Featured Post

The Skinny: New Jersey 4, Isles 0

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 71 New Jersey 4, Isles 0 Timo Meier had a Gordie Howe hat trick, all in the second period, as th...

Monday, January 04, 2016

The Skinny: Isles 6, Dallas 5

"The Skinny"  

 By Eric Hornick
Game 40    
Isles 6, Dallas 5

Kyle Okposo and Cal Clutterbuck each scored two goals and the Islander defense contributed five assists as the Isles built a 5-2 lead and then held on to defeat the Dallas Stars 6-5 before a crowd of 14,054 at Barclays Center. 

The win is the Isles' 12th against Western Division teams (12-4-1); the Isles lead all Eastern Conference teams in wins against the West (Toronto and NY Rangers each have 10); The Isles remain 2nd in the Metropolitan Division, and are now 3 points ahead of the Rangers.

The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
05:55    DAL      Vernon Fiddler (6) ASST: Radek Faksa (2), Travis Moen (1)         1 - 0 DAL         
10:34    NYI       PPG - Anders Lee (6) ASST: Kyle Okposo (21), Marek Zidlicky (10)         1 - 1 Tie           
13:30    DAL      Patrick Sharp (16) ASST: Alex Goligoski (15), John Klingberg (32)           2 - 1 DAL         
18:28    NYI       Kyle Okposo (9) ASST: Frans Nielsen (13), Thomas Hickey (4)    2 - 2 Tie           
2ND PERIOD
08:13    NYI       PPG - Kyle Okposo (10) ASST: Anders Lee (13), Nick Leddy (13)            3 - 2 NYI          
15:02    NYI       Mikhail Grabovski (6) ASST: Ryan Strome (11), Brock Nelson (9) 4 - 2 NYI          
17:43    NYI       Cal Clutterbuck (8) ASST: Travis Hamonic (6), Nick Leddy (14)     5 - 2 NYI          
3RD PERIOD
01:46    DAL      Valeri Nichushkin (5) ASST: NONE         5 - 3 NYI          
09:53    NYI       SHG - Cal Clutterbuck (9) ASST: Casey Cizikas (9)          6 - 3 NYI          
10:19    DAL      PPG - Valeri Nichushkin (6) ASST: Colton Sceviour (6), Jason Spezza (17) 6 - 4 NYI        
18:18    DAL      Jason Spezza (14) ASST: Colton Sceviour (7), Alex Goligoski (16)           6 - 5 NYI
The Skinny:
Nick Leddy recorded a point for the 5th straight game (1-5-6) and finished with 2 points for the third time this season… Thomas Greiss earned the win despite allowing 5 goals for the first time as an Islander…Anders Lee set a career high with 9 shots on goal, including six in the 1st period … The Isles allowed three goals in a period for the 5th time this season (1-4-0)…The Isles improved to 9-11-1 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 1-1-0 this season…Adam Pelech finished +2 after playing 16:06 in his 3rd NHL game, and first since November 20th…Dallas is 0-1-1 in their last two games; it's the first time all season that they have gone 2 games without a win… 15 players (8 Stars and 7 Isles) had +/- ratings of either +2, -2, or -3…Cal Clutterbuck now has 11 shorthanded goals since the start of the 2011-12 season; only Brad Marchand (13) has more.  Clutterbuck has scored 28 goals as an Islander and 7 of them have come shorthanded. Clutterbuck has points on 3 of the Isles' 4 SH goals this season (2-1-3)…Kyle Okposo reached double-digits (10 goals) for the sixth time in his career…Dallas' Jason Demers was ejected after being assessed a major for boarding…The Isles scored 2 PP goals and a SH goal in the same game for only the 7th time in the last 13 years (7-0-0)…Patrick Sharp extended his point streak to 9 games, matching a career high.  It is the longest active streak in the NHL, and ties the 2nd longest in the league this season (Patrick Kane - 26)…It's only the 2nd time all season (8-2-4) that Dallas has lost a 1-goal game in regulation…Dallas has outscored their opponents 61-37 in the third period…Travis Hamonic now has 99 career assists…This was the highest scoring game of the season for the Isles (11 goals) and the highest scoring game in Barclays Center history.

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles have allowed 41+ shots in three consecutive games for the first time since 1/30-2/4/1999 (43 to Ottawa, 44 to Detroit, 41 to Boston).
Cal Clutterbuck recorded his third career 2-goal game, but his first since 2/11/2011, when he did so for Minnesota, against St. Louis.  (The Isles were busy beating Pittsburgh in the famed brawl game that night)

Out With the Old, In With the New
This was the final game of a stretch that saw the Isles play five games in eight days which took the calendar into 2016. The Isles went 3-2-0 in this stretch.
27-Dec-15         Vs        Maple Leafs (Lost 3-1)
29-Dec-15         @         Maple Leafs (Won 6-3)
31-Dec-15         @         Sabres (Won 2-1)
2-Jan-16            @         Penguins (Lost 5-2)
3-Jan-16            Vs        Stars    (Won 6-5)

Home Sweet Home
This was the first game of a ten game stretch in which the Isles will play eight times at home.  The Isles are 1-0-0 in this stretch:
3-Jan-16            Vs        Stars (Won 6-5)
7-Jan-16            Vs        Capitals
9-Jan-16            @         Flyers
12-Jan-16          Vs        Blue Jackets
14-Jan-16          Vs        Rangers
17-Jan-16          Vs        Canucks
22-Jan-16          @         Senators
23-Jan-16          Vs        Flyers
25-Jan-16          Vs        Red Wings
2-Feb-16           Vs        Wild
After February 2nd, the Isles will play 20 of their final 33 games on the road.
The Shots:
Isles     14-20-10=44
Dallas  12-12-17=41
It's the second consecutive Islander game that both teams had at least 40 shots after having happened only once in the last 5 seasons (2/16/15 vs NYR).  There had not been consecutive Islander games in which both teams had at least 40 shots since at least 1988.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 22-13-5 overall; 13-6-2 at home and 9-7-3 on the road. 
Dallas is 28-9-4 overall; 16-4-0 at home and 12-5-4 on the road.   The Stars are 2-2-2 in their last six, after opening the season 26-7-2.

By Division
The Isles are 7-1-2 in Division games and are 15-12-3 in games against other divisions. They are 3-8-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 6-2-1 vs. Central Division, and 6-2-0 vs. the Pacific Division. 
The Isles finished last season 21-6-3 against the Met and 26-22-4 against other Divisions. 

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 36 saves as he improves to 12-6-2 on the season; he is 3-0-0 in his career against Dallas. 
Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves but falls to 12-3-0 on the season.  Lehtonen is 6-5-1 in his career against the Isles, but his goals against of 4.08 in those games is the highest of any active goalie against the Isles.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 2-7 on the power play, while Dallas was 1-4, allowing a shorthanded goal to the Isles.
After going 15 games without allowing a power play goal, the Isles have yielded 4 PP goals in their last three games.
The Isles are 12-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-10-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 7-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-7-4 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 18-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-11-5 when they do not.  The Isles were 40-8-4 when they scored at least three goals (including SO winners) last season.

One Goal Games
The Isles are 10-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 5-5-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal
The Isles are 15-3-2 when they score first and are 7-10-3 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One
Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 187-161-51 behind the Islander bench and will coach his 400th game on Thursday vs Washington. Among the 9 New York area teams, only the Giants' Tom Coughlin and the Yankees' Joe Girardi have led their respective teams longer than Capuano.

Most games coached (Islanders):
1.     Al Arbour 1,500
2.     Jack Capuano 399
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.     Al Arbour 740
2.     Jack Capuano 187
3.     Terry Simpson 81
4.     Peter Laviolette 77
5.     Ted Nolan 74

They Tweeted It
@Kglister Big 2 points from Isles tonight, nice bounceback from last night. Isles continue to play well vs. the west. #Isles #Islanders
@amorgy Big win for the #isles against the top team in the league.
@schiazza87 Clutterbuck is the islander nobody talks about. I say we won that Nino deal. #isles

Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, The Isles are 2-3-3 on the front-end and 5-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The next back-to-back set is January 22nd in Ottawa and January 23rd vs. Philadelphia.

