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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 ...

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Skinny: Isles 5, Vancouver 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 17
Isles 5, Vancouver 2
Tom Kuhnhackl scored twice, and both Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson reached career milestones as the Isles ended their three-game winless streak with a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks before a crowd of 8,806 at Barclays Center.

It was the first career two-goal game for Kuhnhackl, who has more goals in seven appearances this season (3) than he did in 69 games for Pittsburgh last season (2).

The Scoring:

1st Period
Brendan Leipsic (2) Bo Horvat, Michael Del Zotto 02:48 VAN 1,NYI 0
Tom Kuhnhackl (2) Leo Komarov, Valtteri Filppula 05:11 VAN 1,NYI 1
Josh Bailey (6) Mathew Barzal 05:56 VAN 1,NYI 2
Jordan Eberle (5) Brock Nelson, Andrew Ladd 14:50 VAN 1,NYI 3

2nd Period
Jake Virtanen (8) Loui Eriksson, Brendan Leipsic 02:51 VAN 2,NYI 3 PPG

3rd Period
Tom Kuhnhackl (3) Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson 03:26 VAN 2,NYI 4
Cal Clutterbuck (1) Mathew Barzal, Johnny Boychuk 17:06 VAN 2,NYI 5 PPG

The Skinny  
Thru 17 games, the Isles have the same record as last season (9-6-2) but have allowed eleven fewer goals …Tom Kuhnhackl now has points in two straight games and has four points in seven games as an Islander. …Brock Nelson is 3-4-7 in the last 7 games and 7-4-11 in the last 11 games…The Isles have averaged 34 shots on goal in the last three games …Jake Virtanen scored for the 6th time in the last eight games…Cal Clutterbuck's goal was his first since January 13th, and the first for the Isles' power play in the last four games…Brendan Leipsic who had the overtime goal in the last meeting of the teams (last March), had a goal and an assist on the two Vancouver goals…Jordan Eberle's game winner was his 19th career goal against Vancouver.  Among active players, only Patrick Marleau has more goals vs. Vancouver…The Isles improved to 30-9-7 at Barclays Center against Western Conference opponents…The Isles scored three first period goals for the second consecutive home game; it's the first time since February 2016 that they have done that… Nick Leddy went +3 to raise his season rating to -1…By winning the third period tonight, the Isles have now outscored their opponents in each of the three periods: (18-14, 16-12, 18-16).

The Injury
Andrew Ladd suffered a lower body injury late in the second period and did not return.

Mr. Game Winner
The Isles have eight wins (not including shootouts); Jordan Eberle has the winning goal three times.  Ten of his 30 career goals as an Islander have been game-winners.  Eberle is now tied/87th in goals as an Islander (30) but tied/29th in game-winning goals (29th).

Junior Skinny
From 7th Grader Carter LaCorte: "That goal was Eberle's 30th as an islander. May be mistaken, but with thirty goals in 97 games, Eberle is the quickest isles player to 30 goals after a trade to team since Alexei Yashin, who did it it (in) 68 games in 01-02"    (He's not mistaken)

Milestone Men
Mathew Barzal recorded his 100th and 101st NHL point and Brock Nelson recorded his 200th and 201st point.  Both players also now have three-game point streaks.

Moving Up
Thomas Greiss played in his 129th game as an Isle goalie, matching Mark Fitzpatrick for 9th place in club history. Tonight's game was played on Fitzpatrick's 50th birthday.  Greiss also recorded his 67th win as an Isle, breaking a tie with Glenn Healy for 7th place.

Home for Thanksgiving
The Isles are beginning a streak of seven consecutive games in the New York area; they are 1-0-0 in this stretch:
Nov 13 vs Van Canucks 5-2 Win
Nov 15 vs NY Rangers
Nov 18 vs Dallas
Nov 21 @ NY Rangers
Nov 23 @ NJ Devils
Nov 24 vs Car Hurricanes
Nov 26 vs Was Capitals

The only remaining game this month out of the metro area will be in Boston on November 29th.  That will be the final game before the Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time (in a regular season game) since April 2015.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is both the winningest and most experienced active NHL coach.  Trotz' NHL record is 771-574-60-136 in 1541 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1244
2. Joel Quenneville  890
3. Ken Hitchcock    823
4. Al Arbour   782
5. Barry Trotz   771

