The Skinny: Isles 4, Columbus 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 53

Isles 4, Columbus 3

Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson scored 2:25 apart early in the third period as the Isles rallied from a 3-2 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets before a crowd of 13,597 at Barclays Center.

Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves in the first period alone, and he finished with 46 saves overall as the Isles snapped a 2-game losing streak overall and a 3-game losing streak on home-ice.  It was the Isles' first win in regulation time at home since December 23rd against Winnipeg.  

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

06:12 Columbus   PPG - Josh Anderson (16) ASST: Pierre-Luc Dubois (13), Jussi Jokinen (6) 0-1

17:38 New York   PPG - Nick Leddy (7) ASST: John Tavares (32), Mathew Barzal (36) 1-1

2ND PERIOD

11:14 New York   Josh Bailey (13) ASST: Anthony Beauvillier (6), Ryan Pulock (12) 2-1

12:36 Columbus  Cam Atkinson (8) ASST: Artemi Panarin (29) 2-2

18:03 Columbus  Nick Foligno (10) ASST: Oliver Bjorkstrand (19) 2-3

3RD PERIOD

02:49 New York  Jordan Eberle (18) ASST: Mathew Barzal (37), Casey Cizikas (7) 3-3

05:14 New York  Brock Nelson (11) ASST: Andrew Ladd (10), Ryan Pulock (13) 4-3

The Skinny 

The Isles are 11-15-3 in their last 29 games … The Isles were outshot 26-12 in the opening period and how now been outshot 634-511 in the first period this season…Jordan Eberle's goal was his 40th point of the season; he has reached at least 40 points in all eight full seasons that he has played in the NHL…Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 181 goals in the first 53 games (first time since 1993-94 when they also had 176) and allowed 192 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 205) … The Isles, have allowed 99 shots over the last two games, and an NHL-high 1,875 on the season…Nick Leddy snapped a 30-game goalless drought while playing in his 130th consecutive game…John Tavares' assist on the goal was his first point in five games…Ryan Pulock had two assists, giving him eight assists in the last five games…Brock Nelson was credited with his 2nd game-winning goal of the season and 13th of his career...The three Columbus goal scorers all have had a lot of success vs. the Isles in their career; Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno each have 12 goals against the Isles while John Anderson scored for the sixth time in seven games vs the Isles…Columbus has both the worst road power play and worst road penalty kill in the NHL...The Jackets are 0-2-1 since the All-Star Break.

Busy Night for Jaro

Jaroslav Halak faced 49 shots and stopped 46; both totals were his highest as an Islander, and one off his career high.  The 49 shots he faced were the most he has ever faced at home, while the 46 saves matched his career-high at home.  The totals are the highest for any Islander in a home game since Kevin Poulin stopped 48 of 51 against Vancouver on January 11, 2011.

Most Shots Faced by Halak

1. 50 12/21/09 at Atlanta (for Montreal)

2. 49 12/26/09 at Toronto (for Montreal)

        49 2/3/18 vs Columbus

Most Saves by Halak

1. 47 12/21/09 at Atlanta (for Montreal)

        47 12/26/09 at Toronto (for Montreal)

3. 46 2/13/09 at Colorado (for Montreal)

        46 2/28/09 vs. San Jose for Montreal)

        46 12/23/09 at Carolina (for Montreal)

        46  2/3/18 vs Columbus

Never-Say-Dielanders

The Isles recorded their 4th win this season when trailing after 40 minutes (4-20-3).  Two of the wins are of the "clean two point" variety (i.e. in regulation) and they are both against divisional opponents – Carolina and Columbus. (h/t Brendan Burke for the "clean two point" reference)

The Isles are 18-0-0 when they lead after 40 minutes.

Saturday Isles 

The Isles are now 12-1-0 this season on Saturday with five games to play.  They are 5-0-0 at home and 7-1-0 on the road.  The Isles are 14-21-5 on other days of the week.

The Isles have played more games on Saturday than any other day of the week in their history.  When the Isles close the regular season in Detroit on April 7th, it will come in the 1,000th regular season Saturday game in their history.  Now that's Skinny!

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 7 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. Bryan Berard 40 1996-97

4. Mike Bossy 38 1977-78

Vladimir Malakhov 38 1992-93

6. MATHEW BARZAL 37 2017-18 

Denis Potvin 37 1973-74

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. David Volek 59 1988-89

4. Stefan Persson 56 1977-78

5. Denis Potvin 54 1973-74

Pat LaFontaine 54 1984-85

John Tavares 54 2009-10

8. MATHEW BARZAL 53 2017-18 

(John Tonelli had 39 assists and 56 points in his first year with the Isles but was not a rookie due to prior WHA experience)

Hey Josh, You're an All-Star

Josh Bailey's goal gave him totals of 13-43-56 on the season, matching his career high in both assists and points. It was his 119th goal as an Islander, tying Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen for 20th place on the all-time club list.

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 9-19-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 26-22-5 (57 points) this season; they were 24-19-10 (58 points) through 53 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak recorded 228th career win, breaking a tie with former Isles Dwayne Roloson for 66th place on the all-time NHL win list and tying Antti Niemi for 65th.  

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 50-34-9 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles      12-16-10=38

Columbus 26-14-9=49

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 19-15-2 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

The Isles have allowed at least 30 shots in 19 consecutive games; it's the longest such streak by the club in at least 30 yrs.  They hadn't had a streak of longer than 7 games since 2010.

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 26-22-5 overall; 14-8-3 at home and 12-14-2 on the road.  

Columbus is 27-21-4 overall; 16-9-1 at home and 11-12-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 8-7-1 in Division games and 18-15-4 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 14-15-1 against the East and 12-7-4 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 14-8-3 at home; they are 7-7-0 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 46 saves (his most as an Islander) and improves to 16-15-3 on the season and 13-5-3 in his career against Columbus. 

Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves but falls to 5-5-0 on the season and 2-1-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 2:44 of PP time; Columbus was 1-3 on the power play in 5:29 of PP time.

The Isles are 15-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-14-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 15-15-2 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 24-6-2 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 11-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 3-4 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 5-5-0 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 6-1-0 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: Adam Pelech (22:41); Columbus: Seth Jones (26:18).

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

Face-offs

Isles 37, Columbus 37 (50%) 

Tanner Fritz won 5 of 8 for the Isles; Brandon Dubinsky won 9 of 16 for Columbus.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 14/25; 2nd period 10/24; 3rd period 13/25.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 29/61, Power play 3/3, Penalty kill 5/10.

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Cal Clutterbuck and Andrew Ladd-5)

Columbus 24 (Boone Jenner -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 17 shots (Ryan Pulock-3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 65, Columbus 88.

5-on-5 Isles 53, Columbus 66.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jordan Eberle +10

Columbus: Artemi Panarin +17

Night and Day 

The Isles are 22-22-4 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 241 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 204 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 135, Nick Leddy 130.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 130 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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 130

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

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), Sebastian Aho, Alan Quine, Ryan Johnston

Total games lost: 166

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 688*** 10. John Tavares 640

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

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. 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 334

…

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 595

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 362

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 158 *** 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 84 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

Columbus still leads the season series two games to one (and four points to two).  The Isles will host Columbus on February 13th to conclude the season series. 

The Isles are 9-0-4 on home-ice in their last 13 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.

On the Farm

Bridgeport split a pair of game over the weekend as they dropped a 1-0 decision to Springfield (despite allowing a club-record 13 shots on goal) and then rebounded to beat Belleville 3-1.  Ben Holmstrom had a pair of goals in Saturday's victory. The Sound Tigers own a 23-17-4-2 record and have moved into 4th place (and the final 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 17-9-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers have an 11am game in Hartford on Wednesday before returning home to host Providence on Saturday and host Syracuse on Sunday.

Up Next

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5th –NASHVILLE AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles will look to sweep the season series as they entertain the Predators.  The Isles defeated Nashville 6-2 at Bridgestone Arena back on October 28th behind a natural hat trick from John Tavares and the first two goals as an Islander from Jordan Eberle.

Overall, the Isles have won 7 out of the last 9 from the defending Western Conference Champion Predators. However, Nashville is red-hot.  The Preds are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, outscoring opponents 31-17. 

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