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The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 68 Rangers 5, Isles 2 Johnny Brodzinski broke a 2-2 tie with 4:59 left in the middle period and ...

Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3

"The Skinny"

 By Eric Hornick
 
Game 10
Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3

Josh Bailey scored the winning goal with 1:40 to play to cap an Islander 3-goal third period for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins before a sellout crowd of 18,664 at the Consol Energy Center.  The win, coupled with Carolina's loss in Denver, moves the Islanders into second place in the Metropolitan Division, just three points behind the first place Penguins.

The Scoring:
1st Period                                                                                
10:14 NYI  PPG - M. Moulson (6) Backhand shot - ASST: F. Nielsen (7), J. Tavares (8) 1 - 0 NYI
13:25 PIT J. Jokinen (5) Wrist shot - ASST: B. Sutter (4), M. Niskanen (6) 1 - 1 Tie
 
2nd Period                                                                               
5:59 PIT S. Crosby (8) Snap shot - ASST: C. Kunitz (7)    2 - 1 PIT
 
3rd Period                                                                                
12:46 NYI F. Nielsen (6) Tip-in - ASST: T. Hickey (1), R. Martinek (1)         2 - 2 Tie
13:02 PIT D. Engelland (1) Wrist shot - ASST: J. Vitale (3), M. Niskanen (7) 3 - 2 PIT
13:55 NYI P. Bouchard (1) Backhand shot - ASST: R. Martinek (2)           3 - 3 Tie
18:20 NYI J. Bailey (4) Wrist shot - ASST: F. Nielsen (8), K. Okposo (8)   4 - 3 NYI

The Skinny:  
The Isles are now 3-3-3 in one-goal games, while the Penguins are 3-2-0…Pierre-Marc Bouchard  recorded his first goal as an Islander…Josh Bailey now has eight goals in 25 games against Pittsburgh; it's his highest goal total against any opponent.. ..This was the seventh straight game to be decided by one goal; nine of the Isles' ten games this season have been decided by one goal (and 13 of 14, going back to last season). It is the Islanders' longest stretch of 1-goal games since an eight-game stretch from 12/26/09-1/9/10…Frans Nielsen and Matt Moulson remain tied for the team lead in goals (6) as each player scored for the third consecutive game; it's the first time since February 8-11, 2011 (Moulson and Tavares) that two Islanders have scored in the same three consecutive games…Moulson now leads the NHL with five power play goals; he also has a point in five straight games…Radek Martinek made his season debut and matched a career high with two points…Deryk Engelland's goal was his first in 62 games…Thomas Hickey matched a career-high by going +3; he is now +14 in 49 career NHL games, all for the Isles…After being held pointless in the opener, John Tavares has a point in nine straight games (2nd longest streak of his career – he had a 12 game streak in 2011-12), matching Calgary's Jiri Hudler for the longest streak in the NHL this season.  Tavares also has an assist in five straight games (Only SidneyCrosby, 6 games, has a longer streak this season)…Crosby is now 21-55-76 in 42 games against the Isles…Chris Kunitz had a career-high 9 shots…The Isles are 3-0-3 when they score first…The Penguins have sold out 293 consecutive games.

Great Dane
Frans Nielsen is the first Islander with at least three points in consecutive games since Josh Bailey had eight points in a home-and-home against Pittsburgh March 27-29, 2012.
Nielsen also had his third three-point game of the season; it's the first time in his career he has done that.  Nielsen joins Sidney Crosby as the only NHL players with three three-point games this season.
Nielsen's six goals match his total for last season; he now has 21 points (8-13-21) in 29 games against the Penguins.

Comeback
The Isles improve to 1-2-1 when trailing after two periods while Pittsburgh falls to 4-1-0 when leading after two.  The Isles won just twice last season (2-7-5) when trailing after two periods
The Isles have outscored their opponents 6-2 in the third period over the last three games.

Look at this List:
NHL Leading Scorers:
1.     Sidney Crosby  PIT       10         8-10-18
2.     Henrik Sedin     VAN     13         3-13-16
3.     Alex Ovechkin   WSH     10         10-5-15
4.     Steven StamkosTBL      9          7-7-14  
5.     Frans Nielsen   NYI       10         6-8-14  

The Shots:
Isles           8-10-7=25
Penguins  14-20-8=42
 
It's the first time that the Isles were outshot by at least 17 shots since March 27, 2012, when they were outshot 54-25 in a 5-3 win in Pittsburgh.
 
Home and Road
The Islanders are 4-3-3 overall, 2-1-3 at home and 2-2-0 on the road.  
The Penguins are 7-3-0 overall, 5-2-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road.   

In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 39 saves and improves to 4-2-3 on the season.  Nabokov is 11-6-0 against the Penguins in his career.
Nabokov is now 7-0-1 in his Isles career in the game after a game he allows 5+ goals (h/t Arthur Staple).  Nabokov has won the last five games following a game he allows 5+ goals. 

Jeff Zatkoff made 21 saves for Pittsburgh but falls to 0-2-0 in his NHL career.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-1 while the Penguins were 0-5.  It was the first power play goal allowed by Pittsburgh at home this season, ending a streak of 14 consecutive home games dating back to last season.
The Isles are 3-1-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-2-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-2-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-2-1 when they do not.  The Isles have killed 26 of 30 opponents' power plays this season.

Long Island Power Authority
The Isles are 7-18 in the last five games on the power play, scoring at least once in each game.  It's their longest streak of scoring a power play goal since a 6 game streak from March 17 to March 29, 2012.
The Isles have the #1 power play in the NHL (10-33, 30.3%) and the #1 power play at home (9-25, 36.0%)

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 4-1-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-2-1 when they do not. 

Second to The One
Jack Capuano is now 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (205) and wins (88).
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.     Al Arbour 740
2.     Jack Capuano 88
3.     Terry Simpson 81
4.     Peter Laviolette 77
5.     Ted Nolan 74
 
Most games coached (Islanders):
1.     Al Arbour 1,500
2.     Jack Capuano 205
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181

They Said It
Josh Bailey:   (Nabby) made so many huge saves for us tonight …even when we're not playing our best, we've found a way to get points… It's always satisfying to (beat) Pittsburgh…hopefully we will carry some momentum to tomorrow night.

They Tweeted It
@barfxsimpson radek martinek on pace for 144 assists this season, as well as a contender for the hart, norris, and vince lombardi trophies
@StapeNewsday  Great googly moogly -- rush by Bailey/Okposo and Zatkoff robs Bailey, then Nielsen passes up open shot and Bailey wills puck in. 4-3 #isles

The Coach
"Our guys were resilient in the 3rd… we couldn't get anything going with our forward lines, so we changed it up… (Radek Martinek) is an experienced guy…headsy guy…played extremely well.  It's big (for Bouchard) to get a goal – hopefully one goal will lead to more."

Head of the Class
John Tavares has 261 career points; he is 56 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks.  No other player from that draft is anywhere close.  Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player from that draft.

124 NHL goals
Moulson has 124 career goals (118 as an Islander).  While 262 players were selected before the Penguins chose Moulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 16 have more goals.  

Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic played a career-high 30:21 to lead the Isles for the third time this season. It's the third straight game an Islander has played at least 30 minutes. Kris Letang, in his first game of the season, led Pittsburgh with 25:20.
The Isles are 3-2-2 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-1-1 when Hamonic leads them.

In the Circle
The Islanders won only 27 of 75 draws.  Kyle Okposo won the only draw he took however, no other Islander won more than he lost; Sidney Crosby won 18 of 26 for Pittsburgh. 

Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 27-24.  Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin and Travis Hamonic each had four hits to lead the Isles.  There were no fights, leaving the season total at 1: Boulton (1).

Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots; Andrew MacDonald led the way with five.

All–time Winners
The Islanders improve to ten games over all-time NHL .500 (1375-1365-442 in 3,182 games).  The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above all-time NHL .500.

Ironmen
John Tavares is the reigning Islanders' ironman. Tavares has now played in 217 consecutive games.
Frans Nielsen (140) and Kyle Okposo (123) also have streaks of at least 100 consecutive games.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Post Cup Era 
·         Matt Moulson 10/3/2009- 4/4/2013  284
·         Richard Park 10/5/2006 – 2/18/2009 221
·         Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220
·         Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981- 1/12/1984 219
·         John Tavares 10/16/10 – CURRENT  217
·         Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215

Missing Men
Lubomir Visnovsky is on injured reserve after suffering a concussion on Saturday; Brian Strait missed the game with an upper body injury. Michael Grabner served the second and final game of his suspension while Eric Boulton was also scratched. The Isles have lost seven games this season due to injury.

