The Skinny: Dallas 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 28

Dallas 3, Isles 1

Alex Radulov, in his first game back since being benched, scored the winning goal and added an assist as the Dallas Stars defeated the Isles 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center.

Mathew Barzal scored the only Islander goal; he didn't reach twelve goals last season until January 3rd.

The Isles have lost four of their last five road games and have trailed by three goals at some point in each game.

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Andrew Cogliano (1) Jamie Oleksiak, Miro Heiskanen 11:59 NYI 0,DAL 1

Alexander Radulov (9) John Klingberg, Mattias Janmark 16:02 NYI 0,DAL 2 PPG

2nd Period

Denis Gurianov (6) Alexander Radulov, Corey Perry 03:12 NYI 0,DAL 3 PPG

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (12) Devon Toews, Scott Mayfield 15:27 NYI 1,DAL 3

The Skinny     

The Isles are 3-4-1 in their last eight games as they failed in their third attempt to get to a season-high 14 games over NHL-.500 for the third time this season… Andrew Cogliano's goal was his first since March 30th…Thomas Greiss appeared in his 177th Isles game, passing Glenn Healy and tying Jaroslav Halak for 6th place on the Isles list…Casey Cizikas played his 509th game, matching the career total of fan favorites Mick Vukota and Rich Pilon…Ben Bishop has won four straight games against the Isles (plus four more in the playoffs); he is also 8-1-1 in his last 10 overall…While the Isles have won nine games this season after allowing the first goal, the team that has scored first has won the last 17 games Dallas has played.

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are 8-2-0 on Coliseum ice, where they have won seven straight games.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 829-602-60-143 in 1,634 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  904

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    829

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,663

3. Barry Trotz        1,634

4. Al Arbour 1,607

The Rotation

The Islanders are first team since the Sharks in 2006-07 to alternate starting goalies for each of the first 28 games of the season. (The Sharks used Vesa Toskala in the odd games and Evgeni Nabokov in the even games before Nabokov started games 36 and 37 around the Christmas break)

This is the longest streak in Isles history:

• 28 games (Varlamov/Greiss) in 2019-20; CURRENT

• 24 games (Hrudey/Smith) in 1985-86; Smith played games 24 and 25.

• 23 games (Smith/Melanson) in 1982-83; Smith played games 23 and 24.

The NHL record of 76 was set by the Rangers in 1990-91 (John Vanbiesbrouck/Mike Richter). 

   

First Things First

The Isles are 10-2-1 when scoring first and are 9-5-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles   11-10-14=35

Dallas 16-13-8=37

The Isles are 6-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 19-7-2 overall; 12-2-1 at home (8-2-0 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 7-5-1 on the road.  

Dallas is 17-11-3 overall; 11-4-1 at home and 6-7-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 6-2-1 in Division games and 13-5-1 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 14-3-1 against the East and 5-4-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 34 saves but falls to 10-4-0 this season and 5-3-0 against Dallas.

Ben Bishop made 34 saves as he improves to 11-6-2 on the season and 9-4-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of power play time; Dallas was 2-2 on the power play in 2:56 of PP time.

The Isles are 8-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-6-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 7-4-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-3-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 3-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 2-1-0 when the power plays are even, and 14-4-1 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-7-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-2-3 when scoring three or more.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 2-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

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

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

• The Isles are 11-6-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:01); Dallas: John Klingberg (22:12)

Anthony Beauvillier led Isles forwards with 19:52 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (7-1-0), Ryan Pulock (8-1-2), Devon Toews (2-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Dallas 29 (46%).  

Brock Nelson won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Blake Comeau won 4 of 4 for Dallas.

Hit Count

Isles 36 (Ross Johnston -CAREER HIGH 9). 

Dallas 16 (Roman Polak -3)

   

Fights

There were no fights.  Season total: 6 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Adam Pelech and Johnny Boychuk --3)

Dallas 16 (Jamie Benn -3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 61, Dallas 68

5-on-5 Isles 50, Dallas 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Scott Mayfield +8

Dallas: Roman Polak +14

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 17-7-2 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee will be on December 14th vs. Buffalo.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 228, Brock Nelson 204, Mathew Barzal 192, Ryan Pulock 155, Josh Bailey 113, Anthony Beauvillier 103, and Devon Toews 76.  

Iron D

Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 155 consecutive regular season games:

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)

5. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 155

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Tom Kuhnhackl-LTIR), Noah Dobson, Michael Dal Colle.

Total games lost: 74

Late Heroes

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

10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.

11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

11/21 vs. STL – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures (offside-11/19 vs PIT)

Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs SJ)

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.  Josh Bailey 825…

23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 521 *** 26. Dave Lewis 514 *** 27. Rich Pilon, Mick Vukota and Casey Cizikas 509 *** 30. Brock Nelson 508

Goals

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

14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Anders Lee 159 *** 16. Pierre Turgeon and Josh Bailey 147

18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 133

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 305 …

25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. Nick Leddy 160

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 452…

24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 271 *** 26. Brock Nelson 262

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***

5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss 177

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 95

Shutouts (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 110

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***

5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 67

Season Series Stats

Dallas leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet in Brooklyn on February 4th.

The Isles are 4-2-1 in their last seven trips to Dallas, dating back to a 5-4 win on December 3, 2011.

On the Farm   

Bridgeport split a pair of games over the weekend, winning a shootout in Utica before dropping a 5-2 decision in Syracuse.  Bridgeport is 9-13-3-1 on the season (but 5-2-0 in the last seven games).  They host Utica on Monday. 

Up Next

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9th   —  ISLANDERS AT TAMPA BAY – 7:00 PM

[MSG+-- Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 

The Isles head to the Sunshine State to continue the road trip was the reigning President's Trophy champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Lightning have struggled a bit this season and are currently one point out of a playoff spot.  

The Isles defeated Tampa 5-2 at the Coliseum November 1st and are 2-0-1 in the last three games against Tampa.  However, all three of those games were in New York.  The Isles are 1-4-0 in their last five regular season trips to Tampa.

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