The Skinny; Vegas 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 30

Vegas 3, Isles 2

Tomas Nosek scored the winning goal early in the third period as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Isles 3-2 before a crowd of 9,281 at Barclays Center.  

Anthony Beauvillier scored the first Islander goal; it was his 8th goal in the last 13 games (and his third in the last four home games). Mathew Barzal assisted on both Islander goals, as he passed Josh Bailey for the club scoring lead.

 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Jonathan Marchessault (12) Colin Miller, Reilly Smith 00:34 VGK 1,NYI 0 PPG

Anthony Beauvillier (9) Johnny Boychuk, Mathew Barzal 03:17 VGK 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Adam Pelech (3) Mathew Barzal 11:19 VGK 1,NYI 2

William Karlsson (11) 16:31 VGK 2,NYI 2

3rd Period

Tomas Nosek (3) Oscar Lindberg, Ryan Carpenter 03:32 VGK 3,NYI 2

The Skinny    

The Isles' power play went 0-1 and is now 5-57 (8.7 %) since November 1; the power play is 1-28 in the last 12 games and 0-17 in the last seven home games.… The Isles remain in a playoff spot; they are tied with Pittsburgh but have one more ROW…Robin Lehner started his first game at Barclays Center since October 24th; Lehner has allowed only five goals in his last three starts, but is 0-1-2 in those three games …Lehner started consecutive games for the first time since he played both games in Florida in mid-November… The Isles won both face-offs on the power play and have won 14 of 16 on the power play over the last three games after winning only 20 of 43 over the prior nine games…Nick Leddy led the Isles with six shots, twice as many as he had had in any previous game this season…The Isles have scored just 14 goals in the last eight games, and have been held to two goals or fewer six times in that stretch; it's the fewest goals that they have scored in an 8-game stretch since they scored 13 goals (plus a SO winner) in November 2016…Reilly Smith is now 4-7-11 in 15 career regular season games; he also eight points in six games vs. the Isles in the 2016 playoffs.

First Time in a Long Time

The Isles allowed only 17 shots on goal; it's the fewest they have allowed in a game since December 15, 2015, when they allowed only 16 in a 5-1 loss to Florida. Gerard Gallant, who was the winning coach tonight, was also behind the Panther bench that night.

Beau Know Goals

Anthony Beauvillier scored his 28th goal on 2018.  Some other notables with exactly 28 goals in 2018: Nikita Kucherov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Anze Kopitar and Patrick Kane.

Beauvillier now has 39 career goals; matching Kyle Okposo's total before his 22nd  birthday.  John Tavares (84 goals) is the only Islander in the last 30 years with more goals before turning 22; Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Mat Knows How to Help

Mathew Barzal's two assists raise his career totals to 25-85-110; he passed Bryan Berard's total in both assists and points (26-83-109) before his 22nd  birthday.  Tavares (118 assists/202 points) is the only Islander in the last 30 years with more assists/points before turning 22; Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

One Goal Games

The Isles fall to 6-2-4 in 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).

Cutting Down on Shots Against

The Isles have allowed 30 shots or fewer in six consecutive games for the first time since a 6-game streak in October 2016; they haven't had a longer streak since October -November 2015 (7 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 776-580-60-138 in 1554 games and is now just six wins behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    831

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   1554

5. Ken Hitchcock   1547

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: 14-12-4 (32 points), with 85 goals scored and 88 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 17-9-3 (37 points), with 108 goals scored and 100 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 9-4-4 when scoring first and 5-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    5-12-8=25

Vegas 7-5-5=17

The Isles are 1-8-1 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 14-12-4 overall; 7-5-3 at home (1-0-1 on Long Island and 6-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 7-7-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Vegas is 18-14-1 overall; 10-3-1 at home and 8-11-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 4-9-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 11-5-4 against the East and 3-7-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 14 saves but falls to 5-5-3 on the season and 0-1-1 in his career against Vegas.   

Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves and improves to 18-10-1 on the season and 24-11-5 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Vegas was 1-1 on the power play in 0:15 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-11-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-8-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-4-1 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 2-11-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 6-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 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 10-12-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:33); Vegas: Nate Schmidt (23:04)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 20:54 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (9-5-3), Nick Leddy (4-6-1), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Vegas 25 (50%).

Casey Cizikas won 5 of 7 for the Isles; Ryan Carpenter won 5 of 8 for Vegas. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  11/19; 2nd period 8/18; 3rd period 6/13

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/47, Power play 2/2, Penalty kill 0/1.

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Three with 3)  

Vegas 20 (Oscar Lindberg -4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –7 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 12 shots (Four with 2).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 51, Vegas 41

5-on-5 Isles 42, Vegas 40

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Mathew Barzal +10

Vegas: Jonathan Marchessault / Riley Smith +11 

 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 11-11-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 148, Brock Nelson 125, Mathew Barzal 112

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Josh Ho-Sang, Luca Sbisa

Total games lost: 45

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.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 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.

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 745

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. Josh 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 270

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 401

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

Vegas leads the season series one game to one (and 2 points to 0).  The season series will conclude in Las Vegas next Thursday. 

With their victory tonight, Vegas now owns at least one win over every other NHL team.

The Isles lead the all-time series 2-1-0.

On the Farm 

Bridgeport is 14-8-3-1 and has earned points in 13 of their last 16 games (10-3-2-1) as they head into a 3-in-3 weekend beginning on Friday in Providence.  The Sound Tigers return home to play Springfield on Saturday night and Wiles-Barre/Scranton at 3pm Sunday.

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

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15th – DETROIT AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM 

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

The Isles conclude the three-game home stand as they face the Detroit Red Wings at the Coliseum on Saturday.

The Isles have won three straight games over the Red Wings, including a 3-2 win last Saturday in Detroit; this will be the Isles' first home game since their wild 7-6 OT win over the Red Wings at Barclays Center this past February.

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