Tired vs. Rested
·         The Isles are 2-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
·         The Isles are 3-2-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·         The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Travis Hamonic (25:53); Dallas: Alex Goligoski (26:27)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (14-3-3), Johnny Boychuk (4-3-0), Calvin deHaan (0-0-1), Nick Leddy (4-5-1),  John Tavares (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0)
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 21:39 of ice-time.   Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (14-10-4), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (0-1-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (2-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-1-0). 

Face-offs
Isles 31, Dallas 34 (48%).
Mikhail Grabovski won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Jason Spezza won 11 of 20 for Dallas.
The Isles won 13 of 23 draws in the third period after winning only 18 of 42 in the first two periods.
The Isles won 21 of 45 draws at even strength, 5 of 11 on the power play and 5 of 9 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters
Isles 19, Dallas 17.  Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with 4 hits.

Fights
There were no fights.  Season total – 9 (Martin-5, Boychuk, Bernier, Leddy, Okposo).

Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 16 blocked shots; Travis Hamonic led the team with 6. 

For the Corsi Crowd
All situations:  Isles 66, Dallas 68 (Including 25-19 Isles in special teams) Even-Strength: Isles 41, Dallas 49.
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks). 
Adam Pelech, in just his 3rd NHL game, led the Isles with a +5 even-strength Corsi rating and a club-leading 59% Corsi For percentage. Jyrki Jokipakka led Dallas with a +11 rating.

Ironmen
·         Nikolay Kulemin -190 (68 for Maple Leafs and 122 for the Isles)
·         Brock Nelson  -175 (all for Isles)

Missing Men
Jean-Francois Berube, Jaroslav Halak, and Johnny Boychuk are on injured reserve. Adam Pelech replaced Brian Strait (injured) in the lineup. Steve Bernier and Eric Boulton were scratched. 
The Isles have lost 82 games this season due to injury/illness.

All-time Islander Leader Board:
John Tavares has:
·         189 goals (11th all-time, 17 behind John Tonelli and 22 behind Derek King)
·         241 assists (15th all-time, 8 behind Tomas Jonsson and 18 behind Billy Harris)
·         430 points (13th all-time , 13 behind Billy Harris and 58 behind Patrick Flatley)
·         469 games played (30th among Islander skaters all-time, 1 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 7 behind Gerry Hart)

Kyle Okposo has:
·         127 goals (tied-17th all-time with Jason Blake and 18 behind Mariusz Czerkawski )
·         209 assists (17th all-time , 2 behind Frans Nielsen and 32 behind John Tavares)
·         336 points (16th all-time,  4 behind Pierre Turgeon and 33 behind Stefan Persson)
·         488 games played (27th among Islander skaters all-time and 5 behind Ed Westfall)

Frans Nielsen has:
·         113 goals (25th all-time,  3 behind Ray Ferraro, and 5 behind Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas)
·         211 assists (16th all-time and 30 behind John Tavares)
·         324 points (19th all-time, 7 behind Ziggy Palffy, 9 behind Tomas Jonsson and 12 behind Kyle Okposo)
·         565 games played (15th among Islander skaters all-time and 29 behind John Tonelli)

 Josh Bailey has:
·         149 assists (28th all-time, 1 behind Mariusz Czerkawski and 5 behind David Volek)
·         237 points (tied-27th all-time with Travis Green, 1 behind Ray Ferraro and 12 behind David Volek)
·         515 games played (22nd among Islander skaters and 15 behind Pat LaFontaine)

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0.  The season series will conclude on March 19th in Dallas.
The Isles are 4-0-1 over the last 5 games vs. Dallas, outscoring the Stars by a 26-18 margin.

On The Farm
Bridgeport is 19-14-2-1 after a 5-0 loss to Hershey on Sunday.
The Sound Tigers are off until next weekend; they will play Friday in Providence and Saturday in Hartford.

Up Next
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7th – WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS  7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM. 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
Jack Capuano will coach his 400th regular season NHL game as the Islanders entertain the Capitals in the first meeting of the teams since last season's dramatic 7-game playoff series that ended the Coliseum era.

The teams met four times in the regular season last season, with three of the four games going to overtime.  The home team ultimately prevailed in all four games (Isles 2-1-1, Washington 2-0-2).
The Isles are 4-0-3 in their last 7 regular season home games against the Caps, who have the best record (by percentage) in the NHL 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 & 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

No comments: