The Skinny: Montreal 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 64

Montreal 3, Isles 1

Jonathan Drouin's power play goal (the first allowed by the Isles in six games) broke a 1-1 tie and the Canadiens overcame an early Mathew Barzal goal to defeat the Islanders 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 21,302 at Bell Center.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

03:50 New York Mathew Barzal (18) ASST: Jordan Eberle (24), Thomas Hickey (14) 1-0

11:02 Montreal Paul Byron (15) ASST: Artturi Lehkonen (7), Jonathan Drouin (22) 1-1

2ND PERIOD

08:29 Montreal PPG - Jonathan Drouin (10) ASST: Jeff Petry (21), Alex Galchenyuk (23) 1-2

13:37 Montreal         Nikita Scherbak (2) ASST: Brendan Gallagher (16), Jacob De La Rose (4) 1-3

3RD PERIOD

No Scoring

The Skinny  

Isles are 14-21-5 in their last 40 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 208 goals in the first 64 games (highest since 1993-94 when they had 217) and allowed 228 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they also allowed 250) … The Isles finish February with a 4-6-2 record … The Isles remain four points behind Columbus for the final playoff spot; the Isles have also played one additional game… The Isles allowed a power play goal for the first time in six games … The Isles are 0-3-1 in their last four games… Mathew Barzal now has an NHL-leading 25 points vs. Original Six teams... Anders Lee played his 100th consecutive game; Brandon Davidson and Chris Wagner made their Isles debuts. ..Jordan Eberle earned his 7th assist on a Mathew Barzal goal; Barzal has assisted on 17 of Eberle's 22 goals…Barzal extended his point lead to three points over John Tavares as he finished February with 16 points (2-14-16); Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde shared the rookie scoring lead with Barzal for the month (5-11-16)…The Isles have been outscored 83-67 in the 2nd period…Karl Alzner played in his 603rd consecutive game (4th longest active streak and 12th longest in NHL history)…Montreal finished their homestand 2-0-2 and the Habs have earned points in five straight games (2-0-3)…Jaroslav Halak's 21 regulation losses are the most in his career and the most for an Islander since Joey MacDonald lost 26 in 2008-09…The Isles finished with a season-high 82 attempts; the last time the Isles had that many attempts in a road game that ended in regulation was in an October 13, 2005 win in Washington with Garth Snow in net.

 

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Since December 1st, Jaroslav Halak has faced 1,138 shots.  This is 78 more than any other goaltender in that span (Frederik Andersen has faced 1,060).   Halak has faced 1,512 shots this season (6th in NHL); each goalie who has faced more shots have played in at least seven more games than Halak.

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; with 49 assists in 64 games, he is on pace for a rookie franchise record-tying 63 assists: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 49 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 67 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, no rookie has more assists than Barzal. (Nicklas Backstrom had 55 assists and Patrick Kane had 51 assists in 2007-08.)

Denis Potvin is the only rookie to ever lead the Isles in assists; Billy Harris, Potvin, Trent Hunter (tied) and John Tavares are the only rookies to ever lead the Isles in point.

Countdown to 50

Mathew Barzal has 49 assists and Josh Bailey has 47. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

Three's Company

Mathew Barzal has eight games of at least three points this season (five games with three points and three games with five points). Since 1993-94, only Sidney Crosby (11 times), Artemi Pararin (10 times) and Alex Ovechkin (8 times) have done so as often in their rookie seasons.

One and Done

The Isles are 16-2-2 this season when leading after one period.  

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). 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 nine times at home (1-6-2) and seventeen times overall (1-14-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 28 times this season (19-7-2). 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 19-7-2 when they score first and are 10-21-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 29-28-7 (65 points) this season; they were 30-23-11 (71 points) through 64 games last season.  

