The Skinny: Isles 6, Pittsburgh 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 11

Isles 6, Pittsburgh 3

The Isles scored five times on their first ten shots and scored six goals in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003 as they defeated the Penguins 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,509 at PPG Paints Arena.

The Isles have won three straight games, as they sweep their road trip (all against divisional foes).  The Isles are 4-0-0 against their Metro rivals.  It's their best start against Metro foes since the division was created in 2012-13 and the first time they have won their first four divisional games since 1982-83.

The Isles have earned points in four straight games (3-0-1) and finish October with a 6-4-1 record despite playing eight out of their first 11 games on the road.

The Scoring: 

1st Period 

Andrew Ladd (3) Valtteri Filppula, Ryan Pulock 10:43 NYI 1,PIT 0

Brock Nelson (6) Josh Bailey, Matt Martin 12:28 NYI 2,PIT 0

Dominik Simon (2) Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin 14:24 NYI 2,PIT 1

Sidney Crosby (6) Jamie Oleksiak 17:41 NYI 2,PIT 2

2nd Period

Matt Martin (3) Casey Cizikas 09:32 NYI 3,PIT 2

Jordan Eberle (2) Mathew Barzal, Nick Leddy 11:56 NYI 4,PIT 2 PPG

Jordan Eberle (3) Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech 13:49 NYI 5,PIT 2

3rd Period

Evgeni Malkin (6) Phil Kessel, Jamie Oleksiak 01:23 NYI 5,PIT 3

Tom Kuhnhackl (1) Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock 09:44 NYI 6,PIT 3

The Skinny  

The Isles killed all three Penguin power plays; they went 9-9 on the PK on the road trip…Josh Bailey extended his point streak to six games and his assist streak to five games while Anders Lee saw his point streak end at 4.…Mathew Barzal had two assists, giving him 97 points in 95 career NHL games.  Connor McDavid is the only NHL player in the last decade to record 100 points in his first 100 NHL games...Tom Kuhnhackl is the 371st Islander to score a goal.  It was his first goal since January 2nd…Andrew Ladd has 3 goals in eight games after scoring only three goals after Christmas last season…The Isles' six wins have come by a combined score of 27-8; they have scored at least six goals in three of these wins (all on the road, matching the number of times they scored 6 goals in a road game all last season)…Thomas Greiss appeared in his 125th game as an Isle, in relief of Robin Lehner; it's the 2nd time this season that Greiss has replaced Lehner in the 3rd period of an Isles win …Thru 11 games, the Isles have the same record as last season (6-4-1) but have allowed seven fewer goals…The Isles have won five of their first eight road games and have won five October road games for the first time since 2001-02 (6-0-0)…The Isles have won their last six Metro games (going back to last season) …With the win, the Isles hand the Penguins their first regulation loss since October 6th and move within one point of Pittsburgh for the divisional lead…Evgeni Malkin extended his point streak to eight with his third period goal while Sidney Crosby scored for the 4th straight game; the Isles ended Malkin's assist streak at seven games…The Isles scored six goals in Pittsburgh for the first time since December 31, 2003 (at Mellon Arena)..Nick Leddy had two assists after recording only one in the first ten games… Brock Nelson scored again, giving him five goals in the last five games; 23 of his 105 career goals have come in the 59 games he has played in October.  His 105 goals as an Islander matches Ed Westfall's total in an Isles uniform (29th in Isles history)...The Isles have outscored their opponents 14-7 in the second period… The Isles defense contributed five assists…Jordan Eberle was named the game's 1st star for his two goals; an Isle has been named the star of the game six times this season, and a different player has earned the honor in each game…The Isles finished with 25 shots; it's the fifth straight game they finished with 25 or fewer (4-0-1).

The Injury:

Thomas Greiss replaced Robin Lehner to start the third period.  

Road Warriors

This was the final game of a three-game road trip, and the eighth road game in the first 11 games. 

It's the first time in Isles history they have opened with 8 of 11 on the road.

The Isles now return home for three straight games.  That starts a stretch of 38 of 71 at home, because it all equals out in the end!

Metro Men

The Isles are playing five straight games against Metro opponents.  The Isles are 3-0-0 in this stretch:

10/27 W 6-1 @ Phi Flyers

10/28 W 2-1 @ Car Hurricanes

10/30 W 6-3 @ Pitt Penguins

11/1 Vs. Pitt Penguins 

11/3 Vs. NJ Devils

It's only the 2nd time that the Isles have ever played at least five consecutive games against Metro opponents.  The Isles went 5-1-0 in a six-game stretch of Metro opponents in November 2014.

 

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 6-4-1 (13 points), with 36 goals scored and 28 goals allowed

Last Season: 6-4-1 (13 points), with 39 goals scored and 35 goals allowed  (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 6-0-1 when scoring first and 0-4-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          6-11-8=25

Pittsburgh 15-10-13=38

The Isles are 0-2-0 when they outshoot their opponents and are 6-2-1 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 6-4-1 overall; 1-1-1 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 5-3-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Pittsburgh is 6-2-2 overall; 2-2-1 at home and 4-0-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 4-0-0 in Division games and 2-4-1 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 4-0-1 against the East and 2-4-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 23 saves over the first two periods before being replaced due to injury.  Lehner improved to 4-2-1 this season and 2-3-3 in his career against the Penguins.

Thomas Greiss made 12 saves to earn the "save". 

Matt Murray allowed four goals on the first nine Islander shots; he falls to 4-2-0 on the season and 2-3-0 in his career against the Isles.

Casey Smith allowed two goals on the remaining 16 Islander shots. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 7:09 of PP time; Pittsburgh was 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 6-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-3-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 1-2-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-2-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 4-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-3-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 2-1-1 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 1-1-0 in the front half and 2-0-0 in the back half. The next back-to-back is on Thanksgiving weekend: Black Friday in New Jersey and at home vs. Pittsburgh on November 23-24. 

 

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 0-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 4-4-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (21:47); Pittsburgh: Olli Maatta  (21:29)  

Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 17:16 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (4-1-1), Nick Leddy (2-3-0).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Pittsburgh 28 (47%).

Casey Cizikas won 5 of 8 for the Isles ;Sidney Crosby won 13 of 21 for Pittsburgh. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/17; 2nd period 14/25; 3rd period 4/11.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/41, Power play 3/7, Penalty kill 0/5

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Tom Kuhnhackl-6)  

Pittsburgh 33 (Two with 5)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 3 (Mayfield -2, Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 20 shots (Adam Pelech and Johnny Boychuk -4).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 40, Pittsburgh 72 

5-on-5 Isles 33, Pittsburgh 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Casey Cizikas +1

Pittsburgh: Dominik Simon +21

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 4-4-1 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee is November 18th vs. Dallas.  

Ironmen

Anders Lee 129, Brock Nelson 106, Mathew Barzal 93

Scratches

(Cal Clutterbuck-upper body), Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston 

Total games lost: 7

Late Heroes

The Isles have not yet scored in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal one time in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have not challenged a goal due to an offside this season. 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 726

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Anders Lee 128 ***19. Jason Blake 127 *** 20. Josh Bailey 126 

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 263

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 389

Games Played (Goalies)

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

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Thomas Greiss 125

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Thomas Greiss 64

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  This was the front-end of a home-and-home; the team will resume their season series in Brooklyn on Thursday. . 

The Isles are 4-2-3 in their last nine trips to Pittsburgh.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 4-4-1-0 heading into a 3-in-3 set this weekend.

On Saturday, Travis St. Denis and Steve Bernier scored third period goals as Bridgeport rallied from a 4-3 deficit to win in regulation; Sebastian Aho had three assists.  Seth Helgeson had the Sound Tigers' only goal on Sunday.  Michael Dal Colle missed the weekend with an injury.

Leaders:  Goals: Bernier 5; Assists: Aho 6; Points: Dal Colle 8

Bridgeport begins a home-and-home series on Friday vs. Springfield.  Saturday's rematch begins a five game homestand.

 

Up Next

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1st — PITTSBURGH AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

  

The Isles look for their fourth straight win and to complete a sweep of the home-and-home series as they welcome the Penguins to Brooklyn in the first game of a three game homestand.

The Isles have earned points in seven of their last eight games vs. Pittsburgh (4-1-3) and are 5-1-1 in their last seven home games against the Pens.

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