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The Skinny: Carolina 6, Isles 3 (Carolina wins series 4-1)

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 5 Carolina 6, Isles 3 Carolina Wins Series 4-1 School is out. Jack D...

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Skinny: Isles 3, Panthers 2 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
 
Game 75
Isles 3, Panthers 2 (SO)
Frans Nielsen scored the only goal of the shootout as the Islanders won a game they never led, rallying from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat the Florida Panthers 3-2 before a crowd of 16,814 at Bank Atlantic Center.

The Scoring:
1st Period
5:55 EV FLA 9 S.WEISS(19) 14 T.FLEISCHMANN(32) 82 T.KOPECKY(20)
 
2nd Period
18:57 PP NYI 26 M.MOULSON(34) 91 J.TAVARES(44) 15 P.PARENTEAU(49)
 
3rd Period
9:51 EV FLA 14 T.FLEISCHMANN(24) 82 T.KOPECKY(21)
12:22 EV NYI 21 K.OKPOSO(17) 51 F.NIELSEN(24) 12 J.BAILEY(12)
 
The Shootout:
Florida: Madden-NG, Wolski-NG, Goc-NG
Isles: Nielsen-Goal, Tavares-NG
 
The Skinny Mark Streit saw his six-game point streak (1-7-8), his longest as an Islander, end.  Josh Bailey extended his point streak to four games. Steve Staios played in his 995th career game. Matt Moulson scores for the third straight game; he now has a career-high 34 goals. Kyle Okposo scored for the second straight game. John Tavares now has 5 assists in the last three games; he was held shotless for only the 2nd time this season (and 17th time in his career). Tomas Fleischmann scored his team-leading 24th goal for Florida.

The Shots:
Isles               9-14-10-4=37  
Panthers        16-9-8-2 =35 
 
The Isles have had at least 34 shots in four straight games after attempting 33 or fewer in each of the twenty prior games.  It is the first time that they have had at least 34 in four straight games since January 16-21, 2010.
 
Shootout Stuff
Nielsen is 23 of 38 (60.5%) in career shootout attempts. He has regained first place in NHL history ahead of Slava Kozlov (58.7%) and Trevor Linden (58.3%) on the all-time shootout list (minimum 12). Nielsen is 7 of 11 in the shootout this season.
Nielsen's goal was his ninth career deciding goal. Each of his last six deciding goals has come on the road, including all four this season.  Only Ilya Kovalchuk has more deciding goals this season (7).
 
Home and Road
The Islanders are 31-33-11 overall and are 16-17-5 on the road. The Isles are 13-4-1 in games that are tied after two periods.
Florida is 36-24-15 overall and 20-9-10 at home. The Panthers are 5-0-2 in the last seven games at home.

In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 33 shots and evens his record at 18-18-3 on the season.  He is 5-1 in the shootout.
Jose Theodore made 35 saves for Florida; he is now 22-14-9 on the season and 18-9-3 in his career against the Islanders. Theodore has the fourth highest total of career wins against the Isles among active goalies (Brodeur 49, Lundqvist 24, Biron 21, Theodore 18, Fleury 17).

Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 75 points (31-44-75) on 173 Islander goals this season (43.35%).  Zigmund Palffy (41.0% in 1997-98) is the only Islander to record points on over 40% of the team's goals in a complete season.   Tavares is the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record 75 points in a season.

Highest Percentage of Team's Points by Club Scoring Leader (Isles history)
·         John Tavares
2011-12
43.4%
·         Ziggy Palffy
1997-98
41.0%
·         Pierre Turgeon
1992-93
39.4%
·         Mike Bossy
1982-83
39.1%
·         Mike Bossy
1981-82
38.2%
 
 
 
Most Points, Islanders, Since 1993-94
·         Pierre Turgeon
1993-94
94
·         Ziggy Palffy
1996-97
90
·         Ziggy Palffy
1997-98
87
·         Ziggy Palffy
1995-96
87
·         John Tavares
2011-12
75
·         Alexei Yashin
2001-02
75
·         Steve Thomas
1993-94
75
 

As Seen on MSG+ Saturday (updated thru Sunday's Game)
Points on Greatest Percentage of Team's Goals (since 2008-09)
·         Steven Stamkos 2009-10  44.6%
·         Martin St Louis   2009-10  44.1%
·         Evgeni Malkin    2008-09  43.8%
·         Sidney Crosby   2009-10  43.8%
·         John Tavares    2011-12  43.4%

Royalty
Tavares is the fourth player in Islander history to record at least 75 points at age 21 or younger.  The other three have banners hanging at the Coliseum: Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin.

Parenteau's Helping Hands
PA Parenteau has 49 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had in 1993-94.  He now has 65 points on the season.  His next assist will make him the first Islander to reach 50 in the last eighteen seasons.

Most Assists, Islanders, Since 1989-90
·         Pierre Turgeon 1992-93 74
·         Pierre Turgeon 1993-94 56
·         Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 51
·         Steve Thomas 1992-93  50
·         PA Parenteau 2011-12 49
·         Pierre Turgeon 1991-92 49
·         Jeff Norton 1989-90 49

64
The Isles now have three players with at least 64 points (Tavares, Moulson, Parenteau).  It's the first time since 1993-94 that the Isles have at least three players with 64 points.

Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-2 on the power play while Florida was 0-2.  The Isles are 4-12 in the last four games and 7-23 in the last seven games with the extra man; they have connected on the power play in four straight games for the first time since November 29th -December 6th.  The Isles have been shorthanded only ten times in the last six games and are 10-10 on the PK in that stretch.  The Isles are now 24-106 with the power play on the road this season (22.6%; 2nd in NHL).

They Said It
Frans Nielsen: "We can't just lay down and die.  It's still the NHL, we're still where we want to be and we're a team. You keep working hard no matter what."

They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: "More quality officiating in Sunrise -- Theodore throws his stick at Grabner's shot, no call."

The Coach
"I'm happy with the effort the last two nights. They're playing hard, as they should be."

Leading Ice Men
Mark Streit led the Isles with 26:50; Bryan Campbell led Florida with 26:33. 

In the Circle
The Islanders won 28 draws; the Panthers won 27.  Frans Nielsen won 7 of 12 for the Isles; Jered Smithson won 5 of 8 for Florida.

Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 24-21.  NHL hit leader Matt Martin led the Isles with six hits and now has a club record 346 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin.  The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09.  Martin has also recorded 13 of the team's 21 fighting majors this season.

Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 14 blocks, led by Dylan Reese's four.  They lead the NHL with 1,256. 

Goals by Period (Season)
Isles:           57-57-56-3 = 173
Opponents: 68-65-80-7 = 220
 
Third period goals include 9 empty net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.

All-time Winners
The Islanders improve to three games over all-time NHL .500 (1344-1341-432 in 3,117 games).  The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Scoring
The Isles have scored 98 goals in their 31 wins (3.16 per game) and 76 goals in their other 44 games (0-33-11; 1.72 per game).  In their 33 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 44 goals (1.33 per game).

Head of the Class
John Tavares has 196 career points; he is 47 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks.  No other player in that draft is anywhere close.  Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player in that draft.
Longest Point Streaks in NHL, Last 2 Seasons
·         Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)
·         Eric Staal, 12 games (2/8/12-3/6/12)
·         John Tavares, 12 games (12/29/11-1/21/12)
·         Ilya Kovalchuk 12 games (2/1/11-2/25/11)

Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 34 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 22 of them.  He has now been on-ice for 58 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 38 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa. 

101 NHL Goals
Moulson now has 101 career goals (95 as an Islander).  While 262 players were selected ahead of Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 18 have more goals.

Road Warrior
22 of Moulson's 34 goals have come on the road.  Moulson now leads the entire NHL in road goals. Marian Gaborik and Alex Ovechkin each have 21.

Powerful
14 of Moulson's goals have come on the power play.  Only James Neal and Scott Hartnell (15 each) have more.  Moulson is the first Islander since Jason Blake (14 in 2006-07) to have 14 power play goals in a season.

30-30-30
Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98) to have at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons.  Only 4 players in Islander history have had more thirty goal seasons: Trottier (11), Bossy (10), Gillies (6), LaFontaine (6). Moulson has 95 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the lockout. Moulson has opened the scoring an NHL-leading 11 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-1 when he does so.  He is the first Islander with at least 11 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.

34-Goal Club
Moulson records the 50th 34-goal season in Islander history, matching Michael Grabner's total from last season.  The last Islander to score at least 35 was Jason Blake, who tallied 40 goals in 2006-07. With two more goals, Moulson will be only the second Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1997-98) to record at least 36 goals.

30-30
Tavares and Moulson give the Isles two 30-goal scorers for the second straight season (Grabner 34, Moulson 31 last year). Prior to last year, the Isles had not had two 30-goal scorers since 2001-02 (Alexei Yashin & Mark Parrish).  It's the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94 that the Isles have had multiple 30-goal scorers in consecutive seasons (4 in both 92-93 and 93-94).

20-20-20 x 2
Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at least twenty goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2005-06.  Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:
·         Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78),
·         Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79),
·         Bryan Trottier (13: 1975-76 through 1987-88) and
·         Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87).
 
