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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 ...

Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Skinny: Isles 4, Carolina 3 (OT)


"The Skinny"  

 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 74
Isles 4, Carolina 3 (OT)

Cal Clutterbuck scored two goals, including the winning goal with 14 seconds remaining in overtime as the Isles defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 before a crowd of 11,636 at PNC Arena.

With the win, the Isles remain one point behind the third place Penguins and move four points ahead of the fifth place Flyers. All three teams have eight games to play.

The Isles' magic number for clinching a playoff spot now down to 11.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD
01:35    NYI      Kyle Okposo (21) ASST: Nikolay Kulemin (11)    1 - 0 NYI          
15:55    NYI      Nikolay Kulemin (8) ASST: NONE          2 - 0 NYI          
 
2ND PERIOD
00:59    CAR     Victor Rask (18) ASST: Chris Terry (3), Brett Pesce (12) 2 - 1 NYI          
05:34    CAR     Jeff Skinner (26) ASST: Ron Hainsey (13), Jaccob Slavin (16)     2 - 2 Tie           
08:01    CAR     Jay McClement (3) ASST: Ryan Murphy (8)        3 - 2 CAR        
 
3RD PERIOD
00:30    NYI      Cal Clutterbuck (14) ASST: Casey Cizikas (19), Calvin de Haan (11)       3 - 3 Tie      
 
OT PERIOD
04:46    NYI      Cal Clutterbuck (15) ASST: Brock Nelson (13), Nick Leddy (33)   4 - 3 NYI
 
The Skinny
The Isles scored first for the third straight game and led after the first period for the first time in 11 games and second time in 16 games … The Isles improved to 6-20-5 when trailing after two periods… Nikolay Kulemin scored for the second straight game, after going 21 games without a goal; Kulemin also added an assist for his second multi-point game (and period) of the season (10/26 vs Calgary)… Cal Clutterbuck recorded his 2nd career overtime goal (and first as an Islander); it was his 10th game-winner among his 34 goals as an Islander…Nick Leddy's assist on the winning goal was his 38th point, setting a new career high…It was the 11th overtime goal allowed by Carolina (who has also scored 8 overtime goals)…Chris Terry extended his point streak to five games… Cal Clutterbuck is the first Islander to score both the tying goal that created overtime and the overtime goal since John Tavares did so against New Jersey on January 9, 2015…Among players with at least 15 goals, only Clutterbuck and Vancouver's Jannik Hansen (19 goals) have done so without recording a power play point…Cal's 15 goals have come in 13 games; the Isles are 12-1-0 in those games, having won 12 straight since losing to Chicago on October 10th…The Isles are 2-4-1 in their last 7 games, earning points in all three games started by JF Berube (2-0-1.
 
Clut(ch)terbuck
Cal Clutterbuck has scored 4 goals in March, including two tonight.  Clutterbuck's third period goal tonight tied the game; the other three goals were all game-winners.  Excluding power play goals, only Brock Nelson (22) and John Tavares (21) have more goals than Clutterbuck who has scored 8 third period goals and one overtime goal this season.
 
Islanders Who Scored Tying Goal in the Third Period and an Overtime Goal
Mike Bossy (Feb. 2, 1986) 
Pat LaFontaine (March 11, 1989)
Steve Thomas (Feb. 28, 1992)
John Tavares (January 9, 2015)
(Other than Clutterbuck, all of the others did so against New Jersey.)
 
Most Game Winning Goals by an Islander Without a PP Goal
1.      Bob Bourne (1976-77) 16
2.      Billy Harris (1978-79) 15
Sean Bergenheim (2008-09) 15
Cal Clutterbuck (2015-16) 15
 
Comeback Kids
The Isles have now earned 17 points (6-20-5) in games that they trailed after 2 periods.
 
The 5 wins:
4-Dec-15          Vs        St. Louis (Trailed 1-0, won 2-1 in a shootout)
14-Jan-16         Vs        New York (Trailed 1-0, won 3-1)
9-Feb-16           @         Columbus (Trailed 2-1, won 3-2 in a shootout)
25-Feb-16         @         Calgary (Trailed 1-0, won 2-1 in overtime)
14-Mar-16         Vs        Florida (Trailed 2-0, won 3-2)
26-Mar-16         @         Carolina (Trailed 3-2, won 4-3 in overtime)
 
Most wins (since 1987-88) by Isles when trailing after 2 periods
10 in 2013-14
6 in 2015-16
 
The Playoff Race
Metropolitan Division Standings (Top 5)
xy Washington 53-16-5=111 points / 74 games (49 ROW) Lost to St. Louis 4-0
NY Rangers    43-24-8=94 points / 75 games (40 ROW) Beat Montreal 5-2
Pittsburgh       41-25-8=90 points / 74 games (38 ROW) Beat Detroit 7-2
ISLES             40-25-9=89 points / 74 games (36 ROW) Beat Carolina 4- 3(OT)
Philadelphia    36-25-13=85 points/ 74 games (34 ROW) Lost to Arizona 2-1
 
Atlantic Teams in Wild Card Race
Boston 40-28-8=88 points/ 76 games (36 ROW) Beat Toronto 3-1
Detroit           37-27-11=85 points/ 75 games (35 ROW) Lost to Pittsburgh 7-2
x Clinched Playoff Spot
y Clinched Division Title and Conference Title
 
Remaining Schedule:
•           Washington: 3/28 vs. Columbus, 3/30 @ Philadelphia, 4/1 @ Colorado, 4/2 @ Arizona, 4/5 vs. ISLES, 4/7 vs. Pittsburgh, 4/9 at St. Louis, 4/10 vs. Anaheim
•           NY Rangers:  3/27 vs. Pittsburgh, 3/31 @ Carolina, 4/2 vs. Buffalo, 4/4 @ Columbus, 4/5 vs. Tampa Bay, 4/7 vs. ISLES, 4/9 vs. Detroit    
•           Pittsburgh:  3/27 @ NY Rangers, 3/29 vs. Buffalo, 3/31 vs. Nashville,4/2 @ ISLES, 4/3 vs. Philadelphia, 4/5 @ Ottawa, 4/7 @ Washington, 4/9 @ Philadelphia
•           ISLES: 3/29 vs. Carolina, 3/31 vs. Columbus, 4/2 vs. Pittsburgh, 4/4 vs. Tampa Bay, 4/5 @ Washington, 4/7 @ NY Rangers, 4/9 vs. Buffalo, 4/10 vs. Philadelphia
•           Philadelphia:  3/28 vs. Winnipeg, 3/30 vs. Washington, 4/2 vs. Ottawa, 4/3 @ Pittsburgh, 4/6 at Detroit, 4/7 vs. Toronto, 4/9 vs Pittsburgh, 4/10 @ ISLES
•           Boston 3/29 @ New Jersey, 4/1 @ St. Louis, 4/3 @ Chicago, 4/5 vs. Carolina, 4/7 vs. Detroit, 4/9 vs Ottawa
 •          Detroit: 3/28 vs. Buffalo, 3/29 @ Montreal, 4/1 vs. Minnesota, 4/2 @ Toronto, 4/6 vs. Philadelphia, 4/7 at Boston, 4/9 @ NY Rangers
 
Magic Number
The Isles' magic number is clinch a playoff berth is 11 over Detroit, 12 over Boston, 13 over Philadelphia, 18 against Pittsburgh and 20 against the Rangers.  Any combination of Islander points gained and Red Wings points lost totaling 11 will guarantee that the Isles finish ahead of Detroit.
 
The Isles need to finish ahead of eight teams to clinch a playoff berth.  Assuming the Isles finish ahead of teams currently in 10th to 16th place, the Isles also need to finish ahead of Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, the Rangers OR Pittsburgh in order to clinch a playoff berth.
 
Magic numbers vs. other teams to clinch playoff berth: New Jersey (6), Carolina (5)
Isles have clinched a better record than Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal and Ottawa.
(Top 3 in each division, plus next two teams make the playoffs)
 
Sunday's Game
Pittsburgh at NY Rangers
The Isles' magic number will remain 11 after play on Sunday
 
Monday's Games
Columbus at Washington
Buffalo at Detroit
Winnipeg at Philadelphia
 
The Isles' Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot could fall to:
•           9, if the Red Wings lose in regulation
•           10, if the Red Wings lose in overtime or a shootout
 
Most Points in The Post-Cup Era through 74 games
·        92 in 2014-15
·        89 in 2015-16
·        83 (four times)
 
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 22-9-4 on home-ice (48 points), matching their most points through 34 games in the last 30 years (48 in 1987-88; 50 in 1984-85). They are once again 13 games over-.500 at home, matching a season high.
The Isles have clinched an above NHL-.500 finish at home.  It is the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07 that the Isles have recorded successive home seasons above NHL-.500.

Road Warriors
The Isles are 18-16-5 on the road this season.  In the Post-Cup era, the Isles have earned more than 41 points in the first 39 road games only twice (47 in first 39 on road last season, 43 in first 39 in 2001-02).
 
The Isles have clinched at least an NHL-.500 road record for the 4th straight season, matching the club record (1975-76 to 1978-79 and 1980-81 to 1983-84).
 
The Shots
Isles        10-11-7-3=31
Carolina   6-19-9-2=36
 
Home and Road
The Islanders are 40-25-9 overall; 22-9-4 at home and 18-16-5 on the road. 
Carolina is 32-28-15 overall; 17-13-7 at home and 15-15-8 on the road.
 
By Division
The Isles are 14-6-4 in Division games and are 26-19-5 in games against other divisions. They are 7-12-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 9-4-1 vs. the Central Division, and 10-3-1 vs. the Pacific Division. 
 
How The West Was Won
The Isles went 19-7-2 against the Western Conference, including 12-0-2 at home. The Isles have the most wins of any Eastern Conference team against the Western Conference and are guaranteed to finish with the record of an Eastern team vs. the West. 

In the Nets
JF Berube made 33 saves to improve to 3-1-1 on the season; the Isles have earned points in each of his last four starts (3-0-1).  It was his first career appearance against Carolina.
Eddie Lack made 27 saves; he is 12-12-6 on the season and 2-1-1 in his career against the Isles,

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Carolina was 0-1.
The Isles power play is 1-18 over their last ten games (2-6-2).
The Isles are 23-5-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-20-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 12-11-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 28-14-6 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 33-4-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-21-8 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 18-6-9 in games decided by a single goal including 9-6-0 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 4-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 6-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal
The Isles are 27-6-4 when they score first and are 13-19-5 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 205-173-55 behind the Islander bench.  Among the 9 New York area teams, only the Yankees' Joe Girardi has led his team longer than Capuano. 

Most games coached (Islanders):
1.      Al Arbour 1,500
2.      Jack Capuano 433
3.      Mike Milbury 191
4.      Terry Simpson 187
5.      Scott Gordon 181
 
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.      Al Arbour 740
2.      Jack Capuano 205
3.      Terry Simpson 81
4.      Peter Laviolette 77
5.      Ted Nolan 74

Capuano is the 86th coach in NHL history to coach at least 400 games. His 205th win breaks a tie for 69th all-time with Gerry Cheevers and Todd Richards.

Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-5-4 on the front-end and 8-2-3 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The Isles have two back-to-back sets remaining (April 4 vs. Tampa Bay, April 5 at Washington and April 9 vs Buffalo, April 10 vs. Philadelphia).
 
Tired vs. Rested
·        The Isles are 3-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
·        The Isles are 6-3-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·        The Isles are 5-1-3 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Travis Hamonic (27:19); Carolina: Jaccob Slavin (23:39)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (24-6-6), Johnny Boychuk (5-3-0), Calvin deHaan (2-3-1), Nick Leddy (7-10-2), John Tavares (0-2-0), Tied (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the forwards with 19:23 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (28-18-8), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (2-3-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (4-1-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-2-0). 

Face-offs
Isles 21, Carolina 32 (40%)
John Tavares won 8 of 16 for the Isles; Victor Rask won 11 of 18 for Carolina. 
The Isles won only 5 of 24 in the second period but won 16 of 29 in the other periods.
The Isles won 19 of 49 draws at even strength, 2 of 3 on the power play and 0 of 1 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters
Isles 30, Carolina 26. Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with four hits. Matt Martin added three hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 349.  Martin now has four of the five highest single-season hit totals since the statistic was recorded in 2005-06.

Most Hits in a Season (since 2005-06):
1          Matt Martin       2014-2015        NYI      382
2          Matt Martin       2011-2012        NYI      374
3          Matt Martin       2013-2014        NYI      359
4          Cal Clutterbuck 2008-2009        MIN      356
5          Matt Martin      2015-2016        NYI      349
6          Cal Clutterbuck 2014-2015        NYI      343
7          Cal Clutterbuck 2010-2011        MIN      336
8          Cal Clutterbuck 2009-2010        MIN      318
Martin needs 8 hits in the final eight games to hold the top four spots and needs 34 hits in the final eight games to break his own NHL record

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 19 (Martin-10, Lee-2, Bernier, Boychuk, Cizikas, Hamonic, Leddy, Okposo, Strait).

Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 23 blocked shots, including six from Travis Hamonic.  

Most Blocked Shots by an Islander (since 2005-2006)
1              Brendan Witt                    2006-2007    207
2              Sean Hill                          2006-2007    202
3              Andrew Mac Donald          2013-2014    198
4              Andrew Mac Donald          2011-2012    185
5              Calvin de Haan                2015-2016    176
6              Tom Poti                          2006-2007    170
 
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations:  Isles 62, Carolina 73.  5-on-5: Isles 46, Carolina 61.
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks). 
 
Shane Prince led the Isles are the second straight game with a +2 5-on-5 Corsi rating and a club-leading 55% Corsi For percentage. Jordan Staal and Justin Faulk led Carolina with a +15 5-on-5 Corsi rating.

Ironmen
Five Islanders have played every game this season:
·        Nikolay Kulemin - 224 consecutive games (68 for Maple Leafs and 156 for the Isles)
·        Anders Lee – 150 (all for Isles)
·        Nick Leddy – 84 (all for Isles)
·        Matt Martin – 74 (all for Isles)
·        Frans Nielsen – 74 (all for Isles)

Missing Men
Adam Pelech is on injured reserve. Other injured players: Jaroslav Halak, Mikhail Grabovski and Marek Zidlicky. Brian Strait replaced Ryan Pulock in the lineup.  Steve Bernier and Eric Boulton were scratched.

Missing a Piece (or two)
The Isles are 13-15-2 over the last two seasons in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 5-5-1 this season.  They are 5-4-1, including 2-1-1 this season, when two of the three miss a game.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1.      Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
11. Stefan Persson 622 *** 12. Frans Nielsen 599 *** 13. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 14. Garry Howatt 596 *** 15. John Tonelli 594*** 16. Ken Morrow 550 *** 17. Josh Bailey 549 *** 18. Duane Sutter 547 *** 19. Lorne Henning 543 ***20. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 21. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Kyle Okposo 521*** 24. Dave Lewis 514 *** 25. Mick Vukota 510 *** 26. Rich Pilon 509 *** 27. John Tavares 503

Goals
1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 201
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 138 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Alexei Yashin 119 *** 21. Frans Nielsen, Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, and Steve Thomas 118

Assists
1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 ***
11. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 13. Billy Harris 259 *** 14. John Tavares 258*** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249***16. Frans Nielsen 226 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 223
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. Josh Bailey 156

Points
1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 459***13. Billy Harris 443 ***
14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 361 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 343
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek and Josh Bailey 249

Season Series Stats
Carolina leads the season series two games to one and five points to three.
The teams will meet for the final time in the regular season on Tuesday at Barclays Center.
 
The Isles' win stopped an 0-2-1 streak against Carolina. It was the Isles first overtime win against the Canes since John Tavares scored an OT winner on January 21, 2012.
 
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers are 36-24-4-3 on the season and trail Providence by three points in the battle for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division.  Bridgeport hosts Portland Tuesday in their only game in the next seven days.

Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH 29th–CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Isles Pre-game at 6:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
   
The Isles begin a 4-game homestand as they entertain Carolina in a rematch of tonight's game.  It's not a true "home and home" as the Canes will host New Jersey on Sunday before heading to Brookyn.
 
The Isles will be coming off consecutive off-days (for the final time this season) while Carolina will be playing their third game in four nights.
 
The teams have met twice this season, with Carolina earning an overtime win in Brooklyn on October 29th and then scoring five second period goals enroute to a 6-3 win over the Isles in Raleigh on February 13th.
 
This has been a streaky series since 2010, with the Isles going through stretches of 0-5-1, 4-0-0, 0-5-1, 4-0-0, and 0-2-1 prior to tonight's win.
 
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 NYISkinny: Eric Hornick's Blog


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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