Career Wins, Active Goalies
 
Career Wins
19. Gump Worsley 335
20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333
 
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
 
4. Tomas Vokoun 51
 
Career Shutouts
 
18 Clint Benedict       57
19 Evgeni Nabokov 55
20 Bernie Parent       54
20 Ed Giacomin        54

Career Goals as an Islander
17
Duane Sutter
121
18
Alexei Yashin
119
19
Matt Moulson
118
19
Mark Parrish
118
19
Steve Thomas
118
22
Ray Ferraro
116
22
John Tavares
116
24
Benoit Hogue
105
24
Ed Westfall
105
 
 
 
Career Assists as an Islander
24
Mariusz Czerkawski
150
25
Travis Green
145
25
John Tavares
145
27
Frans Nielsen
144
28
Steve Thomas
140
29
Mark Streit
139

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
25
Gerry Hart
476
 
26
Mariusz Czerkawski
470
 
27
Radek Martinek
467
 
28
Trent Hunter
459
 
 
39
Randy Wood
381
 
40
Frans Nielsen
377
 
41
Dave Scatchard
347
 
42
Alexei Yashin
346
 
43
Mark Parrish
345
 
44
Josh Bailey
339
 
45
Marty McInnis
337
 
46
Robert Goring
332
 
46
Oleg Kvasha
332
 
48
Bruno Gervais
331
 
48
Zigmund Palffy
331
 
50
Shawn Bates
330
 
51
Kyle Okposo
329
 
52
Eric Cairns
327
 
53
Alan Kerr
326
 
54
Brad Dalgarno
321
 
55
Ray Ferraro
316
 
55
Steve Webb
316
 
55
Richard Park
316
 
58
Gerald Diduck
314
 
59
Mikko Makela
307
 
60
Gordon Lane
304
 
61
Matt Moulson
303
 
62
John Tavares
301
 
63
Arron Asham
300
 
63
Roman Hamrlik
300
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 







Career Points as an Islander
20
Ed Westfall
286
21
John Tavares
260
22
Jason Blake
258
22
Steve Thomas
258



29
Benoit Hogue
229
29
Trent Hunter
229
31
Matt Moulson
222
32
Mikko Makela
219
33
Mark Parrish
214
34
Garry Howatt
213
34
Jean Potvin
213
36
Anders Kallur
211
37
Frans Nielsen
207
38
Marty McInnis
198
39
Wayne Merrick
197
40
Robert Goring
195
42
Kyle Okposo
195
42
Jeffrey Norton
188



Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none) with three games to play.  The teams will next play on November 22nd, again in Pittsburgh.
After going 0-11-2 between 2008 and 2011 in Pittsburgh, the Isles are 3-2-0 in their last five regular season games in the Steel City.

Happy Anniversary
10 years ago tonight: October 25, 2003.   Trent Hunter scored his first regular season goal and Sean Bergenheim scored his first NHL goal as the Islanders pounded the Penguins 7-2 at the Coliseum.  Penguin owner Mario Lemieux went -4 while Brooks Orpik, who ended the Islanders' season last spring recorded his first NHL point.  Garth Snow had 19 saves in the win.
Overall the Islanders are now 5-8-1 on this date. 

On The Farm
Bridgeport is 1-3-1-0 on the season after a 6-5 OT loss to Binghamton on Sunday.  Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists for the first three-point game of his professional career; he leads the Sound Tigers with 6 points (1-5-6).  Bridgeport visits Syracuse on Saturday.

Up Next
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26th —PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
 
The Islanders return home to face the Flyers in the back-end of the back-to-back set on Saturday.  The Flyers, despite defeating the Rangers 2-1 on Thursday, are tied with the Rangers for the fewest points in the NHL.
The Flyers have had trouble scoring goals, tallying just 13 in nine games (and no more than two in any contest).  Defenseman Brayden Coburn has had the GW goal in both of the Flyers' wins.

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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