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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 ...

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Skinny: Isles 4, Washington 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 38
Isles 4, Washington 3
Happy New Year!  Tom Kuhnhackl scored the game-winning goal at the 12:34 mark of the second period and Casey Cizikas added a pair of goals as the Isles closed out 2019 with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals before a sellout crowd of 18,573 at Capital One Arena.

Brock Nelson also scored for the Isles; it was his club-leading 26th goal in 2019.

The Isles have won two straight and hit the New Year with a 25-10-3 (53 points) record.  It's the first time in the Post-Cup era that the Isles have reached 53 points by the end of December (26-11-2 at end of 1983, for 54 points).
 
The Scoring: 
1st Period
Casey Cizikas (7) Scott Mayfield, Leo Komarov 07:13 NYI 1,WSH 0
Brock Nelson (14) Nick Leddy, Anthony Beauvillier 10:39 NYI 2,WSH 0
Evgeny Kuznetsov (14) Dmitry Orlov 10:53 NYI 2,WSH 1
Tom Wilson (13) Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin 14:17 NYI 2,WSH 2

2nd Period
Evgeny Kuznetsov (15) T.J. Oshie 00:44 NYI 2,WSH 3
Casey Cizikas (8) Matt Martin 04:27 NYI 3,WSH 3
Tom Kuhnhackl (2) Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee 12:34 NYI 4,WSH 3

3rd Period
No Goals

The Skinny     
Casey Cizikas had a pair of goals; it was his fourth career two-goal game, and he now has four goals in the last eight games…The Isles killed both Washington power plays and are a perfect 9-9 on this trip; they had allowed a power play goal in each of the five prior games (longest streak under Barry Trotz) … The Isles finish December with an 8-5-1 record; the Isles have had a winning record in every month under Barry Trotz.… Nick Leddy earned an assist on the opening goal; it was his 301st career point.…Tom Kuhnhackl scored a goal for the 2nd straight game; it is the first time in his career he has scored in consecutive games… Kuhnhackl also has matched a career-high with a three-game point streak (also in April 2017)… It was Kuhnhackl's third career game-winning goal (and 2nd vs. Washington)...The Isles are 7-1-1 in their last nine division games and are 19-2-1 in their last 22 games against the East… The Isles went 52-24-6 in 2019 (tying the club record for calendar year wins), while the Caps went 51-24-10…Barry Trotz recorded his 447th win in the 2010's; only Bruce Boudreau (448 entering Minnesota's game tonight) has more victories in the decade…The Isles improve to 13-2-3 in one-goal games while Washington falls to 13-2-5; each team owns a 1-goal regulation win over the other and each team has lost only one other one-goal game in regulation…The Isles are 15 games over NHL-.500, matching a season-high.  They will end 2019 in 2nd place in the Metro (6 points behind Washington and holding three games in hand) and in 4th place in the entire NHL.

The Year
2019 Isles  52-24-6 110 points (222 goals for, 191 goals against).   FEWEST GOALS ALLOWED IN NHL IN 2019!
Seven Isles played every game (Lee-Nelson-Barzal-Pulock-Beauvillier-Bailey-Toews)

Calendar Year leaders:

Goals
1. Brock Nelson 26
2. Anders Lee 25
3. Mathew Barzal 24

Assists:
1. Barzal 36
2. Josh Bailey 33
3. Nelson 32

Points:
1. Barzal 60
2. Nelson 58
3. Bailey 49

+/-
1. (Tied)  Ryan Pulock and Casey Cizikas +19
3. Cal Clutterbuck +17

Penalty Minutes
1. Scott Mayfield 67
2. Lee 60
3. Ross Johnston 51

Power Play Goals
1. Jordan Eberle/Nelson 5
3. Three with 4

Shorthanded Goals
1. Cizikas 4
2. Three with 1

Game Winning Goals
1. Lee/Nelson/Bailey 5

Overtime Goals
1. Nelson 4
2. Pulock/ Devon Toews 2

Shootout Goals
1. Eberle/Barzal 3
3. Nelson/Bailey 2

Shootout %
1. Eberle/Bailey 50%
3. Barzal 33.3%

Goalie Records:  ISLES ONLY
Greiss  22-14-1  .929  2.22   (4-1 in shootouts, .929 save %)
Lehner 16-7-2    .930  2.13   (0-1 in shootouts, allowed goal on both shots faced)
Varlamov    14-3-3    .920  2.43   (2-1 in shootouts, .667 save %)


The Decade
The Isles went 381-307-94 in this decade.

Skaters:
Games:
Josh Bailey 726 (has missed only 56 games in decade)
John Tavares 627
Matt Martin 531

Goals
Tavares 256
Anders Lee 163
Brock Nelson 138

Assists
Tavares 337
Bailey 284
Frans Nielsen 194

Points
Tavares 593
Bailey  417
Kyle Okposo 298

+/-
Johnny Boychuk +47
Thomas Hickey +35

(Leo Komarov and Nikolay Kulemin were the best forwards: +23)

PP Goals
Tavares 75
Lee 49
Moulson 41

SH Goals 
Frans Nielsen 14
Michael Grabner 11
Casey Cizikas & Cal Clutterbuck 9

GW Goals
Tavares 40
Lee 24
Nelson 21

OT Goals
Tavares 11
Nelson 6
Bailey/Hickey 5

Pen Mins
Martin 745
Travis Hamonic 452
Zenon Konopka 308

Shootout Goals
1. Nielsen 35
2. Tavares 15 (in 54 attempts)
3. Okposo 13

Shootout % (minimum 15 attempts)
1. Moulson 60% (9-15)
2. Nielsen 50% (35-70)
3. Okposo 44.8% (13-29)

Goalies:
Games: Thomas Greiss 181, Jaroslav Halak 177
Starts: Halak 170, Greiss 169
Wins: Greiss 96, Halak 88
GAA (minimum 40 games): Lehner 2.13, Evgeni Nabokov 2.59
Save %(minimum 40 games): Robin Lehner .930, Greiss .916
Shutouts: Halak 12, Greiss 10

Shootout Wins: Halak 12, Nabokov 11
Shootout Save%: Greiss .764, Halak .685

It's Just Another New Year's Eve
The are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games on New Year's Eve, losing only in Colorado two years ago.  This was the second NYE meeting between the teams, with the Isles winning 6-4 in 1988 at the Coliseum.

