It Happened at the Coliseum … on FEBRUARY 28th

It's finally here. The day John Tavares returns to the Coliseum, this time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It wouldn't be "It Happened" without looking back at JT's most famous goal at the Coliseum - one that make Tyler Kennedy jump for joy.  

Here's a link to The Skinny for that game:

The Skinny: Isles 2, Washington 1 (OT) - Game 3, 2015 Playoffs

Today's edition of It Happened featured a game that Happened four months before Tavares was drafted, on this day in 2009.

6 years ago tonight (2009): Yann Danis made 31 saves for his second shutout in a week and Sean Bergenheim scored both goals as the Isles blanked Buffalo 2-0.

“Pucks are just hitting me right now,” Danis said. “My positioning has been good; I think that’s been the key to my game. Also I think the guys are playing really good hockey in front of me.”

Scott Gordon was impressed with his goaltender. “Positionally he was great—great recoveries and he tracked the puck. The rebounds he gave up, I don’t think they were controllable rebounds, and the ones that were right in front he jumped right on them.”

Islander Captain Bill Guerin was a healthy scratch – he would be traded to Pittsburgh in a deadine deal a few days later.

Andrew MacDonald made his NHL debut as the Isles played without the suspended Brendan Witt.  MacDonald would be a regular in the Isles lineup for the next five years.

The win raised the Isles’ home record to NHL-.500 (13-13-5).

Danis improved to 6-4-2 in his last twelve games, as he recorded his second straight home shutout.  Danis has bounced around the NHL/AHL/KHL since then and has not recorded an NHL shutout since.

Here are the highlights with Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe:

Also on this date: (1978) – Wayne Merrick and Denis Potvin scored goals exactly one minute apart, early in the third period, as the Isles broke a 2-2 tie and defeated Toronto 4-2.  Referee Ron Wicks called only four minor penalties in a preview of a ferocious playoff series between the teams.  The Isles improved to 38-13-11 on the season.

All-time, the Isles have played ten February 28th games at the Coliseum and have compiled a 4-4-2 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.  The 11th and final February 28th home game is today at 5:00, as the Isles host Carolina. Make sure you’re there, because after tonight, there are only nine regular season games remaining.

(Eric's note: the Isles lost that game in 2015 by a 5-3 score. Cam Ward picked up the win, as the Isles dropped to 4-5-2 on February 28th.  Some guy named "John Tavares" scored his 30th goal of the season in the defeat.)

The Skinny: Calgary 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 62

Calgary 3 Isles 1

Mikael Backlund and Rasmus Andersson scored 1:57 apart in the third period to break a 1-1 tie as the Western Conference leaders, the Calgary Flames, handed the Isles a 3-1 defeat before a crowd of 13,097 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Josh Bailey, playing his 777th NHL game, had scored his 14th goal of the season to tie the game in the second period

The Isles fall to 1-2-1 in the last four games as they have been caught above the top of the Metro Division at 79 points by Washington; the Isles are 12-3-4 in their last 19 games and still hold two games in hand on the Stanley Cup Champs.

 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Matthew Tkachuk (25) Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan 02:57 CGY 1,NYI 0 PPG

Josh Bailey (14) Valtteri Filppula, Andrew Ladd 07:39 CGY 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

Mikael Backlund (17) Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau 03:15 CGY 2,NYI 1

Rasmus Andersson (2) Austin Czarnik, Mark Giordano 05:12 CGY 3,NYI 1

The Skinny      

The Isles are 19-6-3 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 22-7-3 in their last 32 games; Toews saw his assist streak stopped at five games…The Isles have surpassed last season's win total (36); including shootout winners they have scored 27 fewer goals and allowed 74 fewer goals than last year's first 62 games… The Isles have 40 points at home and 39 points on the road … For the 28th straight game, the Isles did not allow three goals in any period.  That extends the club record; the previous mark (26) was set in February-March 1976…The Isles are 6-3-1 in their last ten games (6-1-1 against everyone but Calgary)…The Isles are 7-4-2 in February as they have clinched a winning record for the 5th straight month… Casey Cizikas was +1; he dropped to +23 on the season, a mark no Islander forward (Marty McInnis +31 in 1993-94) has exceeded in the last 25 years…Andrew Ladd recorded an assist in his first game since November 13th (he also had an assist in that game)… Johnny Gaudreau was originally credited with his 50th assist on the Tkachuk goal; it was taken away and then he earned the 50th on Mikael Backlund's winning goal.  It's the second time in his career he has reached 50 assists; he is the youngest Flame since Theo Fleury to do so…The Flames have outscored their opposition 93-49 in the 3rd period.

Take a Third Off

Through 62 games, the Isles have allowed 149 goals (including shootouts).  That is 74 goals fewer than they allowed through 62 games last season, meaning they have allowed nearly 1/3rd fewer goals this season than last season.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner is 15-4-2 (1.75, .941) in his last 21 decisions. His NHL-leading GAA is 2.10 and his save percentage is .930(.9296), which is just a fraction off the NHL lead (Vasilevskiy .9300).

Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 in the last seven games, allowing a total of seven goals on 220 shots (5-1-1, 0.98 GAA, .968 save percentage). On the season, his GAA is 2.26 and his save percentage is .928 (.9277).

Lehner has won 19 games and Greiss 17.  It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 17 wins from two different goalies.  Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.

Best Goals Against Average by An Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08 

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.10

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.26

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .930 

2. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .928 (.9277)

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 (.9276)

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

For the + Column

Casey Cizikas was -1 tonight and is now +23 on the season.  In the last 30 seasons, only five Islander forwards have finished +23 or higher.

1. Marty McInnis 1993-94 +31 

2. Benoit Hogue 1991-92 +30

3. Ray Ferraro 1991-92 +25

4. Casey Cizikas 2018-19 +23

        Ryan Strome 2014-15 +23

        Trent Hunter 2003-04 +23

Oh, Canada

The Isles are finishing February with six consecutive games against Canadian opponents.  The Isles are 2-2-1 in this stretch, which matches a similar stretch in December 1980 for the most consecutive games against Canadian teams:

• 2/16 Vs Edm Oilers W 5-2

• 2/20 @ Cal Flames L 2-4

• 2/21 @ Edm Oilers L 3-4 (OT)

• 2/23 @ Van Canucks W 4-0

• 2/26 Vs Cal Flames L 1-3

• 2/28 Vs Tor Maple Leafs

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 6-2-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 97.7% of capacity on Long Island (including six sellouts).  

 

Most Points Thru 62 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 82: 2014-15

• 79: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 32 Road Games

• 41: 1976-77

• 39: 2018-19

• 39: 1980-81

• 38: 1977-78

• 38: 1978-79

• 38: 1981-82

• 38: 2014-15

Most Points Thru 30 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 42: 1984-85

• 44: 2014-15

• 42: 1983-84

• 42: 2003-04

• 41: 1987-88

• 41: 2015-16

• 40: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 62 Games (Includes SO)

• 149 2018-19

• 149 1975-76

• 149 1976-77

• 153 2003-04

• 154 2015-16

• 154 1977-78

Road Warriors

The Isles are 9-3-2 in their last 14 road games and 12-4-2 in their last 18 road games.  

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Only once in NHL history has a team allowed the most goals in one season and the fewest in the next; the Ottawa Senators did so in 1917-18 and 1918-19.   Here's where the Isles are this season:  

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals) 

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on goals allowed including shootout goals.

1. ISLES 149

2. Boston 160

3.     Dallas 162 (not including Tuesday at Vegas)

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 144

2. Boston 157 

3. Dallas 162 (not including Tuesday at Vegas)

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 798-587-60-141 in 1,586 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    840 

4. Barry Trotz   798

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,586

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,577

Trotz, who will coach his 1,600th game on March 24th, 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: 36-19-7 (79 points), with 179 goals scored and 149 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 29-26-7 (65 points), with 206 goals scored and 223 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 74 fewer goals, a decrease of 33.2% as compared to last season.

Last Season (final): 35-37-10 (80 points), with 264 goals scored and 296 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 22-7-5 when scoring first and are 14-12-2 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss).  

The Shots

Isles   5-12-10=27

Calgary 9-10-8=27

The Isles are 10-11-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-2-0 when the shots are even and 26-6-6 when they are outshot. [The 26 wins when outshot are a franchise record; they won 25 in both 1983-84 and 2017-18.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 36-19-7 overall; 18-8-4 at home (6-2-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 18-11-3 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Calgary is 40-16-7 overall; 20-5-5 at home and 20-11-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-5-1 in Division games and 21-15-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 21-9-5 against the East and 15-11-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 24 saves but falls to 19-10-5 on the season and 3-2-1 in his career against Calgary.   

Mike Smith made 26 saves and improves to 19-11-2 on the season and 7-4-0 against the Islanders. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time; Calgary was 1-5 on the power play in 6:37 of PP time (including a 90 second 5-on-3).

The Isles are 22-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-17-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-12-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-7-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 30-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-17-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 4-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 5-0-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 21-19-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (22:16); Calgary: Mark Giordano (24:07)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:31 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (18-8-5), Nick Leddy (13-9-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 19, Calgary 31 (38%).  

Josh Bailey won all 4 of his draws for the Isles; Derek Ryan won 9 of 11 for Calgary.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  5/14; 2nd period 6/19; 3rd period 8/17.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 13/34, Power play 4/8, Penalty kill 2/8.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Matt Martin -4)  

Calgary 18 (Matthew Tkachuk -5)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –13 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk).  

 

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 18 shots (Johnny Boychuk -4) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 53, Calgary 55

5-on-5 Isles 33, Calgary 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Mathew Barzal +14

Calgary: TJ Brodie +11

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 6-3-1 in the front half and 9-0-1 in the back half. The next back-to-back is February 28-March 1 vs. Toronto and Washington.

The Isles won the first nine back-ends of back-to-backs this season, establishing a new club record for consecutive wins in back ends. 

Night and Day

The Isles are 30-17-7 in night games and 6-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 3rd vs. Philadelphia (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 180, Brock Nelson 157, Mathew Barzal 144.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

Scott Mayfield, Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston, Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 122

Comeback Kings

The Isles are 6-4-1 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8), OTT (12/28), STL (1/5) and COL (2/9 - OT), while earning a point vs. EDM (2/21 – OTL).

The Isles are 14-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four 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.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

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

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

2/5 vs BOS Bruins – Isles goal overturned after successful Bruin challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 777

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski and Anders Lee 145 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 138…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, Steve Thomas and Brock Nelson 118

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Josh Bailey 286 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 147

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 424…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 248

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 150

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 79

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss 9

Season Series Stats

Calgary sweeps the season series two games to none (and 4 points to 0).   

The Isles are 1-4-0 in their last five games against the Flames and have lost consecutive home games to Calgary won the first time since they lost six straight between 1997 and 2004.

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers defeated Hershey 5-1 on Sunday; Christopher Gibson made 25 saves and Steve Bernier had a goal and two assists as Bridgeport completed a sweep of their three game weekend series and recorded their fifth straight win.

 

The Sound Tigers are 9-1-1-0 in their last 11 games (including three OT wins and two shootout wins) and have improved to 33-18-5-2 on the season. Bridgeport begins a 5-game road trip in Hershey on Friday.

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 18; Assists: Sebastian Aho 32; Points: Chris Bourque 44; +/-: Otto Koivula 17 (only AHL rookie with at least 17 goals and at least +17).  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 16-9-3 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 17-9-4 (2.96 GAA)

Up Next

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28th – TORONTO AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM 

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

The five-game homestand continues as the Isles welcome John Tavares and the Maple Leafs to the Coliseum.

It's the second meeting of the season between the squads; Robin Lehner made 36 saves and Calder-winner Mathew Barzal had a natural hat trick as the Isles defeated Toronto 4-0 at Scotiabank Center on December 29th. 

The Isles are 5-3-0 in their last eight home games against the Leafs; their win in Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak to the Leafs.

The Isles will close out the home portion of the regular season when the Leafs return on April 1st.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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 Happened at the Coliseum … on FEBRUARY 26th

The Isles begin a five-game homestand tonight and they look to do something they haven't done in 32 years...win on February 26th.  In Isles history they have won only twice on this date, going 2-7-5 at the Coliseum and 0-4-0 on the road.

Here's It Happened at the Coliseum, as it was originally presented in 2015:  

28 years ago tonight (1987) -  In a game that featured four unassisted goals, including three by the Islanders, Alan Kerr scored the winning goal with 12:26 to play as the Isles beat Pittsburgh 5-4.

Dale Henry, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Bossy and Neal Coulter had the other goals for the Isles, who led 1-0, 3-1, 4-2  and 5-3 before hanging on for the victory.  Mario Lemieux, who was on his way to his first 50 goal campaign, recorded his 40^th goal of the season for Pittsburgh.

It was Kerr’s first goal in 19 games and he had a chance later in the period to score his second when he was awarded a penalty shot after Pittsburgh’s Randy Hillier dislodged the net moments before Kerr shot a puck into it.  Kerr told Newsday’s Jim Smith:  I'd never taken a penalty shot - ever, from minor hockey on up . . . I was a little nervous."

The win pushed the Isles back into second place in the Patrick Division, two points ahead of the Rangers and extended the Isles unbeaten streak over Pittsburgh to 13 games (12-0-1).

The Isles played nine February 26^th home games after this one, and didn’t win any of them (0-6-3).

Also on this date: (1977) – Clark Gillies and Lorne Henning each scored twice and added an assist as the Isles pounded Atlanta 8-2.  The Isles scored three goals in a 45 second span of the second period, establishing a club record (since broken).

All-time, the Isles have played fourteen February 26th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 2-7-5 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. 

The Skinny: Isles 4, Vancouver 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 61

Isles 4, Vancouver 0

Robin Lehner made 36 saves for his fourth career shutout and 11 different Islanders figured in the scoring as the Isles completed a sweep of the season series with the Canucks, defeating Vancouver 4-0 before a crowd of 18,871 at Rogers Arena. 

Lehner's shutout is the eighth for the Islanders this season; it's the first time in club history that two goalies have recorded four shutouts in the same season.  The Isles have recorded five shutouts in their last 15 games; it's the first time the Isles have ever had five shutouts in a 15-game span within a single season.

The Isles finish the Western Canada swing 1-1-1 and improve to 12-3-3 in their last 18 games as their lead in the Metro increases to four points over Washington (who lost to Buffalo 5-2).   

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Casey Cizikas (17) Johnny Boychuk, Devon Toews 04:48 NYI 1,VAN 0

Ryan Pulock (7) Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech 14:05 NYI 2,VAN 0

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (14) Josh Bailey, Valtteri Filppula 02:34 NYI 3,VAN 0

Cal Clutterbuck (8)EN Brock Nelson 18:46 NYI 4,VAN 0

The Skinny      

Casey Cizikas now has five of the last 18 Isles goals; it's the first time in his professional career he has scored 17 goals in a season [16 between Bridgeport and the Isles in 2012-13]… The Isles are 19-5-3 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 22-6-3 in their last 31 games; Toews now has an assist in five straight games…The Isles have surpassed last season's win total (36); including shootout winners they have scored 29 fewer goals and allowed 73 fewer goals than last year's first 61 games… The Isles have 40 points at home and 39 points on the road … For the 27th straight game, the Isles did not allow three goals in any period.  That establishes a new club record, breaking the previous mark (26), which was set in February-March 1976…The Isles are 6-2-1 in their last nine games…The Isles are 7-3-2 in February as they have clinched a winning record for the 5th straight month… Casey Cizikas was +2; he improves to +24 on the season, a mark no Islander forward (Marty McInnis +31 in 1993-94) has reached in the last 25 years… Anthony Beauvillier scored for the first time in six games and went a season-high +3…The Isles were outshot 109-65 on the road trip…Ryan Pulock, who scored on a delayed penalty, is 4-7-11  in his last 11 games.

Towards the Top

The Isles are 22-6-3 since December 15; only Tampa Bay (22-4-3) has as many wins and points in that span.

With the point, the Isles regain 5th place overall with 79 points, one point ahead of Toronto and Winnipeg. The Isles are one point behind San Jose and two points behind Boston.

Take a Third Off

Through 61 games, the Isles have allowed 146 goals (including shootouts).  That is 73 goals fewer than they allowed through 61 games last season, meaning they have allowed 1/3rd fewer goals this season than last season.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner is 15-3-2 (1.68, .943) in his last 20 decisions. He lowered his NHL-leading GAA is 2.07 and his save percentage is .931 (.9307), which is also now the best in the NHL  (Vasilevskiy .9305).

Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 in the last seven games, allowing a total of seven goals on 220 shots (5-1-1, 0.98 GAA, .968 save percentage). On the season, his GAA is 2.26 and his save percentage is .928 (.9277).

Lehner has won 19 games and Greiss 17.  It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 17 wins from two different goalies.  Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.

Best Goals Against Average by An Islander in a Season

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.07

2. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08 

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.26

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .931 

2. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .928 (.9277)

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 (.9276)

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

For the + Column

Casey Cizikas was +2 tonight and is now +24 on the season.  In the last 30 seasons, only five Islander forwards have finished +23 or higher.

1. Marty McInnis 1993-94 +31 

2. Benoit Hogue 1991-92 +30

3. Ray Ferraro 1991-92 +25

4. Casey Cizikas 2018-19 +24

5. Ryan Strome 2014-15 +23

        Trent Hunter 2003-04 +23

Oh, Canada

The Isles are finishing February with six consecutive games against Canadian opponents.  The Isles are 2-1-1 in this stretch, which matches a similar stretch in December 1980 for the most consecutive games against Canadian teams:

• 2/16 Vs Edm Oilers W 5-2

• 2/20 @ Cal Flames L 2-4

• 2/21 @ Edm Oilers L 3-4 (OT)

• 2/23 @ Van Canucks W 4-0

• 2/26 Vs Cal Flames

• 2/28 Vs Tor Maple Leafs

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 6-1-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 98.1% of capacity on Long Island (including six sellouts).  

Most Points Thru 61 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 80: 2014-15

• 79: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 32 Road Games

• 41: 1976-77

• 39: 2018-19

• 39: 1980-81

• 38: 1977-78

• 38: 1978-79

• 38: 1981-82

• 38: 2014-15

Most Points Thru 29 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 42: 1984-85

• 42: 2014-15

• 40: 2003-04

• 40: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 61 Games (Includes SO)

• 146 2018-19

• 147 1975-76

• 148 1976-77

• 151 2015-16

• 151 1977-78

Road Warriors

The Isles are 9-3-2 in their last 14 road games and 12-4-2 in their last 18 road games.  

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:  

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals) 

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on goals allowed including shootout goals.

1. ISLES 146

2. Boston 159

        Dallas 159

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 141

2. Boston 156 

3. Dallas 159 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 798-586-60-141 in 1,585 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    840 

4. Barry Trotz   798

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,585

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,577

Trotz, who will coach his 1,600th game on March 24th, 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: 36-18-7 (79 points), with 178 goals scored and 146 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 29-26-6 (64 points), with 203 goals scored and 219 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 73 fewer goals, a decrease of 33.3% as compared to last season.

Last Season (final): 35-37-10 (80 points), with 264 goals scored and 296 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 227-5 when scoring first and are 14-11-2 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss).  

The Shots

Isles          11-3-9=23

Vancouver 15-15-6=36

The Isles are 10-11-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 26-6-6 when they are outshot. [The 26 wins when outshot are a franchise record; they won 25 in both 1983-84 and 2017-18.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 36-18-7 overall; 18-7-4 at home (6-1-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 18-11-3 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Vancouver is 26-28-8 overall; 13-12-4 at home and 13-16-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-5-1 in Division games and 21-14-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 21-9-5 against the East and 15-10-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 36 saves and improves to 19-9-5 on the season and 2-2-0 in his career against Vancouver.   

Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves but falls to 22-18-7 on the season and 2-5-0 against the Islanders. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Vancouver was 0-4 on the power play in 7:36 of PP time.

The Isles are 22-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-11-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-7-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 30-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-16-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 4-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 5-0-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 21-18-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:16); Vancouver: Ben Hutton (25:54)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:25 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (18-8-5), Nick Leddy (13-9-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 21, Vancouver 25 (46%).  

Brock Nelson won 8 of 12 for the Isles; Bo Horvat won 12 of 21 for Vancouver.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/18; 2nd period 4/12; 3rd period 7/16.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/40, Power play 1/1, Penalty kill 2/5.

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Cal Clutterbuck-5)  

Vancouver 12 (Two with 3)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –13 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 25 shots (Ryan Pulock -6) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 36, Vancouver 75  (Including 34-7 Vancouver in the 2nd period)

5-on-5 Isles 32, Vancouver 57

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas  - EVEN

Vancouver: Josh Leivo and Bo Horvat +16

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 6-3-1 in the front half and 9-0-1 in the back half. The next back-to-back is February 28-March 1 vs. Toronto and Washington.

The Isles won the first nine back-ends of back-to-backs this season, establishing a new club record for consecutive wins in back ends. 

Night and Day

The Isles are 30-16-7 in night games and 6-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 3rd vs. Philadelphia (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 179, Brock Nelson 156, Mathew Barzal 143.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

(Thomas Hickey-INJ, Andrew Ladd-INJ), Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 122

Comeback Kings

The Isles are 6-4-1 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8), OTT (12/28), STL (1/5) and COL (2/9 - OT), while earning a point vs. EDM (2/21 – OTL).

The Isles are 14-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four 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.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

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

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

2/5 vs BOS Bruins – Isles goal overturned after successful Bruin challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 776

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski and Anders Lee 145 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 137…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, Steve Thomas and Brock Nelson 118

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Josh Bailey 286 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 147

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 423…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 248

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 150

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 79

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss 9

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series two games to none (and 4 points to 0).   

The Isles have won six of the last seven games between the teams and have swept the season series for the second time in three seasons.

The Isles are 5-2-1 in their last seven games in Vancouver.

On the Farm  

As it has almost all month, the Sound Tigers went beyond 60 minutes and won on both Friday and Saturday.

Friday in Providence, the Sound Tigers prevailed 5-4 in OT, Josh Ho-Sang had three assists and Michael Dal Colle had two.  Both players assisted on Mitch Vande Sompel's OT winner.   Bridgeport let a 3-1 lead get away, but Dal Colle scored the only goal in the shootout for a 4-3 win over Springfield on Saturday.

The Sound Tigers are 8-1-1-0 in their last ten games (including three OT wins and two shootout wins) and have improved to 32-18-5-2 on the season. Bridgeport hosts Hershey on Sunday before setting out on a 5-game road trip.

Leaders:  Goals: Otto Koivula 17 (4th among AHL rookies)/Steve Bernier 17; Assists: Sebastian Aho 32; Points: Chris Bourque 43; +/-: Otto Koivula 17 (only AHL rookie with at least 17 goals and at least +17).  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 16-9-3 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 16-9-4 (3.03 GAA)

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th – CALGARY AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM 

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

The Isles return home to begin a five-game homestand on Tuesday against the Western Conference-leading Calgary Flames. 

The Flames broke a 2-2 tie early in the third with two quick goals to give them a 4-2 win over the Isles on Wednesday.

The Isles have won six of the last nine games between the teams but will need a home-ice win on Tuesday to earn a split with the Flames for the third straight season.

On home-ice, the Isles are 6-2-0 against the Flames in their last eight meetings. This will be the Flames' first game on Long Island in four years, less one day.  Cal Clutterbuck had the winning tally in a 2-1 win for the Isles on February 27, 2015.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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

The Skinny: Edmonton 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 60

Edmonton 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Connor McDavid scored the winning goal 1:22 into overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 3-2 deficit and defeated the Isles 4-3 before a crowd of 18,347 at Rogers Place. 

The Isles had rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and held a 3-2 lead into the final three minutes before Oscar Klefbom tied the game.

The Isles fall to 11-3-3 in their last 17 games as their lead in the Metro falls to two points over Washington (who beat Toronto 3-2).   

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Leon Draisaitl (36) Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 05:12 NYI 0,EDM 1 PPG

Sam Gagner (2) Tobias Rieder 06:30 NYI 0,EDM 2

Anders Lee (21) Johnny Boychuk, Brock Nelson 12:57 NYI 1,EDM 2

Brock Nelson (19) Jordan Eberle, Ryan Pulock 19:21 NYI 2,EDM 2 PPG

Cal Clutterbuck (7) Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews 19:49 NYI 3,EDM 2 PPG

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Oscar Klefbom (4) Milan Lucic, Colby Cave 17:08 NYI 3,EDM 3

OT

Connor McDavid (32) Leon Draisaitl 1:22

The Skinny      

Robin Lehner allowed four goals for the first time since he allowed five at Madison Square Garden on November 21… The Isles are 18-5-3 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 21-6-3 in their last 30 games…Anders Lee scored for the third straight game… The Isles scored two power play goals in 28 seconds late in the first period; Brock Nelson matched last season's total with his 19th goal while Cal Clutterbuck scored his 3rd power play goal of the season…The Isles have matched last season's win total (35); including shootout winners they have scored 26 fewer goals and allowed 68 fewer goals than last year's first 60 games… The Isles have 40 points at home and 37 points on the road … For the 26th straight game, the Isles did not allow three goals in any period.  That matches the longest streak of its kind, which was set in February-March 1976…The Isles are 5-2-1 in their last eight games…The Isles are 6-3-2 in February; they have had a winning record every month this season… Captain Anders Lee scored his team-leading 21st goal; it's the second time this season he has scored in three consecutive games (4 games 11/28-12/6) …. Casey Cizikas was "even"; he remains +22 on the season, a mark only one Islander forward (Ryan Strome +23 in 2014-15) has reached in the last 15 years…The Isles scored twice on the power play for the first time since January 10th…The Isles did not have a shot on goal in the second period until the 11:49 mark…The Isles went 2-2 on the power play for the first time since November 5, 2017 vs. Colorado…Sam Gagner scored his first goal since returning to the Oilers; it was his 102nd career goal for Edmonton.

The Injury

Nick Leddy left the game after an Illegal Check by Connor McDavid.  Leddy returned in the second period.

First Times in a Long Time 

The Isles scored two power play goals in the first period for the first time since March 29, 2015 vs Detroit (Kyle Okposo, Brock Nelson).  It's the first time since January 8, 2011 in Colorado (Jeremy Colliton, Blake Comeau) that they have scored two in a road first period.  

