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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 ...

Friday, March 04, 2016

The Skinny: Isles 4, Winnipeg 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick
Game 62  
Isles 4, Winnipeg 3 (OT)
Jack Capuano's 200th win as Islander coach is a memorable one. Kyle Okposo scored the winning goal 2:20 into overtime as the Islanders improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight games with a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Canucks before a sellout crowd of 15,294 at MTS Centre. It was Okposo's second overtime goal of the season and his sixth career overtime goal.

The Isles move to 15 games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season.  They are 9-2-1 in their last twelve games, as they remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of Pittsburgh.  The Isles move with three points of the Rangers, and still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts.

The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
16:13    WPG    PPG - Mark Scheifele (16) ASST: Mathieu Perreault (26), Dustin Byfuglien (25)1 - 0 WPG 
2ND PERIOD
06:01    NYI       Calvin de Haan (2) ASST: Travis Hamonic (12), Anders Lee (18)   1 - 1 Tie           
3RD PERIOD
08:32    NYI       Shane Prince (4) ASST: Kyle Okposo (34), Thomas Hickey (8)     2 - 1 NYI          
09:56    WPG    Tyler Myers (7) ASST: Alexander Burmistrov (8), Drew Stafford (14)         2 - 2 Tie           
17:57    WPG    Mark Scheifele (17) ASST: Blake Wheeler (40), Mathieu Perreault (27)       3 - 2 WPG        
19:31    NYI       Anders Lee (11) ASST: Nick Leddy (26), Frans Nielsen (21)          3 - 3 Tie           
OT PERIOD
02:20    NYI       Kyle Okposo (16) ASST: Frans Nielsen (22)        4 - 3 NYI

The Skinny:
Shane Prince's goal was his 1st as an Islander; he is the 351st player in Islander history to score a goal… Each team had a lead for less than two minutes in the third period… The Isles improve to 9-2-1 against the Central Division (9-1-0 since opening the season 0-1-1 vs. Chicago)…An Islander defenseman has a point on nine of the last ten goals (all but the Okposo overtime goal). … Thomas Greiss' save percentage fell to .930, but it still is the best in the NHL.  No Islander goalie has ever appeared in at least 25 games and finished the season with a save percentage of over .919 (Jaroslav Halak is also at .919 this season). Greiss is 7-0-1 in his last 8 decisions… Casey Cizikas' point streak ended at five games…With two points, Kyle Okposo tied John Tavares for the team lead in points (50). It's the 4th time in his career he has reached the 50 point mark, but he has more than 52 only once (69 in 2013-14)…Anders Lee's goal is the third tying goal scored by the Isles with a 6th attacker (Ryan Strome vs. Vancouver, Frans Nielsen vs. Washington) this season.  The Isles are 1-0-2 in those games…The Isles improve to 19-5-2 against the West, tying the 2014-15 Red Wings (19-5-4) for the most wins for an Eastern team vs. the West under the current format…Calvin deHaan's goal was his 1st in 45 games (11/1 vs. Buffalo) and his 6th in 174 career games...The Isles are 7-2-1 when tied after 2 periods.
6-Pack
It's the 6th overtime goal of Kyle Okposo's career, including 5 on the road.
12-Mar-09          @         Montreal
13-Nov-09         @         Carolina
26-Dec-09         @         New York
2-Jan-14            Vs        Chicago
12-Dec-15         @         Columbus
Tonight             @         Winnipeg
Overtime is Our Time
Kyle Okposo now has six career overtime goals, 2nd in Islander history to John Tavares' eight OT winners.
Five of Okposo's OT winners have come on the road, tying Tavares' club record for road OT goals.
Okposo joins Tavares and Pierre Turgeon as the only Isles to score multiple overtime goals in two different seasons.
Maybe an Ice Cream Company Could Sponsor This Stat?
The Isles have now played 31 road games and 31 home games.  It is the first time since the Isles opened the season with a home-and-home vs. Chicago that they have played at least as many road games as home games.  The Isles will play 8 of the next 12 on the road before closing the season with six out of eight at home.
Moving On Up
Kyle Okposo's overtime goal ended his 510th game as an Islander, passing Rich Pilon and tying Mick Vukota for 24th place among Islander skaters.
Two Strong in Net                  
Both Thomas Greiss (18) and Jaroslav Halak (16) and now have at least 16 wins.  It's the first time since the 2002-03 season (Chris Osgood-17 and Garth Snow – 16) that two Isles goalies have recorded 16 wins in the same season.  St. Louis and Dallas are the only other NHL teams with two goalies with at least 16 wins this season.
The Captain's Countdown
John Tavares now has 197 career goals; with three more goals he will become only the 11th player in Islander history to record 200 goals.
PK Islander
The Isles killed 3 of 4 Winnipeg power plays.  The penalty kill has allowed only 24 power play goals in 181 times short (86.7%).  On the road, the Isles have allowed 14 goals in 91 times short (84.6%).

Most Points in The Post-Cup Era through 62 games
·         82 in 2014-15
·         77 in 2015-16
·         70 in 2001-02
Home Sweet Home
The Isles are 19-8-4 on home-ice (42 points).  In the past 28 years, the Isles have earned more than 42 points in the first 31 home games only twice (46 in first 31 at home last season and 44 in 31 in 2003-04).
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 16-12-3 on the road this season.  In the Post-Cup era, the Isles have earned more than 35 points in the first 31 road games only once (37 in first 31 on road last season).
The Isles are 5-1-0 on their current 7-game road trip.  This is the 5th time in club history that the Isles are playing seven consecutive road games, but the 2nd consecutive season:
·         1981-82 (1-5-1)
·         2000-01 (2-3-2)
·         2009-10 (3-2-2)
·         2014-15 (5-2-0)
This was also the fourth game of a stretch in which the Isles are playing 12 out of 14 games on the road for only the 2nd time in their history.  From November 11 – December 9, 2009 (John Tavares' rookie season), the Isles went 5-7-2 in a stretch in which they played 12 of 14 on the road.   However the Isles changed time zones only twice in that stretch (when they visited Winnipeg and St. Louis).  The Isles will change time zones seven times during these trips.

19-Feb-16         @ Devils (Won 1-0)
23-Feb-16         @ Wild (Won 4-1)
25-Feb-16         @ Flames (Won 2-1 OT)
28-Feb-16         @ Oilers (Lost 3-1)
1-Mar-16           @ Canucks (Won 3-2)
3-Mar-16           @ Jets (Won 4-3 OT)
6-Mar-16           @ Rangers
8-Mar-16           Vs Penguins
9-Mar-16           @ Maple Leafs
12-Mar-16          @ Bruins
14-Mar-16          Vs Panthers
15-Mar-16          @ Penguins
17-Mar-16          @ Predators
19-Mar-16          @ Stars

 The Shots:
Isles          6-10-9-2=27
Winnipeg  15-5-9=0=29
Home and Road
The Islanders are 35-20-7 overall; 19-8-4 at home and 16-12-3 on the road. 
Winnipeg is 26-32-5 overall; 13-15-2 at home and 13-17-3 on the road.

By Division
The Isles are 11-5-3 in Division games and are 24-15-4 in games against other divisions. They are 5-10-2 vs. the Atlantic Division, 9-2-1 vs. the Central Division, and 10-3-1 vs. the Pacific Division. 
The Isles are 32-11-3 since the start of last season against the Metropolitan Division. 

How The West is Won
The Isles are 19-5-2 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 (Tampa Bay is 15-9-2 and the Rangers are 15-8-2).  Only 7 Western Conference teams have more wins against the West than the Isles do.
The Isles are guaranteed to finish with at least the 2nd-best record of an Eastern team vs. the West.  (Washington is 13-4-2 and still has 9 games left against the West)

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 26 saves to improve to 17-6-3 on the season.  Greiss, who improved to 7-0-1 in his last seven decisions, is 3-0-1 in his career against Winnipeg. 
Michael Hutchison made 23 saves in his first career appearance against the Isles but falls to 7-13-1 on the season.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-4 on the power play, while Winnipeg was 1-4.
The Isles are 21-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-15-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 25-11-5 when they do not. 

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 29-3-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-17-7 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 15-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 7-6-0 in regulation. They are 4-4 in games decided in overtime and are 4-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal
The Isles are 23-5-3 when they score first and are 12-15-4 when they allow the opening goal.   

Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 200-168-53 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 421
3.     Mike Milbury 191
4.     Terry Simpson 187
5.     Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1.     Al Arbour 740
2.     Jack Capuano 200
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. He is now 72nd all-time with 200 wins. (71- Craig Hartsburg 201, Tied/69 – Gerry Cheevers and Todd Richards 204)

They Tweeted It
@ShanePrince18 Felt great to get my first as a @NYIslanders !!! Huge win for the boys tonight. Keep it rollin
@jbjerc #isles if anybody wants to know the appeal of hockey for its fans, watch the Isles concern for an injured opponent at GW goal. (File this under #WeHaveTheBestGame)
@cbuckser I haven't seen so much violence between Danes since the last time I watched Hamlet. #Isles #NHLJets (Nielsen's shot hit fellow Dane Nikolaj Ehlers in the face.)
@eddiebellz 6th #KO of his career? (Yup)

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-4-4 on the front-end and 7-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.  The next back-to-back set will be on March 8th vs. Pittsburgh and March 9th in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested
·         The Isles are 3-1-0 when both teams played the night before.
·         The Isles are 5-3-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·         The Isles are 4-1-1 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Travis Hamonic (25:38); Winnipeg: Dustin Byfuglien (27:12)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (20-4-4), Johnny Boychuk (5-3-0), Calvin deHaan (2-3-1), Nick Leddy (6-7-2), John Tavares (0-2-0), Tied (0-1-0)
John Tavares led the forwards with 21:44 of ice time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (23-16-6), Ryan Strome (2-0-0), Kyle Okposo (2-2-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Frans Nielsen (4-0-0), Josh Bailey (2-0-0), Tied (1-1-0). 

