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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...

Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Skinny: Minnesota 6, Isles 4

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 10
Minnesota 6, Isles 4
Luke Kunin and Zack Mitchell each scored their first career NHL goals and the Minnesota Wild got shorthanded goals from both Kunin and Eric Staal as they defeated the Isles 6-4 before a sellout crowd of 18,824 at Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota scored three goals in a 2:30 span of the first and two others in a 1:57 span of the third.  

The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
04:56 Minnesota Marcus Foligno (2) ASST: Jared Spurgeon (5) 0-1
06:09 Minnesota Jason Zucker (3) ASST: Mikael Granlund (1) 0-2
07:26 Minnesota SHG - Eric Staal (4) 0-3
10:49 New York Anthony Beauvillier (2) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (1), Josh Bailey (5) 1-3

2ND PERIOD
07:17 Minnesota SHG - Luke Kunin (1) ASST: Eric Staal (3) 1-4
18:31 New York Nick Leddy (1) ASST: Mathew Barzal (3), Josh Bailey (6) 2-4

3RD PERIOD
04:14 Minnesota Zack Mitchell (1) ASST: Daniel Winnik (1), Jared Spurgeon (6) 2-5
06:11 Minnesota Jonas Brodin (1) ASST: Marcus Foligno (3), Joel Eriksson Ek (2) 2-6
10:09 New York Anders Lee (6) ASST: Nick Leddy (3), Josh Bailey (7) 3-6
19:56 New York Mathew Barzal (2) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (2), Cal Clutterbuck (3) 4-6

The Skinny: 
The Isles allowed the first goal for the 8th time in the first 10 games … Josh Bailey matched a career high with three assists and passed Jordan Eberle for the team lead in assists (6) …Bailey now has 10 points on the season, tying John Tavares for the club lead; Bailey also extended his assist streak to four games and his point streak to five games … After not scoring in the first eight games, the Isles defense scored for the 2nd straight game and had points on all four goals…The Isles, who allowed a season-high six goals, have allowed at least three goals in 9 of the first 10 games…Mathew Barzal's late goal created his first career multi-goal game… Jonas Brodin's goal was his first in 47 games…Nick Leddy had a career-high 8 shots on goal; it was the most by an Islander this season. No Islander defenseman has had more than eight shots on goal in a game since Roman Hamrlik had nine vs. Washington on March 23, 2004…Anders Lee tied John Tavares for the team lead in goals (6) as he extended his point streak to four games...The Wild have scored at least four goals in six of their first eight games…Devyn Dubnyk recorded his 110th win since the start of the 2014-15 season; only Braden Holtby (135) has more in that span…Eric Staal's goal was his 24th against the Isles; he also has 24 assists in 49 career games against the Isles…The Isles are 0-13-1 in the last 14 games, dating back to last season, that they have allowed at least three goals in a period. ..The Wild scored two shorthanded goals for only the 3rd time in their history (and the first since 4-11-2009 in Columbus)

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles allowed six goals in Minnesota for the first time since October 5, 1989, when they lost 6-5 to the North Stars.  It was the first of 1,499 NHL games for future HHOFer Mike Modano.

The Isles allowed shorthanded goals in each of their first two games against the Wild, both in 2001.  They had not allowed a shorty to Minnesota since then, until allowing two tonight.

Oh, Those Shorthanded Goals
The Isles allowed two shorthanded goals for the second time this season and now have allowed five shorthanded goals in 62:07 of power play time this season.  The Isles have been outscored 5-2 on their own power play this season.

JT Passes Howatt, Ties Jonsson 
John Tavares played in his 597th Islander game, passing Garry Howatt and tying Kenny Jonsson for 14th in club history among Isles skaters. 

Catching Grabner
Anders Lee scored his 90th goal as an Islander, tying Michael Grabner for 37th on the team's all-time list. 

The Shots
Isles           11-9-13=33
Minnesota  16-6-11=33

The Isles are 1-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 4-2-0 when they are outshot.

Offside Challenges
The Isles have challenged twice and been successful once.
10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.
10/12 @ Ana Ducks -- successful

The opponents have not challenged so far this season.