Catching Chico

By defeating the Isles tonight, it was Antti Niemi, not Jaroslav Halak, who tied Chico Resch for 61st on the all-time win list with 231 career wins; Jaro is tied with Corey Crawford, Gerry Cheevers and Martin Biron for 63nd on the all-time NHL win list with 230 NHL wins.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 53-40-11 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       11-9-8=28

Montreal 11-10-5=26

The Isles are 7-10-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 22-17-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged four times and been successful three times.  The Isles are 2-1-0 in games they win the challenge and are 0-0-1 in games they lose the challenge.

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

• 10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

• 1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

• 2/16 @ Car Hurricanes - successful

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

Home and Road

The Islanders are 29-28-7 overall; 16-11-4 at home and 13-17-2 on the road.  

Montreal is 24-29-10 overall; 16-10-8 at home and 8-19-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-9-1 in Division games and 19-19-6 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 17-19-2 against the East and 12-9-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 16-11-4 at home; they are 9-8-0 against the East and 7-3-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-7-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves but falls to 18-21-5 on the season and 4-3-0 in his career against Montreal. 

Antti Niemi made 27 saves to improve to 4-6-2 on the season and 3-1-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Montreal was 1-2 on the power play in 3:32 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-10-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-18-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-19-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-9-5 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-20-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-7-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-7 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 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 6-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play four sets of back-to-backs in March, beginning March 2nd vs. Montreal and March 3rd in Pittsburgh. 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 2-3-0 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 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 17-20-7 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (21:39); Montreal: Mike Reilly (22:56)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards in ice-time (18:39) 

Face-offs

Isles 17, Montreal 23 (43%).

John Tavares won 8 of 15 for the Isles; Philip Danault won 8 of 11 for Montreal.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 5/13; 2nd period 6/17; 3rd period 6/10.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 12/33, Power play 3/4, Penalty kill 2/3.

Hit Count

Isles 39 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Montreal 17 (Mike Reilly-4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Five players had 2)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 82, Montreal 50 (Including 32-9 in the Isles' favor in the third period).

5-on-5 Isles 62, Montreal 40.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +14

Montreal: All 18 players had "-" Corsi

Night and Day 

The Isles are 25-27-6 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.  All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Overall: Jordan Eberle 216 (including 152 for the Oilers), Nick Leddy 141, Anders Lee 100, Chris Wagner 78 (including 77 for the Ducks) 

As Isles: Leddy 141, Lee 100, Brock Nelson 77, Eberle/Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 64.

Top 5 Club

Nick Leddy now hold the fifth longest consecutive game streak in Islander history for a defenseman: 

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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 141

(*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), (Thomas Greiss-IR), (Alan Quine-IR), Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston, Dennis Seidenberg, Brandon Davidson

Total games lost: 216

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

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

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times 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

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

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. Josh Bailey 699*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 651

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 265

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter and Josh Bailey 121 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 114

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 247

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 601

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 367

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 168 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 115

Wins (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 86 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 60

Season Series Stats

The season series is even one game to one (Montreal has earned three points to the Isles' two). The season series will conclude in Brooklyn on Friday.

The loss snaps a three-game Islander winning streak vs. Montreal; they have not won four straight vs. the Canadiens since 1993-94.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 26-22-5-3 after beating Charlotte 1-0 at home on Sunday and winning 2-1 in overtime in Rochester on Wednesday. Kristers Gudlevskis won both games, including a 39 save shutout on Sunday. Joshua Ho-Sang set-up Travis St. Denis for the overtime winner on Wednesday.  

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 (also on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers now head to Canada for games in Laval (QC) on Friday and Belleville (ONT) on Saturday. 

Up Next

FRIDAY, MARCH 2nd –MONTREAL AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

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

The Isles play their only home game in an eight-game stretch as they play the back-end of this home-and-home series with Montreal.  This is the third home-and-home series between the teams in the last eight seasons; Montreal swept each of the prior two series.

The Isles beat Montreal last January 26th at Barclays Center; that win ended a six-game Islander home losing streak (0-5-1) against the Habs.

Note that game will be telecast on MSG (and not on the team's regular TV home, MSG+).

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 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