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman  2141
2. Joel Quenneville 1636
3. Al Arbour   1607
4. Barry Trotz   1541
5. Ken Hitchcock   1536

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season
This Season: 9-6-2 (20 points), with 54 goals scored and 44 goals allowed (includes SO winners)
Last Season: 9-6-2 (20 points), with 60 goals scored and 55 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First
The Isles are 7-1-2 when scoring first and 2-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles     12-5-17=34
Vancouver  8-11-5=24
The Isles are 1-3-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 8-2-2 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road
The Islanders are 9-6-2 overall; 4-1-2 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 5-5-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.
Vancouver is 10-8-2 overall; 5-2-0 at home and 5-6-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-0-0 in Division games and 3-6-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 6-2-2 against the East and 3-4-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 22 saves to improve to 5-2-1 on the season and 3-2-0 in his career against Vancouver.  

Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves but falls to 7-5-2 on the season and 2-4-0 in his career against the Isles.
 
Power Plays
The Isles were 1-5 on the power play in 8:33 of PP time; Vancouver was 1-5 on the power play in 8:26 of PP time.
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-5-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 2-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-3-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 7-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-1 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 3-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-1 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 
The Isles are 1-1-0 in the front half and 2-0-0 in the back half. The next back-to-back is on Thanksgiving weekend: Black Friday in New Jersey and at home vs. Carolina on November 23-24. 
 
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 6-6-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:04); Vancouver: Markus Granlund (22:47)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:06 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (7-2-2), Nick Leddy (2-4-0).

Face-offs
Isles 30 Vancouver 23(57%).

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Bo Horvat won 13 of 25 for Vancouver. 
Face-offs by period: 1st period  9/14; 2nd period 13/20; 3rd period 8/191.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 21/37, Power play 3/7, Penalty kill 6/9

Hit Count
Isles 15 (Leo Komarov and Scott Mayfield-4)  
Vancouver 16 (Erik Gudbranson- 5)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total – 3 (Scott Mayfield -2, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 9 shots (Three with 2).  

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 57, Vancouver 41 
5-on-5 Isles 46, Vancouver 31

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Ryan Pulock +15
Vancouver: Derrick Pouliot +3

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 7-6-2 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee is November 18th vs. Dallas.  

Ironmen
Anders Lee 135, Brock Nelson 112, Mathew Barzal 99

Scratches
(Matt Martin -injured), Adam Pelech, Ross Johnston
Total games lost: 13

Late Heroes
The Isles have not yet scored in 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.
11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

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 732

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Josh Bailey 130 *** 19. Anders Lee 129

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 265

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 395

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. Roland Melanson 136 *** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick and Thomas Greiss 129

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 67

Season Series Stats
The Isles  lead the season series one games to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will again meet in Vancouver on February 23rd to complete the season series. 

The Isles have earned points in their last seven games against the Canucks (5-0-2).  They have won three straight vs. Vancouver at Barclays Center.

On the Farm
Connor Jones broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period as Bridgeport extended their winning streak to five games and their home winning streak to seven games with a 4-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday afternoon.
 
Kieffer Bellows scored for the fourth straight game (5 goals).

Bridgeport is now 9-5-1-0 heading into a matinee game in Hartford on Wednesday.
 
Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 7; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 14; Points: Ho-Sang 15

Up Next
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15th – RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 
[MSG+2 (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The homestand continues as the Islanders and Rangers meet for the first time this season. 

The Isles have dominated the season series over the last three years, going 11-1-0 against the rival Rangers.  The Isles have won seven straight from the Rangers for the first time ever in regular season play and are 6-0-0 all-time at Barclays Center against the Blueshirts

The Isles are 6-0-0 on the season against their Metro rivals, matching their best-ever start in their own division (6-0-0 vs. Patrick in 1982-83). It's the first time since November 3-December 15, 2015 that the Isles have won six straight divisional games at any point in a single season. The Isles haven't won seven straight divisional games (in a single season) since an 11-game streak from November 29, 2014 to February 14, 2015. 

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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