The Skinny: Edmonton 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 68

Edmonton 2, Isles 1 (SO)

Connor McDavid tied the game with 1:50 to play, failed on an overtime penalty shot but then scored the game deciding goal in the shootout as the Edmonton Oilers rallied for a 2-1 win over the Islanders before a crowd of 18,347 at Rogers Place.

The Isles are 0-4-4 in their last seven games; it's their longest winless streak since a 10-game stretch from November 19 to December 9, 2013.  They are 0-0-3 on their four-game road trip.

 

It's the first time since October 2009 that the Isles have fallen in either overtime or a shootout in three straight games.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

No Scoring

3RD PERIOD

01:54 New York Thomas Hickey (4) ASST: Brock Nelson (13), Ryan Pulock (15) 1-0

18:10 Edmonton Connor McDavid (31) ASST: Oscar Klefbom (15), Ethan Bear (1) 1-1

OT PERIOD

No Scoring

The Shootout

Edmonton Goal - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

New York Goal - Jordan Eberle

Edmonton Missed - Leon Draisaitl

New York Missed - Anthony Beauvillier

Edmonton Goal - Connor McDavid (Game Deciding Goal)

New York Missed - John Tavares

The (Overtime) Penalty Shot

Connor McDavid was awarded a penalty shot with 2:00 to play in overtime.  He is the first opponent to have an overtime penalty shot against the Isles since Patrik Elias faced Garth Snow on December 10, 2003.  Like Elias, McDavid failed to score.

It was the second straight game that the Isles faced a penalty shot.  That last happened on December 30, 2005/ January 2, 2006.  Snow stopped Ottawa's Peter Schaefer but allowed a goal to Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier.

The Skinny  

Isles are 14-22-8 since December 1st and remain at NHL-.500… The Isles have allowed 240 goals (not including shootout winners); they allowed only 238 all last season… The Isles have scored three goals or fewer in 12 straight games (2-6-4)… John Tavares had six shots on goal, one game after having a season-high eight shots on goal…Thomas Hickey now has 7 points (1-6-7) in 10 career games against Edmonton…Chris Wagner (6) and Cal Clutterbuck (5) combined for eleven hits; they are 2nd and 3rd in the NHL in hits…The Isles held Edmonton without a shot through the first 9:50 of the third period…Ethan Bear, a junior teammate of Mathew Barzal, recorded his first career point on Connor McDavid's goal…Mc David's goal was his 31st – it's the most by an Oiler since Jordan Eberle scored a career-high 34 in 2011-12…Christopher Gibson has stopped 82 of 86 shots in his two NHL appearances this season…The Isles have never scored an overtime goal against Edmonton (in regular season play; Ken Morrow had one in the 1981 playoffs)…Cal Clutterbuck was involved in his first fight as an Islander.

First Time for Everything

This was the 76th regular season game between the Isles and Oilers and was the first to enter the third period scoreless. 

Scoreless 40

This was the first Isles game to enter the third period scoreless since December 1, 2016 in Washington; it is only the 2nd Isles game to be scoreless through two periods since 2014, a span of 281 games.

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; with 51 assists in 68 games, he is on pace for 61 assists: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. MATHEW BARZAL 51 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 69 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 points.

31 Goals

John Tavares and Anders Lee are tied for the team lead with 31 goals.  When each player reaches 32, they will be the first Islander teammates with at least 32 goals since Pierre Turgeon, Steve Thomas and Benoit Hogue all did so in 1993-94.

51 Helpers

Mathew Barzal has 51 assists and Josh Bailey has 48. Barzal is the first Islander to reach 51 assists since Pierre Turgeon had 56 assists in 1993-94.

When Bailey reaches 50, the Isles will have teammates with 50 assists for the first time since Mike Bossy (62) and Bryan Trottier (59) did so in 1985-86.

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.

One and Done

The Isles are 15-2-4 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 ten times at home (1-7-2) and eighteen times overall (1-15-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 31 times this season (19-7-5). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season but are only 8-7-5 in the last 20 games that they scored first.

First Goal 

The Isles are 19-7-5 when they score first and are 10-22-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles           9-8-12-2=31

Edmonton  7-15-8-6=36

The Isles are 7-11-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 22-17-5 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 29-29-10 overall; 16-12-4 at home and 13-17-6 on the road.  

Edmonton is 29-34-4 overall; 15-17-2 at home and 14-17-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-9-2 in Division games and 19-20-8 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 17-20-3 against the East and 12-9-7 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 16-12-4 at home; they are 9-9-0 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

Christopher Gibson made 35 saves; he is 0-0-2 on the season and 0-0-1 in his career against Edmonton.

Cam Talbot made 30 saves to improve to 24-26-2 on the season and 7-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 0:24 of PP time; Edmonton was 0-2 on the power play in 2:24of PP time.

The Isles are 17-11-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-18-7 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-19-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-10-7 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-9-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-20-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-7-10 in games decided by a single goal including 3-7 in regulation. They are 6-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 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 6-7-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-7-1 on the back-end. The Isles next back-to-back set will be a home-and-home with Washington on March 15th-16th. Overall, the Isles will play four sets of back-to-backs this month. 

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

• The Isles are 17-21-9 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:56); Edmonton: Connor McDavid (27:27)

John Tavares led Isles forwards with 19:56 of ice-time.

Face-offs

Isles 41, Edmonton 26 (61%).

John Tavares won 15 of 20 and Casey Cizikas won 12 of 15 for the Isles; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins won 11 of 19 for Edmonton.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 12/23; 2nd period 14/24; 3rd period 13/16; Overtime 2/4.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 39/64, Power play 0/0, Penalty kill 2/3.

Hit Count

Isles 34 (Chris Wagner-6).  

Edmonton 33 (Milan Lucic and Adam Larsson -6)

Fights

Cal Clutterbuck fought Jujhar Khaira in the first period. Season total – 12: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Clutterbuck 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 21 shots (Nick Leddy -3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 61, Edmonton 76

5-on-5 Isles 54, Edmonton 65.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anthony Beauvillier +8

Edmonton: Jesse Puljujarvi +10

Night and Day 

The Isles are 25-28-9 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.  All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Nick Leddy 145, Anders Lee 104, Chris Wagner 82 (including 77 for the Ducks), Brock Nelson 81, Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 68.

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 145

(*) 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, Ryan Johnston, Dennis Seidenberg  

Total games lost: 241

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

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 703*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 655

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 266

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey 122 *** 20. Diane Sutter 120 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 115

Assists

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

5. John Tonelli and John Tavares 338

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 248

Points

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

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 604

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 370 

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 170 *** 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

Edmonton wins the season series two games to none (and four points to two). 

On the Farm

Bridgeport begins a 3-in-3 weekend on Friday in Lehigh Valley; The Sound Tigers have won four straight games to improve to 28-22-5-3 on the season and close in on 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 (also on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

Bridgeport will then host the Phantoms on Saturday and host Springfield on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

SUNDAY, MARCH 11th –ISLANDERS AT CALGARY 7:00PM 

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

The long road trip comes to an end as the Isles head to Calgary to face the Flames for the second time this season.  

Calgary defeated the Isles 3-2 at Barclays Center back on February 11th.  It was the Flames' second straight win against the Isles; they have not won three straight vs. New York since an eight-game run from 1997-2002.

The Isles have scored exactly two goals in each of the last four games against the Flames, recording two overtime wins in the four matches. 

The Isles are 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Flames and have won 5 of the last 8 in Calgary

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