The Dreaded Two-Goal Lead
The Isles held a 2-0 lead for 14 seconds in the first period (between Brock Nelson's 14th goal and Evgeny Kuznetsov's 14th).  It was the first two-goal lead for the Isles since December 17th vs Nashville when the Preds cut into a 3-1 Isles lead in just 27 second, enroute to an 8-3 win.

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-4-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 835-605-60-144 in 1,644 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  910 
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    835
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,674
3. Barry Trotz        1,644
4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First
The Isles are 14-4-2 when scoring first and are 11-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles             7-11-4=22
Washington 11-10-18=39

The Isles are 7-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 18-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 25-10-3 overall; 13-4-2 at home (9-4-1 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 12-6-1 on the road.  
Washington is 27-9-5 overall; 11-4-4 at home and 16-5-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 7-3-1 in Division games and 18-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 19-4-1 against the East and 6-6-2 against the West.  

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves as he improves to 14-3-3 on the season and 4-5-1 in his career against Washington. 
 
Braden Holtby made 25 saves but falls to 17-7-4 on the season and 16-6-3 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of power play time; Washington was 0-2 on the power play in 3:00 of PP time, as the game ended with Washington on the power play.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-8-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-4-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-2-0 when the power plays are even, and 17-6-2 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 22-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 60-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 13-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 4-2 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 17-8-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:24); Washington: Dmitry Orlov (23:58)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 21:01 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (10-3-3), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 22, Washington 31 (42%)  
No Islander who took multiple draws won more than he lost; Nicklas Backstrom won 11 of 15 for Washington.

Hit Count
Isles 24 (Matt Martin -7)
Washington 21 (Two with 3)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 29 (Scott Mayfield -5)
Washington 14 (Jonas Siegenthaler -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Washington 87
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 39, Washington 70

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Casey Cizikas/Matt Martin +4
Washington: Dmitry Orlov +26

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 9, Washington 11
5-on-5: Isles 9, Washington 11

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 21-10-2 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be January 18th, also against the Caps.

200 Game Club
The Isles have three players who have consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games.  It's the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 238, Brock Nelson 215, Mathew Barzal 202, Ryan Pulock 165, Josh Bailey 123, Anthony Beauvillier 113, and Devon Toews 86. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 4th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 165 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 165
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Michael Dal Colle, Noah Dobson, (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ).
Total games lost: 92.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 835…
22. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 23.*** Matt Martin 531*** 24. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 25. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 519 *** 27. Brock Nelson 518

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 163 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 138

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 308 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Nick Leddy 165

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 456…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 280 *** 26. Brock Nelson 271

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 181

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 119
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 73

Season Series Stats
The season series is even, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2), with each team earning a one-goal win on the road. The teams will next meet at the Coliseum on January 18th.

The Isles have won three straight games in Washington, but the Caps have won all three meetings the last two seasons in New York.

On the Farm   
Kieffer Bellows had nine goals in his last eight games, heading into Bridgeport's New Year's Eve game in Hartford.

The Sound Tigers are 9-5-1-0 in their last 15 games and have climbed out of last place and back within seven points of a playoff spot.   

Up Next
THURSDAY, JANUARY 2nd   —  NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM –7:00 PM
[NBCSN (pre-game at 6:00), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
For the second time in two weeks, the Isles will be featured nationally as they face the Devils for the first time this season.

New Jersey is playing their best hockey of the season, with their New Year's Eve shootout win over Boston raising their record to 5-2-1 in their last eight games.

The Isles swept the season series last year, winning both games in New York in regulation and both games in New Jersey in overtime/shootout.  The Isles are 11-4-0 in their last 15 games against the Devils,  who they will also face on January 7th at the Prudential Center.


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

Sunday, December 29, 2019

The Skinny: Isles 3, Minnesota 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 37
Isles 3, Minnesota 1
Ryan Pulock and Matt Martin scored 97 seconds apart in the third period and Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves as the Isles rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild before a crowd of 17,506 at Xcel Energy Center.in St. Paul.

Ryan Donato's first period goal was all the scoring before Pulock and Martin turned the game upside-down as the Isles recorded their first regulation win since December 12th.

The win snaps a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and pushes the Isles over 50 points with a 24-10-3 (51 points) record.  It's the earliest that the Isles have reached 50 points since 1983 (24-9-2 on 12/22/1983).
 
The Scoring: 
1st Period
Ryan Donato (8) Ryan Suter, Joel Eriksson Ek 15:43 NYI 0,MIN 1

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Ryan Pulock (6) Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech 04:24 NYI 1,MIN 1
Matt Martin (3) Leo Komarov, Nick Leddy 06:01 NYI 2,MIN 1
Tom Kuhnhackl (1) Brock Nelson 17:29 NYI 3,MIN 1 

The Skinny     
Matt Martin scored for the first time since October 25th; Martin has 51 goals as an Islander and 12 of them are game-winners…The Isles killed all three Minnesota power plays and are a perfect 7-7 on this trip; they had allowed a power play goal in each of the five prior games (longest streak under Barry Trotz) … the Isles improve to 7-5-1 in December, clinching a winning December; the Isles have had a winning record in every month under Barry Trotz.… Nick Leddy earned an assist on the winning goal; it was his 164th as an Islander, breaking a tie with Zigmund Palffy for 26th place in club history…Ryan Pulock played in his 164th consecutive game, a streak that began two years ago tonight…Tom Kuhnhackl scored his first goal since March 1st…The three-game winless streak matched the longest under Trotz; the Isles are now 3-0-0 in the following game…The Isles are 4-9-0 when trailing after two periods (they were 5-19-0 last season when trailing after two periods)…The Wild had gone 13-4-4 in their prior 21 games; their 30 points were the most in the NHL in that span…The Isles allowed one goal or fewer for the first time in seven games. 

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-4-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 834-605-60-144 in 1,643 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  910
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    834
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,674
3. Barry Trotz        1,643
4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First
The Isles are 13-4-2 when scoring first and are 11-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles         10-10-8=28
Minnesota 12-5-9=26

The Isles are 7-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-10-3 overall; 13-4-2 at home (9-4-1 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 11-6-1 on the road.  
Minnesota is 19-16-5 overall; 10-3-3 at home and 9-13-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-3-1 in Division games and 18-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-4-1 against the East and 6-6-2 against the West.  

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves as he improves to 13-3-3 on the season and 13-13-1 in his career against Minnesota. 
 
Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves but falls to 7-9-2 on the season and 5-6-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 3:25 of power play time; Minnesota was 0-3 on the power play in 5:25 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-8-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-4-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 3-2-0 when the power plays are even, and 17-6-2 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 21-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 59-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 12-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 16-8-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Adam Pelech (22:05); Minnesota: Ryan Suter (22:36)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:09 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (9-3-3), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 26, Minnesota 24 (52%)  
Brock Nelson won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Luke Kunin won 6 of 7 for Minnesota.

Hit Count
Isles 18 (Matt Martin and Nick Leddy -3)
Minnesota 7 (Ryan Suter-3)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Johnny Boychuk -5)
Minnesota 14 (Five with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Minnesota 59
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 42, Minnesota 45

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Adam Pelech +6
Minnesota: Ryan Hartman +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Minnesota 8
5-on-5: Isles 7, Minnesota 8

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 21-10-2 in night games and 3-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be December 31st in Washington.

200 Game Club
The Isles have three players who have consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games.  It's the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 237, Brock Nelson 214, Mathew Barzal 201, Ryan Pulock 164, Josh Bailey 122, Anthony Beauvillier 112, and Devon Toews 85. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 164 consecutive regular season games; he tied Andrew MacDonald for fourth on the all-time club list tonight:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 164
    Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Michael Dal Colle, Noah Dobson, (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ).
Total games lost: 91.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 834…
22. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 23.*** Pat LaFontaine and Matt Martin 530*** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 518 *** 27. Brock Nelson 517

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 163 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 137

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 308 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Nick Leddy 164

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 456…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 279 *** 26. Brock Nelson 270

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 181

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 119
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 72

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on March 31st in the 80th game of the regular season.

The Isles have won three straight games vs. Minnesota and are 6-3-0 in their last nine games against the Wild.

On the Farm   
Kieffer Bellows scored a third period hat trick, but Bridgeport dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Springfield on Saturday.  Bellows now has nine goals in his last eight games.

The Sound Tigers are 9-5-1-0 in their last 15 games and have climbed out of last place and back within seven points of a playoff spot.  Bridgeport wraps up 2019 with a 5:00 game at Hartford on New Year's Eve.

Up Next
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31st   —  ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON –1:00 PM
[MSG+ (pre-game at 12:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
The Isles will wrap up 2019 and the road trip, as they face the Capitals in Washington on Tuesday afternoon.

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Caps edged the Isles 2-1 on Opening Night.  It will be Barry Trotz' third trip back to DC as the Isles coach; the Isles won both games last season, blanking the Caps 2-0 in January and 3-0 in the regular season finale.

The Isles are 51-24-6 in 2019, while the Caps are 51-23-10.

The are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games on New Year's Eve, including a 3-1 win in Buffalo last season.  This will be only the second NYE meeting between the teams, with the Isles winning 6-4 in 1988 at the Coliseum.

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

Friday, December 27, 2019

The Skinny: Chicago 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 36
Chicago 5, Isles 2
It started out as Thomas Greiss versus Robin Lehner, but it didn't stay that way for long as Greiss allowed three goals in a 4:22 span of the first period and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Isles 5-2 before a sellout crowd of 21,747 at United Center.

An early tally from Ross Johnston and a late shorthanded goal from Casey Cizikas were all the Isles could score against their former teammate.

The Isles have lost three straight (0-2-1) and are 1-3-1 in their last five games.
 
The Scoring: 
1st Period
Ross Johnston (3) Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy 05:50 NYI 1,CHI 0
Dennis Gilbert (1) Dylan Strome, Duncan Keith 07:34 NYI 1,CHI 1
Dominik Kubalik (11) Patrick Kane 09:46 NYI 1,CHI 2
Alex DeBrincat (9) Dylan Strome, Duncan Keith 11:56 NYI 1,CHI 3

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Jonathan Toews (9) 00:50 NYI 1,CHI 4
Matthew Highmore (1) David Kampf 03:03 NYI 1,CHI 5
Casey Cizikas (6) Tom Kuhnhackl, Adam Pelech 16:32 NYI 2, CHI 5 SHG

The Skinny     
Matthew Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee all saw their three-game point streaks end. …The Isles did kill all four Chicago power plays; they had allowed a power play goal in each of the five prior games (longest streak under Barry Trotz) …Dennis Gilbert scored his first NHL goal; he is the first player to do so against the Isles this season. …Thomas Greiss is 1-5-0 in December as the Isles fall to 6-5-1 in the month; the Isles have had a winning record in every month under Barry Trotz.… Matt Martin was penalized for the first time this season, earning a roughing penalty and misconduct late in the game.  Martin now has 918 career penalty minutes…Casey Cizikas now is 3-2-5 while shorthanded; it's the first time in his career he has scored three shorthanded goals.  Casey is tied with Vegas' William Karlsson and the Rangers' Mika Zibanejad for the NHL lead in shorthanded points.…The Isles had 40 shots on goal; it's the second-highest total of the season (42 vs. Pittsburgh on 11-21)..The Isles had 50 hits (2nd-highest total for the Isles and 5th-highest in NHL this season)…Mathew Barzal played his 200th consecutive game; he is the 15th player in Islander history to play at least 200 straight game…Johnny Boychuk played against his nephew John Quenneville for the 2nd time (3-31-2017 vs. New Jersey)…It was the first time since December 19, 2016 (John Gibson/Frederic Andersen) that the reigning Jennings Trophy champions faced each other…The Isles allowed three first period goals for the first time since November 21, 2018 at MSG and only the third time under Barry Trotz…Patrick Kane's assist was his NHL-leading 798th point in the 2010's; he'll need two points in the next two games to reach 800...The Blackhawks have sold out 518 consecutive home games.

3,700 Club
This was the 3,700th regular season game in Islander history. The Isles have completed the most-successful 100-game set since the Cup Era, going 61-31-8 in games 3,601-3,700 to raise their all-time record to 1644-1557-499.

The Isles went 63-18-19 in games 401-500 and 68-18-14 in games 701-800; those are the only other times that the Isles won more games in a 100-game set (that ended in a multiple of 100).

Casey's Corner
Casey Cizikas has five shorthanded points this season (3-2-5).  He is the first Islander since 2010-11 [Frans Nielsen (7-1-8) and Michael Grabner (6-1-7)] to record at least five shorthanded points.

Casey now has 16 career shorthanded points (9-7-16).  Both his goal and point totals are good for a tied-12th in Isles history.

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-4-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 833-605-60-144 in 1,642 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  907 
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    833
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,671
3. Barry Trotz        1,642
4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First
The Isles are 13-4-2 when scoring first and are 10-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles       14-16-10=40
Chicago 13-8-9=30

The Isles are 6-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-10-3 overall; 13-4-2 at home (9-4-1 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 10-6-1 on the road.  
Chicago is 16-17-6 overall; 9-9-3 at home and 7-8-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-3-1 in Division games and 17-7-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-4-1 against the East and 5-6-2 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 8 saves before being replaced after the Hawks' third period. He falls to 11-7-0 on the season and 0-2-2 in his career against Chicago.  Semyon Varlamov stopped 17 of 19 in relief.
 
Robin Lehner made 38 saves to improve to 10-6-4 on the season and 5-3-3 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of power play time; Chicago was 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-8-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-4-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 3-2-0 when the power plays are even, and 16-6-2 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 58-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 12-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 15-8-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:09); Chicago: Duncan Keith (23:40)
Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 19:55 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (9-3-3), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 29, Chicago 29 (50%)  
Derek Brassard won 9 of 13 for the Isles; David Kampf won 10 of 14 for Chicago.

Hit Count
Isles 50 (Matt Martin -9)
Chicago 28 (Olli Maatta -6)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 18 (Two with 3)
Chicago 14 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Chicago 57
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 47, Chicago 50

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Nick Leddy +9
Chicago: Connor Murphy +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 13, Chicago 5
5-on-5: Isles 9, Chicago 4

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 20-10-2 in night games and 3-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be December 31st in Washington.

200 Game Club
The Isles have three players who have consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games.  It's the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 236, Brock Nelson 213, Mathew Barzal 200, Ryan Pulock 163, Josh Bailey 121, Anthony Beauvillier 111, and Devon Toews 84. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 163 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
5. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 163
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Leo Komarov, Noah Dobson, (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ).
Total games lost: 90.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 833…
22. Tomas Jonsson 522 *** 23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo and Matt Martin 529 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 517 *** 27. Brock Nelson 516

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 163 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 137

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 308 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy and Nick Leddy 163

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 456…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 279 *** 26. Brock Nelson 269

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 181

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 118
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 71

Season Series Stats
Chicago leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on April 2nd in the penultimate game of the regular season.

The Isles are 1-5-3 in their last nine trips to Chicago, including three shootout losses.

On the Farm   
Bridgeport beat Hartford 5-10 on Friday to improve to 13-16-3-1 on the season.  Andrew Ladd scored twice for the Sound Tigers while Kieffer Bellows added another goal, his 10th of the season.  Otto Koivula added three assists.

The Sound Tigers are 9-5-0-0 in their last 14 games and have climbed out of last place and back within six points of a playoff spot.  Bridgeport hosts Springfield on Saturday before wrapping up 2019 with a 5:00 game at Hartford on New Year's Eve.

Up Next
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29th    —  ISLANDERS AT MINNESOTA –6:00 PM
[MSG+ (pre-game at 5:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
The road trip continues in Minnesota as the teams meet for the first time this season.

The Isles swept the season series last year, winning a pair of one-goal games.  Brock Nelson's overtime goal gave the Isles a St. Patrick's Day win in St. Paul last season.

The Isles have split their last four games in Minnesota and are 5-3-0 in the last eight games against the Wild.
 
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

Thursday, December 26, 2019

The Skinny on Game 3,700

The Islanders will play the 3,700th regular season game in franchise history on Friday.

With it, the Isles will complete the most successful 100-game set since the Cup Era.

The Isles are 61-30-8 in games 3,601-3,699, raising their all-time record to 1644-1556-499.

The Isles went 63-18-19 in games 401-500 and 68-18-14 in games 701-800; those are the only other times that the Isles won more games in a 100 game set (that ended in a multiple of 100).

The Isles lost 29 games or fewer in each 100 game set from 201-300 to 701-800.  This current set, that ends on Friday, will be the first set since then that the Isles have lost as few as 30 (or 31) games.

(The most games the Isles have ever won in any stretch of 100 games is 70; they went 70-19-11 in three overlapping stretches from late in the 1980-81 season to early in the 1982-83 campaign.)





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

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Skinny: Columbus 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 35
Columbus 3, Isles 2
Vladislav Gabrikov scored the winning goal with 3:29 to play as the Columbus Blue Jackets stretched the Isles' home winless streak to three games with a 3-2 win over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at the Nassau Coliseum.

It's the fifth straight win for the Jackets, who head into the Christmas break on an eight-game point streak (6-0-2).
 
The Isles' record drops to 23-8-3; they are 7-6-2 in their last 15 games. 

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Anders Lee (11) Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle 06:17 CBJ 0,NYI 1

2nd Period
Kevin Stenlund (2) Zach Werenski 06:18 CBJ 1,NYI 1 PPG
Nathan Gerbe (1) Alexander Wennberg 09:34 CBJ 2,NYI 1
Mathew Barzal (16) Johnny Boychuk, Jordan Eberle 13:40 CBJ 2,NYI 2

3rd Period
Vladislav Gavrikov (4) Alexandre Texier, Pierre-Luc Dubois 16:31 CBJ 3,NYI 2

The Skinny     
The Isles suffered their first one-goal loss in regulation since Opening Night (12-2-3)….Anders Lee opened the scoring for the second straight game and for the fourth time this season (all since November 30th)… Matthew Barzal scored his team-leading 16th goal; he is just two goals shy of last year's total...Jordan Eberle added two assists, giving him five assists in the last three games…The Isles allowed a power play goal for the fifth straight game (longest streak under Barry Trotz); they have allowed seven power play goals in their last 19 times short…Nathan Gerbe played in only the third NHL game in the last four seasons; he scored his first NHL goal since March 10, 2016…It was Vladislav Gavrikov's first Game-Winning Goal… Kevin Stenlund's goal was Columbus' first in 177:45 against the Isles in New York…Thomas Greiss is 1-4-0 in December…Scott Mayfield missed the game due to illness; he had played every game this season and 113 of the last 114 Islander games...Andrew Ladd appeared in his first NHL game since March 24th, and led the team with four hits.

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-4-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 833-604-60-144 in 1,641 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  907 
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    833
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,671
3. Barry Trotz        1,641
4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First
The Isles are 13-3-2 when scoring first and are 10-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles           9-17-11=37
Columbus 13-17-5=35

The Isles are 6-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-9-3 overall; 13-4-2 at home (9-4-1 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 10-5-1 on the road.  
Columbus is 17-14-6 overall; 11-8-1 at home and 6-6-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-3-1 in Division games and 17-6-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-4-1 against the East and 5-5-2 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 32 saves but falls to 11-6-0 on the season and 10-8-3 in his career against Columbus.
 
Joonas Korpisalo made 35 saves to improve to 17-10-3 on the season and 3-1-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of power play time; Columbus was 1-2 on the power play in 2:39 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-7-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-6-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-3-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 3-2-0 when the power plays are even, and 16-5-2 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-8-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 58-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One Goal Games
The Isles are 12-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 15-7-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:53); Columbus: Seth Jones (25:38)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:03 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (9-2-3), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 23, Columbus 29 (44%)  
Casey Cizikas won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Boone Jenner won 15 of 23 for Columbus.

Hit Count
Isles 28 (Andrew Ladd-5)
Columbus 31 (Three with 4)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 8 (Nick Leddy-3)
Columbus 19 (Vladislav Gavrikov - 4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Columbus 54
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 51, Columbus 48

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Anders Lee & Mathew Barzal +11
Columbus: Nick Foligno +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 17, Columbus 11
5-on-5 Isles 13, Columbus 11

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 20-9-2 in night games and 3-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be December 31st in Washington.

Ironmen
Anders Lee 235, Brock Nelson 212, Mathew Barzal 199, Ryan Pulock 162, Josh Bailey 120, Anthony Beauvillier 110, and Devon Toews 83. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 162 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
5. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 162
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Leo Komarov, (Scott Mayfield -ill), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ).
Total games lost: 88.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 832…
22. Tomas Jonsson 522 *** 23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 528 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 516 *** 27. Brock Nelson 515

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 163 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 137

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 307 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. Nick Leddy 162

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 455…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 279 *** 26. Brock Nelson 269

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 180

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 117
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 71

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3).  The final meeting of the season will be in Columbus on March 30th.

Despite the loss, the Isles are 5-2-0 in the last seven games against Columbus.

On the Farm   
Bridgeport blanked Wilkes Barre-Scranton 3-0 on Saturday to improve to 12-16-3-1 on the season at the Christmas break.

The Sound Tigers are 8-5-0-0 in their last 13 games and have climbed back within six points of a playoff spot.  Bridgeport hosts Hartford on Friday and Springfield on Saturday before wrapping up 2019 with a 5:00 game at Hartford on New Year's Eve.

Up Next
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27th    —  ISLANDERS AT CHICAGO –8:30 PM
[MSG+2 (pre-game at 8:00), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
Following the league-mandated holiday break, the Isles will close out 2019 with a three-game road trip, beginning on Friday in Chicago.

It's the first meeting of the season between the teams, and the first possible reunion with former goaltender Robin Lehner.

The team split a pair of games last season; the Isles won on Long Island with a Devon Toews overtime goal while the Hawks won a shootout in Chicago.

The Isles are 1-4-3 in their last eight trips to Chicago, including three shootout losses.

And Finally…
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and for the rest of us, Happy Festivus!

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

Saturday, December 21, 2019

The Skinny: Anaheim 6, Isles 5 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 34
Anaheim 6, Isles 5 (SO)
Jakob Silfverberg scored the deciding goal of the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks emerged victorious in a wild game, defeating the Isles 6-5 before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Seven different Islanders had multiple points in a game that was tied five separate times. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves as the Isles ended their season-long starting goalie rotation.
 
The Isles' record is 23-8-3; the 23 wins remains tied for the club record (now with three other years) through 34 games. 

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Anders Lee (10) Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle 01:50 ANA 0,NYI 1
Max Comtois (3) Isac Lundestrom, Hampus Lindholm 16:27 ANA 1,NYI 1 PPG
Sam Carrick (1) 17:03 ANA 2,NYI 1 SHG
Brock Nelson (13) Ryan Pulock, Nick Leddy 17:50 ANA 2,NYI 2 PPG

2nd Period
Adam Henrique (11) Michael Del Zotto, Korbinian Holzer 05:23 ANA 3,NYI 2
Mathew Barzal (15) Anders Lee, Jordan Eberle 09:20 ANA 3,NYI 3
Nick Leddy (3) Brock Nelson, Derick Brassard 14:15 ANA 3,NYI 4
Jakob Silfverberg (13) Adam Henrique, Hampus Lindholm 14:41 ANA 4,NYI 4

3rd Period
Cam Fowler (7) Nicolas Deslauriers 10:19 ANA 5,NYI 4 
Ryan Pulock (5) Nick Leddy, Derick Brassard 13:19 ANA 5,NYI 5 PPG

OT
No Goals

The Shootout
Jordan Eberle (NG) – Ondrej Kase (NG)
Mathew Barzal (NG) – Max Comotois (G)
Josh Bailey (G) – Jakob Silfverberg (G/GDG)

It's the Ducks' first-ever shootout win over the Isles, who fall to 3-1 in shootouts this year.  Jakob Silfverberg is credited with his 7th career game-deciding goal.

The Isles fall to 82-64 all-time in shootouts as they still hold the NHL record for shootout wins (Pittsburgh has 79 and the Rangers have 77). Anaheim is 3-1 in shootouts this season.

Semyon Varlamov stopped two of the four shots he faced to fall to 32-16 all-time in shootouts; his save percentage in shootouts is .745 (best in NHL history among goalies who have faced at least 100 shots).   [Thomas Greiss at .784 is the best among those who have faced 75 shots]

The Skinny     
Both Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal played their 200th NHL game; they have been in the lineup together for 161 consecutive games…The Isles are 7-5-2 in their last 14 games as they remain 15 games over NHL -.500… The Isles are 18-3-1 against the East, but only 5-5-2 against the West… Nick Leddy  recorded his third three-point game of the season; he has scored nine of his 14 points this season in those three games… Matthew Barzal scored his team-leading 15th goal; he is just three goals shy of last year's total.  The Isles are now 10-2-1 when Barzal scores a goal…The Isles had won their first 38 games under Trotz when scoring at least four goals, including shootout winners…The Isles' power play is 6-16 in the last six games, but they have allowed six power play goals in their last 17 times short…The Isles scored within the first two minutes for the fourth time this season (2-0-2).

Fit to Be Tied
The game was tied on five different occasions.  It's the first time that has happened since February 13, 2011 in Buffalo (won by the Isles 7-6 on a Michael Grabner overtime goal).

The game was tied 2-2 after one period and 4-4 after two periods.  It's only the third time in club history that has happened (10/18/1980 vs. Edmonton – 5-5 tie and 3/12/1992 in Pittsburgh – 6-4 loss).

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-3-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 833-603-60-144 in 1,640 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  907 
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    833
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,670
3. Barry Trotz        1,640
4. Al Arbour 1,607

The Rotation Is Over
The Islanders' goalie rotation has ended after 33 games.  It's the 7th -longest streak of alternating two goalies to start the season in NHL history and the longest team since the Sharks in 2006-07 alternated starting goalies for each of the first 35 games of the season. (The Sharks used Vesa Toskala in the odd games and Evgeni Nabokov in the even games before Nabokov started games 36 and 37 around the Christmas break)

This was the longest streak of rotating goalie (at any point of the season) in Isles history:
33 games (Varlamov/Greiss) 10/4/2019-12/9/2019
31 games (Smith/Resch) 1/20/1979-4/1/1979
24 games (Hrudey/Smith) 10/12/1985-12/3/1985
24 games (Melanson/Smith) 1/15/1983-3/10/1983
23 games (Smith/Melanson)10/5/1982-11/20/1982
23 games (Resch/Smith) 11/11/1978 12/30/1978
  
First Things First
The Isles are 13-2-2 when scoring first and are 10-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     12-8-11-2=33
Anaheim 9-10-6-3=28

The Isles are 6-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-8-3 overall; 13-3-2 at home (9-3-1 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 10-5-1 on the road.  
Anaheim is 15-17-4 overall; 9-7-2 at home and 6-10-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-2-1 in Division games and 17-6-2 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-3-1 against the East and 5-5-2 against the West.  

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves and then stopped 1 of 3 in the shootout. He is now 12-3-3 on the season and 4-6-3 in his career against Anaheim. He is 32-16 in shootouts.
 
John Gibson made 18 saves and then stopped 2 of 3 in the shootout; he is 11-14-2 on the season and 4-0-1 in his career against the Isles. He is now 12-7 in shootouts.

Power Plays
The Isles were 2-3 on the power play in 3:17 of power play time, but they allowed a shorthanded goal; Anaheim was 1-4 on the power play in 7:11 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-6-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-3-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 3-1-0 when the power plays are even, and 16-5-2 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-7-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 58-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One Goal Games
The Isles are 12-1-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 15-6-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:27); Anaheim: Hampus Lindholm (26:32)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:49 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (9-1-3), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 33, Anaheim 24 (58%)  
Mathew Barzal won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Sam Steel won 9 of 12 for Anaheim.

Hit Count
Isles 35 (Matt Martin -6)
Anaheim 25 (Michael Del Zotto -6)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 13 (Scott Mayfield - 4)
Anaheim 14 (Cam Fowler - 4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Anaheim 52
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 42, Anaheim 37

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Ryan Pulock +16
Anaheim: Sam Carrick +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Anaheim 4
5-on-5 Isles 11, Anaheim 3

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 20-8-2 in night games and 3-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be December 31st in Washington.

Ironmen
Anders Lee 234, Brock Nelson 211, Mathew Barzal 198, Ryan Pulock 161, Josh Bailey 119, Anthony Beauvillier 109, and Devon Toews 82. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 161 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
5. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 161
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Noah Dobson, (Michael Dal Colle -INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ).
Total games lost: 86.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 831…
22. Tomas Jonsson 522 *** 23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 527 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 515 *** 27. Dave Lewis and Brock Nelson 514

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 162 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 137

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 307 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. Nick Leddy 162

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 455…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 278 *** 26. Brock Nelson 269

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 179

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 116
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 71

Season Series Stats
Anaheim wins the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1).   

Despite the shootout loss, the Isles are 5-3-2 in the last ten games against Anaheim, including 3-0-2 at home.

On the Farm   
Bridgeport fell to 11-16-3-1 on the season with a 3-1 loss in Springfield on Friday.

Bridgeport host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday in their final game because the Christmas holiday.

Up Next
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23rd   —  COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS (NASSAU COLISEUM) –7:00 PM
[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
It's the final home game of 2019 as the Isles host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It's the third meeting of the season between the teams; the Isles have won the first two (3-2 in overtime in Columbus and 2-0 in the combined goalie shutout game in Brooklyn).

The Isles are 5-1 in the last six games against the Jackets, including 3-0 at home.  The Isles have blanked Columbus in their last 151:27 of play on home-ice.

Following the league-mandated holiday break, the Isles will close out 2019 with a three-game road trip, beginning on Friday in Chicago.

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

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Skinny: Isles 3, Boston 2 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 33
Isles 3, Boston 2 (SO)
Johnny Boychuk scored his first goal since October 11th and added his 150th career assist on a Matthew Barzal tally; Barzal also added the deciding goal in the shootout as the Islanders went into Boston and defeated the Bruins, 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 17,850 at TD Garden.

Torey Krug scored a 5-on-3 goal 7:24 into the third period to tie the game; the goal came just eight seconds into a 5-on-3.
The Isles' record improved to 23-8-2; the 23 wins remains tied for the club record with the 2014-15 team through 33 games. 

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Anders Bjork (5) Charlie Coyle 01:58 NYI 0,BOS 1

2nd Period
Johnny Boychuk (2) Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee 03:26 NYI 1,BOS 1
Mathew Barzal (14) Johnny Boychuk 18:26 NYI 2,BOS 1

3rd Period
Torey Krug (5) David Krejci, David Pastrnak 07:24 NYI 2,BOS 2 PPG

OT
No Goals

The Shootout
Jordan Eberle (G) - Charlie Coyle (NG)
Mathew Barzal (G/GDG) - David Pastrnak (G)
Josh Bailey (G) - Brad Marchand (NG)

It's the Isles' first shootout win over Boston since January 11, 2007.

Matthew Barzal scored the shootout deciding tally.  It was his 3rd career shootout winner, and he has now scored in 5 of his 15 career attempts.  The Isles are 3-0 in shootouts this year, with a different player scoring the game deciding goal in each game. The Isles have scored on 5 of 8 shootout attempts; David Pastrnak's shootout goal was the first in eight attempts against the Isles this season.

The Isles improve to 82-64 all-time in shootouts as they extend their NHL record for shootout wins (Pittsburgh has 79 and the Rangers have 77). Boston is 0-5 in shootouts this season.

Semyon Varlamov stopped two of the three shots he faced to improve to 32-15 all-time in shootouts; his save percentage in shootouts is .752 (best in NHL history among goalies who have faced at least 100 shots).   [Thomas Greiss at .784 is the best among those who have faced 75 shots]

The Skinny     
The Isles improve to 10-6-1 when allowing the first goal and to 16-0-1 when leading after two periods…The Isles are 7-5-1 in their last 13 games as they move 15 games over NHL -.500 for the second time this season … The Bruins have won only one of their last eight games (1-4-3) but lead the Atlantic Division by 10 points… The Isles are 12-1-0 against the Atlantic Division this season (after winning 12 games vs. the Atlantic all last season)…The Isles have won three straight on the road…Johnny Boychuk recorded his first multi-point game of the season; he now is 2-4-6 in 11 career games against Boston…The Isles held Brad Marchand scoreless, stopping Marchand's five-game assist streak…The Isles are 6-3-0 in December…The Isles allowed a 5-on-3 goal for the first time this season…Matthew Barzal scored his team-leading 14th goal; he didn't score his 14th goal last season until January 22nd in Chicago…The Bruins have sold-out 459 consecutive home games, including playoffs.

The Injury
Cal Clutterbuck left the game with 5:13 to play after being cut in the wrist by Patrice Bergeron's skate.  He did not return.

It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 9-3-0 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 833-603-60-143 in 1,639 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  906
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    833
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,669
3. Barry Trotz        1,639
4. Al Arbour 1,607

The Rotation
The Islanders are first team since the Sharks in 2006-07 to alternate starting goalies for each of the first 33 games of the season. (The Sharks used Vesa Toskala in the odd games and Evgeni Nabokov in the even games before Nabokov started games 36 and 37 around the Christmas break)

This is the longest streak in Isles history:
33 games (Varlamov/Greiss) in 2019-20; CURRENT
24 games (Hrudey/Smith) in 1985-86; Smith played games 24 and 25.
23 games (Smith/Melanson) in 1982-83; Smith played games 23 and 24.

The NHL record of 76 was set by the Rangers in 1990-91 (John Vanbiesbrouck/Mike Richter). 
   
First Things First
The Isles are 13-2-1 when scoring first and are 10-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     4-6-9-2=21
Boston 3-7-16-3=29

The Isles are 6-2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-5-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 23-8-2 overall; 13-3-1 at home (9-3-0 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 10-5-1 on the road.  
Boston is 21-7-8 overall; 12-1-7 at home and 9-6-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-2-1 in Division games and 17-6-1 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-3-1 against the East and 5-5-1 against the West.  

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves and then stopped 2 of 3 in the shootout. He is now 12-3-2 on the season and 6-4-2 in his career against Boston. He is 32-15 in shootouts (75.3 save percentage).
Tuukka Rask made 19 saves and then stopped 1 of 3 in the shootout; he is 13-4-5 on the season and 15-5-1 in his career against the Isles. Tuukka is now 24-33 in shootouts (71.7 save percentage)

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of power play time; Boston was 1-5 on the power play in 8:44 of PP time, as they converted just 8 seconds into a 5-on-3 opportunity. 

The Isles are 10-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-6-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 9-5-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-3-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 3-1-0 when the power plays are even, and 16-5-1 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-7-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 58-3-3 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One Goal Games
The Isles are 12-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 1-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 15-6-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Adam Pelech (23:25); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (27:58)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 22:45 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (9-1-2), Devon Toews (3-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-2-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 22, Boston 32 (41%)  
Brock Nelson won 10 of 20 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 18 of 24 for Boston.

Hit Count
Isles 39 (Cal Clutterbuck -8)
Boston 24 (Connor Clifton -4)
   
Fights
There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Three with 3)
Boston 9 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 45, Boston 62
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 33, Boston 40

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Nick Leddy +15 (and was on-ice for 24 of the Isles' 33 attempts 5-on-5)
Boston: Charlie McAvoy +20

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 11, Boston 14
5-on-5 Isles 7, Boston 9

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th  in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day
The Isles are 20-8-2 in night games and 3-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee will be on Saturday vs. Anaheim.

Ironmen
Anders Lee 233, Brock Nelson 209, Mathew Barzal 197, Ryan Pulock 160, Josh Bailey 118, Anthony Beauvillier 108, and Devon Toews 81. 

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 160 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
5. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 160
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
Leo Komarov, Noah Dobson, (Michael Dal Colle -INJ).
Total games lost: 83.

Late Heroes 
The Isles have scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.
11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.
12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 0 failures (offside-11/19 vs PIT), (offside-12/9 vs TBL)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs SJ)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 
5.  Josh Bailey 830…
22. Tomas Jonsson 522 *** 23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 526 *** 26. Dave Lewis and Casey Cizikas 514 *** 28. Brock Nelson 513

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 161 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 136

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 307 …
25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. Nick Leddy 160

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 455…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 276 *** 26. Brock Nelson 267

Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***
5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 179

Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***
5.   Thomas Greiss 96

Shutouts (Goalie)
1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***
5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 115
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***
5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 71

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).   The teams will meet in Brooklyn on January 11th and at the Coliseum on February 29th to complete the season series.

The win snapped a 7-game winless streak against Boston (0-6-1); it's the Isles' first win over Boston since January 16, 2017—that was Jack Capuano's final game as the Islander head coach.

On the Farm   
Bridgeport improved to 11-15-3-1 on the season with a 3-2 win over Syracuse on Wednesday. Andrew Ladd scored twice for the Sound Tigers while Kieffer Bellows tallied for the 4th straight game. Bellows has scored seven goals in the last nine games.  It's his best goal scoring stretch of his pro career.

Bridgeport heads to Springfield and then host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday in their final game because the Christmas holiday.

Up Next
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21st    —  ANAHEIM AT ISLANDERS (NASSAU COLISEUM) – 1:00 PM
[MSG+ (pre-game at 12:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
The Isles return home for the final two home games of 2019 as they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to the Coliseum.

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Ducks ended the Isles' franchise record  17-game point streak with a 3-0 blanking of the Isles on November 25th in California.

Despite that loss, the Isles are 5-3-1 in the last nine games against Anaheim, including 3-0-1 at home.

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