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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, October 08, 2017

The Skinny: Isles 6, Buffalo 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick
Game 2
Isles 6, Buffalo 3
John Tavares and Casey Cizikas each scored twice and the teams combined for four shorthanded goals, all in the second period, as the Islanders defeated Buffalo 6-3 in the home opener before a crowd of 15,234 at Barclay Center.
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
01:50    New York         John Tavares (1) ASST: Jordan Eberle (1)         1-0

2ND PERIOD
05:13    New York         SHG - John Tavares (2) 2-0
06:03    New York         SHG - Casey Cizikas (1) ASST: Andrew Ladd (1)           3-0
07:00    New York         Josh Bailey (1) ASST: Joshua Ho-Sang (1), Jason Chimera (1)   4-0
10:09    Buffalo              SHG - Evander Kane (1) ASST: Jack Eichel (2)  4-1
15:26    Buffalo              SHG - Evander Kane (2) ASST: Ryan O'Reilly (1)           4-2

3RD PERIOD
05:39    New York         Anthony Beauvillier (1) ASST: Nick Leddy (1), Casey Cizikas (1) 5-2
16:16    Buffalo              Jack Eichel (1) ASST: Rasmus Ristolainen (1), Evander Kane (2) 5-3
19:34    New York         EN - Casey Cizikas (2) ASST: John Tavares (1), Josh Bailey (1)  6-3
The Skinny:
The Isles improve to 27-12-6 in home openers all-time, including 2-0-1 at Barclay Center; the Isles are also 3-0-2 in their last five home openers… Josh Bailey ends up getting credited with the winning goal in the home opener for the second straight season...John Tavares recorded his 35th multi-goal game while Casey Cizikas recorded his first multi-goal game; Cizikas also recorded his first career three point game...Jordan Eberle assisted on Tavares' first goal for his first points as an Islander…Nick Leddy played in his 500th NHL game…Andrew Ladd assisted on Cizikas' shorty for his 12th career shorthanded point and his 498th career point…Dating back to last season, Jaroslav Halak has won his last seven starts…John Tavares has 14 goals in 24 games vs. Buffalo; it's his highest goal total vs. any non-divisional opponent.
About All Those Shorthanded Goals
With the Sabres' help, the Isles rewrote the team record book in a second period which saw four shorthanded goals scored in a 10:13 span:
·        Most shorthanded goals, both teams, in a game (4; previous record 3)
·        Most shorthanded goals, both teams, in a period (4; previous record 2)
·        2 Isles shorthanded goals in a period (ties record, last done in 2014, both by Michael Grabner)
·        2 opponent shorthanded goals in a period (tied record, last done in 2008)
·        Evander Kane is the first opponent to score 2 SH goals vs. the Isles in a period (Ties NHL record)

Perspective:
·        It's the seventh time in NHL history (since 1933-34, when it became an official stat) that both teams scored twice shorthanded in a game
·        It's the 12th time in NHL history (since 1933-34, when it became an official stat) that the teams combined for four shorthanded goals  
·         It's the first time since December 3, 1995 (Dallas/Colorado) that teams combined for four shorthanded goals in a period
·        It's the first time since November 18, 2000 (Florida/Ottawa) that teams combined for four shorthanded goals in a game
·        Evander Kane is the first opponent to score 2 SH goals vs. the Isles in a game since Mike Richards (in Philadelphia on February 8, 2016) and the first to score 2 SH goals against the Isles in an Islander home game since Alexander Semak (for New Jersey on October 16, 1993). 
·        Twice in their history the Isles have scored two shorthanded goals in an entire season (1972-73 and 2012-13); they did it tonight in a 50 second span.
·        John Tavares and Casey Cizikas are the 99th and 100th Islanders to ever score 2 goals, including a shorthanded goal, in the same game.  It's only the third time in club history that teammates have done so in the same game. Robert Reichel and Claude Lapointe did it against Hartford on April 11,1997; Benoit Hogue and Patrick Flatley did so against San Jose on February 1, 1994.
History Lesson:
·        While scoring 2 shorthanded goals in 50 seconds is unusual, it's nowhere near the club record.  On December 16, 1980, Bob Bourne and Anders Kallur scored 17 seconds apart.

Longest Scoreless Streak to Start Season
1996-97  86:50 (ended by Derek King)
2011-12  69:05 (ended by Andrew MacDonald)
2017-18  61:50 (ended by John Tavares)

The Shots
Isles            9-14-10=33
Buffalo       11-11-7=29
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even, and 0-1-0 when they are outshot.
Last season, the Isles were 19-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 3-3-0 when the shots are even and are 19-17-6 when they were outshot.

Passing Bobby Ny
John Tavares had two goals, giving him 237 career goals, breaking a tie with Bobby Nystrom for eighth place on the club's all-time list.

Career goals as an Islander:
7. Bob Bourne 238
8. John Tavares 237
9. Bobby Nystrom 235

Chasing Bourne
John Tavares is 237-303=540 in his Islander career, leaving him one goal, one assist and two points behind Bob Bourne on the all-time Islander lists.

One Goal Games
The Isles are 0-0-0 in one-goal games this season.  They went 15-10-12 in one-goal games last seasons.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 1-1-0 overall; 1-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road. 
Buffalo is 0-1-1 overall; 0-0-1 at home and 0-10-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 0-1-0 in Division games and 1-0-0 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 1-1-0 against the East and 0-0-0 against the West.

The Isles went 15-10-5 in Division games and 26-19-7 in games versus other divisions last season.

In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to improve to 1-0-0 on the season and 9-2-0 in his career against Buffalo. Halak, dating back to last season, has won his last seven decisions.
Robin Lehner made 27 saves but falls to 0-1-1 on the season and 3-3-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play; Buffalo was 0-4.  Each team allowed 2 shorthanded goals.
The Isles are 0-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-1-0 when they do not. 

One Goal Games
The Isles are 0-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.
The Isles were 15-10-12 in one-goal games last season.

First Goal
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score first and are 0-1-0 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 0-1-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-0-0 on the back-end. 
Tired vs. Rested
·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
·        The Isles are 1-0-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
·        The Isles are 0-1-0 when both teams are rested.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Johnny Boychuk (22:59); Buffalo: Rasmus Ristolainen (24:27)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (1-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 19:50 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (1-1-0)

Face-offs
Isles 31, Buffalo 28 (53%). 

Brock Nelson won 7 of 9 for the Isles; Ryan O'Reilly won 13 of 18 for Buffalo.

Face-offs by period: 1st period- 4/17; 2nd period 12/22; 3rd period 15/20
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/39; Power play 3/6; Penalty kill 5/14.

Hit Count
Isles 25 (Casey Cizikas 5)
Buffalo 23 (Three with 4)

Fights
None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 11 shots; Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with 3.

For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 54, Buffalo 52
5-on-5 Isles 41, Buffalo 32

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Thomas Hickey +12
Buffalo: Jason Pominville +5

Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 190 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 153 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 151, Calvin deHaan 87

Scratches
(Alan Quine-IR, Shane Prince-IR), Cal Clutterbuck (day-to-day), Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 5

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1.      Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
8.      Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 641
15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 589

Goals
1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. John Tavares 237
22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 107
36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38. Butch Goring 87 *** 39. Anders Lee 84

Assists
1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553
7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 303
15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 201

Points
1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052
6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tonelli 544 *** 8. Bob Bourne 542 *** 9.  John Tavares 540
17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 308
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will next meet at Barclays on December 27th.
The Isles have won 3 straight from Buffalo, are 4-0-2 in their last six vs. the Sabres and have points in 14 of the last 15 games between the teams (9-1-5).
On the Farm
Bridgeport opened their regular season with a 2-1 loss in Binghamton on Saturday. Scott Eansor who was making his professional debut, scored the only goal for the Sound Tigers.  Bridgeport is off until next weekend, when they play a pair of games in Charlotte against the Checkers.
Up Next
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9th— ST. LOUIS AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30pm), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles conclude their 3-game in 4-day stretch to open the season as they play a Western Conference opponent for the first time this season, entertaining the St. Louis Blues.  The Isles have won both games with the Blues at Barclays Center and are 3-1-0 against the Blues in the last four games.
This will be the first afternoon game of the season; last season the Isles went 2-3-1 in matinee games.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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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