Wednesday, December 04, 2013

The Skinny: Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
 
Game 28
Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2 (OT)
 
Sidney Crosby scored 3:44 into overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Islanders 3-2 before a crowd of 13,915 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It's the Islanders' second consecutive overtime loss and it extends the Isles' winless streak to seven straight games (0-5-2); they are 2-10-2 in their last 14 games.

The Scoring:
1st Period
09:53 NYI Kyle Okposo (7) Deflected shot - ASST: John Tavares (20), Thomas Vanek (10) 1 - 0 NYI         
12:55 NYI Kyle Okposo (8) Slapshot - ASST: John Tavares (21), Andrew MacDonald (8)   2 - 0 NYI
           
2nd Period
19:44 PIT PPG - James Neal (9) Snap shot - ASST: Evgeni Malkin (29), Chris Kunitz (14) 2 - 1 NYI
           
3rd Period
08:00 PIT PPG - Sidney Crosby (14) Snap shot - ASST: Evgeni Malkin (30)          2 - 2 Tie           
 
OT Period
03:44 PIT Sidney Crosby (15) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 3 - 2 PIT

The Skinny:  
Kyle Okposo's two goals match his career high; over his seven career 2-goal games, three have been Atlanta/Winnipeg and two have been against Pittsburgh… Okposo has more goals, more assists, and more points (8-14-22) in his career against Pittsburgh than against any other opponent…Okposo's goals were the Isles' first in the first period since scoring just before Evgeni Nabokov got hurt on November 16th vs. Detroit. …John Tavares earned the primary assist on both goals, but was held without a shot on goal… Isles have been outscored 32-17 in the third period, including 25-8 in the last 18 games; they have also been outscored 3-0 in overtime…  Sidney Crosby now is 24-56-80 in 44 games against the Isles; he has 36 points vs. the Isles in the last five seasons—most of any opponent in that span…Evgeni Malkin had assists on both Penguin power play goals, extending his streak with an assist/point to nine games … This is the sixth time this season that the Isles have allowed at least two power play goals (0-5-1)… It's the first time that the Isles have lost consecutive games, both in overtime or shootout since March 11-13, 2012 (Rangers/Washington) and the first time in club history that they have allowed overtime times in consecutive games, both on Coliseum ice…The Isles have been outscored 28-13 during their seven- game winless streak, which is their longest winless streak since they had a 14-game streak from October 23-November 24, 2010 (0-11-3).

The Penalty Shot
Frans Nielsen was stopped on a third period penalty shot that was awarded with the Islanders shorthanded.  It was the first penalty shot in an Islander game this season.  The Isles have scored on 14 of 55 all-time penalty shots, but have been stopped on 18 of the last 19 penalty shots at the Coliseum (regular season).  Nielsen, who scored against Boston and Philadelphia in 2010-11, is now 2 for 3 in his career in penalty shots.

The Lost Leads
The Isles are now 3-3-1 in games that they have led 2-0 and are 4-2-2 in games that they led after two periods.

The Shots:
Isles            9-8-6-0=23
Penguins 10-8-12-4=34

Home and Road
The Islanders are 8-15-5 overall, 5-6-5 at home and 3-9-0 on the road.  The Isles remain 7 games under NHL-.500 for the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season (30-39-13).  The Isles finish their homestand with a 0-2-2 record.
The Penguins are 19-9-1 overall; they are 11-3-0 at home and 8-6-1 on the road.  Pittsburgh's win is their fourth straight (matching their season high) and moves them one point ahead of Boston for the Eastern Conference lead. They are nine points ahead of Washington in the Metropolitan Division. 

In the Nets
Anders Nilsson made 31 saves and is now 0-0-2 on the season despite a 2.63 GAA.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves to improve to 15-7-1 on the season.  He is 19-7-4 against the Islanders in regular season play in his career.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-2 while the Penguins were 2-5.  The Isles had not allowed a power play goal in the prior three games.
The Isles are 5-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-12-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 2-11-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-4-2 when they do not. 
Over the last 18 games, the Isles power play is 5-61 (8.2%) while the penalty kill is 21-55 (61.8%). During the seven-game winless streak, the power play is 1-20 (and has allowed two shorthanded goals).

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-2-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-13-3 when they do not. 

Helps to Score First
The Isles are 6-2-4 when they score first and are 2-13-1 when they allow the opening goal.  It's the first time in seven games that the Isles have scored the first goal.

Second to The One
Jack Capuano is now 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (223) and wins (92).

Most games coached (Islanders):
1.     Al Arbour 1,500
2.     Jack Capuano 223
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181
 
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.     Al Arbour 740
2.     Jack Capuano 92
3.     Terry Simpson 81
4.     Peter Laviolette 77
5.     Ted Nolan 74
 
They Said It
John Tavares: "I have always said that the refs have the toughest job…but there are times it feels that they (opponents) can get away with a lot.  Just trying to find the consistency."

They Tweeted It
@KatieStrangESPN #Isles In all seriousness, really hope Okposo garners serious Olympic consideration. Good guy, works his butt off, really wants the chance
#Isles Also, respect to Okposo for using "pizazz" in his post-game comments. Don't hear that much

The Coach
I thought he was good.  (Nilsson) made some good saves…some timely saves….He's structured, he stays straight to the puck…and he works hard. 
These guys work…you try to get the most out of your guys…and these guys are working.

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-4-0 in the front-end and 1-4-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.
On the seven sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points once, 3 points once, 2 points once, 1 point once and no points on three occasions.
The next back-to-back set will be on December 9th and 10th in Anaheim and San Jose.

Head of the Class
John Tavares has 281 career points; he is 68 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.

Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald played 29:45 to lead the Isles for the 21st time this season.  Kris Letang played 27:14 to lead the Penguins.
The Isles are 7-10-4 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time and 1-5-1 when Hamonic leads them.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 32 of 59 draws. Fran Nielsen won 12 of 20 to lead the Isles, who won the battle of the face-off circle for the second straight game. Brandon Sutter won 9 of 14 for Pittsburgh.

Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit 26-20. Matt Martin was one of three Islanders with three hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 137.
There were no fights in the game, leaving the season total at eight: Martin (3), Boulton (3), and Carkner (2).

Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots. Andrew MacDonald extended his league-leading total to 98 with three blocks; Peter Regin also had three.

All–time Winners
The Islanders remain two games over all-time NHL .500 (1379-1378-443 in 3,200 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 235 consecutive games, which is the second-longest streak for an Islander in the Post Cup era.
Frans Nielsen (158) and Kyle Okposo (141) 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
·         John Tavares 10/16/10 – CURRENT  235
·         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
·         Mariusz Czerkawski 12/23/1999 – 4/14/2002 215
 
Missing Men
Lubomir Visnovsky, Brian Strait and Evgeni Nabokov remain on injured reserve. Brock Nelson, Radek Martinek and Eric Boulton were scratched. The Isles have lost 63 games this season due to injury.

Nobody Beats the Viz
The Isles were 19-12-4 last season and are 3-3-2 this season with Lubomir Visnovsky in the lineup.  They were 5-5-3 last season and are 5-12-3 this season without him in the lineup.

Career Goals as an Islander
15
Mariusz Czerkawski
145
 
16
Jason Blake
127
 
17
John Tavares
123
 
18
Duane Sutter
121
 
 
 
 
 
Career Assists as an Islander
 
22
Zigmund Palffy
163
23
John Tavares
158
24
David Volek
154
25
Mariusz Czerkawski
150
26
Frans Nielsen
148
27
Travis Green
145

 






Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
24
Eddie Westfall
493
25
Radek Martinek
476
25
Gerry Hart
476
27
Mariusz Czerkawski
470



35
David Volek
396
36
Frans Nielsen
395
37
Bert Marshall
392
38
Travis Green
388
39
Anders Kallur
383
40
Randy Wood
381
41
Josh Bailey
355
42
Dave Scatchard
347
42
Kyle Okposo
347
44
Alexei Yashin
346
 
 
 
54
Brad Dalgarno
321
55
John Tavares
320
56
Ray Ferraro
316
56
Steve Webb
316
56
Richard Park
316
 
 
 
 
 







Career Points as an Islander
20
Ed Westfall
286
21
John Tavares
281
22
Jason Blake
258
22
Steve Thomas
258
 
 
 
32
Mikko Makela
219
33
Frans Nielsen
218
34
Mark Parrish
214
35
Garry Howatt
213
35
Jean Potvin
213
37
Anders Kallur
211
38
Kyle Okposo
208
39
Marty McInnis
198



Season Series Stats
The Penguins lead the season series two games to one (and four points to three) with all three games decided in the 59th minute or later; the teams have only one remaining meeting and that will be on January 23rd at the Coliseum.
The Penguins have won their last three regular season games at the Coliseum, but the Isles are 5-4-4 in their last 13 home games against Pittsburgh.

Happy Anniversary
2 years ago tonight: December 3, 2011.  Rick DiPietro records his final win as an Islander as Al Montoya blanks the Stars in the third period of an Islander 5-4 win in Dallas.  Matt Moulson scored four goals for the Isles for his third career hat trick.
Overall, the Isles are 7-8-3 on this date, including another Matt Moulson hat trick game: December 3, 2009 in a 4-1 win in Atlanta and another "4 goals by an Islander" game: Viktor Kozlov at MSG in a 7-4 win in 2006.

On The Farm
Ryan Strome was named AHL Rookie of the Month and AHL Player of the Week.   He went 5-10-15 in 12 games in November, including 3-3-6 in three games this weekend.
Bridgeport is 6-10-1-3 on the season and visits Adirondack on Wednesday night.
Mike Halmo leads Bridgeport with eight goals; Ryan Strome leads in both assists (18) and points (25).  Strome leads all AHL rookies in both assists and in points.

Up Next
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5th — ISLANDERS AT ST. LOUIS 8:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The Islanders begin a 5-game in eight day road trip on Thursday in St. Louis.  It will be the Isles' first game in St. Louis since a 5-1 defeat on February 16, 2012.
The Isles have lost only twice in regulation in St. Louis since 1995 (yes, 1995) but they came in the Isles' last two trips to St. Loo.   The Isles' last win in St. Louis came on December 6, 2005 (6-3).
The Isles are 3-4-1 against the Western Conference this season.

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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