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