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The Skinny: Isles 5, Chicago 4

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 31 Isles 5, Chicago 4 Simon Holmstrom scored a goal and added two assists, while Jean-Gabriel P...

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Skinny: Florida 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 19

Florida 4, Isles 1

 

Mike Santorelli scored two goals as the Florida Panthers rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Islanders 4-1, before 9,157 at Nassau Coliseum.  The loss extends the Islanders winless streak to 12 games (0-11-1).

Moulson Scores First

Bryan McCabe's giveaway led to the only goal of the first period.  Matt Moulson blasted one by Islander nemesis Tomasa Vokoun at 13:07 to give the Islanders the lead.

Clawed in the Second

The Islanders began the middle period with a 5-on-3 advantage for 36 seconds, but by the 3:06 mark of the period, Florida had turned the game upside down to grab a 2-1 lead.  Santorelli and Marty Reasoner scored the goals 39 seconds apart.  Santorelli's second goal of the period off a cross-crease pass by David Booth made it 3-1 Panthers and then Stephen Weiss beat Dwayne Roloson to make it 4-1.  All four Florida goals came within a 7:54 span.

Pressure, but No Goals

The Isles outshot Florida 21-12 in the third period (they even killed a 1:24 5-on-3) but couldn't beat Vokoun.  4-1 Final.

One is the Loneliest Number

The Isles have been held to one goal or less in six of the last seven games; John Tavares' sixth-attacker goal on Wednesday gave the Isles their only two-goal game in that stretch.

Home and Road

The Panthers improve to 9-9-0 , 4-7-0 on the road.  The Panthers have not won or lost more than two consecutive games all season. The Isles are 4-12-3, 2-4-1 at the Coliseum.  The Isles have lost four straight at home for the first time since December 14-21, 2009.

Still Streaking

The Isles are now winless in 12 straight for the first time a 14-game winless streak in February/March, 1990.  It's the sixth time in franchise history that the Isles have gone winless in at least 12 straight games.

Hard Hitter

Matt Martin was credited with 8 hits, raising his team-leading total to 65. 

Lots of Shots

Bruno Gervais and Blake Comeau led the Isles with five shots on goal.  Zenon Konopoka was the only Isalnder without a shot on goal. The Isles recorded 40 shots in a game for the first time since Opening Night.

Unbalanced Schedule

This is the latest in Islander history that they played their 7th home game by both number of games and the calendar.  In four seasons, including last year, they played at least six home games in October.  The previous latest date was November 14th, which they did both in 1992 when they played their seventh home game in their 17th overall game.

In the Nets

Dwayne Roloson, playing for the seventh straight game, finished with 27 saves.  His record falls to 2-9-1.  Tomas Vokoun made 39 saves for Florida to improve to 8-6-0.  He is 14-4-1 in his career against the Isles.

 Power Plays

The Isles failed to connect on four power plays while they killed all 6 Florida power plays.  Each team failed on convert on a lengthy 5-on-3.  The Isles' power play is 0-20 in the last five games, while the penalty killers were perfect for the first time in four games.  Florida is a league-worst 5-62 on the power play.

Goal drought

The Isles have scored only eleven goals in the last ten games.  It's the fewest goals that the Isles have scored in a ten-game stretch since the inaugural 1972-73 season, when they scored 10 goals in the 10 games preceding their 9-7 win in Boston on January 18, 1973.

In the Circle

There were 65 draws, and the Isles won 33 of them (51%). Zenon Kenopka (11-4) was the Isles' best face-off men.

Home Stretch

This was the second game in a 14 game stretch in which the Islanders will play ten times at home and only four times on the road.  The Isles have only three road games out of the metro-area between now and New Year's Eve, and do not play consecutive road games in that stretch.

Missing Men

Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald Milan Jurcina and Jack Hillen remain out, although MacDonald has resumed skating.  Doug Weight missed the game with back spasms, allowing Rob Schremp back in the lineup. diagnosed with a concussion, Dylan Reese made his season debut. Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch.

Missing Mac

The Isles are 0-11-1 in the 12 games Andrew MacDonald has missed.

3 or Less

The Isles have been held to three goals or fewer in 14 straight games (2-11-1) since tallying five against Colorado on October 16.  It's the longest that the team has gone without scoring four goals since a 14-game stretch last December 5th-31st.

Season Series Stats          

Florida leads the season series 2 games to none.  The Panthers return to the Coliseum for a President's Day matinee (February 21).  Florida now has at least a point in seven straight games against the Isles (6-0-1); each team has a shootout win in that stretch.

Happy Anniversary

24 years ago today (November 20, 1986):  The Islanders defeat Toronto 6-4.  They had not played at the Coliseum on this date since then, going 0-6-2 in the interim, all on the road.

At Least it Looked Better

Saturday's game was the Islanders' first MSG+2 game to be shown in High Definition.

Up Next

Sunday, November 21st- Islanders @ Atlanta 5:00pm

[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 4:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles will look to break their 12-game winless streak (0-11-1) with their second game in 22 hours as they visit Atlanta.  The Isles split two games in Atlanta last season and have won four out of five overall against the Thrashers.  Rick DiPietro is expected to return to the nets for the Islanders.  This is the only game in an 8-game stretch that the Isles are playing outside of the Metro area (six at home and one at Madison Square Garden).

Finally…

Rest in Peace, Pat Burns.

 

 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

 

 

 


 
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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