The Skinny: Chicago 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 75

Chicago 3, Isles 1

Anton Forsberg made 31 saves and came within 2:42 of his first career shutout as the Chicago Blackhawks broke a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Isles before a crowd of 13,091 at Barclays Center.

John Tavares scored his 33rd goal for the only Islander goal, but a Brent Seabrook empty-netter put the game away.

 

The Isles are 5-13-1 at home in 2018.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

02:36 Chicago PPG - Patrick Kane (26) ASST: Patrick Sharp (11), Erik Gustafsson (9) 0-1

04:25 Chicago Brandon Saad (17) ASST: Jordan Oesterle (10), Jan Rutta (14) 0-2

3RD PERIOD

17:18 New York John Tavares (33) ASST: Anders Lee (21), Thomas Hickey (17) 1-21

18:46 Chicago EN - Brent Seabrook (6) 1-3

The Skinny  

Isles are 16-27-8 since December 1st and fall three games below NHL-.500 (31-34-10) for the first time since ending the 2013-14 season with a 34-37-11 record … Ryan Pulock saw his five-game point streak end.  His 29 points rank second among Islander defensemen, behind Nick Leddy's 41…John Tavares extended his point streak to five games (1-8-9) and extended his team-leading point total to 78 (two more than Mathew Barzal…Barzal's point streak ended at five games… The Isles went 0-2 on the power play after scoring nine power play goals (in 18 attempts) in the prior four games.  The power play is still operating at 22.4%; the Isles haven't converted 20% of their power plays since the 1993-94 season (20.1%)… Anders Lee has a point in four straight games (5-1-6)…Brent Seabrook played his 998th game and Duncan Keith played his 989th game (all with Chicago)…The Blackhawks are 20-0-0 when allowing 1 goal or fewer but are only 11-36-9 when allowing two or more.

Pushed to the Brink

The Isles "tragic number" for playoff elimination has fallen to 1.  The Isles will be eliminated with their next loss (or shootout win) or by any point earned by New Jersey.

Lottery Update

In addition to their own picks, the Isles own Calgary's first two picks in the upcoming entry draft.  The Flames' tragic number is four, and Calgary could be eliminated as early as Monday.  At the end of play Saturday, the Isles held the 8th and 12th picks heading into the upcoming draft lottery.

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; with a team-leading 56 assists and 77 points in 75 games, he is on pace for 61 assists and 84 points: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. MATHEW BARZAL 56 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 76 2017-18 

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 points.

Nice Company

Mathew Barzal is one of only six rookies since 1983-84 with at least 56 assists in a season.   

1. Joe Juneau BOS 1992-93 70

2. Sidney Crosby PIT 2005-06 63

3. Sergei Makarov CGY 1989-90 62

4. Mario Lemieux PIT 1984-85 57

5. Teemu Selanne WPG 1992-93 56

MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18 56

He is also one of only six rookies since 2000-01 with at least 76 points.

More points by a rookie: last 18 seasons

1 Alex Ovechkin WSH2005-06 106

2 Sidney Crosby PIT 2005-06 102

3 Evgeni Malkin PIT 2006-07   85

4 Paul Stastny COL 2006-07   78

5 Artemi Panarin CHI 2015-16   77

6 MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18   76

33 Goal Club

Anders Lee has 38 goals and John Tavares has 33.  They are the first Islander teammates with at least 33 goals since Pierre Turgeon, Steve Thomas and Benoit Hogue all did so in 1993-94 and the first to combine for at least 71 goals since Ziggy Palffy (48) and Bryan Smolinski (28) had 76 in 1996-97.

38 Goal Club

Anders Lee is only the 3rd Islander in the last 20 years to score 38 goals in a season:

1. Jason Blake 40 2006-07

2. John Tavares 38 2014-15

      ANDERS LEE 38 2017-18

Lee is also the first Islander with multiple 34+ goal seasons since Ziggy Palffy (1995-76 to 1997-78). 

56 Helpers

Mathew Barzal has 56 assists; it's the most by an Islander since Pierre Turgeon also had 56 assists in 1993-94.  Turgeon had 74 helpers in 1992-93, which is the most by an Islander in the Post-Cup era.

Two Over 50

Barzal and Josh Bailey are the first Islander teammates with more than 50 assists since Mike Bossy (62) and Bryan Trottier (59) did so in 1985-86.

Pulock Moving up on Rookie Season Lists Too!

Pulock has 9 goals on the season; only two rookie defensemen (Denis Potvin-17 and Vladimir Malakhov-14) have scored more goals.  Ken Leiter, Chris Campoli and Tomas Jonsson also finished their rookie seasons with 9 goals.

Four of Pulock's goals have come on the power play.  Among Islander rookie defensemen, only Malakhov (7) and Potvin (6) have more.  Ken Leiter also scored four power play goals as a rookie.

Pulock is only the 8th Islander rookie defenseman to record 29 points in his rookie season. Ken Leiter also had 29 points.

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 Panarin (10 times) and Alex Ovechkin (8 times) have done so as often in their rookie seasons.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals 11 times at home (9-2-0) and 19 times overall (17-2-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). 

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals 12 times at home (1-9-2) and 21 times overall (1-18-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 34 times this season (21-8-5). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season but are only 10-8-5 in the last 23 games that they scored first.

First Goal 

The Isles are 21-8-5 when they score first and are 10-26-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-8-14=32

Chicago 9-10-6=25

The Isles are 8-14-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 23-19-5 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road

The Islanders are 31-34-10 overall; 17-16-4 at home and 14-18-6 on the road.  

Chicago is 31-36-9 overall; 17-17-4 at home and 14-19-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-12-2 in Division games and 20-22-8 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-24-3 against the East and 13-10-7 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 17-16-4 at home; they are 10-12-0 against the East and 7-4-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-8-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.  However, after opening the season 9-0-2 on home ice, the Isles are 8-16-2 in their last 26 games in Brooklyn.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves but falls to 18-26-6 on the season and 8-2-3 in his career against Chicago. Halak is 0-8-2 in his last 10 decisions.

Anton Forsberg made 31 saves and improves to 10-16-3 on the season and 1-3-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Chicago was 1-2 on the power play in 2:33 of PP time.

The Isles are 18-14-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-20-7 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-23-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-11-7 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-13-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-21-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-9-10 in games decided by a single goal including 3-9 in regulation. They are 6-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 6-8-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-8-1 on the back-end. The next back-to-back set will be on March 26th vs. Florida and March 27th in Ottawa.

 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 2-4-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-2-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 19-24-9 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (20:20); Chicago: Brent Seabrook (21:00)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:20 of ice-time.

Face-offs

Isles 23, Chicago 20 (53%).

Mathew Barzal won 9 of 10 for the Isles; David Kampf won 7 of 9 for Chicago.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 8/14; 2nd period 8/16; 3rd period 7/13.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/36, Power play 1/3, Penalty kill 4/4.

Hit Count

Isles 13 (Tanner Fritz -3)  

Chicago 7 (7 with 1)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 14: (Johnston 4, Boychuk 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Clutterbuck 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 19 shots (Thomas Hickey-5)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 53, Chicago 49 (Including 25-12 in the Isles' favor in the 3rd period)

5-on-5 Isles 37, Chicago 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Three with +4

Chicago: Patrick Kane +10

Night and Day 

The Isles are 27-33-9 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.   All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Nick Leddy 152, Anders Lee 111, Brock Nelson 88, Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 75.

Top 5 Club

Nick Leddy now holds 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 152

(*) 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), Dennis Seidenberg, Chris Wagner 

Total games lost: 282

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored five 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

3/5 – VAN Canucks – Jordan Eberle (18:56); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal six 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

3/9 – EDM Oilers – Connor McDavid (18:10); tied game and Oilers won in shootout

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.

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen four times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ, 3/2 vs. MTL) and are 2-2-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-2-0 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 710*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 662

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 268

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey 123 *** 20. Anders Lee 122 

Assists

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

5.  John Tavares 347

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 251

Points

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

5.  John Tavares 615

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 374 

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 175 *** 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 teams split the season series one game to one (and two points to two). 

Chicago has won all three games that they have played at Barclays Center, including an overtime win in the Isles' first home game in Brooklyn.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 31-26-5-3 following a 4-1 loss on Friday in Syracuse.  Casey Bailey scored the only Sound Tiger goal – it was his 15th goal of the season.  Travis St. Denis assisted on the goal to wrest the team scoring lead from Tanner Fritz, who was recalled on New Year's Day.

St. Denis leads the team in both goals (20) and points (38). Christopher Gibson (on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

Bridgeport visits Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

MONDAY, MARCH 26th –FLORIDA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

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

The Florida Panthers are trying to track down New Jersey in the Eastern Conference playoff race and the Panthers will visit Barclays Center on Monday in the final game of the Isles' 5-game homestand.

The Panthers control their own destiny even though they trail New Jersey by three points; Florida has nine games to play while New Jersey has only seven.

Florida has won three of the four regular season games in Brooklyn between the teams but the Isles won all three playoff games at Barclays Center in 2016.

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