Go West, Young Men
This was the eighth game of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of 15 games against Western Conference opponents.  The Isles are 4-3-1 in this stretch; the only Eastern Conference opponents they will face during this stretch are the Rangers (4-3 SO Win) and Capitals (11/2 in DC).

Home and Road
The Islanders are 5-4-1 overall; 3-0-1 at home and 2-4-0 on the road.  
Minnesota are 3-3-2 overall; 1-1-1 at home and 2-2-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 1-1-0 in Division games and 4-3-1 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 2-1-0 against the East and 3-3-1 against the West.

Our House
The Isles are 3-0-1 at home, matching their best home start since 1984-85 (also 3-0-1 in 2015-16).  The Isles are 1-0-1 vs. the Western Conference at Barclays Center this season and are 23-4-4 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 27 saves but falls to 2-2-1 on the season and 3-3-0 in his career against Minnesota. 

Devyn Dubnyk made 29 saves, to improve to 2-3-1 on the season and 4-4-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-5 on the power play, allowing two shorthanded goals; Minnesota was 0-3.  
The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-2-1 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-3-1 when they do not.  

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

First Goa
The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score first and are 3-4-1 when they allow the opening goal. 

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 1-1-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-1-0 on the back-end.  The next back-to-back set is November 10th in Dallas and November 11th in St. Louis.

Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-1-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-0 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 3-3-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (22:53); Minnesota: Ryan Suter (26:48)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (2-1-1), Nick Leddy (1-2-0), John Tavares (1-1-0). Calvin deHaan (1-0-0).

John Tavares led the forwards in ice-time (21:28). Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (5-4-1)

Face-offs
Isles 33, Minnesota 32 (51%).  

Casey Cizikas won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Mikko Koivu won 18 of 28 for Minnesota.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 14/27; 2nd period 6/13; 3rd period 13/25.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/47; Power play 4/12; Penalty kill 2/6.

Hit Count
Isles 10 (3 with 2) 
Minnesota 11 (Marcus Foligno 5)

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

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 4 shots; it's their fewest blocks in a game since October 30, 2014 in Colorado (also 4). 

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 67, Minnesota 47 (After Minnesota had 19 of the first 20, the Isles had 66 of the final 94)
5-on-5 Isles 54, Minnesota 31

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Andrew Ladd and Johnny Boychuk +15
Minnesota: Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker +8

Night and Day 
The Isles are 5-4-0 in night games and 0-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season, will play six matinees this season.

Ironmen
Jason Chimera – 198 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 161 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 159, Calvin deHaan 95

Scratches
(Shane Prince-IR), Alan Quine-Conditioning, Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 22

Late Hero
The Isles have scored once in the final minute of regulation to either tie or win a game:
10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

7-11
The Isles have used 7 defensemen twice this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ) and are 2-0-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-0-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 
7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 649 *** 10. Derek King 638 *** 11. Billy Harris 623 *** 12. Stefan Persson 622 *** 13. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 14. Kenny Jonsson and John Tavares 597
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. John Tavares 241
22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 109
36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner and Anders Lee 90

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***
5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. John Tavares 306
15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 207

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***
5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tavares 547
17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 316

Season Series Stats
Minnesota leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series on President's Day (February 19th) in Brooklyn.

The Isles have lost two straight games in Minnesota but are 7-4-1 in their last 12 games against the Wild.

On the Farm
Bridgeport are 2-4-0 heading into Friday's game in Hartford.  The Sound Tigers are coming off a 6-3 victory over Hartford on Sunday.  The Sound Tigers got goals from six different players, including Scott Eansor. Eansor is tied for the AHL lead (and the AHL rookie lead) with seven goals on the season.

The Sound Tigers will host Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.   

Up Next
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28th - ISLANDERS AT NASHVILLE 8:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles conclude the 2-game trip as they face the reigning Clarence Campbell Bowl winners, the Nashville Predators.   The Preds finished with the exact same record as the Isles last season but made the playoffs and went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

The teams have split a pair of games each of the last two seasons; the Isles' win last season came in Music City on a Thomas Hickey overtime goal.  Overall, the Isles are 5-2-0 in their last 7 games vs. the Preds.

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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