The two goals were scored 28 seconds apart; it's the fastest two power play goals for the Isles since March 10, 2014, when Ryan Strome and Calvin deHaan scored 22 seconds apart as part of the Isles' 7-goal third period. It's also the fastest two power play goals scored by the Isles in the first period since Derek King (7:34), Ziggy Palffy (7:58) and Bryan Berard (8:21) all scored in a 47-second span.

Moving on Up

Anders Lee tied Mariusz Czerkawski with his 145th Islander goal (tied-16th); Brock Nelson tied Mark Parrish, Steve Thomas and Matt Moulson with his 118th Islander goal (tied-24th).

Towards the Top

The Isles are 21-5-3 in their last 29 games; only Tampa Bay (22-4-3) has more wins in that span.

With the point, the Isles move into 5th in the NHL with 77 points, one point ahead of Toronto and Winnipeg.

Comeback Kings

The Isles erased a 2-0 deficit for the eighth time this season, and for the seventh time they earned at least one point by doing so. 

On the season, the Isles are 6-4-1 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8), OTT (12/28), STL (1/5) and COL (2/9 - OT), while earning a point vs. EDM (2/21 – OTL).

The Isles are 13-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner is 14-3-2 (1.77, .940) in his last 19 decisions. On the season, his NHL-leading GAA is 2.14 and his save percentage is .928 (.9280).

Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 in the last seven games, allowing a total of seven goals on 220 shots (5-1-1, 0.98 GAA, .968 save percentage). On the season, his GAA is 2.26 and his save percentage is .928 (.9277).

Lehner has won 18 games and Greiss 17.  It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 17 wins from two different goalies.  Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.

Best Goals Against Average by an Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08 

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.14

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.26

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .928 (.9280) 

2. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .928 (.9277)

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 (.9276)

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

Oh, Canada

The Isles are finishing February with six consecutive games against Canadian opponents.  The Isles are 1-1-1 in this stretch, which matches a similar stretch in December 1980 for the most consecutive games against Canadian teams:

• 2/16 Vs Edm Oilers W 5-2

• 2/20 @ Cal Flames L 2-4

• 2/21 @ Edm Oilers L 3-4 (OT)

• 2/23 @ Van Canucks

• 2/26 Vs Cal Flames

• 2/28 Vs Tor Maple Leafs

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 6-1-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 98.1% of capacity on Long Island (including six sellouts).  

 

Most Points Thru 60 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 80: 2014-15

• 77: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 31 Road Games

• 41: 1976-77

• 38: 1977-78

• 37: 1978-79

• 37: 1980-81

• 37: 2014-15

• 37: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 29 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 42: 1984-85

• 42: 2014-15

• 40: 2003-04

• 40: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 60 Games (Includes SO)

• 145 1975-76

• 146 2018-19

• 147 1976-77

• 149 2015-16

• 149 1977-78

Road Warriors

The Isles are 8-3-2 in their last 13 road games and 11-4-2 in their last 17 road games.  

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:  

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals) 

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on goals allowed including shootout goals.

1. ISLES 146

2. Dallas 156

3. Boston 157

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 141

2. Boston 155 

3. Dallas 156 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 797-586-60-141 in 1,584 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    839 

4. Barry Trotz   797

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,584

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,576

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: 35-18-7 (77 points), with 174 goals scored and 146 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 29-25-6 (64 points), with 200 goals scored and 214 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 68 fewer goals, a decrease of 31.8% as compared to last season.

Last Season (final): 35-37-10 (80 points), with 264 goals scored and 296 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 21-7-5 when scoring first and are 14-11-2 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss). The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles      13-4-6-0=23

Edmonton 15-8-17-1=41

The Isles are 10-11-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 25-6-6 when they are outshot. [The Isles have equaled the club record for wins when being outshot, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-18-7 overall; 18-7-4 at home (6-1-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 17-11-3 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Edmonton is 25-29-6 overall; 13-15-2 at home and 12-14-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-5-1 in Division games and 20-14-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 21-9-5 against the East and 14-10-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 37 saves; he is 18-9-5 on the season and 5-1-2 in his career against Edmonton.   

Mikko Koskinen made 20 saves and improves to 15-14-3 on the season and 1-1-0 against the Islanders. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 2-2 on the power play in 2:11 of PP time; Edmonton was 1-4 on the power play in 6:26 of PP time.

The Isles are 22-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-11-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-7-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-16-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 4-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 5-0-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 20-18-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:34); Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl (25:01)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 17:26 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (17-8-5), Nick Leddy (13-9-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 20, Edmonton 34 (37%).  

Josh Bailey won 5 of 10 for the Isles; Connor McDavid won 10 of 13 for Edmonton.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/28; 2nd period 4/10; 3rd period 5/15; overtime 1/1.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/45, Power play 2/5, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Matt Martin -5)  

Edmonton 24 (Kris Russell and Adam Larsson -4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –13 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk).  

 

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 25 shots (Scott Mayfield -6) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 45, Edmonton 77

5-on-5 Isles 39, Edmonton 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee +3

Edmonton: Sam Gagner +15

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-3-1 in the front half and 9-0-1 in the back half. The next back-to-back is February 28-March 1 vs. Toronto and Washington.

The Isles won the first nine back-ends of back-to-backs this season, establishing a new club record for consecutive wins in back ends. 

Night and Day

The Isles are 29-16-7 in night games and 6-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 3rd vs. Philadelphia (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 178, Brock Nelson 155, Mathew Barzal 142.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

(Thomas Hickey-INJ, Andrew Ladd-INJ), Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 120

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four 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.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

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

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

2/5 vs BOS Bruins – Isles goal overturned after successful Bruin challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 775

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski and Anders Lee 145 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 137…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, Steve Thomas and Brock Nelson 118

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Josh Bailey 285 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 147

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 422…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 247

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 150

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 79

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss 9

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series one game to one (the Isles earned 3 points to Edmonton's 2).   

The Isles are 2-0-4 in the last six games and 4-1-4 in the last nine games.

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers are 6-1-1-0 in their last eight games and are 30-18-5-2 on the season as they begin a three-in-three weekend in Providence on Friday. 

Leaders:  Goals: Otto Koivula 17 (4th among AHL rookies); Assists: Chris Bourque 31; Points: Chris Bourque 41; +/-: Otto Koivula 17 (only AHL rookie with at least 17 goals and at least +17).  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 14-9-3 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 16-9-4 (2.99 GAA)

Up Next

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd – ISLANDERS AT VANCOUVER 10:00PM 

[MSG+ (Pre-game at 9:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM,WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles finish the three-game Western Canada road trip as they conclude the season series with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Isles have won five of the last six games between the teams and will be looking to sweep the season series for the second time in three seasons, having defeated the Canucks 5-2 on November 13 behind a pair of Tom Kuhnhackl goals.

The Isles are 4-2-1 in their last seven games in Vancouver, dropping an overtime decision on a Brendan Leipsic goal.  

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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

The Skinny: Calgary 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 59

Calgary 4, Isles 2

Austin Czarnik and Johnny Gaudreau scored 29 seconds apart in the third period as the Western Conference-leading Calgary Flames broke a 2-2 tie and defeated the Isles 4-2 before a crowd of 18,632 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

It's the first time in 18 games that the Isles have allowed four goals; the 17 straight games allowing three or less matched the club record, set in 1975-76.

The Isles fall to 11-3-2 in their last 16 games as their lead in the Metro remains three points over idle Washington.   

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Mikael Backlund (15) Michael Frolik 05:00 NYI 0,CGY 1

Travis Hamonic (5) Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm 15:59 NYI 0,CGY 2

2nd Period

Casey Cizikas (16) Josh Bailey, Devon Toews 10:09 NYI 1,CGY 2

3rd Period

Anders Lee (20) Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson 01:18 NYI 2,CGY 2

Austin Czarnik (5) Mark Jankowski, Rasmus Andersson 06:10 NYI 2,CGY 3

Johnny Gaudreau (30) Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan 06:39 NYI 2,CGY 4 PPG

The Skinny      

Thomas Greiss had gone 104:22 without allowing a goal before Mikael Backlund scored 5:00 into the first period; he allowed four goals tonight after allowing three goals in prior six games…The Isles are 18-5-2 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 21-6-2 in their last 29 games…Anders Lee reached both the 20-goal and 40-point marks for the 3rd straight season… The Isles have matched last season's win total (35) games; including shootout winners they have scored 28 fewer goals and allowed 72 fewer goals than last year's first 59 games… The Isles have 40 points at home and 36 points on the road … For the 25th straight game, the Isles did not allow three goals in any period.  That's the longest (single-season) streak of its kind since the Isles went 25 games in February-March 1979 and one game shy of the club record set in February-March 1976…The Isles are 5-2-0 in their last seven games…The Isles are 6-3-1 in February; they have had a winning record every month this season… The Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck line has started every game that the trio has played in 2019…Captain Anders Lee scored his team-leading 20th goal; it's the first time since December 23-28 that he has scored in consecutive games …. Casey Cizikas scored his 4th goal in four games and went +1; he is now +22 on the season, a mark only one Islander forward (Ryan Strome +23 in 2014-15) has reached in the last 15 years…Travis Hamonic scored his first goal against his former team…The Flames have outscored their opponents 89-49 in the third period.

Top of the Heap

The Isles are 21-5-2 in their last 28 games, matching Tampa Bay (21-4-3) for the most wins in that span.

The Isles are tied-5th in the NHL with 76 points; Toronto has an identical 76 points in 59 games.

Comeback Kings

The Isles erased a 2-0 deficit for the seventh time this season, but it's the first of the seven times they got even that they didn't win the game. 

On the season, the Isles are 6-4-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8), OTT (12/28), STL (1/5) and COL (2/9 - OT);  the first five wins were all in regulation.

The Isles are 13-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner is 14-3-1 (1.64, .943) in his last 18 decisions. On the season, his NHL-leading GAA is 2.08 and his save percentage is .929.

Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 in the last seven games, allowing a total of seven goals on 220 shots (5-1-1, 0.98 GAA, .968 save percentage). On the season, his GAA is 2.26 and his save percentage is .928.

Lehner has won 18 games and Greiss 17.  It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 17 wins from two different goalies.  Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.

Best Goals Against Average by An Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08  (2.079)

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.08 (2.082)

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.26

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .929 

2. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .928

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

Oh, Canada

The Isles are finishing February with six consecutive games against Canadian opponents.  The Isles are 1-1-0 in this stretch, which matches a similar stretch in December 1980 for the most consecutive games against Canadian teams:

• 2/16 Vs Edm Oilers W 5-2

• 2/20 @ Cal Flames L 2-4

• 2/21 @ Edm Oilers

• 2/23 @ Van Canucks

• 2/26 Vs Cal Flames

• 2/28 Vs Tor Maple Leafs

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 6-1-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 98.1% of capacity on Long Island (including six sellouts).  

 

Most Points Thru 59 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 79: 2014-15

• 76: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 30 Road Games

• 39: 1976-77

• 37: 1977-78

• 37: 1978-79

• 36: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 29 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 42: 1984-85

• 42: 2014-15

• 40: 2003-04

• 40: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 59 Games (Includes SO)

• 142 2018-19

• 145 1975-76

• 145 1976-77

• 146 2003-04

• 146 2015-16

• 148 1977-78

Road Warriors

The Isles are 8-3-1 in their last 12 road games and 11-4-1 in their last 16 road games.  

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:  

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals) 

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on goals allowed including shootout goals.

1. ISLES 142

2. Dallas 154

3. Boston 157

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 137

2. Dallas 154 

3. Boston 155

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 43

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 96 assists, 135 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 797-586-60-140 in 1,583 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    838 

4. Barry Trotz   797

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,583

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,575

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: 35-18-6 (76 points), with 171 goals scored and 142 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 28-25-6 (62 points), with 197 goals scored and 214 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 72 fewer goals, a decrease of 33.6% as compared to last season.

Last Season (final): 35-37-10 (80 points), with 264 goals scored and 296 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 21-7-5 when scoring first and are 14-11-1 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss). The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles      3-4-12=19

Calgary 12-12-8=32

The Isles are 10-11-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 25-6-5 when they are outshot. [The Isles have equaled the club record for wins when being outshot, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-18-6 overall; 18-7-4 at home (6-1-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 17-11-2 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Calgary is 37-16-7 overall; 19-5-5 at home and 18-11-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-5-1 in Division games and 20-13-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 21-9-5 against the East and 14-9-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 28 saves but falls to 17-9-2 on the season and 2-4-0 in his career against Calgary.   

Mike Smith made 17 saves and improves to 17-11-2 on the season and 6-4-0 against the Islanders. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Calgary was 1-3 on the power play in 2:42 of PP time.

The Isles are 22-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-11-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-7-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-16-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-6 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-1 in games decided in overtime and are 3-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 4-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 5-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 20-18-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:34); Calgary: Mark Giordano (23:53)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 19:19 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (17-8-4), Nick Leddy (13-9-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 20, Calgary 26 (43%).  

Valtteri Filppula won 5 of 7 for the Isles; Sean Monahan won 6 of 8 for Calgary.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  5/13; 2nd period 6/11; 3rd period 9/22.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/40, Power play 2/3, Penalty kill 0/3.

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Matt Martin -8)  

Calgary 13 (Garnet Hathaway and Sam Bennett -4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –13 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk).  

 

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 20 shots (Adam Pelech -5) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 47, Calgary 68

5-on-5 Isles 40, Calgary 61

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Valtteri Filppula +2

Calgary: Austin Czarnik +10

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-3-1 in the front half and 9-0-0 in the back half. This back-to-back concludes on Thursday vs. Edmonton. The next back-to-back is February 28-March 1 vs. Toronto and Washington.

The Isles are 9-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season, establishing a new club record for consecutive wins in back ends: 

• 9- October 18, 2018- CURRENT

• 8- January 22-March 14, 1976

• 8- March 26- November 22, 1978 (over two seasons)

• 7- February 28- November 11, 1981 (over two seasons)

• 7- November 12, 1980 – January 3, 1981

Night and Day

The Isles are 29-16-6 in night games and 6-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 3rd vs. Philadelphia (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 177, Brock Nelson 154, Mathew Barzal 141.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

(Thomas Hickey-INJ, Andrew Ladd-INJ), Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 118

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four 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.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

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

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

2/5 vs BOS Bruins – Isles goal overturned after successful Bruin challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 774

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 144 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 137…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Brock Nelson 117

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Josh Bailey 285 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 147

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 422…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 246

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 150

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 79

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss 9

Season Series Stats

Calgary leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on Tuesday to conclude the season series. 

The Isles have won six of the last nine games between the teams but will need a home-ice win on Tuesday to earn a split with the Flames for the third straight season.

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers are 6-1-1-0 in their last eight games and are 30-18-5-2 on the season following a 7-3 win on Sunday vs. Charlotte.  Josh Ho-Sang had a third period natural hat trick and added two assists on his way to AHL player of the week honors.

Andrew Ladd (0-3-3) and Thomas Hickey (1-2-3) each had three points in the second game of their rehab stints. 

Bridgeport begins another 3-in-3 weekend on Friday in Providence.

Leaders:  Goals: Otto Koivula 17 (4th among AHL rookies); Assists: Chris Bourque 31; Points: Chris Bourque 41; +/-: Otto Koivula 17 (only AHL rookie with at least 17 goals and at least +17).  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 14-9-3 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 16-9-4 (2.99 GAA)

Up Next

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21st  –ISLANDERS AT EDMONTON 9:00PM 

[MSG+2 (Pre-game at 8:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM,WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles look for their tenth consecutive back-end victory and a split of their games in Alberta as they meet Edmonton for the second time in six days. 

The Isles won 5-2 on Saturday night and have earned points in the last five games against Edmonton (2-0-3); they are 4-1-3 in the last eight against the Oilers.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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