Captain, My Captain
Mark Streit has 43 points.  He joins a select group of Islander defensemen to record 40 points at least three times in his career, and the 1st to do so that frequently in nearly a quarter-century:
·         Denis Potvin -15 times (1973-74 to 1987-88)
·         Tomas Jonsson - 5 times (1982-83 to 1987-88, except 1986-87)
·         Stefan Persson - 4 times (1977-78 to 1981-82, except 1979-80)

Only three other Islander defenders have recorded 40 points in the 2000s:  Tom Poti (2006-07), Adrian Aucoin (2003-04) and Roman Hamrlik (2000-01 and 2002-03).
With 37 assists this season, Streit also joins D. Potvin and Persson as the only Isles defenders to have at least 3 seasons with at least 37 assists (Potvin -12x, Persson - 4x)

Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 239 games since joining the team. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era.   Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.

Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islander defender to do so.  The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History
1.     Billy Harris         576
2.     Bob Nystrom     301
3.     Denis Potvin     262
4.     J.P. Parise        240
5.     Matt Moulson  239

Okposo in the Groove
Kyle Okposo has scored 15 of his 17 goals since the start of December.  Okposo has scored 52 of his 61 career goals from December-April.

Missing Men
Mark Eaton (healthy) and Nino Niederreiter (healthy) were scratched. Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve.  The Isles have lost 335 man-games to injury so far this season. Al Montoya served as the back-up.

Career Years
·         Matt Moulson: 34 goals, 30 assists and 64 points are new career highs.
·         PA Parenteau: 49 assists and 65 points are new career highs. He has 16 goals, four shy of his career best.
·         John Tavares: 32 goals, 43 assists and 75 points are new career highs.
·         Frans Nielsen: 15 goals are a new career-high.
·         Travis Hamonic: He has 19 assists, two shy of a career high.
·         Andrew MacDonald: 5 goals are a new career-high.
·         Matt Martin: 7 goals are a new career high.  He has 14 points, two shy of his career best.
·         Kyle Okposo: He has 17 goals, two shy of a career high.

List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
 
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
22. Miikka Kiprusoff 309
 
Most First Goals of Game (NHL This Season)
1
Matt Moulson
11
1
Ilya Kovalchuk
11
3
Five Players with
  9
 
Career Goals as an Islander
25
Trent Hunter
99
 
26
Matt Moulson
95
 
26
Mikko Makela
95
 
26
David Volek
95
 
29
Randy Wood
94
 



 



 
32
Travis Green
92
 
33
Butch Goring
87
 
34
Tomas Jonsson
84
 
34
John Tavares
84
 
36
Wayne Merrick
81
 
36
Dave Scatchard
81
 



Career Assists as an Islander – active players
1
Mark Streit
115
 
2
John Tavares
112
 
3
Frans Nielsen
107
 
4
Kyle Okposo
  92
 



 



 










Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
54
Steve Webb
316
 
55
Gerald Diduck
314
 
56
Frans Nielsen
312
 
57
Mikko Makela
307
 



 



 
61
Gord Dineen
287
 
62
Josh Bailey
284
63
Jeff Norton
282
 
64
Steve Thomas
275
 
65
Kyle Okposo
264
 
66
Blake Comeau
261
 
66
Andre St. Laurent
261
 



 
77
JP Parise
240
 
78
Matt Moulson
239
 
79
John Tavares
236
 
80
Adrian Aucoin
235
 
81
Darius Kasparaitis
232
 
81
Denis Vaske
232
 
83
Zdeno Chara
231
 
83
Billy MacMillian
231
 
83
Mark Streit
231
 
86
Chris Campoli
228
 





 
Career Points as an Islander
34
Anders Kallur
211
35
Marty McInnis
198
36
Wayne Merrick
197
37
John Tavares
196
38
Butch Goring
195



47
Miro Satan
166
48
Matt Moulson
165
49
Frans Nielsen
159
50
Oleg Kvasha
158
51
Alan Kerr
154
52
Roman Hamrlik
153
52
Kyle Okposo
153
54
Michael Peca
142



Season Series Stats
The Panthers won the season series three games to one (7 points to 1). Florida outscored the Islanders 12-5 this season. 

Happy Anniversary
9 years ago tonight (3-25-02):  Alexei Yashin had four goals as the Islanders pounded the Blackhawks 9-2 in the United Center.
All-time, the Isles are 9-5-5 on this date, including 6-1-1 in their last 8.
On The Farm
Matt Donovan scored a power play goal with 2.8 seconds remaining in overtime and Kevin Poulin made 42 saves as the Sound Tigers snapped an eight game winless streak with a 3-2 win over Connecticut at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers are 33-24-3-6 overall, but are 1-5-0-3 in their last nine.  Bridgeport has 75 points and trails Connecticut by two points for the division lead and hold a game in hand on the Whale. Bridgeport hosts Worcester on Tuesday.

Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH 27th ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00PM
[MSG+2 (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The long road trip comes to an end on Tuesday as the Islanders begin a home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center.  The Penguins have won each of the first four meetings this season (once in a shootout), outscoring the Isles 16-5.  The Isles have never won at Consol and are 0-11-2 in their last 13 visits to the Steel City.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
 
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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