Face-offs
Isles 29, Winnipeg 30 (49%). 
Frans Nielsen won 8 of 12 for the Isles; Alexander Burmistrov won 8 of 13 for Winnipeg. 
The Isles won 11 of 18 in the first period but only 18 of 41 the rest of the way.
The Isles won 24 of 44 draws at even strength, 2 of 9 on the power play and 3 of 6 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters
Isles 15 Winnipeg 22.  Matt Martin led the Isles with five hits, extending his NHL-leading total to 295.  It's the 14th time in NHL history a player has had at least 295 hits – 5 of the 14 are by Martin, while 4 of the others are by Cal Clutterbuck (Hits first recorded in 2005-06).

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 18 (Martin-10, Bernier, Boychuk, Cizikas, Hamonic, Leddy, Lee, Okposo, Strait).

Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 17 blocked shots, including five from Thomas Hickey.

For the Corsi Crowd
All situations:  Isles 42, Winnipeg 54.  5-on-5: Isles 26, Winnipeg 42.  
The Corsi stat measures shots attempted, both for and against (including blocks). 
Ryan Strome led the Isles with an EVEN 5-on-5 Corsi rating; Strome also had a club-leading 50% Corsi For percentage. Mathieu Perreault led Winnipeg with a +16 5-on-5 Corsi rating.

Ironmen
·         Nikolay Kulemin -212 (68 for Maple Leafs and 144 for the Isles)
·         Brock Nelson  -197 (all for Isles)
·         Anders Lee -138 (all for Isles)

Missing Men
Adam Pelech and Mikhail Grabovski are on injured reserve. Brian Strait, Marek Zidlicky, Eric Boulton, Steve Bernier and JF Berube were scratched.
The Isles have lost 148 games this season due to injury/illness.

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
….
12. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 13. Garry Howatt 596 *** 14. John Tonelli 594 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 587 *** 16. Ken Morrow 550 *** 17. Duane Sutter 547 *** 18. Lorne Henning 543 *** 19. Josh Bailey 537 ***
20. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 21. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 22. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 23. Dave Lewis 514 *** 24. Kyle Okposo and Mick Vukota 510 *** 26. Rich Pilon 509 *** 27. Ed Westfall 493***28. John Tavares 491

Goals
1.     Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310
….
9. Derek King 211 *** 10. John Tonelli 206*** 11. John Tavares 197
16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 133 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Alexei Yashin 119 *** 21. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 ***24. Frans Nielsen 117

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 254*** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249***16. Kyle Okposo 221 ***17. Frans Nielsen 220
25. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 26. David Volek 154 *** 27. Josh Bailey 152

Points
1.     Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
10. Derek King 499 *** 11. Pat Flatley 488 *** 12. John Tavares 451 ***13. Billy Harris 443 ***
14. Stefan Persson 369 *** 15. Kyle Okposo 354 *** 16. Pierre Turgeon 340 ***
17. Frans Nielsen 337
24 Jason Blake & Steve Thomas 258 *** 26. David Volek 249 *** 27. Josh Bailey 244
Goalie Games Played
1. Billy Smith 675 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318***3. Glenn Resch 282
9. Garth Snow   127***10. Evgeni Nabokov 123***11. Chris Osgood 103***12. Jaroslav Halak 93
Goalie Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157***3. Rick DiPietro 130
6. Glenn Healy 66***7. Tommy Salo 62***8. Evgeni Nabokov 57***9. Jaroslav Halak 54

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25***2.   Billy Smith 22***3. Rick DiPietro 19***4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Evgeni Nabokov & Jaroslav Halak 9

Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series 2 games to 0 and 4 points to 1.
Since Winnipeg rejoined the NHL, the Isles are 6-0-1 in Manitoba, with five of the seven games going at least to overtime. Overall, the Isles are 7-0-2 in their last nine road games against Winnipeg/Atlanta.
The Isles are 8-0-1-1 in their last 10 trips to Winnipeg, dating back to a 3-1 loss on November 20, 1991.

On The Farm
Bridgeport is 29-22-3-3 on the season after a shootout loss to Hartford on Wednesday.  The Sound Tigers, who are 1-3-0-1 in their last 5, begin a stretch of four straight road games with games Friday in Providence and Sunday in Hartford.

Up Next
SUNDAY, MARCH 6th– ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 5:00PM
[MSG+ (Pre-game at 4:30), 91.5 WNYE-FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles conclude the long road trip close to home on Sunday when they battle the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Isles won both games against the Rangers at home this season (one in a shootout) and this is the first of two trips for the Isles to Broadway.

The Isles haven't played in Manhattan in almost 14 months, since a 3-0 Jaroslav Halak shutout last January 13th.  It was the Isles' first shutout at the Garden in nearly 40 years (Billy Smith 12/17/75).

We won't know until Sunday whether either will play, but Jaroslav Halak is 8-0-0 in his last 8 head-to-head matchups with Henrik Lundqvist, including 5-0-0 as an Islander.  Halak last lost in a game that Lundqvist also started on January 17, 2010 when Halak was still a Canadien

The Isles are 5-2-0 in the last 7 against the Rangers and are 5-1-0 in their last six trips to the Garden.

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

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