The Skinny: Montreal 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 65

Montreal 6, Isles 3

Alex Galchenyuk celebrated his 400th NHL game with his 2nd career hat trick and 2nd career four-point game as the Montreal Canadiens scored three goals, including an empty-netter, in the third period, and defeated the Isles 6-3 before a crowd of 10,685 at Barclays Center.

The Isles are 0-4-1 in their last five games and have lost four of their last five games in Brooklyn.

Josh Bailey matched his career high with his 16th goal of the season while becoming only the 8th Islander to play in 700 career games. 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

01:28 Montreal Brendan Gallagher (22) ASST: Alex Galchenyuk (24), Jonathan Drouin (23)0-1

19:54 New York Tanner Fritz (2) ASST: Brock Nelson (12), Thomas Hickey (15) 1-1

2ND PERIOD

02:17 Montreal Alex Galchenyuk (13) ASST: David Schlemko (3) 1-2

04:23 New York Josh Bailey (16) ASST: Nick Leddy (28) 2-2

10:31 Montreal Alex Galchenyuk (14) ASST: Mike Reilly (9) 2-3

19:56 New York PPG - Brock Nelson (15) ASST: Anthony Beauvillier (11), Andrew Ladd (13)3-3

3RD PERIOD

08:10 Montreal Paul Byron (16) ASST: Brendan Gallagher (17), Jacob De La Rose (5) 4-3

09:53 Montreal Noah Juulsen (1) ASST: Artturi Lehkonen (8), Mike Reilly (10) 5-3

19:11 Montreal EN - Alex Galchenyuk (15) 6-3

The Skinny  

Isles are 14-22-5 since December 1st and have fallen to NHL-.500 for the first time since they were 3-3-1 in mid-October… Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 211 goals in the first 65 games (highest since 1993-94 when they had 224) and allowed 234 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 254) …The Isles remain four points out of the final playoff spot; by virtue of Carolina's win and Columbus' loss, that spot belongs to the Hurricanes based on head-to-head record… Jordan Eberle missed his first game as an Islander, ending his consecutive game streak at 215… Karl Alzner played in his 604th consecutive game (4th longest active streak and 12th longest in NHL history)… Montreal has earned points in six straight games (3-0-3)…Jaroslav Halak's 22 regulation losses are the most in his career and the most for an Islander since Joey MacDonald lost 26 in 2008-09…Mathew Barzal drew three more penalties, giving him 33 on the season.  Only Matthew Tkachuk (41) has drawn more…The Isles did not allow a shot on goal in the final 17:12 of the first period…Brock Nelson's goal was his first since he had a hat trick vs. Detroit three weeks ago…The Isles have been outscored 4-0 in 4-on-4 situations this season, including Alex Galchenyuk's first goal tonight; Galchenyuk is the 6th Canadien with a hat trick against the Isles and the first since Max Pacioretty in 2012…The Isles have allowed at least five goals 18 times this season and have allowed six goals nine times…Tanner Fritz scored a goal in a career-high 17:12 of ice-time…The Isles have scored three goals or fewer in nine straight games (2-6-1)…Newly-acquired Mike Reilly had two assists and was +4 for Montreal.

The Baby

Welcome to the World, Jack William Cizikas!  Casey's first child checked in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

The Injuries

Victor Mete left the game after the first period and did not return.  Max Pacioretty suffered a hand injury in the third period and did not return.

First Time for Everything

Tanner Fritz scored at 19:54 of the first period and Brock Nelson scored at 19:56 of the second period; it's the first time in Islander history (3,565 regular season games) that they have scored goals in the final six seconds of two periods in the same game.  Before tonight, the Isles had scored only one goal in the final six seconds of any period this season; Mathew Barzal scored his 2nd NHL goal in the final seconds of a 6-4 loss in Minnesota.

First Time for Everything II

Noah Juulsen scored his first NHL goal in the third period. 

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Since December 1st, Jaroslav Halak has faced 1,162 shots.  This is 64 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henirk Lundqvist has faced 1,098).   Halak has faced 1,536 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 65 games, he is on pace for 62 assists: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL49 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL67 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 Panarin (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 ten times at home (1-7-2) and eighteen times overall (1-15-2).  

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 10-22-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 53-41-11 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        14-11-10=35

Montreal 5-10-10=25

The Isles are 7-11-4 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 29-29-7 overall; 16-12-4 at home and 13-17-2 on the road.  

Montreal is 25-29-10 overall; 16-10-8 at home and 9-19-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-9-1 in Division games and 19-20-6 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 17-20-2 against the East and 12-9-5 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

Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves but falls to 18-22-5 on the season and 4-4-0 in his career against Montreal. He is 0-4-0 as an Islander against Montreal.

Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves to improve to 4-4-2 on the season and 1-0-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 5:57 of PP time; Montreal was 0-3 on the power play in 4:49 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-11-2 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 13-10-5 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-9-4 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

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-7-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-7-0 on the back-end. This back-to-back set concludes in Pittsburgh at 5pm Saturday.  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 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 17-21-7 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (23:05 – career high); Montreal: Karl Alzner (22:41)

Face-offs

Isles 24, Montreal 29 (45%).

John Tavares won 11 of 19 for the Isles; Jonathan Drouin won 6 of 9 for Montreal.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/18; 2nd period 8/20; 3rd period 7/15.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 20/44, Power play 3/5, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 34 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Montreal 26 (Karl Alzner-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 5 shots (Adam Pelech- 2)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 62, Montreal 42

5-on-5 Isles 47, Montreal 35.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Andrew Ladd +12

Montreal: Mike Reilly +3

Night and Day 

The Isles are 25-28-6 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.  All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Nick Leddy 142, Anders Lee 101, Chris Wagner 79 (including 77 for the Ducks), Brock Nelson 78, Eberle/Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 65.

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 142

(*) 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), Jordan Eberle- injured, Casey Cizikas – paternity, Dennis Seidenberg  

Total games lost: 223

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 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 700*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 652

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. Josh Bailey 121 *** 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 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 368

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 169 *** 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

Montreal wins the season series two games to one (and five points to two). 

This was the third time in the last nine seasons that the teams have played a home-and-home series; Montreal has swept all three home-and home series.

The Isles are 1-6-1 in their last eight home games vs. Montreal.

 

On the Farm

Bridgeport has won three straight games to improve to 27-22-5-3 after their 4-2 win in Laval on Friday.  Kane LaFranchise scored the winner with 7:31 to play. Kristers Gudlevskis made 22 saves for the win.

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 Belleville (ONT) for a game on Saturday night. 

Up Next

SATURDAY, MARCH 3rd –ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 5:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 4:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles begin a four-game road trip as they visit the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins have won the first two meetings.  Pittsburgh overcame an Islander rally for an overtime win on December 7th in Pittsburgh and then blanked the Isles 4-0 in Brooklyn four weeks later.

Overall, the Isles are 2-2-1 in their last five games against the Penguins and are 3-2-2 in their last seven trips to The Steel City.

The season series will conclude in Brooklyn on March 20th.

 

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