Clutterbuck out with injury related to Gillies hit

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<<Clutterbuck out with "upper body" injury stemming from Gillies hit

Posted by Michael Russo

Last update: March 6, 2011 - 12:05 PM

 

Cal Clutterbuck will miss today's 5 p.m. game against the Buffalo Sabres with an "upper body" injury stemming from the hit he took from Islanders forward Trevor Gillies, assistant coach Dave Barr said this morning.

 

Gillies received a 10-game suspension for the direct shot to Clutterbuck's head with his left glove.

 

Clutterbuck wasn't at the rink this morning and didn't practice yesterday. He's considered day-to-day. He did play the next night against the New York Rangers, but as I wrote in that next day's paper, he didn't sound convinced he was unhurt.

 

A passage from my story: "What if for some reason in a couple days I get symptoms and I have to miss time where it's really important for our team?"

Clutterbuck said he didn't "feel 100 percent after [Wednesday's game], but it could have been a whole combination of things. I mean, I got hit pretty hard. I didn't really expect to feel normal."

 

He still didn't sound fully convinced he didn't have a concussion. After all, symptoms often arise well afterward, as evidenced by Antti Miettinen earlier this season after being hit by Los Angeles' Dustin Brown.

 

"Let's hope I've got a good chin," Clutterbuck said.

 

Nobody's calling it a head injury. They're calling it "upper body" right now. I'm told by people that he's not feeling well right now. The second the magic word of "concussion" is used, a week must be missed -- hence the cautious verbiage coming from inside the team right now, in my opinion.

 

This is why I cringed when in the NHL's press release of the Gillies' suspension, Colin Campbell said, this: "While it is fortunate there was no injury on the play, there can be no justification for a player delivering a dangerous check to an opponent in this manner."

 

While I'm not sure Campbell increases the number of games if he had known there was an injury, Campbell's got to stop determining suspensions for head hits based on the immediate knowledge if there's a head injury.

 

There have been scores of instances where symptoms of a head injury arose well after the hit. Sidney Crosby is the most notable example. David Perron continued in the game where Joe Thornton rang his bell. He hasn't played since. From a local example, Antti Miettinen finished the game Dustin Brown hit his head. He missed the next five games with a concussion.

 

An injury should not play a part in determining the length of a suspension. If you're serious about eliminating blows to the head, eliminate em by handing out long suspensions whether the guy doesn't miss a shift, plays the next game, whatever. A head shot is a head shot.

 

There are so many factors in determining whether or not a player gets concussed. Heck, who would have thought that harmless-looking graze in Toronto would have caused Justin Morneau to miss so much time? You just don't know with the brain.

 

Again, nobody from the Wild is saying it's a head injury. I want to make that clear. But they have confirmed the upper body injury he'll miss tonight's game with is from the Gillies' hit.

 

By the way, hopefully Don Cherry and Ron MacLean and the good folks at CBC apologize wholeheartedly to Clutterbuck next week for saying there was no injury and no head shot in this Coach's Corner segment from last night (start at 4:12). Nevermind there was no puck. Nevermind it was well after the whistle for the original Clutterbuck boarding penalty.

 

It's an absolute travesty that in the vast archives of Hockey Night in Canada, nobody could find this angle (start at 1:00) that clearly shows a direct blow to Clutterbuck's head. At least in the angle CBC chose to use, it clearly shows Clutterbuck trying to hold up his check after the kid he hit suddenly lost the puck and turned his back to Clutterbuck to face the glass and fish for the puck. It's up to Clutterbuck to not hit a vulnerable player, but the onus should be on players to not put themselves in suddenly vulnerable positions, too.

 

>>

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 5, Blues 2

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 66

Isles 5, Blues 2

 

Andrew MacDonald scored two goals and John Tavares, PA Parenteau and Michael Grabner all broke scoreless streaks as the Islanders dominated the St. Louis Blues 5-2 before a crowd of 10,354 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  Al Montoya made 21 saves for the Isles to raise his record to 5-2-1. The Islanders have won two straight games and are 10-5-2 since the All-Star Break.

Isles Grab the Lead Again

For the fifth straight game (2-1-2), the Isles scored first.  PA Parenteau missed an open net, but then set up John Tavares for a highlight-reel opening goal.  It was Tavares' 24^th goal of the season, matching his rookie total and his first in the last eight games.  Parenteau then scored his first goal in 11 games to double the advantage to 2-0.

Mac-Mc-Mac

Andrew MacDonald, playing his 100^th NHL game, scored for the second straight game for the only goal of the middle session.  The Isles have outscored their opponents 70-68 in the second period this season.  After St. Louis' Andy McDonald broke Al Montoya's shutout at 3:26 of the third, Andrew MacDonald tallied at 6:22 to restore the three-goal advantage.  The Islander assistant captain now has three goals in two games after scoring twice in his first 98 career games.

Grabner-ing the Rookie Lead

Chris Stewart's 20^th goal of the season cut the Isles lead to 4-2, but after a big Montoya save, Grabner beat Ben Bishop for his 26^th goal –grabbing the NHL rookie lead, one ahead of Logan Couture (who will play Saturday night at home). It was the reigning NHL Rookie of the Month's first goal in nine games.  22 of Grabner's goals have come at even-strength, which leads all rookies and is only three off the NHL lead of 25 even-strength goals shared by Steven Stamkos and Bobby Ryan.  Class dismissed.  5-2 Final.

Trio Grande

Matt Moulson (28), Grabner (26) and Tavares (24) give the Isles three players with at least 24 goals. Toronto is the only other NHL team with three 24-goal scorers.  Tavares, who also added an assist, now has 31 assists and 55 points which set career highs in both categories.

Strange Stats of the Day

The Isles have now outscored their opponents 18-4 in the first two periods over the last eight games (9-1 in the first period and 9-3 in the second period).

The Flyers scored twice on Al Montoya in the first two periods on February 24th.  It's the only time in his seven starts for the Isles that he has allowed more than one goal in the first 40 minutes.

Young D Gets it Done

The Isles defense corps had only 645 games of experience entering the game and Bruno Gervais (320) had nearly half of it.    Three of the Isles defensemen (Travis Hamonic, Ty Wishart and Mark Katic) are NHL rookies. 

Growing Up Together

The Islanders have had four players record their 100^th career point, all of them in Islander uniforms, this season.

·         Frans Nielsen had an assist and now has 112 points (32-80-112)

·         Blake Comeau also has 112 points (49-63-112)

·         John Tavares had a goal and an assist. He now has 109 points (48-61-109). He is the second youngest player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career points.

·         Kyle Okposo has 108 points (43-65-108)

With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform. 

Matt Moulson has 101 career points; however, his first ten points came as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 97 career points, all as an Islander.

Fight Night (Day)

Matt Martin battled BJ Crombeen at 1:25 of the second period.  It was Martin's 10^th fight and Crombeen's 15^th. Only minor penalties were handed out when Barrett Jackman went after Mark Haley at the final buzzer.

Home and Road

The Isles are 25-32-9, and are 14-15-4 at home.  They are 21-22-6 under Jack Capuano, including 20-14-4 in the last 38. 

The Blues are 28-28-9 and fall to 10-17-5 on the road. The Blues are 8-16-4 since New Year's Day

Fort Rarely Lose

The Isles improve to 4-1-0 in their last five at home; they have outscored the opposition 19-7 in those five games. Since the All-Star Break, the Islanders are 6-3-0 at home.

Sharing the Wealth

The Isles are 20-14-4 in their last 38 games, and all six goalies that the Isles have used this season have wins during that stretch (Montoya 5, DiPietro 4, Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets

Al Montoya made 21 saves to improve to 5-2-1 on the season.  He has a 1.94 goals against average to 1.93 and a 93.1% save percentage.

Ben Bishop falls to 2-4-0 for St. Louis.  The 6' 7" netminder has not allowed a goal in either of his two NHL wins (one of which came in relief)

Power Plays

The Isles went 0-3 on the power play while the Blues were 1-3. The Isles are 4-33 on the power play over the last 10 games. It was the first time in six games that the Isles have allowed a power play goal (13-14); they have killed 20-22 over the last eight games.   The Isles had a 51 second 5-on-3 in the third period in which they tried to get MacDonald his hat trick.  Mac Donald came close, hitting the post.  No Isles defender since Denis Potvin (3/4/82 vs Toronto) has scored a hat trick.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 25 of 48 (52%) face-offs.  Zenon Konopka won five of his seven draws while Josh Bailey won 6 of 10.

Crooked Numbers

Kyle Okposo had four shots on goal (all in the first period); rookie Mark Katic led the Isles with five takeaways, while Matt Martin pounded out six hits.

Missing Men

Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season. Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Radek Martinek, and Milan Jurcina remain out.  Micheal Haley returned after missing the game Wednesday; he replaced Trevor Gillies, who served the first game of his 10-game suspension.  The Isles have lost 455 games to injury and 17 games to suspension this season.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 148 games since joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have played every game this season; his 78-game streak includes the final 12 games last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 46 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.  

Season Series Stats            

The Isles win the only meeting of the teams this season.  This was the Isles' final game against the Western Conference.  They finish with a winning record against the Western Conference (8-5-5) for the 2^nd straight season; they were 10-6-2 in 2009-10 against the West. Their final 16 games will be against the East.

The Isles are 2-0-2 in their last four games at home against the Blues.  The Blues have not won on Long Island since March 6, 2004.

Happy Anniversary

15 years ago today (March 5, 1996): Zigmund Palffy recorded his second hat trick in as many games as the Islanders defeated the Boston Bruins 5-3.  They were the first two of Palffy's six hat tricks as an Islander—no Islander has had that many since.

All-time, the Isles are 7-7-3 on this date, despite having won their first three Stanley Cup before ever winning a game on this date.

Up Next

Sunday, March 6 Vs New Jersey 3:00pm

[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 2:30), WRHU 88.7FM]

The two team with the most points in the Atlantic Division since December 15^th meet each other on Sunday afternoon.  While the Rangers are entertaining Philadelphia, it is the game on Long Island that will feature those two teams as the Isles entertain New Jersey.

Standings since December 15^th (and including the Isles-Blues and Sabres-Flyers games on Saturday)

Boston                  22           10          3         47

NY Islanders       20           14          4         44

Tampa Bay          20           10          3         43

New Jersey        20           12          2         42

Carolina                18           14          5         41

Buffalo                 18           11          4         40

Washington        17           9            6         40

Montreal             17           12          5         39

Philadelphia       19           11          1         39

Toronto                17           13          5         39

Pittsburgh           16           11          6         38

Florida                  13           15          7         33

NY Rangers         15           16          3         33

Atlanta                 9              17          7         25

Ottawa                 9              18          6         24

 

The Devils are the hottest team in the NHL, having gone 19-2-2 over their last 23 games.  This will be the 4^th meeting of the teams this season; the Isles won the first two (2-0 on Black Friday and 5-1 in New Jersey two days before Christmas) before the Devils rebounded for a 5-2 win on Martin Luther King Day.  This is the first of three meetings in 25 days between the teams; the Isles will visit Newark on both March 12^th and March 30^th.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Devils tie Isles.... since December 15

With their win over Pittsburgh tonight, the Devils have 42 points since December 15 -- matching the Isles' total since then.

Pending the outcome of tonight's Carolina-Chicago game, here are the Eastern Conference Standings since 12/15:

Boston	22	10	3	47
Tampa Bay	20	10	3	43
New Jersey	20	12	2	42
NY Islanders	19	14	4	42
Carolina	18	13	5	41
Washington	17	9	6	40
Montreal	17	12	5	39
Philadelphia	19	10	1	39
Toronto	17	13	5	39
Buffalo	17	11	4	38
Pittsburgh	16	11	6	38
Florida	13	15	7	33
NY Rangers	15	16	3	33
Atlanta	9	17	7	25
Ottawa	9	18	6	24

.and yes, I realize that there are some large discrepancies in games played in that stretch.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Funding issue for arena in Quebec

TSN:

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QUEBEC CITY MAYOR: FEDS MISLED RESIDENTS ON ARENA FUNDING 
The Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- The mayor of Quebec City has accused the federal government of spending months misleading people in his city and feeding false hopes it might help fund an NHL-style hockey arena.

Regis Labeaume told a local radio station Thursday that Ottawa should have made its position clear on arena funding sooner.

The mayor's relationship with Ottawa could hold political consequences, since Quebec City is key electoral turf and the pugnacious populist is its most commanding presence.

Labeaume cruised to re-election with 80 per cent of the vote in 2009.

He said Conservative MPs were wrong to raise hopes over the last year -- most notably when they wore vintage Nordiques jerseys at a photo-op in the fall -- if they weren't going to come through in the end.

"They have a right not to pay. (But) they should have said it sooner," Labeaume said in an interview with FM93.

"It's just that what they did, for months, telling us, 'We're waiting for the private sector, we're waiting for the private sector and the business plan,' while putting on Nordiques jerseys -- that's what I find wrong."

Labeaume's city is poised to be an important battleground in the next federal election, with the bulk of the Conservatives' 11 Quebec seats around the provincial capital.

The mayor's words Thursday were sure to displease members of the governing party; his message was virtually identical to one in a press release by the Bloc Quebecois, the Tories' opponent for seats in the region.

The Bloc wasted little time testing a possible campaign line with a release titled, "Conservatives dupe the people of Quebec."

"The Conservatives created expectations and promises, but when it comes time to deliver the goods, they bail," Bloc MP Christiane Gagnon said in the statement.

One prominent pollster sees possible repercussions.

Sylvain Gauthier, vice-president at the Montreal-based polling firm CROP, declined to share details of a soon-to-be-released survey but was unequivocal when asked whether there would be consequences.

"Yes, based on what people in the region are saying," he replied, without offering the numbers of a just-completed poll.

"There will surely be an impact."

The comments from Labeaume and the Bloc came a day after the federal government appeared to finally put an end to speculation it would help foot the bill.

Earlier this week, Labeaume said he felt he had met all of Ottawa's conditions for funding the arena when he announced a multimillion-dollar management deal with media giant Quebecor.

The feds had set private-sector involvement as a key condition for federal money.

But it became clear Wednesday that, if the Quebec arena project does go ahead, it will happen entirely with taxpayers' money at the provincial and local level.

Construction on the $400 million arena is projected to last until 2015. The NHL, meanwhile, is offering no guarantees that it will bring a team to Quebec City if the project goes ahead.>>

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Clutterbuck/DiBenedetto

Apparently, Cal Clutterbuck and Justin DiBenedetto have a bit of a history...as teammates.

They played together with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors for half of the 2004-05 season before Clutterbuck was traded to Oshawa (where he would team with John Tavares the following season).  Di Benedetto would later move on to Sarnia, where he would finish 3rd in OHL scoring in 2008/09 -- Tavares led the OHL that season.

In a somewhat ironic twist, DiBenedetto was drafted by the Isles (175th overall in 2008) using a pick that the Isles obtained ...from Minnesota...in a trade for Chris Simon.  Simon would play his final 10 NHL games for the Wild late in the 2007-08 season.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 4, Wild 1

"The Skinny"

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 65

Isles 4, Wild 1

 

Blake Comeau scored two goals and Frans Nielsen added three assists as the Islanders rebounded from their disappointing overtime loss in Washington on Tuesday to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 before a crowd of 7,098 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  Al Montoya made 33 saves for the Isles to raise his record to 4-2-1. The win ended a club-record-tying streak of losing four games, all by one goal (0-2-2).

Isles Grab the Lead Again

Blake Comeau's first goal came with just three seconds remaining on the Islanders' first power play.  It was his 16^th goal of the season.  Kyle Okposo doubled the advantage with 1:23 to play in the opening session, scoring between his legs for his 4^th goal of the campaign.  The Isles have now scored first in four straight games, but this was their first win in that stretch (1-1-2).

More Comeau

Comeau scored his second goal of the night at 41 seconds of the middle period.  It was his 17^th goal of the season, matching last season's career-best total, and a career high 37^th point.  Andrew MacDonald completed the Isles' portion of the scoring at 16:05 of the 2^nd with a power play goal effort.  Josh Bailey set a great screen in front but did not get an assist – Kyle Okposo (his second point) and Frans Nielsen (his third assist of the night, matching a career best) earned the helpers.  The Isles have outscored their opponents 69-68 in the second period this season.

Madden Breaks Through for the Wild

Former Devil John Madden ended Montoya's bid for a shutout at 11:33 of the third but that was all the Wild could manage against Montoya. 4-1 Final.

Lots of Shots, but Top Line Held Off Board

John Tavares, PA Parenteau, and Matt Moulson were held off the board, but it wasn't because they were not trying.  The trio combined for 16 shots, including a career-high seven by Parenteau.  Tavares had five hits and four takeaways. Moulson has 28 goals while Tavares has 23.  With Michael Grabner having 25 goals, the Isles remain the only team in the NHL with three players with at least 23 goals.

Strange Stat of the Night

The Isles entered the game on a 2-27 drought on the power play while the Wild had killed 23 of their last 24.  So what happens?  Of course—the Isles score twice on the power play.

Minnesota entered the game in 10^th place in the West, but had a chance to move as high as a tie for 6^th with a win. Instead they dropped to 11^th place when Anaheim beat Detroit.

Young D Gets it Done

The Isles defense corps had only 639 games of experience entering the game and Bruno Gervais (319) had nearly half of it.    Three of the Isles defensemen (Travis Hamonic, Ty Wishart and Mark Katic) are NHL rookies. 

Growing Up Together

The Islanders have had four players record their 100^th career point, all of them in Islander uniforms, this season.

·         Blake Comeau had two goals and leads the way with 112 points (49-63-112)

·         Frans Nielsen had three assists and now has 111 points (32-79-111)

·         Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist.  He now has 108 points (43-65-108)

·         John Tavares has 107 points (47-60-107). He is the second youngest player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career points.

With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform. 

Matt Moulson has 101 career points; however, his first ten points came as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 97 career points, all as an Islander.

Career Years

Several Isles reached career highs tonight:

·         Blake Comeau now has 17 goals (matching a career high) and 37 points (previous high 35).

·         Frans Nielsen now has a career high 27 assists.

·         Assistant Captain Andrew MacDonald played in his 50^th game of the season (after playing 49 last year).  He will play his 100^th NHL game on Saturday.

·         Al Montoya recorded his 4^th victory, one more than he won in 2008-09 for Phoenix.

Fight Night

Zenon Konopka fought Brad Staubitz late in the second period.  Konopka also received a misconduct penalty on a play that saw Trevor Gillies, playing his first game after his nine-game suspension, ejected for checking from behind after coming to the aid of Justin DiBenedetto.  Komopka leads the NHL with 239 penalty minutes; he now has the 7^th highest penalty minute total in a single season in Islander history. He also now has 504 penalty minutes over the past two seasons.

#23, Nystrom, #23

Eric Nystrom, son of Bobby, made his second appearance at the Coliseum, had one big chance in the first period, but was held scoreless.  Nystrom has played in every game for Minnesota this season, after playing every game for Calgary a year ago.

Home and Road

The Isles are 24-32-9, and are 13-15-4 at home.  They are 20-22-6 under Jack Capuano, including 19-14-4 in the last 37. 

Sharing the Wealth

The Isles are 19-14-4 in their last 37 games, and all six goalies that the Isles have used this season have wins during that stretch (DiPietro 4, Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Montoya 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets

Al Montoya made 33 saves to improve to 4-2-1 on the season.  He lowered his goals against average to 1.93 and raised his save percentage to .933.

Niklas Backstrom had won his previous four starts against the Isles but was chased after allowing three goals on 19 shots.  Backstrom falls to 20-16-4 on the season.  Jose Theodore made 21 saves in relief.

Power Plays

The Isles went 2-3 on the power play while the Wild were 0-3. The Wild did not stop the Isles on the third attempt either—the clock did—as the Isles played the final 28 seconds on the power play.  The power play goals ended a 2-27 drought for the Isles, covering eight games. The Isles have not allowed a power play goal in the last four games (11-11) and have killed 18-19 over the last seven games.   

In the Circle

The Islanders won 24 of 54 (44%) face-offs.  Zenon Konopka won five of his six draws while Josh Bailey split 14 draws.

Missing Men

Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season. Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Radek Martinek, and Milan Jurcina remain out.  Micheal Haley missed his first game after being injured blocking an Ovechkin shot in Washington.  The Isles have lost 446 games to injury and 16 games to suspension this season.

Ironmen

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 147 games since joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have played every game this season; his 77-game streak includes the final 12 games last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 45 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles.  

Season Series Stats            

The Isles win the only meeting of the teams this season, and stop a five-game losing streak to the Wild. It's the Isles first win over Minnesota since Jason Blake scored all three goals in a 3-1 win over the Wild on March 19, 2004.

Happy Anniversary

1 years ago today (March 2, 2010): In the first game after the Olympic break, Blake Comeau records his first career hat trick as the Islanders defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3.  Thus, Comeau now has five goals in the last two March 2^nd games.

All-time, the Isles are 9-10-4 on this date, but are 5-1-2 since 2000. The Isles have recorded two shutouts on this date, including a scoreless game in Pittsburgh in 1980.

Up Next

Saturday, March 5 Vs St. Louis 1:00pm

[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 12:30), WRHU 88.7FM]

The Islanders have met every team in the NHL except one this season, and they will face that one on Saturday afternoon when the Blues visit the Coliseum in the only game between the teams this season.

The Blues beat the Isles twice last season, including a Coliseum game that was decided in a shootout last March.  This is the Isles' final game against the Western Conference.  The Isles' win against Minnesota guaranteed them a winning record against the Western Conference (7-5-5) for the 2^nd straight season; they were 10-6-2 in 2009-10 against the West.

The Isles are 1-0-2 in their last three games at home against the Blues with the win coming in the 2008-09 season opener and representing former coach Scott Gordon's first NHL win.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Capitals 2, Isles 1 (overtime)

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 64
Capitals 2, Isles 1 (OT)

Alex Ovechkin extended his own club record by scoring his eighth career OT goal
at the 1:55 mark to cap a Washington rally as the Capitals, who were held off
the board for the first 59:12, scored twice in a 2:43 span to defeat the Isles
2-1 before a sellout crowd of 18,398 at Verizon Center.

Scoreless First
Much like Saturday on Long Island, the home team came out strong, as the Caps
recorded the game's first eight shots, but the period ended scoreless thanks to
tremendous play by Nathan Lawson.

Moulson Gives the Isles the Lead
Matt Moulson scored the game's first goal off a pretty passing play with PA
Parenteau and John Tavares. It was Moulson's team-leading 28th tally; only
eight players in the entire NHL have more goals. Moulson now has 58 goals as an
Islander, tying playoff hero Shawn Bates for 45th place in Islander history.
Parenteau now had 25 assists while Tavares has 30, matching his rookie season
total. The Isles have now scored first in three straight games, but are 0-1-2
in those contests.

Nate Was Great
Nate Lawson made the lead hold up until the game's final minute. Lawson finished
with 40 saves.

Laich Gets the Caps Even
Brooks Laich, who started the Capital comeback on Saturday, tied the game at
19:12 of the third off a pass from newly-acquired Jason Arnott and send the
contest into overtime.

The Great 8
Alex Ovechkin completed the Washington comeback with an unassisted highlight
reel quality goal. It was the 25th goal of the season for the Washington
captain. It's his league-leading 9th game winning goal of the season and he has
also assisted on seven other winning goals. He finishes the season series
against the Isles with seven points (2-5-7) on nine Capital goals. 2-1 Final.

Strange Stats of the Night
The Isles are winless in four straight games (0-2-2); it's the fifth time in
club history and the first time since the first four games of last season that
they have lost four straight one-goal games. 31 of the Isles first 64 games
have been decided by 1 goal (10-12-9). Only Carolina and Florida (22 each) have
suffered more one goal defeats than the Isles (21).
The Capitals won all four games this season, against four different Islander
goalies (Roloson, DiPietro, Montoya and Lawson).

As Seen on MSG+: Who's The New Guy
For the eighth time this season, the Islanders had a player make his NHL debut.
Justin DiBenedetto joins Nino Niederreiter, Travis Hamonic, Rhett Rakhshani,
Nathan Lawson, Kevin Poulin, Mikko Koskinen and Mark Katic in appearing in their
maiden NHL game. The Isles had seven guys make their NHL debut last season.

Young Get Younger
The Isles defense corps had only 633 games of experience entering the game and
Bruno Gervais (318) had more than half of it. Three of the Isles defensemen
(Travis Hamonic, Ty Wishart and Mark Katic) are NHL rookies; the average age of
the 20 players that dressed was 24.46 years.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had four players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Blake Comeau leads the way with 110 points (47-63-110)
· Frans Nielsen has 108 points (32-76-108)
· John Tavares' assist gives him 107 points (47-60-107). He is the
second youngest player in Islander history (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career
points.

· Kyle Okposo has 106 points (42-64-106)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson recorded his 101st career point; however, his first ten points came
as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.
Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 97 career points, all as an Islander.

What a Cy Young Race!
The Isles have two players who have scored 13 more goals than they have earned
assists this season. Moulson has 28 goals and 15 assists, while Michael Grabner
has 25 goals and 12 assists. Only one other Islander has even one more goal
than assists, and it is Trevor Gillies, whose only point this season was a goal.

Home and Road
The Caps improve to 34-20-10, and are 18-8-7 at home. The Caps are three points
behind Tampa Bay, but the Lightning have played two fewer games.
The Isles are 23-32-9, and are 11-17-5 on the road. They are 19-22-6 under Jack
Capuano, including 18-14-4 in the last 36.

In the Nets
Michael Neuvirth made 28 saves to beat the Islanders for the 3rd time this
season and improve to 20-10-4 overall. His 20 wins tie the Capitals' record for
wins by a rookie goaltender, set by Bob Mason in 1986-87. Mason's rookie season
would end early on Easter morning on a Pat LaFontaine goal in the 4th overtime.
Nathan Lawson, in his 9th NHL appearance, makes 40 saves to match his season
high as he rebounded from his defeat to Boston on February 17th.

Power Plays
The Isles went 0-4 on the power play while the Caps were 0-2. The Isles have
not allowed a power play goal in the last three games (8-8) and have killed
15-16 over the last six games. However, their power play has gone 2-27 in the
last eight games. The Isles went 0-17 on the power play against the Caps this
season.
Washington, on the other hand, has now gone a club-record 40 straight games
without scoring more than one power play goal in a game.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 36 of 67 (54%) face-offs. Frans Nielsen won 9 of 15, while
Zenon Konopka won five of his eight draws.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin and Mark Eaton are out for the season.
Mark Streit, Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Radek Martinek, and Milan Jurcina
remain out. Trevor Gillies served the final game of his nine-game suspension.
The Isles have lost 436 games to injury and 16 games to suspension this
season. Justin DiBenedetto made his NHL debut – playing 12:46, with one shot
and two hits. He also drew the first penalty of the game.

Missing Milan
The Isles are 0-3-1 in the last four games, and Milan Jurcina has played only
2:18 in that stretch, missing each of the last three games. The Isles have gone
20-13-3 when Jurcina plays and 3-20-5 in the 28 games that he's missed.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 146 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 76-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 44 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Caps win the season series four games to none, and eight points to one.
There were only 14 goals scored by the two teams combined in the four games and
all four meetings were decided by a single goal. The Isles have scored first 25
times this season (16-4-5) but three of those games have been against Washington
(0-1-2). The Caps have gone 11-0-1 in the last twelve games against the Isles
but five of the Capital wins have been in overtime or shootouts; 11 of the last
15 games between the teams have been decided by a single goal.

Boudreau Keeps Winning
Bruce Boudreau is now 175-76-38 in his coaching career. His .671 winning
percentage is tops among active coaches and tops among any coach in history with
at least 250 games coached. Boudreau had high praise for the Islanders after
Saturday's game: "They're going to be a really good team in the not-too-distant
future."

Happy Anniversary
31 years ago today (March 1, 1980): Six days after winning Olympic Gold, Ken
Morrow makes his NHL debut. Denis Potvin also returns to the Islanders lineup
after missing three months with a thumb injury. Despite the additions, the
Isles lost to Detroit 4-3. Morrow's arrival allowed the Islanders to trade Dave
Lewis to Los Angeles one week later (along with Billy Harris); the trade netted
the Isles Butch Goring, the final piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle.

All-time, the Isles are 6-10-1 on this date, including a 2-0 win over St. Louis
in 1988. Billy Smith recorded the shutout—his final one at the Coliseum.

Up Next
Wednesday, March 2 Vs Minnesota 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Islanders look to do something that they have not done since the
lockout—defeat the Wild, when Minnesota visits on Wednesday night. The teams
have met five times in the last 4 ¾ seasons and the Wild have won all five
games. The Wild have not played on Long Island in 101 weeks (March 25, 2009)
and the teams have not played at all since a 3-2 Minnesota win on November 20,
2009 in St. Paul.
Dynasty child Eric Nystrom returns to Long Island for the first time with
Minnesota; he scored a goal as a Calgary Flame in his last Coliseum visit.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick