The Skinny: Isles 3, Detroit 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 28

Isles 3, Detroit 2

Matt Martin scored the game-winning goal early in the third period as the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 19,515 at Little Caesars Arena.

Casey Cizikas and Ryan Pulock scored 2:26 apart in the second period as the Isles erased the Red Wing lead.  Detroit also scored a 3rd goal at the 5:16 mark of the opening session, but it was erased on an Islander off-side challenge.

 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Justin Abdelkader (5) Dylan Larkin, Gustav Nyquist 04:59  NYI 0,DET 1

Niklas Kronwall (1) Dylan Larkin 13:53 NYI 0,DET 2

2nd Period

Casey Cizikas (7) Ross Johnston 04:31 NYI 1,DET 2

Ryan Pulock (2) Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 06:57 NYI 2,DET 2 PPG

3rd Period

Matt Martin (4) Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Leddy 03:24 NYI 3,DET 2

The Skinny  

Matt Martin recorded his 10th career game-winning goal (out of 54 career goals); all ten of his GWG's have been for the Isles. Martin now has four goals after having only three all last season…10 of Martin's 46 goals as an Islander have been game-winners; of the 46 Isles with at least 10 game-winners, only Jordan Eberle (31) has fewer goals in an Islander uniform…This was the fourth time in the last five games that the Isles were tied after two periods…The Isles' power play went 1-4 and improved to 5-52 (9.6%) since November 1; the power play is 1-23 in the last 10 games.  The Isles are now 10-1-1 when they score a power play goal. …The Isles' fourth line combined for 2 goals, 1 assist and 11 hits; it's the fifth straight game since the trio was reunited that they have had at least 11; Cal Clutterbuck had six of the 11 hits … Mathew Barzal drew his 13th and 14th penalties, moving him into top-10 in the NHL in that category…Casey Cizikas matched last year's total with his 7th goal; Ross Johnston evened last year's total with his 3rd assist…This was the 63rd time this season that an NHL team has rallied to win from a 2-goal deficit (nearly 1 of every 7 games played this season), including five involving the Isles (h/t John Kreiser, NHL.com)…The Isles did not have a shot on goal in the final 9:31 and were outshot for the 13th time in their 14 wins; the 13 wins match Toronto for the most of any NHL team in games they were outshot…The Isles moved back into a playoff spot with their win and the Penguins' OT loss…Mathew Barzal assisted on Ryan Pulock's power play goal; Barzal is 0-9-9 (0-6-6 on PPs) with at least one point (and one power play point) in all four games against the Red Wings.

The Injury

Anders Lee, playing his club-leading 146th consecutive game, was injured in the first period on a hit from Nicklas Kromwell, but did return midway through the second period.

400

Josh Bailey's assist on Ryan Pulock made him only the 14th player in Islander history with 400 points; like the other 13, Bailey is an Isles draft pick.   

Comeback Kids

The Isles improve to 3-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1) and DET (12/8); all three wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 5-0-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

One is Enough

The Isles improve to 6-1-3 in one-goal games.  Their .600 winning percentage (not points percentage) in 1-goal games is their best since 2014-15 (.605).  2014-15 is the only full season since 1992 that the Isles have won 60% of their one-goal games.  The Isles went 31-21-22 in 1-goal games over the last two seasons (winning just.41.9% of the games).

USA Hockey

Anders Lee has 135 career goals, leaving him four goals behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine.

Chasing Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 776-579-60-137 in 1552 games and is now just seven wins behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    829

4. Al Arbour   782

5. Barry Trotz   776

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1552

5. Ken Hitchcock   1545

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: 14-11-3 (31 points), with 82 goals scored and 82 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 16-9-3 (35 points), with 104 goals scored and 96 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 9-4-3 when scoring first and 5-7-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles   6-10-3=19

Detroit 7-8-10=25

The Isles are 1-7-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-3-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 14-11-3 overall; 7-4-2 at home (1-0-0 on Long Island and 6-4-2 in Brooklyn) and 7-7-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Detroit is 13-13-4 overall; 7-7-3 at home and 6-6-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-0 in Division games and 4-8-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 11-5-3 against the East and 3-6-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 23 saves to improve to 10-6-1 on the season and 4-2-1 in his career against Detroit.  

Jonathan Bernier made 22  saves but falls to 4-7-0 on the season and 4-5-3 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 7:11 of PP time, including a 5-on-3 goal (:25 of 5-on-3); Detroit was 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-10-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-7-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-4-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-10-2 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 6-1-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 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 10-11-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:50); Detroit: Mike Green (23:18)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:38 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (9-5-2), Nick Leddy (4-5-1), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 32, Detroit 28 (53%).

Valtteri Filppula won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Luke Glendenning won 12 of 20 for Detroit. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  11/23; 2nd period 13/19; 3rd period 8/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 21/45, Power play 5/7, Penalty kill 6/8.

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)  

Detroit 23 (Luke Witkowski & Martin Frk-3)

Fights

Josh Bailey fought Dylan Larkin in the first period; Johnny Boychuk fought Justin Abdelkader in the second period. Season total –7 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 11 shots (Three with 2).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 43, Detroit 47

5-on-5 Isles 33, Detroit 34

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +9

Detroit: Frans Nielsen +6 

 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 11-10-3 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 146, Brock Nelson 123, Mathew Barzal 110

`

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Christopher Gibson, Luca Sbisa. 

Total games lost: 38

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

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

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 743

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 135 ***19. Joshua Bailey 131…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 109

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 269

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 400

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 138

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 72

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will continue the season series at the Coliseum next Saturday.

 

The Isles are 8-3-0 in their last 11 visits to the Motor City and are 5-2-1 in their last 8 games between the teams.  

On the Farm 

Otto Koivula scored his fourth goal in the last three games, but the Bridgeport Sound Tigers dropped a 3-1 decision in Wilkes Barre/Scranton Saturday afternoon

Bridgeport is 14-8-3-1 and has earned points in 13 of their last 16 games (10-3-2-1). 

The Sound Tigers have hit a bit of a lull in their schedule as this was their only game between December 5th and December 14th.

 

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 10; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 20 (2nd in AHL); Points: Ho-Sang 22.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 7-5-1 (2.82 GAA); Christopher Gibson 7-3-3 (3.34 GAA)

Up Next

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9th – PITTSBURGH AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

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

It will only be the 29th game of the season but the Isles and Penguins will complete their season series as they meet at Nassau Coliseum for the first time since January 16, 2015; Kyle Okposo had four goals in that game as the Isles won 6-3.

 

The Isles have won two of three from Pittsburgh this season, sweeping a home/home in late-October/early-November before dropping a 6-2 decision on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

The Isles have 3-1-1 in their last five home games and 5-2-3 in their last ten overall games against Pittsburgh.

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