Featured Post

The Skinny: Calgary 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 19 Calgary 2, Isles 1 (SO) Dustin Wolf made 25 saves during the game and was perfect in the sho...

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Skinny: Boston 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 24
Boston 2, Isles 1 (SO)
Let's go home.

Ryan Donato scored the only goal of a four-round shootout as the Boston Bruins defeated the Islanders 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden.

Anders Lee had given the Isles a 1-0 lead with a first period 6th attacker goal; Brad Marchand tied the game with a power play tally. The Isles thought they had the game won in overtime but a Mat Barzal goal was erased due to incidental contact with the goalie.

It was the first overtime game between the teams since December 12, 2009, ending a stretch of 27 consecutive games decided in regulation.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Anders Lee (8) Mathew Barzal, Scott Mayfield 12:17 NYI 1,BOS 0

2nd Period
Brad Marchand (7) David Pastrnak, Torey Krug 12:09 NYI 1,BOS 1 PPG

3rd Period
No Goals

Overtime 
No Goals

The Shootout
NYI- Mathew Barzal -NG
BOS- Jake DeBrusk -NG
NYI-Brock Nelson-NG
BOS-David Pastrnak_NG
NYI-Valtteri Filppula-NG
BOS-Brad Marchand-NG
NYI-Josh Bailey-NG
BOS-Ryan Donato-G/SDG

Ryan Donato is credited with the deciding goal; he has converted both of his career shootout attempts.  The Isles remain tied with Pittsburgh and the Rangers for the all-time NHL lead in shootout wins (75).

The Skinny  
For the second straight game, the Isles scored the first goal and didn't score again…Anders Lee's goal breaks a tie with Josh Bailey for the active goal scoring lead…This was only the third Isles game to be tied after two periods (1-1-1)… The Isles' power play went 0-1 and fell to 4-41 (9.8%) in November; the power play is 0-12 in the last six games.  Brad Marchand scored his 41st career power play goal; he is one of only 41 players in NHL history to score 41 power play goals and 23 shorthanded goals…The Isles' fourth line, back together for the first time since November 1st, combined for 13 hits…This was the 396th consecutive sellout at TD Garden, a streak that dates back to December, 2009…Ryan Donato, who was recalled from Providence yesterday, scored the only goal of the shootout…Boston has won 4 straight at home and are 9-2-0 at home this season…After going 6-4-1 in October, the Isles were 6-5-2 in November. It's the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Isles have had an above-NHL .500 record in both October and November.

One for the 9's
Valtteri Filppula played his 900th career NHL game, tying Islander legend Bobby Nystrom and former Sabre Rob Ray on the all-time list.

Chasing 400
Josh Bailey has 398 points on his career.  He is two points away from becoming only the 14th player in Islander history with 400 points; like the other 13, Bailey is an Isles draft pick.

Coach Trotz
Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 774-577-60-137 in 1548 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    825
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   774

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1548
5. Ken Hitchcock   1540

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 12-9-3 (27 points), with 73 goals scored and 69 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 15-7-2 (32 points), with 89 goals scored and 76 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 9-3-3 when scoring first and 3-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles     7-9-7-6=29
Boston 13-12-9-2=36
The Isles are 1-6-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-2-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 12-9-3 overall; 6-3-2 at home (0-0-0 on Long Island and 6-3-2 in Brooklyn) and 6-6-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Boston is 14-7-4 overall; 9-2-0 at home and 5-5-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 9-2-0 in Division games and 3-7-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 9-4-3 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Robin Lehner made 35 saves; he is 4-5-2 on the season and 4-11-4 in his career against Boston. Lehner is 8-18 all-time in shootouts.

Tuukka Rask made 28 saves and improves to 6-4-2 on the season and 13-5-0 in his career against the Isles.  Rask is 24-29 all-time in shootouts.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Boston was 1-1 on the power play in 0:26 of PP time.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-8-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-5-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-8-2 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 4-1-3 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 
The Isles are 2-1-0 in the front half and 3-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 17th in Colorado and December 18 in Arizona. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 8-9-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (25:59); Boston: John Moore 25:37
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:09 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-3-2), Nick Leddy (3-5-1), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 20, Boston 32 (38%).

Casey Cizikas won 8 of 16 for the Isles but his teammates won only 12 of 36; David Krejci won 9 of 13 for Boston. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  8/18; 2nd period 8/23; 3rd period 3/8; Overtime 1/3.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/49, Power play 2/2, Penalty kill 1/1.

Hit Count
Isles 35 (Matt Martin & Casey Cizikas -5)  
Boston 32 (Chris Wagner -7)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total –5 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 16 shots (Tom Kuhnhackl -3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 52, Boston 70 (including 6-3 in the Isles' favor in overtime)
5-on-5 Isles 41, Boston 66

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech +5
Boston: Brad Marchand +16 
 
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 9-8-3 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 142, Brock Nelson 119, Mathew Barzal 106

Scratches
(Andrew Ladd – IR), Ross Johnston, Stephen Gionta, Luca Sbisa. 
Total games lost: 31

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 three times 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)
11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), 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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 739

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 132 ***19. Joshua Bailey 131…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 267

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 398

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 134

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 70

Season Series Stats
Boston leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 1).  The teams will next meet in Boston on February 5th before completing the season series on Long Island on March 19th.

This was the first point earned by the Isles in the last five games against Boston (0-4-1). 

On the Farm 
Michael Dal Colle scored his 9th AHL goal of the season and Joshua Ho-Sang added two assists but Springfield earned a split of a home-and-home series with a 5-2 victory over the Sound Tigers on Wednesday. Bridgeport falls to 12-7-2-1 but they have still earned points in 10 of their last 12 games (8-2-1-1). 

The Sound Tigers next play on Saturday vs. Providence and then head back to Springfield on Saturday.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 10; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 18 (Leads all active AHL players); Points: Ho-Sang 19.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 7-3-2 (3.47 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-4-1 (2.96 GAA)

Up Next
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1st – COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS (AT NASSAU COLISEUM) 7:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

After played 270 consecutive regular season games in other buildings, including 134 at Barclays Center, the Islanders return to Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night in the first of 21 home games on Long Island this season.

It will be their first matchup of the season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who also played in the 1,665th (and what appeared to be the final) regular season game, back on April 11, 2015.  The Jackets won that game in a shootout, denying the Isles home-ice in their first round series with Washington.

Regardless of the building, the Isles are 9-1-4 in their last 14 home games against the Jackets, with the regulation defeat coming in their most recent matchup on February 13th.

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

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Skinny: Washington 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 23
Washington 4, Isles 1
Tom Wilson scored two goal and added an assist and Nicklas Backstrom added helpers as the Washington Capitals overcame the earliest Islander goal in over two years and defeated the Isles before a crowd of 9,072 at Barclays Center.

Valtteri Filppula scored on the Islanders' first shot on goal for the second straight game; his goal at :36 was the earliest goal for an Islander since Nick Leddy scored 13 seconds into a game with Edmonton on November 7, 2016.

The loss was only the 2nd for the Islanders in 11 games against the Metropolitan Division this season (9-2-0).

The Scoring:

1st Period
Valtteri Filppula (7) Ryan Pulock, Leo Komarov 00:36 WSH 0,NYI 1
Tom Wilson (5) Nicklas Backstrom, Madison Bowey 02:50 WSH 1,NYI 1

2nd Period
Nic Dowd (3) Dmitrij Jaskin, John Carlson 07:58 WSH 2,NYI 1

3rd Period
Tom Wilson (6) Nicklas Backstrom, Lars Eller 14:21 WSH 3,NYI 1 PPG
Alex Ovechkin (18)EN Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom 19:38 WSH 4,NYI 1

The Skinny  
Valtteri Filppula scored for the second consecutive games and extended his point streak to three (2-2-4); he also has eight points in seven games (1-7-8)…Leo Komarov assisted on the goal for his 11th point of the season.  Komarov had only 21 points last season…Thomas Greiss played his third straight game; he started all eight home games this month…The Isles are 0-8-0 when trailing after two periods…Nicklas Backstrom recorded three assists as he became the second leading point scorer in Capital history, ahead of Petr Bondra and behind Alex Ovechkin… The Isles held Washington to just three shots on goal and six attempts in the second period, but allowed the only goal… The Isles' power play went 0-4 and fell to 4-40 (10%) in November; the power play in 0-11 in the last five games…John Carlson tied Kevin Hatcher for the third-highest assist total in Capital history…Islander coaches Barry Trotz, Lane Lambert and Mitch Korn received their Stanley Cup rings…The Isles were shorthanded only twice, ending a 16-game streak in which they were shorthanded at least three times.  That's the longest streak of its kind for the Isles since they opened the 2008-09 season with 19 such games. .Alex Ovechkin tied Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic with his 625th career goal (15th place); 30 of the 625 goals have been empty netters (tied with Eric Staal for lead since 2005-06.

Chasing 400
Josh Bailey has 398 points on his career.  He is two points away from becoming only the 14th player in Islander history with 400 points; like the other 13, Bailey is an Isles draft pick.

Home for Thanksgiving
This game completed a stretch of seven consecutive games in the New York area; the Isles went 4-3-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas 2-6 Loss
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers 0-5 Loss
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils 4-3 SO Win
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes 4-0 Win
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals 1-4 Loss

The Isles now head to Boston for a game Thursday before returning to the Coliseum on Saturday, December 1st for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Until Ken Hitchcock came out of retirement earlier this week, Barry Trotz was both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  He is now second to Hitchcock in wins among active coaches. Trotz' NHL record is 774-577-60-136 in 1547 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    824
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   773

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1547
5. Ken Hitchcock   1540

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 12-9-2 (26 points), with 72 goals scored and 68 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 14-7-2 (30 points), with 84 goals scored and 74 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 9-3-2 when scoring first and 3-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles             8-10-15=33
Washington 12-3-9=24
The Isles are 1-6-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 12-9-2 overall; 6-3-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 6-6-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Washington is 13-7-3 overall; 7-3-2 at home and 7-4-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 9-2-0 in Division games and 3-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 9-4-2 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 20 saves but falls to 8-4-1 on the season and 2-2-1 in his career against Washington.

Braden Holtby made 32 saves and improves to 9-5-2 on the season and 15-5-3 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time; Washington was 1-2 on the power play in 2:17 of PP time, including a 1:30 5-on-3.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-8-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-5-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-8-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 4-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 
The Isles are 2-1-0 in the front half and 3-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 17th in Colorado and December 18 in Arizona. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 8-9-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (23:06); Washington: John Carlson 23:47
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:38 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-3-2), Nick Leddy (3-5-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 27, Washington 20 (57%).

Brock Nelson won 11 of 17 for the Isles; no Capital who took multiple draws won more than he lost. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  7/12; 2nd period 12/16; 3rd period 8/19.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/35, Power play 2/7, Penalty kill 3/5.

Hit Count
Isles 19 (Alex Ovechkin -4)  
Washington 30 (Matt Martin -8)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 4 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 12 shots (Scott Mayfield -4).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 62, Washington 47 (including 23-6 in the Isles' favor in the 2nd period)
5-on-5 Isles 46, Washington 35

5-on-5 leaders: Isles: Tom Kuhnhackl +8
Washington: Michal Kempny +10 

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 9-8-2 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 141, Brock Nelson 118, Mathew Barzal 105

Scratches
(Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Ross Johnston, Stephen Gionta, Luca Sbisa. 
Total games lost: 30

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 three times 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)
11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), 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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 738

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee and Joshua Bailey 131…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 267

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 398

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 134

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 70

Season Series Stats
Washington leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will next meet in DC on January 18th.

The Isles are 3-4-1 all-time vs. the Capitals at Barclays Center.

On the Farm 
Steve Bernier scored a hat trick in his 200th AHL game, as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Harbor Yards.  Sebastian Aho added a goal and had two assists for Bridgeport, who improve to 12-6-2-1. The Sound Tigers have earned points in 10 of their last 11 games (8-1-1-1). 

The Sound Tigers next play on Wednesday in Springfield.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 10; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 16 (tied-2nd in AHL); Points: Ho-Sang and Devon Toews 17.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 7-3-2 (3.47 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-3-1 (2.83 GAA)

Up Next
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29th – ISLANDERS AT BOSTON 8:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

Thursday is Rick Middleton Night at TD Garden as the winger's #16 will be retired.  Due to the ceremony the game will start about an hour later than normal, with face-off scheduled for just after 8:00PM.

The Bruins swept the season series last year, winning the three games by a combined 13-4 score, and stopping the Islanders on all 10 of their power play attempts.

This is the first of three meetings on the season between the teams; the Isles will return to Boston on February 5th and the teams will play at the Coliseum on March 19th.

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

Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Skinny on Back-to-Backs

Thomas Greiss is the first Islander goalie in nearly four years to win on back-to-back days.

Jaroslav Halak was the last to do so, on December 19-20, 2014.

That back-to-back set was also the front pair of the last time the Isles swept consecutive back-to-back series (which they have also now done).  They last did so on December 19-20, 2014 (Halak/Halak) and January 9-10, 2015 (Halak/Chad Johnson).

The Isles have also won the back-end of all three back-to-backs this season.  They last did this (single season) in February/March 2016 [4x]; they last did this to start a season 10 years ago (2008-09; won first four back-to-backs).

This was the first time Greiss started on back-to-back days since March 2-3, 2017. 



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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Carolina 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 22
Isles 4, Carolina 1
Josh Bailey scored a goal and added an assist while Thomas Greiss made 26 saves as the Islanders completed a sweep of their back-to-back weekend with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes before a crowd of 10,015 at Barclays Center.

Greiss held the Carolina Hurricanes to one goal for the third time this season as he became the first Isles goalie to defeat the Canes three times in one season since Chris Osgood in 2001-02.

With the win, the Isles improve to 9-1-0 in their first ten games against the Metropolitan Division this season; they are the only team in the NHL with nine wins in their own division.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Valtteri Filppula (6) Leo Komarov, Scott Mayfield 03:39 CAR 0,NYI 1
Anthony Beauvillier (6) Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 09:01 CAR 0,NYI 2

2nd Period
Josh Bailey (7) Brock Nelson, Anders Lee 13:17 CAR 0,NYI 3

3rd Period
Adam Pelech (2) Anders Lee, Brock Nelson 08:52 CAR 0,NYI 4
Justin Williams (4) Lucas Wallmark, Dougie Hamilton 13:23 CAR 1,NYI 4 PPG

The Skinny  
Justin Williams' power play goal not only avoided a shutout; it ended Thomas Greiss' 92:08 shutout streak against the Canes. Williams, however, finished with a -4 rating… Greiss has won six straight games against Carolina; he faced Carolina four times in calendar year 2018, winning them all while allowing only three total goals…Valtteri Filppula goal gives him seven points (1-6-7) in six games; Anthony Beauvillier's goal gives him seven points (5-2-7) in five games.…Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal remained tied for the team scoring lead when both earned assists on Beauvillier's goal; Bailey did the scoring lead by himself with his second period goal…The Isles improved to 11-0-2 when leading after two periods…Anders Lee had two assists (as did Brock Nelson); with 11 helpers, Lee is already halfway to his career high in assists (22)…Leo Komarov has 10 points in 22 games after finishing last season with 19 points in 74 games for Toronto…The Isles have been outshot 114-59 by Carolina this season but have won all three games…The Isles were held to a season-low 19 shots; it's the first time they have been held under 20 shots since November 10, 2017 in St. Louis.

First Times in A Long Time
The Isles were held under 20 shots and won for the first time since 12-12-2015 in Columbus (3-2 OT). It was their first win in regulation since 12-13-2013 in Detroit (3-0) and their first win at home since 10-10-2011 vs Minnesota (2-1).

Closing in on 400
Josh Bailey had two points giving him 398 points on his career.  He is two points away from becoming only the 14th player in Islander history with 400 points; like the other 13, Bailey is an Isles draft pick.

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are in the midst of  a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 4-2-0 in this stretch:

Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas 2-6 Loss
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers 0-5 Loss
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils 4-3 SO Win
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes 4-0 Win
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum on Saturday, December 1st for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Until Ken Hitchcock came out of retirement earlier this week, Barry Trotz was both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  He is now second to Hitchcock in wins among active coaches. Trotz' NHL record is 774-576-60-136 in 1546 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    824
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   773

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1546
5. Ken Hitchcock   1538

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 12-8-2 (26 points), with 71 goals scored and 64 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 13-7-2 (28 points), with 82 goals scored and 73 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 9-2-2 when scoring first and 3-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles      6-5-8=19
Carolina 5-11-11=27
The Isles are 1-5-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 12-8-2 overall; 6-2-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 6-6-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Carolina is 11-9-3 overall; 7-4-2 at home and 4-5-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 9-1-0 in Division games and 3-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 9-3-2 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 26 saves and improves to 8-3-1 on the season and 8-3-1 in his career against Carolina.

Scott Darling made 15 saves but falls to 2-4-1 on the season and 3-3-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 0:31 of PP time; Carolina were 1-3 on the power play in 3:52 of PP time.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-7-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-4-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-7-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 4-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 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 2-1-0 in the front half and 3-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 17th in Colorado and December 18 in Arizona. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 8-8-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Scott Mayfield (22:26); Carolina: Sami Vatanen 22:42

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with  18:42 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-3-2), Nick Leddy (3-4-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 24, Carolina 30 (44%).

No Isle who took more than two face-offs won more than he lost; Sebastian Aho won 10 of 12 for Carolina. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  4/18; 2nd period 11/23; 3rd period 9/13.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/47, Power play 0/1, Penalty kill 2/6

Hit Count
Isles 26 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)  
Carolina 31 (Three with 4)

Fights
Ross Johnson fought Trevor Carrick in the second period. Season total – 4 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 20 shots (Mathew Barzal -3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 34, Carolina 66 (including 28-9 in Carolina's favor in the 2nd period)
5-on-5 Isles 33, Carolina 56

5-on-5 leaders: Isles: No Isles had a positive rating
Carolina: Warren Foegele +13 

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 9-7-2 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 140, Brock Nelson 117, Mathew Barzal 104

Scratches
(Matt Martin -IR, Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Stephen Gionta, Luca Sbisa. 
Total games lost: 28

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 three times 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)
11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), 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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 737

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee and Joshua Bailey 131…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 267

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 398

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 133

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 70

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series three games to none (and 6 points to 1).  The teams will complete their season series at the Coliseum on January 8th.

The Isles improve to 7-2-0 in their last 9 games vs. Carolina; the Isles are 3-2-2 all-time vs. the Hurricanes at Barclays Center.

On the Farm 
Michael Dal Colle scored his team-leading eighth goal, but the Hartford Wolf Pack ended the Sound Tigers' 9-game point streak with a 3-1 victory in Connecticut's capital. The Sound Tigers finished the night with 43 shots but were swept by the Pack in the home-and-home series.

Bridgeport is 11-6-2-1 and has earned points in nine of their last 10 games (7-1-1-1).  The Sound Tigers host Springfield on Sunday to conclude their "3 in 3" weekend.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 8; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 16 (tied-2nd in AHL); Points: Devon Toews 17.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 6-3-2 (3.51 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-3-1 (2.83 GAA)

Up Next
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26th –  WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

For the first time ever, the Isles will meet the "Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals" as Barry Trotz, Lane Lambert and Mitch Korn meet the team that they won the Stanley Cup with last spring.

The Champs are hot; they moved into first place in the Metropolitan on Saturday with their victory over the Rangers.

The Isles are 3-3-1 all-time at Barclays Center against Washington; the Isles scored exactly three goals in all four games against Washington last year but went 1-3-0, allowing 17 goals in their three losses.

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

Friday, November 23, 2018

The Skinny: Isles 4, New Jersey 3 (OT)

The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 21
Isles 4, New Jersey 3 (OT)
Mathew Barzal scored his 3rd goal of the season 3:40 into overtime and Thomas Greiss made 39 saves as the Islanders overcame a Marcus Johansson tying goal at 19:49 of the third period and defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 16,514 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

With the win, the Isles break a two-game losing streak; they also improve to 8-1-0 in their first 9 games against the Metropolitan Division this season.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Jordan Eberle (6) Anthony Beauvillier 07:24 NYI 1,NJD 0

2nd Period
Taylor Hall (7) 11:48 NYI 1,NJD 1
Anders Lee (7) Valtteri Filppula, Scott Mayfield 14:14 NYI 2,NJD 1

3rd Period
Brian Boyle (7) Blake Coleman, Sami Vatanen 02:43 NYI 2,NJD 2
Nick Leddy (1) Valtteri Filppula 12:45 NYI 3,NJD 2
Marcus Johansson (3) Taylor Hall, Will Butcher 19:49 NYI 3,NJD 3

OT
Mathew Barzal (3) Brock Nelson 03:40 NYI 4,NJD 3

The Skinny  
Mathew Barzal's overtime goal was the second of his career (12-27-17 vs Buffalo); it was also his fifth career game-winning goal…Barzal was also credited with six takeaways (first Isle to do so since March 13, 2015), raising his club-leading total to 20 on the season…Jordan Eberle's goal ended an Islander scoreless streak of 86:59; Taylor Hall's goal was New Jersey's first of the season in 91:48 of play… Brian Boyle, who earlier this month had a hat trick on "Hockey Fights Cancer" night in Pittsburgh, scored on "Hockey Fights Cancer" Day in New Jersey for the second straight year; it was his 200th NHL point… Nick Leddy's goal was his first since March 11th in Calgary…Thomas Greiss improves to 15-3-3 in games that he faces at least 40 shots.. Valtteri Filppula had two assists, giving him six assists in five games; Anthony Beauvillier's assist gives him six point (4-2-6) in four games.  Beauvillier was denied a second assist on a Devils' offside challenge…The Isles improved to 10-0-2 when leading after two periods.

Late Heroics Against
Marcus Johansson's tying goal at 19:49 marks only the 14th time in club history that the Isles have allowed a tying goal in the last 11 seconds of regulation.  The last time it happened was on December 17, 2013 vs. Tampa Bay when Valtteri Filppula tied the game with a goal against Evgeni Nabokov.

Quicker (or at least As Quick) off the Draw
Each team won 30 faceoffs.  The Isles have now won at least as many draws that they have lost in six consecutive games (187-162 in total or 53.6%).  

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are in the midst of  a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 3-2-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas 2-6 Loss
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers 0-5 Loss
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils 4-3 SO Win
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Until Ken Hitchcock came out of retirement earlier this week, Barry Trotz was both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  He is now second to Hitchcock in wins among active coaches. Trotz' NHL record is 773-576-60-136 in 1545 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    824
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   773

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1545
5. Ken Hitchcock   1538

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 11-8-2 (24 points), with 67 goals scored and 63 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 12-7-2 (26 points), with 77 goals scored and 69 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 8-2-2 when scoring first and 3-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles        11-11-10-3=35
New Jersey  12-18-12-0=42
The Isles are 1-5-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 11-8-2 overall; 5-2-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 6-6-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
New Jersey is 9-9-3 overall; 7-1-3 at home and 2-8-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 8-1-0 in Division games and 3-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 8-3-2 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 39 saves and improves to 7-3-1 on the season and 4-4-0 in his career against New Jersey.

Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves; he is 9-5-3 on the season and 3-4-3 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time; New Jersey were 0-3 on the power play in 4:09 of PP time, including a 5-on-3 for 1:51.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-7-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-4-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-7-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 4-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 
Including today, the Isles are 2-1-0 in the front half and 2-0-0 in the back half.  This back-to-back concludes on Saturday vs. Carolina.  The next back-to-back is December 17th in Colorado and December 18 in Arizona. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 8-8-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (23:13); New Jersey: Sami Vatanen 22:42

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with a season-high 22:26 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-3-2), Nick Leddy (3-4-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 30, New Jersey 30 (50%).

Mathew Barzal won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Taylor Hall won 8 of 12 for New Jersey. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  14/19; 2nd period 8/24; 3rd period 7/16; Overtime 1/1.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 25/49, Power play 2/5, Penalty kill 3/6

Hit Count
Isles 28 (Five with 3)  
New Jersey 23 (Brian Boyle -5)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 4 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 13 shots (Ryan Pulock -3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 55, New Jersey 69 
5-on-5 Isles 45, New Jersey 53

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Joshua Bailey +5
New Jersey: Sami Vatanen +9 

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 8-7-2 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 139, Brock Nelson 116, Mathew Barzal 103

Scratches
(Matt Martin -IR, Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Michael Dal Colle, Luca Sbisa. 
Total games lost: 25

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 three times 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)
11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), 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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 736

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 131 *** 19. Joshua Bailey 130…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279***13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 266

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 396

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 132

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 69

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series two game to none (and 4 points to 1).  The teams will next meet at the Coliseum on January 17th.

The Isles improve to 9-3-1 in their last 13 trips to New Jersey; the Isles are also 8-1 in their last nine games against the Devils that have gone beyond regulation (3-0 in overtime, 5-1 in shootouts). 

On the Farm 
Vinny Lettieri scored two goals to tie the game and then scored the winning goal in the shootout as the Hartford Wolf Pack ended the Sound Tigers' 7-game home winning streak with a 3-2 decision in Bridgeport.  Steve Bernier and Chris Bourque each had first period power play goals for the Sound Tigers, who have earned points in 9 straight games both at home and overall.

Bridgeport is 11-5-2-1.  The Sound Tigers visit Hartford on Saturday and then host Springfield on Sunday to conclude their "3 in 3" weekend.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier and Michael Dal Colle (on recall to Isles) 7; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 15; Points: Devon Toews 17.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 6-3-2 (3.51 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-2-1 (2.80 GAA)

Up Next
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24th –  CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

After defeating the Hurricanes twice in Carolina in October by 2-1 scores, the Isles look for their third victory over the Canes this season.

The Isles have won six of the last eight games from Carolina; however, the Isles are only 2-2-2 all-time at Barclays Center against the Canes.

This will be Carolina's first road game following a 4-1-1 homestand.  Their win on Friday night over Florida keeps Carolina one point ahead of the Isles, although the Isles have played one fewer game.

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

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 20
Rangers 5, Isles 0
Filip Chytil and Cody McLeod scored in the first 3:30 and that was more than the Rangers needed as they blanked the Isles 5-0 before a crowd of 17,297 at Madison Square Garden.

Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves to record his first career shutout. It was the first time that the Rangers had blanked the Isles since April 13, 2013 when they did so on a Dan Girardi overtime goal at the Coliseum.
 
The loss snapped an eight-game Islander winning streak against the Rangers dating back to Opening Night of the 2016-17 season; it was the Isles' longest win streak vs. the Blueshirts in the history of the rivalry. The loss also is the Isles' first against a Metro Division opponent; they had gone 7-0-0 to start the season in divisional games.

Georgiev is the first Ranger other than Henrik Lundqvist to blank the Isles since Mike Dunham did so on St. Patrick's Day 2003.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Filip Chytil (5) Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Kreider 00:29 NYI 0,NYR 1
Cody McLeod (1) Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome 03:30 NYI 0,NYR 2
Neal Pionk (4) Vladislav Namestnikov, Mika Zibanejad 08:04 NYI 0,NYR 3 PPG

2nd Period
Kevin Hayes (5) Kevin Shattenkirk 17:17 NYI 0,NYR 4

3rd Period
Chris Kreider (12) Mika Zibanejad 16:19 NYI 0,NYR 5

The Skinny  
Mathew Barzal's point streak ended at five games as he was blanked by the Rangers for the first time in six career meetings…The Isles have allowed 16 goals in the last three games (prior to Thursday they had allowed five goals in a game only once); it's the first time they have allowed at least five goals in three consecutive games since December 31, 2017-January 4, 2018…The Isles had been 7-0-0 in the division before tonight's loss; it's their best start ever in their own division…Filip Chytil became the 20th NHL teenager (and first Ranger) to score a goal in five straight games…Cody McLeod ended a 44-game scoreless streak before he left the game following a fight with Ross Johnston.. The Isles were shutout for the first time this season and will carry a 79:35 scoreless streak into Friday's game…Ryan Strome is the 74th player to play for both the Islanders and Rangers; he earned an assist in tonight's game for his first point as a Ranger…The Rangers have won seven straight games on home-ice by a combined 26-10 score.

Quicker off the Draw
The Isles edged the Rangers in face-offs, winning 27 of 53.  The Isles have now won the majority of draws in five consecutive games (157-132 in total or 54.3%).  This is the first time that they won the majority of draws in five straight games since  1/21-2/1/2011 (also five games).

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are in the midst of  a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 2-2-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas 2-6 Loss
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers 0-5 Loss
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Until Ken Hitchcock came out of retirement earlier this week, Barry Trotz was both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  He is now second to Hitchcock in wins among active coaches. Trotz' NHL record is 772-576-60-136 in 1544 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    824
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   772

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1544
5. Ken Hitchcock   1537

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 10-8-2 (22 points), with 63 goals scored and 60 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 11-7-2 (24 points), with 73 goals scored and 66 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 7-2-2 when scoring first and 3-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles     11-5-13=29
Rangers  11-5-11=27
The Isles are 1-5-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-8-2 overall; 5-2-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 5-6-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
The Rangers are 12-8-2 overall; 9-3-0 at home and 3-5-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 7-1-0 in Division games and 3-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 7-3-2 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Robin Lehner made 22 saves  but falls to 4-5-1 on the season and 2-5-2 in his career against the Rangers.

Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves for his first career shutout as he improved to 4-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; The Rangers were 1-3 on the power play in 5:04 of PP time.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-7-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-4-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-7-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 3-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 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 this weekend: Black Friday in New Jersey and at home vs. Carolina on November 23-24. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 7-8-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:05); Rangers: Kevin Shattenkirk (21:51)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 22:02 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-3-2), Nick Leddy (2-4-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 27, Rangers 26 (51%).

Valtteri Filppula won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Mika Zibanejad won  12 of 16 for the Rangers. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  14/25; 2nd period 8/16; 3rd period 5/12.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/47, Power play 0/2, Penalty kill 0/4

Hit Count
Isles 38 (Leo Komarov and Adam Pelech -9)  
Rangers 24 (Chris Kreider & Brady Skjei -4)

Fights
Ross Johnston fought Cody McLeod in the second period. Season total – 4 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 17 shots (Scott Mayfield -5).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 70, Rangers 51 
5-on-5 Isles 66, Rangers 36

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Mathew Barzal +18
Rangers: No Rangers was a "+", but Steven Fogarty was on for 12 shot attempts, all by the Isles. 

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 8-7-2 in night games and 2-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on Friday in Newark against the Devils. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 138, Brock Nelson 115, Mathew Barzal 102

Scratches
(Matt Martin -IR, Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Cal Clutterbuck -ill , Luca Sbisa. 
Total games lost: 23

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 twice 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 735

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Josh Bailey and Anders Lee 130…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279***13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 266

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 396

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 131

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 68

Season Series Stats
The season series is tied one game to one (and 2 points to 2).  The teams will complete the season series with a home-and home series (January 10 at MSG, January 12 at Barclays) 

Despite the loss the Isles are 12-2-0 in their last 14 against the Rangers overall and are 9-4-0 in their last 13 visits to the Garden. 

On the Farm 
Bridgeport is 11-5-2-0 and has earned points in eight straight games (7-0-1-0).  The Sound Tigers are off until Friday when they host Hartford in the front-end of a home and home.  A home game with Springfield concludes their "3 in 3" weekend.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle (on recall to Isles) 7; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 15; Points: Devon Toews 17.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 6-3-1 (3.70 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-2-1 (2.80 GAA)

Up Next
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd –  ISLANDERS AT DEVILS 4:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 3:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles will try to shake off these consecutive losses and get back on track when they face the Devils in Newark.

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Isles blanked the Devs 3-0 back on November 3rd.  The Isles have had success in New Jersey in recent years, going 8-3-1 in the last 12 (although the Devils recorded a pair of one-goal victories on their home ice last season).

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

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Face-offs improving

The Isles beat the Stars in the face-off circle today by a 33-21 margin.  Their 61.1% success rate was their highest this season.

The Isles have now won the majority of draws in four consecutive games (130-106 in total or 55.1%)  This matches their longest streak of face-off success in nearly eight years.  The last time they had a longer streak was 1/21-2/1/2011, when they won the majority of draws in five straight games.

For the season, the Isles are at 47.7% on the draws, which is currently 28th in the NHL.  However, over these four games (since November 10th) the Isles are 3rd in the NHL in face-off percentage.  Every Islander center is over 50% in that span, led by Casey Cizikas (64% in 2 games) and Stephen Gionta (60% in two games).   Mathew Barzal (59.1%) has been the best for those who have played all four games.

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

The Skinny: Dallas 6, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 19
Dallas 6, Isles 2
Esa Lindell and Alexander Radulov each scored twice, as the Dallas Stars overcame a 1-0 first intermission deficit and defeated the Isles 6-2 before a crowd of 10,650 at Barclays Center.

Lindell's goals, which came 4:59 apart, sandwiched the first NHL goal for Roope Hintz as part of a four-goal second period for Dallas; Radulov scored his 99th and 100th career goal in the 3rd period to put the game away.

The loss, which the Isles' first in regulation at Barclays Center since Opening Night, ended a 7-game point streak (5-0-2) in Brooklyn.

The six Dallas goals was the most a Stars team scored against the Isles since the Minnesota North Stars beat the Isles 6-3 at the Coliseum on October 17, 1989.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Anthony Beauvillier (5)  Leo Komarov, Ryan Pulock 03:36 DAL 0,NYI 1

2nd Period
Esa Lindell (2) Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn 02:09 DAL 1,NYI 1
Roope Hintz (1) Jason Spezza 04:40 DAL 2,NYI 1
Esa Lindell (3) Julius Honka, Jason Dickinson 07:08 DAL 3,NYI 1
Tyler Seguin (6) Alexander Radulov, Jamie Benn 14:07 DAL 4,NYI 1

3rd Period
Scott Mayfield (3) Mathew Barzal  00:24 DAL 4,NYI 2
Alexander Radulov (7) Gavin Bayreuther, Jason Spezza 07:35 DAL 5,NYI 2
Alexander Radulov (8) Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin 09:16 DAL 6,NYI 2

The Skinny  
Mathew Barzal extended his points streak to a season-high five games (1-5-6) but Brock Nelson's streak ended at four…Scott Mayfield played in his 100th game; his three goals lead all Islander defensemen… The Isles allowed four goals in a period for the first time this season…The Isles have outscored their opponents in each of the three periods: (21-16, 19-17, 21-20)… Anthony Beauvillier scored for the 4th time in the last two games; he has 22 goals in 2018 (tied with Anders Lee for the club lead)…The Isles have allowed 11 goals in the last two games (prior to Thursday they had allowed five goals in a game only once)…Barzal had a career-high six shots on goal; 19 of his 34 shots have come in the last four games…Michael Dal Colle played 9:08 in his season debut.. The Isles fall to 30-10-7 all-time at Barclays against the West; however, five of the 10 losses have come in the last eight games (2-5-1)…The Isles set season highs in both shots on goal (39) and face-off percentage (61.1%).

Metro Mavens
The Isles are 7-0-0 on the season against their Metro rivals; it's their best-ever start in their own division (6-0-0 vs. Patrick in 1982-83). It's the first time since November 29, 2014 to February 14, 2015 (11-0-0)
that the Isles have won seven straight divisional games at any point in a single season.  Going back to last season, the Isles have won nine straight Metro Division games.

According to the NHL, the Isles are the first team since the 2012-13 to open the season with at least seven straight divisional wins and only the 11th team in league history to do so.

