The Skinny: New Jersey 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 46

New Jersey 4, Isles 1

Damon Severson scored two goals in a 1:26 span of the second period to break a 1-1 tie as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Islanders 4-1 before a crowd of 12,695 at Barclays Center.

The loss, which was the Isles' first-ever in Brooklyn to the Devils, dropped the Isles out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

01:39 New York Anders Lee (26) 1-0

15:20 New Jersey PPG - Kyle Palmieri (8) ASST: Sami Vatanen (9), Marcus Johansson (7) 1-1

2ND PERIOD

12:58 New Jersey Damon Severson (5) ASST: Brian Gibbons (11), Stefan Noesen (8) 1-2

14:24 New Jersey Damon Severson (6) ASST: Ben Lovejoy (4), Jesper Bratt (17) 1-3

18:20 New Jersey Taylor Hall (16) ASST: Jesper Bratt (18) 1-4

3RD PERIOD

No Scoring

The Skinny 

The Isles scored the opening goal for the fourth straight game …The Isles are 8-12-2 in their last 22 games … It was only the second time in 18 games (16-2-0) this season that the Isles have lost when scoring first…Long Island native Keith Kinkaid recorded his first-ever victory against the Islanders despite allowing a goal in the opening two minutes for the fourth time in 10 starts… Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 159 goals in the first 46 games (first time since 1993-94 when they also had 159) and allowed 168 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 173) … The Isles held the Devils scoreless in the third period, ending a 21-game streak in which they had allowed at least one third period goals…The win was the Devils' first in the last seven games (1-3-3)…Damon Severson recorded his 2nd career 2-goal game…Taylor Hall scored for the sixth time in 13 games against the Isles; Hall scored for the 4th time in 5 games overall as he extended his point streak to five games.…Kyle Palmieri scored a power play goal for the second straight game…The Isles have allowed a power play goal in three straight games.

 

The (Latest) Injury

Shane Prince left the game in the second period with an upper body injury.  He did not return.

NHL Leading Goal Scorers

1. Alex Ovechkin 28

2. Nikita Kucherov 27

3. Anders Lee 26

4. Sean Couturier 25

5. John Tavares 24

A Very Helping Hand

Mathew Barzal continues to lead all rookies with 31 assists.  

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie, Post-Cup Era 

Rk Player A Season

1 Bryan Berard 40 1996-97

2 Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

3 Pat LaFontaine 35 1984-85

4 David Volek 34 1988-89

5 Pat Flatley 31 1984-85

  MATHEW BARZAL 31 2017-18 

Most Seasons With 30+ Assists (Isles)

1. Denis Potvin 15

2. Bryan Trottier 13

3. Mike Bossy 10

4. JOHN TAVARES 8

       John Tonelli 8

Most Seasons with 24+ Goals (Isles)

• Bryan Trottier 12 (11 consecutive)

• Mike Bossy 10 (consecutive)

• John Tavares 9 (consecutive)

One and Done

The Isles are 14-0-0 this season when leading after one period.  Dating back to last season the Isles have won 18 straight games and are 21-0-1 in their last 22 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 fifteen times overall (14-1-0). 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 five times at home (0-4-1) and twelve times overall (0-11-1).  They have allowed at least five goals in four of their five regulation losses at home.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 18 times this season (16-2-0). 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 16-2-0 when they score first and are 7-17-4 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 23-19-4 this season; they were 20-17-9 through 46 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 225 career wins, tying Ken Wregget for 67th 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 47-31-8 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        9-8-9=26

New Jersey 13-17-12=42

The Isles are 6-6-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 17-12-2 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 23-19-4 overall; 13-6-3 at home and 10-13-1 on the road.  

New Jersey is 23-12-8 overall; 12-6-3 at home and 11-7-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 7-7-1 in Division games and 16-12-3 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 13-12-1 against the East and 10-7-3 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 13-6-3 at home; they are 6-5-0 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 but falls to 13-13-2 on the season and 12-5-2 in his career against New Jersey. 

Keith Kinkaid made 25 saves to improve to 6-3-2 on the season. He is 1-3-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; New Jersey was 1-3 in 5:02 of PP time, including :08 of 5-on-3 time.

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 22-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-13-2 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 9-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 1-4 in regulation. They are 5-3 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 5-4-0 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 5-0-0 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 14-13-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:42); New Jersey: Sami Vatanen (21:11)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (4-1-1), Nick Leddy (14-16-2), John Tavares (2-1-0), Calvin deHaan (2-0-0), Dennis Seidenberg (1-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (21:50). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (20-12-4), Josh Bailey (2-1-0), Brock Nelson (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-3-0), Andrew Ladd (1-1-0), Anders Lee (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, New Jersey 28 (49%) 

No Islander who took multiple draws won more than he lost; Brian Boyle won 8 of 12 for New Jersey.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/15; 2nd period 14/20; 3rd period 6/20.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 21/45, Power play 2/3, Penalty kill 4/7.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Four players with 3)

New Jersey 12 (Miles Wood -3)

Fights

Brock Nelson fought Andy Greene at the end of the first period.  It was the first career fight for both players. Season total – 8: (Boychuk 1, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 10 shots (Three players with 2).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 51, New Jersey 69.

5-on-5 Isles 45, New Jersey 62.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Michael Dal Colle +3

New Jersey: Miles Wood +21

Night and Day 

The Isles are 19-19-3 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 234 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 197 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 128, Nick Leddy 123.

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 123

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), (Josh Bailey – Injured), (Andrew Ladd-IR), (Casey Cizikas – Injured), Tanner Fritz

Total games lost: 130

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, 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 681 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. John Tavares 633

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 259

…

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 109

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 332

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 238

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 591

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 356

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 152 *** 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 81 *** 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 (New Jersey has earned three points to the Isles' two).  The remaining two meetings are in Newark (February 24th and March 31st.

This was only the second regulation loss to New Jersey in the last 16 meetings (13-2-1) and was the Isles' first home loss after eight straight wins.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 18-14-4-2 on the season following a 3-0 loss in Charlotte on Tuesday.  It was the first time that the Sound Tigers have been shutout this season.  The teams will meet again on Wednesday night.

Tanner Fritz leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 13. Christopher Gibson is 14-8-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers will return home to host Providence on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.  

Up Next

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18th –BOSTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+2 (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles conclude the home stand as they play their fourth game in six days as they face the Boston Bruins in the final meeting of the teams this season.

Boston has won each of the first two meetings (3-1 in Boston on December 9th; 5-1 in Brooklyn on January 2nd).

The Bruins are the only Eastern Conference team to have won each of their games at Barclays Center (4-0-0).

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