"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 50
Tampa Bay 1, Isles 0 (SO)
Thomas Greiss made 41 saves for his second consecutive shutout, but Andrei Vasilevskiy matched him for 65 minutes. Victor Hedman then scored the only goal of the shootout as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Isles 1-0 before another sellout crowd of 13,917 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Isles have earned points in seven straight games (5-0-2).
Greiss extended his shutout streak to 146:48 although he becomes the first goalie in Islander history to lose (in a shootout) in games that he recorded a shutout.
Coupled with wins by the Capitals and Penguins, the Isles Metro Division lead is shaved to two points.
The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals
2nd Period
No Goals
3rd Period
No Goals
OT
No Goals
The Shootout:
Brock Nelson (NG) – Victor Hedman (G/GDG)
Mathew Barzal (NG) – Nikita Kucherov (NG)
Josh Bailey (NG)
The Skinny
The Isles are 12-2-2 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 15-3-2 in their last 20 games … The Isles remain ten points ahead of last season's pace through 49 games; including shootout winners they have scored 23 fewer goals and allowed 57 fewer goals than last year's first 48 games…With the point, the Isles are two points ahead of Washington for the division lead; Tampa Bay (78) is the only other team in the East to reach 64 points…The Isles had scored first in the seven prior games …The Isles have allowed one goal or fewer in six of the last seven games . …The Isles have 32 points on the road and 32 points at home. … The Isles have outscored their opponents 12-0 over the last 178:22 of first period play …The Isles remain 14 games over NHL-.500 for the first time since they ended the 2015-16 season with a 45-27-10 record…Six Lightning players had multi-game point streaks stopped, including Steven Stamkos 7-game streak (4-7-11)…
The Shutout Streaks
• The Isles have won 102:27 without scoring a goal.
• The Isles have gone 90:22 without allowing a goal.
• Thomas Greiss has gone 146:48 without allowing a goal.
It's the first time that the Isles have shutout Tampa Bay since March 14, 2013 (Nabokov) and the first time they have done so at home since February 21, 2008 (DiPietro). Tavares had the winning goal in 2013; Satan had the only goal in 2008.
Shutouts, then Shootouts
The Isles had won both previous games that had gone to shootouts after 65 scoreless minutes (in Philadelphia in 2012 and at home vs Philadelphia in 2014).
According to NHL.com's John Kreiser, this was the 44th game to require a shootout after a double shutout. The Lightning are also now 2-1 all time in shutout/shootouts. The last time an NHL defenseman was credited with the winning goal in the shootout following a shutout was Tampa Bay's Matt Carle, against Washington on April 13, 2014. It was the last regular season game the Caps played before Barry Trotz became their coach.
Top 20
The Isles are 15-3-2 in their last 20 games, giving them the most wins and the best record in the entire NHL since December 15.
• ISLES 15-3-2
• Calgary 13-4-3
• Pittsburgh 14-6-0
• Tampa Bay 13-4-1
Strength in the Nets
Robin. Lehner is 11-1-1 (1.34, .953) in his last 13 decisions. He lowered his GAA to an NHL-leading 2.02 and raised his save percentage to .931.
Thomas Greiss is 2-0-1 in the last three games, allowing a total of one goal in 99 shots (2-0-1, 0.33 GAA, .990 save percentage).
Lehner has won 15 games and Greiss 14. It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 14 wins from two different goalies. Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.
It's Good to be Home
The Isles are 5-1-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 97.8% of capacity on Long Island (including five sellouts). 13 of their remaining 16 home games will be at the Coliseum.
Most Points Thru 50 Games (Post-Cup Era)
• 65: 2014-15
• 64: 2018-19
Most Points Thru 25 Road Games (Post-Cup Era)
• 32: 2013 (Entire season -24 games)
• 32: 2018-19
Road Warriors
The Isles are 6-0-1 in their last seven road games and 9-1-1 in their last 11 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)
1. ISLES 123
2. Dallas 129
3. Boston 135
Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)
1. ISLES 118
2. Dallas 129
3. Boston 134
Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:
1. John Tavares 84
2. Anthony Beauvillier 42
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 94 assists, 130 points
Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.
Most 3+ Point Games by an Islander Before Age 22
• 34 Bryan Trottier
• 18 John Tavares
• 16 Denis Potvin
• 14 Mike Bossy
• 12 Mathew Barzal
• 12 Pat LaFontaine
Coach Trotz
Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 791-583-60-140 in 1,574 games.
Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman 1,244
2. Joel Quenneville 890
3. Ken Hitchcock 837
4. Barry Trotz 791
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 1,574
5. Ken Hitchcock 1,566
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: 29-15-6 (64 points), with 147 goals scored and 123 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 25-20-5 (55 points), with 172 goals scored and 180 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
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 17-7-5 when scoring first and are 12-8-1 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 11-10-11-4=36
Tampa Bay 14-10-16-1=41
The Isles are 8-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 21-5-5 when they are outshot. [The club record for wins when being outshot is 25, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]
Home and Road
The Islanders are 29-15-6 overall; 14-7-4 at home (5-1-2 on Long Island and 9-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 15-8-2 on the road. The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Tampa Bay is 38-11-2 overall; 20-5-0 at home and 18-6-2 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 13-5-1 in Division games and 16-10-5 in games versus other divisions. The Isles are 19-7-5 against the East and 10-8-1 against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 41 saves; he is 14-8-2 on the season and 5-3-1 in his career against Tampa Bay.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves and improves to 21-7-3 on the season and 6-3-0 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-4 on the power play in 6:55 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 0-1 on the power play in 1:18 of PP time.
The Isles are 19-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-14-5 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-5-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 25-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-13-5 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 11-4-6 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 4-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 5-2-1 in the front half and 7-0-0 in the back half. This back to back concludes on Saturday night at the Coliseum against Los Angeles. The next back-to-back is February 9-10 vs. Colorado and Minnesota, with both games being played at Barclays Center.
The Isles are 7-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season. It's the first time that the Isles have opened a season with seven straight back-end wins and the first time since 1981 that they have done so at any time.
Longest Winning Streaks in Back Ends:
• 8 -January 22-March 14, 1976
• 8- March 26- November 22, 1978 (over two seasons)
• 7- October 18, 2018- CURRENT
• 7-February 28- November 11, 1981 (over two seasons)
• 7-November 12, 1980 – January 3, 1981
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 5-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not.
• The Isles are 4-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
• The Isles are 17-15-5 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (25:22); Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (26:37)
Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 20:02 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (15-7-4), Nick Leddy (9-7-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 31, Tampa Bay 22 (58%).
Josh Bailey won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Cedric Paquette won 4 of 6 for Tampa Bay.
Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/18; 2nd period 9/17; 3rd period 10/13; overtime 2/5.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 25/45, Power play 5/7, Penalty kill 1/1.
Hit Count
Isles 22 (Cal Clutterbuck - 5)
Tampa Bay 33 (Two with 4)
Fights
There were no fights. Season total –12 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).
Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 16 shots (Ryan Pulock-3)
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 60, Tampa Bay 64 (including 10-3 in the Isles' favor in overtime)
5-on-5 Isles 41, Tampa Bay 57
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Michael Dal Colle +2
Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman +14
Night and Day
The Isles are 25-13-6 in night games and 4-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on February 9th vs. Colorado (in Brooklyn).
Ironmen
Anders Lee 168, Brock Nelson 145, Mathew Barzal 132
Scratches
(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR),Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston
Total games lost: 99
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
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 5-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8),OTT (12/28) and STL (1/5); all five wins have been in regulation.
The Isles are 12-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.
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 765
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 142 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 135…
24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 115
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
11. Derek King 288 ***12. Pat LaFontaine 279 and Josh Bailey 278 …
25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 146
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 414…
23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 243
Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 146
Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6. Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 76
Season Series Stats
Tampa Bay wins the season series two games to one (and 4 points to 3), despite scoring only one goal in the final 125 minutes and five goals (one into an empty net) in the three games.
It's the first time since 2009 that the Isles have held the Bolts to one goal or fewer in consecutive games.
On the Farm
The Sound Tigers was 24-17-4-2 on the season and have dropped to third place in their division (one point behind Lehigh Valley). Bridgeport heads to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night.
Leaders: Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Sebastian Aho 26; Points: Chris Bourque 34. Goalies: Jeremy Smith 13-8-2 (2.99 GAA); Christopher Gibson 11-9-4 (3.06 GAA)
Up Next
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd – LOS ANGELES AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM
[MSG+(Pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM,WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com]
The Isles look to win their eighth straight back-end of a back-to-back against the same team that they beat in October for the first one, the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings may be happy to face the Isles at the Coliseum; they have lost all three games (0-2-1) played between the teams in Brooklyn.
And Finally…
You are reading the 552nd consecutive edition of The Skinny…and the first one ever produced in Vietnam. Two weeks ago marked the 46th anniversary of the American withdrawal from Vietnam, which made for an interesting night in the Isles' first year of existence – one that I captured here: http://www.nyiskinny.com/2015/01/it-happened-at-coliseum-on-january-23rd.html
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
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