Milestone Men
For the Isles:
Luca Sbisa played his 500th NHL game
Scott Mayfield played his 100th Isles/NHL game

For Dallas:
Alexander Radulov scored his 100th goal
Jason Spezza recorded his 900th point
Roope Hintz scored his first NHL goal
Gavin Bayreuther recorded his first NHL point

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are in the midst of  a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 2-1-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas 2-6 Loss
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  Trotz' NHL record is 772-575-60-136 in 1543 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    823
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   772

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1543
5. Ken Hitchcock   1536

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 10-7-2 (22 points), with 63 goals scored and 55 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 11-6-2 (24 points), with 71 goals scored and 62 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 7-2-2 when scoring first and 3-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles    13-15-11=39
Dallas  13-11-9=33
The Isles are 1-4-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-7-2 overall; 5-2-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 5-5-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Dallas is  11-7-2 overall; 7-3-1 at home and 4-4-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 7-0-0 in Division games and 3-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 7-2-2 against the East and 3-5-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 16 saves before being replaced after the third Dallas goal.  Greiss falls to 6-3-1 on the season and 5-2-0 in his career against Dallas.  Robin Lehner made 11 saves in relief.

Ben Bishop made 37 saves as he improved to 8-5-1 on the season and 8-4-1 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Dallas was 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-6-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-6-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 3-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 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. Carolina on November 23-24. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 7-7-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:33); Dallas: Esa Lindell (22:58)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:17 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-2-2), Nick Leddy (2-4-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 33, Dallas 21 (61%).

Brock Nelson won 12 of 19 for the Isles; Tyler Seguin won 6 of 10 for Dallas. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  11/17; 2nd period 14/21; 3rd period 8/16.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/51, Power play 5/9, Penalty kill 5/11

Hit Count
Isles 24 (Anders Lee -6)  
Dallas 17(Radek Faksa -4)

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

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 13 shots (Scott Mayfield -4).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 61, Dallas 51 
5-on-5 Isles 52, Dallas 44

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Thomas Hickey +11
Dallas: Alexander Radulov +4

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 8-6-2 in night games and 2-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on Friday in Newark against the Devils. 

Ironmen
Anders Lee 137, Brock Nelson 114, Mathew Barzal 101

Scratches
(Matt Martin -IR, Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Ross Johnston, Adam Pelech
Total games lost: 19

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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

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 …
5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 734

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Josh Bailey and Anders Lee 130…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** Brock Nelson 108

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
12. Pat LaFontaine 279***13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 266

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 396

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 131

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 68

Season Series Stats
Dallas leads the season series one games to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will complete the season series in Dallas on December 23rd. 

Dallas has won the last three games from the Isles by a combined score of 16-4.

On the Farm
The Sound Tigers went to Canada for the weekend and returned with a pair of victories.  On Friday, Devon Toews scored the only Bridgeport goal in regulation and Kieffer Bellows scored the only goal of the shootout as Bridgeport beat Laval 2-1; on Saturday Mitchell Vande Sompel and Scott Eansor had the goals in a 2-1 regulation win in Belleville.
 
Bridgeport is now 11-5-2-0 and has earned points in eight straight games (7-0-1-0).  The Sound Tigers are off until Friday when they host Hartford in the front-end of a home and home.  A home game with Springfield concludes their "3 in 3" weekend.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle (on recall to Isles) 7; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 15; Points: Devon Toews 17.  Goalies: Christopher Gibson 6-3-1 (3.70 GAA); Jeremy Smith 5-2-1 (2.80 GAA)

Up Next
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21st –  ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles begin a two-game road trip without getting on a plane as they head to Manhattan to face the Rangers.  It's the second meeting of the teams this season; the Isles won 7-5 on Thursday in Brooklyn. 

The Isles are 12-1-0 in the last 13 games against the Blueshirts, including three straight wins at the Garden. 

This will be the Isles' first game on Broadway since their 7-2 win on January 13th; the five-goal margin matched the Isles' largest ever at MSG.

Both Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and went +5 in that game. Barzal also added three assists for the second of his three 5-point games last season.  

This is the final meeting of 2018 between the rivals; the Isles are 4-0-0 in the calendar year, having outscored the Rangers 19-8.  In those four games, Barzal has ten points (3-7-10) and Beauvillier has nine (6-3-9).

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

Friday, November 16, 2018

The Skinny: Isles 7, Rangers 5

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 18
Isles 7, Rangers 5
Anthony Beauvillier scored three goals in the first 25:13 for his first career hat trick and later added an assist for his first career 4-point game as the Isles rallied from an early 2-0 deficit for a 7-5 victory over the Rangers before a crowd of 13,472 at Barclays Center.

Valtteri Filppula added three assists, including his 300th career helper, as the Isles extended their winning streak over the Rangers to a franchise-record eight games; the Isles have also opened the Metro Division schedule with seven straight wins – it's the first time the Isles have ever opened a season with seven straight wins in their own division.

Cal Clutterbuck's empty-netter cemented matters; it was the first time the Isles had scored seven goals against the Rangers since October 31, 1987 (8-2 win).

The Scoring:

1st Period
Chris Kreider (9) Neal Pionk, Mika Zibanejad 05:00 NYR 1,NYI 0 PPG
Fredrik Claesson (1) Brett Howden 05:35 NYR 2,NYI 0
Anthony Beauvillier (2) Thomas Hickey, Valtteri Filppula 09:35 NYR 2,NYI 1
Brock Nelson (9) Nick Leddy, Jordan Eberle 10:38 NYR 2,NYI 2

2nd Period
Anthony Beauvillier (3) Valtteri Filppula, Leo Komarov 02:24 NYR 2,NYI 3
Kevin Hayes (4) 03:21 NYR 3,NYI 3 SHG
Anthony Beauvillier (4) Johnny Boychuk, Mathew Barzal 05:13 NYR 3,NYI 4 PPG
Anders Lee (6) Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey 14:04 NYR 3,NYI 5 PPG

3rd Period
Leo Komarov (3) Valtteri Filppula, Anthony Beauvillier 09:56 NYR 3,NYI 6
Chris Kreider (10) Neal Pionk, Alexandar Georgiev 13:13 NYR 4,NYI 6 PPG
Filip Chytil (2) Vladislav Namestnikov, Kevin Shattenkirk 17:31 NYR 5,NYI 6
Cal Clutterbuck (2)EN Brock Nelson 19:39 NYR 5,NYI 7

The Skinny  
Thru 18 games, the Isles have the same record as last season (9-6-2) but have allowed ten fewer goals … Brock Nelson is 4-5-9 in the last 8 games and 8-5-13 in the last 12 games…Both Nelson and Mathew Barzal now have four-game point streaks…Barzal played in his 100th consecutive game… The Isles improved to 7-0-0 at Barclays Center against the Rangers…The Isles scored three goals in a period for the third consecutive home game…The Isles have outscored their opponents in each of the three periods: (20-16, 19-13, 20-18)…The Isles improve their overall goal differential to +12, tops among all Metro Division teams…Each team scored twice on the power play; it was the first time that happened in an Islander-Ranger game since October 11, 2010… Anthony Beauvillier is now 6-6-12 in 7 career games against the Rangers; he is the first Islander with a hat trick vs. the Rangers since October 15, 2011 (Tavares)… Beauvillier is the 2nd-youngest player to score a hat trick in the NHL this season (Patrik Laine); over the last 30 seasons the only younger Isles to do so are Mathew Barzal and John Tavares (3x)… Fredrik Claesson's goal was his first in just over a year (11/10/17); both Filip Chytil and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the 2nd straight game after entering the week without a goal…The Isles allowed a SH goal for the first time this season…It's only the second time this season the Isles have allowed five goals (October 13 in Nashville)...The Isles remain two points behind Columbus for the Metro lead.

The Injury
Leo Komarov left the game when he was struck by a high stick; he eventually returned and scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
 
Metro Mavens
The Isles are 7-0-0 on the season against their Metro rivals; it's their best-ever start in their own division (6-0-0 vs. Patrick in 1982-83). It's the first time since November 29, 2014 to February 14, 2015 (11-0-0)
that the Isles have won seven straight divisional games at any point in a single season.  Going back to last season, the Isles have won nine straight Metro Division games.

According to the NHL, the Isles are the first team since the 2012-13 to open the season with at least seven straight divisional wins and only the 11th team in league history to do so.

Comeback!
The Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win for the first time this season.  The last time it happened was vs. Detroit on February 9, 2018 (7-6 OT win).  The last time the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win in regulation was on March 14, 2016 (trailed Florida 2-0; won game 3-2).

Moving Up
Thomas Greiss played in his 130th game as an Isle goalie, passing Mark Fitzpatrick for 9th place in club history.  

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are beginning a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 2-0-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7-5 Win
Nov 18 vs Dallas
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  Trotz' NHL record is 772-574-60-136 in 1542 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    823
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   772

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1542
5. Ken Hitchcock   1536

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 10-6-2 (22 points), with 61 goals scored and 49 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 10-6-2 (22 points), with 66 goals scored and 59 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 7-1-2 when scoring first and 3-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles         11-6-7=24
Rangers  14-14-13=41
The Isles are 1-3-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-6-2 overall; 5-1-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 5-5-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
The Rangers are 9-8-2 overall; 6-3-0 at home and 3-5-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 7-0-0 in Division games and 3-6-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 7-2-2 against the East and 3-4-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 36 saves to improve to 6-2-1 on the season and 4-0-1 in his career against Rangers.  

Hernik Lundqvist made 12 saves before leaving after two periods; Alexandar Georgiev allowed one goal on six shots, but that goal made him the losing goalie.  He is 3-2-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 2-5 on the power play in 7:49 of PP time; the Rangers were 2-4 on the power play in 5:32 of PP time.
The Isles are 9-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-5-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-3-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-1 when they do not.  

The Isles are 3-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-2 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. Carolina on November 23-24. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 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 7-6-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:35); Rangers: Neil Pionk (21:42)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:03 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (8-2-2), Nick Leddy (2-4-0).

Face-offs
Isles 37, Rangers 34 (52%).

Mathew Barzal won 4 of 6 for the Isles; Scott Howden won 9 of 14 for the Rangers. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/21; 2nd period 15/27; 3rd period 12/23.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/51, Power play 5/9, Penalty kill 5/11

Hit Count
Isles 22 (Leo Komarov -5)  
Rangers 25 (Chris Kreider & Fredrik Claesson -3)

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

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 14 shots (Thomas Hickey-3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 41, Rangers 64 
5-on-5 Isles 32, Rangers 40

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech +2
Rangers: Chris Kreider +13

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 8-6-2 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee is November 18th vs. Dallas.  

Ironmen
Anders Lee 136, Brock Nelson 113, Mathew Barzal 100

Scratches
(Matt Martin -IR, Andrew Ladd – IR, Casey Cizikas- IR), Mathew Dal Colle, Luca Sbisa
Total games lost: 16

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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

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 733

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Josh Bailey and Anders Lee 130

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 266

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 396

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9.Thomas Greiss 130

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 68

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series one games to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday before completing the season series with a home-and-home series in January. 

The Isles have won eight straight vs. the Rangers and are 12-1-0 in the last 13 games against the Blueshirts.  They have won all seven games against the. Rangers at Barclays Center.

On the Farm
One day before he suffered his loss to the Isles, Alexandar Georgiev earned the victory as Hartford rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory to snap Bridgeport's five game winning streak.
 
Tanner Fritz scored twice for Bridgeport; goalie Christopher Gibson had a pair of assists.

Bridgeport is now 9-5-2-0 heading into games in Laval on Friday and Belleville on Saturday.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 7; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 14; Points: Devon Toews 16

Up Next
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18th –  DALLAS AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The homestand concludes as the Islanders and Stars meet for the first time this season. 

The Isles had gone 6-1-1 over a four-season span vs Dallas before dropping two games last season by a combined 10-2 score. The Stars' 5-2 win in Brooklyn last season ended a 4-game Islander home winning streak against the Stars.

It's a Western Conference opponent; Isles are 30-9-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

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
…It's only the second time this season the Isles have allowed five goals (October 13 in Nashville).