Featured Post

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 ...

Monday, October 08, 2018

The Skinny: Isles 4, San Jose 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 3
Isles 4, San Jose 0
Robin Lehner made 35 saves to become the first Islander goalie to debut with a shutout and the Isles got goals from four different players to blank the San Jose Sharks 4-0, before a Columbus Day crowd of 8,790 at Barclays Center.

Anders Lee had a second period power play goal in the middle period; Scott Mayfield, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas (SH-EN) all scored in the third as the Isles moved to 2-1-0 on the young campaign.
 
The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD 
No Goals Scored

2ND PERIOD
14:34 Anders Lee (2) (Power Play) Assists: Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 1-0

3RD PERIOD
5:16 Scott Mayfield (1) Assists: Casey Cizikas 2-0
13:02 Matt Martin (1) Assists: Valtteri Filppula, Leo Komarov 3-0
19:04   Casey Cizikas (1) (Shorthanded – Empty Net) Assists: Johnny Boychuk 4-0

The Skinny  
Captain Anders Lee scored the only goal the Isles would need on a power play, he passed Josh Bailey as the leading goal scorer among all active Islanders (126-125). Lee has scored 75 goals since 11/23/2016, matching Alex Ovechkin for the most in the NHL in that stretch. He has scored 25 power play goals in that stretch; only Ovechkin (32) has more …Mat Barzal, Josh Bailey and Valtteri Filppula all had assists to extend their season-opening point streaks to three. … Casey Cizikas recorded his 5th career shorthanded goal to seal the game…The Isles blanked San Jose for the first time since Garth Snow turned the trick in 2003; all three previous Isle shutouts of the Sharks had come in California…Scott Mayfield's goal was his first in 39 games (11/5/2017 vs Colorado); Matt Martin's goal was his first in 16 games (12/29/17, for Toronto vs. Colorado) and his first as an Islander since April 10, 2016 vs. Philadelphia…Tom Kuhnhackl played 11:42 in his Islander debut; he is the 500th skater to appear in an Islander game…Mathew Barzal drew another penalty, his 3rd in the season. Barzal drew 40 opposing penalties in his rookie season…Rourke Chartier made his NHL debut for San Jose.
 
Chasing "The King"
Robin Lehner improved his career save percentage to .916 with his 9th career shutout.  Among Swedish-born netminders, only Henrik Lundqvist (.919) has a better career same percentage.

Picking Up Where He Left Off
Mathew Barzal has assists in all three games this season, extending his assist streak over two seasons to seven games (3-8-11).

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season:  2-1-0 (4 points), with 9 goals scored and 5 goals allowed
Last Season: 1-1-1 (3 points), with 8 goals scored and 11 goals allowed

It's the first time in four years that the Isles have scored at least nine goals in the first three games and the first time in seven years they have allowed five goals or fewer. 

Streaking
The season is just over 180 minutes old, and the Isles have already had shutout streaks of 58:30 and 83:18 (current streak).

Good Start for Special Teams
The Isles have scored a power play goal in each of the first three games and have not allowed a power play goal so far this season.  It's the fourth time in Isles history they have done that in each of the first three games (1987-88, 2009-10, January 2013).

The Western World
This was the second of six straight games against the West.  The Isles are playing their entire season series with both San Jose and San Jose in these six games.  The Isles are1-1-0 in this stretch:

10/6 Lost to NSH Predators 4-3
10/8 Beat SJ Sharks 4-0
10/13 @ NSH Predators
10/17 @ ANA Ducks
10/18 @ LA Kings
10/20 @ SJ Sharks

99'ers
Brock Nelson has 99 career goals; Thomas Greiss has 99 career wins.

First Things First
The Isles are 2-0-0 when scoring first and 0-1-0 when allowing the first tally. Last season, the Isles were 23-10-5 when they scored first and were 12-27-5 when they allowed the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles          13-12-5=30
San Jose  11-8-16=35
The Isles are 0-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents and 2-0-0 when they are outshot.  Last season, the Isles were 10-15-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 25-21-5 when they are outshot.  (The 25 wins while being outshot tied the club record, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road
The Islanders are 2-1-0 overall; 1-1-0 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 1-0-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Brooklyn and 20 games in Uniondale this season.
San Jose is 1-2-0 overall; 0-1-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.  

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

In the Nets
Robin Lehner made 35 saves and improves to 1-0-0 on the season and 1-4-0 in his career against San Jose.  
Martin Jones made 26 saves in his first games against the Isles in three seasons to fall to 1-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 7:48 of PP time; San Jose was 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time.
The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-0-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.    

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

One Goal Games
The Isles are 1-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 1-0 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.

Back-to-Backs
The Isles will play 13 back-to-backs this season.  The first back-to-back is in Anaheim and Los Angeles on October 17-18.
 
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 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 2-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:22); San Jose: Brent Burns (26:06).  

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:59 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Pulock (2-0-0), Leddy (0-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 22, San Jose 35 (39%).

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Joe Pavelski won 10 of 14 for San Jose. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/24; 2nd period 4/10; 3rd period 9/23.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/40, Power play 2/10, Penalty kill 3/7.

Hit Count
Isles 21 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)  
San Jose 9 (Kevin Labanc -2)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 0.  The Isles had 15 fights last season; Ross Johnston led the team with four.

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 23 shots (Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield with 3).  Fourteen players recorded at least one block.

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 50, San Jose 70 
5-on-5 Isles 31, San Jose 52

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin +4
San Jose: Timo Meier +15

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 1-1-0 in night games and 1-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee is October 27th in Philadelphia.

Ironmen
Anders Lee 121, Brock Nelson 98, Mathew Barzal 85. 

Scratches
(Andrew Ladd-IR), Ross Johnston, Luca Sbisa, Tanner Fritz 
Total games lost:3

Late Heroes
The Isles have not yet scored the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed a goal one time in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

Offside Challenges
The Isles have not challenged a goal due to an offside this season. 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 
6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 718

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Anders Lee 126 ***20. Josh Bailey 125 

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 256

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 381

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 120

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Thomas Greiss 63

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0). The teams will conclude the season series on October 20th in San Jose.

The Isles have won three straight vs. San Jose for the first time since winning four straight games between 1992 and 1994.
 
On the Farm
Steve Bernier scored the winning goal early in the third period on Sunday as Bridgeport earned a split of their two-game, season-opening road trip with a 2-1 win in Hershey. Michael Dal Colle assisted on both Sound Tiger goals to complete a four-point weekend as he recorded consecutive multi-point games for the first time since last October.  Jeremy Smith made 30 saves for his first win with Bridgeport.  The Sound Tigers open the home season with matinees against Rochester on both October 13 and 14.
 
Up Next
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13th—ISLANDERS AT NASHVILLE 8:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 
  
The Isles are off for the next four days.  It is the only time this season other than the Christmas break and the All-Star/bye Break that the Isles are off for four consecutive days.

The Islanders begin a four-game road trip on Saturday in Nashville as they conclude the season series with the Nashville Predators.  The Preds defeated the Isles 4-3 in the Islander home opener on Saturday.

The Isles have won in Nashville each of the last two seasons; it's the first time the Isles have ever won consecutive games in Music City.

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: