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals six times at home (0-5-1) and thirteen times overall (0-12-1).  They have allowed at least five goals in five of their seven regulation losses at home.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 20 times this season (17-3-0). 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.

First Goal 

The Isles are 17-3-0 when they score first and are 8-17-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 25-20-5 (55 points) this season; they were 22-18-10 (54 points) through 50 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak recorded his 227th career win, tying former Isles Dwayne Roloson for 66th place on the all-time NHL win list.  

Greiss, Greiss, Baby

Thomas Greiss is 10-6-2 on the season, including 7-4-0 in his last 11 decisions.

Fastest to 45

Doug Weight is now 49-32-9 as an NHL coach. On January 7th vs. the Devils, he reached 45 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 45 Wins by an Islander Coach:

83 – Doug Weight (45-30-8)

89– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(45-31-9-4)

91 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (45-34-12)

95- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (45-37-13)

97—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (45-37-11-4)

The Shots

Isles     9-11-5=25

Vegas 13-9-17=39

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 18-13-2 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 25-20-5 overall; 13-7-3 at home and 12-13-2 on the road.  

Vegas is 32-12-4 overall; 19-3-2 at home and 13-9-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 7-7-1 in Division games and 18-13-4 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 13-13-1 against the East and 12-7-4 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 13-7-3 at home; they are 6-6-0 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 15-14-3 on the season and 2-0-0 in his career against Vegas. 

Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves but falls to 12-4-2 on the season and 23-11-5 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 1:23 of PP time; Vegas was 1-2 in 3:20 of PP time.

The Isles are 14-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-12-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-15-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-5-3 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-14-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 2-4 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-4-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 3-6-0 on the back-end. The next back-to-back set is January 30th vs Florida and January 31st in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-3-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 16-13-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (25:16); Vegas: Shea Theodore (24:00).

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (21:52). 

Face-offs

Isles 30, Vegas 31 (49%) 

John Tavares won 11 of 20 for the Isles: David Perron won 4 of 5 for Vegas.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 13/24; 2nd period 10/19; 3rd period 7/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 29/56, Power play 0/1, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 17 (Jason Chimera -5)

Vegas 17 (William Carrier -4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 9: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Johnston 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 20 shots (Mayfield-4).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 39, Vegas 74 (including 34-7 in Vegas' favor in the 3rd period).

5-on-5 Isles 38, Vegas 57.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jordan Eberle EVEN

Vegas: Reilly Smith & Nate Schmidt +9

Night and Day 

The Isles are 21-20-4 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 238 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 201 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 132, Nick Leddy 127.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 120 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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 127

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

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

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), (Johnny Boychuk -IR), (Andrew Ladd-IR), (Casey Cizikas – IR), (Shane Prince- Injured), Dennis Seidenberg, Michael dalColle

Total games lost: 153

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 three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 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 685*** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. John Tavares 637

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 261

…

20. Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 22. Josh Bailey, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 110

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 333

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 242

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 594

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 360

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 156 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 112

Wins (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 83 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

The Isles swept the season series two games to none (and four points to zero).  

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 21-15-4-2 on the season following a 3-1 win over Springfield on Wednesday as Kristers Gudlevskis made 19 saves for his second consecutive win.  John Stevens, Travis St. Denis and Ben Holnstrom scored for the Sound Tigers. 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 14. Christopher Gibson is 15-8-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers visit Springfield on Friday and host Hershey on Saturday before the AHL hits their All-Star Break. 

Up Next

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30th – FLORIDA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

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

While John Tavares and Josh Bailey will see action at the NHL's All-Star Weekend, the rest of the squad gets a break before the Isles host Florida on Saturday.

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; a Mathew Barzal shootout tally gave the Isles a 5-4 win in Sunrise on December 4th.  That win pushed the Isles to 8 games over NHL-. 500 for the second time this season.

The road team has had some success in this series in recent year.  The Isles are 2-4-0 in their last six (regular season) home games against the Cats while they are 3-0-3 in their last six trips to Sunrise.

This is the front-end of a back-to-back set that concludes Wednesday in Toronto.

And Finally…

Congrats and best wishes to Islander play-by-play voice Brendan Burke.  He will call the AHL All-Star Weekend from Utica.  The festivities will air on NHL Network.

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

The Skinny: Arizona 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 49

Arizona 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Nick Cousins scored 2:21 into overtime to complete a three-point game as the Arizona Coyotes overcame a pair of goals by Anthony Beauvillier and defeated the Isles 3-2 before a crowd of 11,707 at Gila River Arena.

Beauvillier now has eight goals in the last seven games (and a career high 12 goals); it's the third time in the last six games that Beauvillier has scored twice in a game.  The Isles are 3-0-1 in their last four road games.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

12:20 Arizona Nick Cousins (6) ASST: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (15) 0-1

2ND PERIOD

00:34 New York Anthony Beauvillier (11) ASST: Josh Bailey (42) 1-1

09:52 Arizona Brendan Perlini (13) ASST: Luke Schenn (5), Nick Cousins (3) 1-2

3RD PERIOD

02:53 New York Anthony Beauvillier (12) ASST: Thomas Hickey (9), Mathew Barzal (34) 2-2

OT PERIOD

02:21 Arizona Nick Cousins (7) ASST: Christian Fischer (9) 2-3

The Skinny 

The Isles are 9-13-3 in their last 25 games … Mathew Barzal assisted on Anthony Beauvillier's second goal to reach the 50- point mark… Jordan Eberle played his 200th consecutive game…. Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 170 goals in the first 48 games (first time since 1992-93 when they had 202) and allowed 179 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 189); the Isles lead the NHL in both goals scored and goals allowed … Josh Bailey recorded his team-leading 42nd assist (22 of which are primary, tops on the team) … Nick Cousins recorded his first career 3-point game; he has 8 points in 8 career games against the Isles (and 29 points in 137 games against the rest of the NHL)…Beauvillier has 12 goals on the season in 38 games; only eight other NHL players have played 38 games or less and scored 12 goals…An Islander player has had 24 multi-goal games this season; they had only 19 all last season.  It's the most multi-goal games they have had since 2010-11 (25) …The Isles are 5-4 in games decided by an overtime goal; Arizona is 6-5…The Coyotes have points in five straight games (2-0-3).

50 in 49

Mathew Barzal has 50 points in 49 games this season; Since 1996-97, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are the only rookies to have reached the 50-point mark in the first 53 games of the season

Barzal is the 14th Islander rookie to have 50 points in a season; however only four have had more than 54 points (Bryan Trottier 95, Mike Bossy 91, David Volek 59, Stefan Persson 56).  Barzal needs only 10 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie, Post-Cup Era 

1 Bryan Berard 40 1996-97

2 Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

3 Pat LaFontaine 35 1984-85

4 David Volek 34 1988-89

  MATHEW BARZAL 34 2017-18 

First Time in a Very Long Time

The Isles have scored 25 goals in the last five road games.  It matches the most goals that they have scored in a span of five road games since January 1990 when they scored 27.

NHL Leading Goal Scorers

1. Alex Ovechkin 29

2. Anders Lee 27

Nikita Kucherov 27

3. John Tavares 26

Sean Couturier 26

Closing in on Career Highs

Josh Bailey had an assist, giving him four in three games since returning from injury. Bailey is now 12-42-54 on the season, leaving him one assist and two points shy of his career highs.  Bailey is now 2nd in the NHL in assists, being only Jakub Voracek (45).

Bailey's next assist will make him the first Islander winger with multiple seasons of at least 43 assists since Mike Bossy!

One and Done

The Isles are 15-0-0 this season when leading after one period.  Dating back to last season the Isles have won 19 straight games and are 22-0-1 in their last 23 games when leading after twenty minutes.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals nine times at home (8-1-0) and sixteen times overall (15-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Chili

The Isles have scored at least six goals seven times this season.  The Isles have won 44 straight games, dating back to 2005, when they score at least six times. 

Seventh Heaven

The Isles have scored seven goals twice this season. The Isles have won 43 straight games, dating back to a 1991 tie in St. Louis, when they score at least seven times. 

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals six times at home (0-5-1) and thirteen times overall (0-12-1).  They have allowed at least five goals in five of their seven regulation losses at home.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 19 times this season (16-3-0). 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.

First Goal 

The Isles are 16-3-0 when they score first and are 8-17-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 24-20-5 (53 points) this season; they were 22-18-9 (53 points) through 49 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 226 career wins, He is one win behind former Isles Dwayne Roloson for 66th place on the all-time NHL win list.  

Greiss, Greiss, Baby

Thomas Greiss is 10-6-2 on the season, including 7-4-0 in his last 11 decisions.

Fastest to 45

Doug Weight is now 48-32-9 as an NHL coach. On January 7th vs. the Devils, he reached 45 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 45 Wins by an Islander Coach:

83 – Doug Weight (45-30-8)

89– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(45-31-9-4)

91 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (45-34-12)

95- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (45-37-13)

97—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (45-37-11-4)

The Shots

Isles     3-13-15-3=34

Arizona 14-13-4-2=33

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 17-13-2 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 24-20-5 overall; 13-7-3 at home and 11-13-2 on the road.  

Arizona is 12-28-9 overall; 6-14-3 at home and 6-14-6 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 7-7-1 in Division games and 17-13-4 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 13-13-1 against the East and 11-7-4 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 13-7-3 at home; they are 6-6-0 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 30 saves; he is 14-14-3 on the season and 8-3-2 in his career against Arizona. 

Antti Raanta made 28 saves to improve to 8-12-5 on the season and 1-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

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

The Isles are 14-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-12-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-15-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-5-3 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-14-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 9-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 1-4 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-4-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 3-6-0 on the back-end. The next back-to-back set is January 30th vs Florida and January 31st in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-3-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 15-13-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (25:25); Arizona: Alex Goligoski (24:22).

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (20:53). 

Face-offs

Isles 23, Arizona 26 (47%) 

Tanner Fritz won 5 of 9 for the Isles: Brad Richardson won 6 of 11 for Arizona.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 6/14; 2nd period 8/15; 3rd period 9/18; Overtime 0/2

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/40, Power play 4/6, Penalty kill 2/3.

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Anders Lee- 4)

Arizona 25 (Luke Schenn-5)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 9: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Johnston 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 15 shots (3 with 2).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 51, Arizona 73.

5-on-5 Isles 39, Arizona 59.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jordan Eberle +8

Arizona: Richard Panic +14

Night and Day 

The Isles are 20-20-4 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 237 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 200 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 131, Nick Leddy 126.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 120 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.  Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 126

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

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

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), (Johnny Boychuk -IR), (Andrew Ladd-IR), (Casey Cizikas – IR), (Shane Prince- Injured), Dennis Seidenberg, Michael dalColle

Total games lost: 147

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 three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 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 684*** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. John Tavares 636

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 261

…

20. Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 22. Josh Bailey, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 110

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 333

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 242

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 594

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 360

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 155 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 112

Wins (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 82 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series one game to one (the Isles earned three points to Arizona's two).  

The Isles are 2-5-2 in their last nine trips to Arizona, with a Jaroslav Halak 1-0 shutout win in 2014 being their only regulation win in that stretch.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 20-15-4-2 on the season following a 1-0 shootout win over Toronto on Sunday. Kristers Gudlevskis made 25 saves during the actual game and Mitchell van Sompel converted the only goal of the shootout for the victory.  It was the first Sound Tiger game since 2004 to get through overtime without a goal being scored.

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 14. Christopher Gibson is 15-8-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers host Springfield on Wednesday, visit Springfield on Friday and host Hershey on Saturday before the AHL hits their All-Star Break. 

Up Next

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25th – ISLANDERS AT VEGAS 10:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 9:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles look to sweep the season series as they head to T-Mobile Arena to face the Golden Knights in the final game of this 3-game road trip and the final game before the NHL All-Star Break.

The Isles defeated Vegas 6-3 back at Barclays Center on October 30th in the first-ever meeting of the teams as John Tavares scored twice and Josh Bailey added three assists.

 

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

It was 36 years ago tonight...

36 Years Ago Tonight....

It was January 21, 1982.  It feels like yesterday.

That Thursday night the Isles swamped Pittsburgh 6-1 at the Coliseum, to begin their record-setting 15-game winning streak.

The game was scoreless into the 2nd period, before Brent Sutter and Bryan Trottier sandwiched goals around a Rick MacLeish tally.  It was Trottier’s 250th NHL goal and began his club record 25-game point streak.

The Isles blew the game open early in the 3rd on goals by Bobby Bourne and Clark Gillies.  Bourne and Billy Carroll would score late in the game and the Isles had their 6-1 victory.

The Isles actually scored 3 goals on the same 4 on 4.  Pat Boutette and Denis Potvin, playing his 600th NHL game, were both given double minors at 18:08 of the 2nd period.  Trottier scored 20 seconds later and then Bourne and Gillies (whose children would later marry) completed a 3 goal in 3:27 outburst.

Gillies, Trottier, and Bossy all extended point stretches to 15 of 16 games.  

Roland Melanson stopped 23 of 24 shots. 

January 21, 1982 Box Score

It was the start of one of the most dominating stretches by any team in any sport.

Try these numbers:

• The Isles won 15 straight, outscoring their opponents by a combined 97-35--an average of 6.53-2.33.
• They won by at least 3 goals in all but three games in the streak.
• 9-0 at home, 6-0 on the road.

John Tonelli scored the winning goal of the 15th game at 19:13 of the third period --remember, there was no OT in those days.  That win established the NHL record.  It was one of only two one-goal wins during the streak.  The other was a 7-6 win over Washington in which all of the goals were scored in the first two periods. The Isles have not won a 7-6 game in regulation time since. [They've won 4, all in overtime --most recently in February 2011 in Buffalo]

They beat the Penguins 4 times in the streak, before Pittsburgh would break the spell on February 21, 1982 [4-3]

After losing to Pittsburgh, the Isles went 7-0-1 in their next 8 [7-0-2 in their next 9].  Their 24 [and 25] game stretches were 22-1-1 [and 22-1-2].

THE STREAK:

21-Jan-82    Vs    Pittsburgh    6    1    W

23-Jan-82    Vs    New York    6    1    W

26-Jan-82    Vs    Pittsburgh    9    2    W

27-Jan-82    @    Pittsburgh    6    3    W

30-Jan-82    Vs    Minnesota    4    2    W

02-Feb-82    Vs    Washington  7    6    W

04-Feb-82    @    Washington  5    2    W

06-Feb-82    Vs    Detroit         6    2    W

07-Feb-82    @    Buffalo         7    3    W

11-Feb-82    @    Chicago         8    2    W

13-Feb-82    Vs    Philadelphia 8    2    W

14-Feb-82    @    Hartford        9    1    W

16-Feb-82    Vs    Pittsburgh     6    2    W

18-Feb-82    @    Philadelphia  7    4    W

20-Feb-82    Vs    Colorado      3    2    W

21-Feb-82    @    Pittsburgh     3    4    L

Here's a look at the winning goal for game #15:

With Howie and Butch right after the Isles eliminated Florida in 2016

And oh yes, one other streak began that night. 

A high school student made his debut as the statistician on home telecasts.  I've never left.

With Jiggs and Brendan in 2017

Over those 36 years, only three men have been the play-by-play voice of Islander television: Jiggs McDonald, Howie Rose, and Brendan Burke.  

I went to high school with Jiggs' daughter, my kids followed Howie's kids through the same schools, and now I work with a man who wasn't even born when I began this wonderful ride.

Before anyone knew of a blog or of twitter, there was The Skinny
(here from our post-game show following game 6 in 1993)

Over the years, I've had only one simple goal -- to make our broadcasts just a little bit better.  I hope I've been able to do that over the last three dozen years.