"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 64
Isles 3, Winnipeg 2 (OT)
Michael Grabner scored with 1:07 to play in overtime as the Isles improved to 6-0-0 in extra time on the road this season, defeating the Jets 3-2 before the customary sellout crowd of 15,004 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. It was the first game played by the Islanders since trading Andrew MacDonald to Philadelphia earlier in the day; Thomas Vanek was a healthy scratch with the NHL trade deadline coming up at 3pm ET on Wednesday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
10:57 WPG Andrew Ladd (16) Wrist shot - ASST: Bryan Little (30) 1 - 0 WPG
17:30 NYI Colin McDonald (5) Wrist shot - ASST: Ryan Strome (5), Anders Lee (1) 1 - 1 Tie
2nd Period
01:33 NYI Anders Lee (3) Tip-in - ASST: Michael Grabner (12) 2 - 1 NYI
3rd Period
14:53 WPG Andrew Ladd (17) Snap shot - ASST: Olli Jokinen (20) 2 - 2 Tie
OT Period
03:53 NYI Michael Grabner (12) Snap shot - ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (6) 3 - 2 NYI
The Skinny:
This was only the third time all season that the Isles led a road game after two periods (1-1-0)…The Isles are 11-6-2 with Ryan Strome in the lineup…The Isles improve to 15-16-0 on the road and are 11-3-0 in their last 14 road games; the 22 points in the last 14 road games is just one fewer than the club record for points in a 14-game road span in a single season…Grabner's winning goal was his 82nd as an Islander, breaking a tie with Wayne Merrick and Dave Scatchard for 37th place on the all-time Isles list; it was Grabner's third career OT goal (2-13-11 in Buffalo, which completed a hat trick and 1-10-14 in Colorado)…Jets rookie Jacob Trouba, who won a goal medal for Team USA at last year's World Juniors was -3 for Winnipeg; Trouba led the Jets in +/- entering the game….Former Islander Olli Jokinen assisted on Ladd's second goal; Jokinen was playing in his 1150th NHL game…. The Isles are 10-8 in OT/SO, including 4-4 when the game is decided in overtime…Anders Lee had his second multi-point game in his four NHL games this season…The Jets have played 37 one-goal games, one shy of New Jersey's NHL-leading 38…Jets coach Paul Maurice coached his 1,100th NHL game…The Isles have won all six road games that have gone beyond sixty minutes this season (2-0 in OT, 4-0 in SO); it's the first time in franchise history the Isles have ever won six straight road OT/SO games.
The Shots:
Isles 13-7-5-2=27
Jets 9-17-11-1=38
It's only the 2nd time in the last nine games and fourth time in the last 18 games that the Isles have been outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 24-32-8 overall, 9-16-8 at home (including 0-1-0 at Yankee Stadium) and 15-16-0 on the road. The Isles are 3-8-1 in their last 12 games overall but are 11-3-0 in their last 14 road games.
Winnipeg is 30-26-7 overall; they are 15-11-5 at home and 15-15-2 on the road. The Jets are 11-3-2 since Paul Maurice replaced Claude Noel as their head coach on January 12th.
By Division
The Isles are 6-15-3 in Division games and are 18-17-5 in games against other divisions. They are 8-6-3 vs. the Atlantic Division, 7-5-1 vs. Central Division, and 3-6-1 vs. the Pacific Division.
The Isles have losing records against every division opponent except Washington (1-1-1 with one to play). They are 0-3-0 against Carolina, 0-1-1 against Columbus, 1-2-0 against New Jersey, 2-3-0 against New York, 1-3-0 against Philadelphia, and 1-2-1 against Pittsburgh.
This was the second of eight consecutive games against non-divisional opponents.
In the Nets
Anders Nilsson made 36 saves and improves to 2-3-2 on the season.
Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves for Winnipeg; Pavelec is 20-22-5 on the season.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-1 while Winnipeg was 0-5.
The Isles are 15-8-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-24-4 when they do not. The Isles are 10-18-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-14-5 when they do not.
The Isles are 4-20 in the last five games on the power play after going 0-30 in their prior seven games. The five successful penalty kills came after the Isles allowed five goals in 12 times short this weekend.
Feast or Famine
The Isles PP went 10-33 in the first 10 games, before going 7-79 in the next 24 games. They rebounded to go 11-32 in the following 11 games but are only 8-75 in their last 19 games.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 21-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-24-5 when they do not.
Comeback Kids
The Isles are 10-9-6 when they score first and are 14-23-2 when they allow the opening goal. The Isles have allowed the first goal in 19 of their last 26 games.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano became the 2nd coach in Islander history to win 100 games in Toronto on January 7th and became the 2nd coach in Islander history to coach 250 games on January 27th against Boston. He is 2nd on the all-time Islander list in both games coached (259) and wins (108).
Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 259
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 108
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74
They Said It
Michael Grabner: "It's a loud building…we weathered the storm early…I saw Clutter do his thing in the corner and I just tried to get speed—he made a great pass through the middle."
They Tweeted It
@Glom0707 Credit to the #Isles . . . .under difficult circumstances, they played hard and sharp. Good on 'em. #GoJets
@k_youngkin Victory! Now how long will it take for my heart to stop racing... #Isles
@TALKwillie I maintain my stance that future is bright for #Isles but its still gonna be a bumpy ride for a bit. The kids on their way are stellar.
The Coach
(Impressed with) how they responded after they allowed the second goal…With every going on, it's about staying together… (Anders Nilsson) bounced back, played well…I liked the resilience of our guys.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 6-7-0 in the front-end and 5-6-2 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. The Isles have swept three back-to-backs: November 1st/2nd vs. Ottawa and Boston; January 6th/7th vs. Dallas and Toronto and January 20th/21st vs. Philadelphia and the Rangers.
In the 13 sets of back-to-backs, they have earned 4 points three times, 3 points once, 2 points four times, 1 point once and no points on four occasions.
The Islanders will play their next back-to-back set this Wednesday in Edmonton and this Thursday in Calgary.
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 26:20 of ice-time; Zach Bogosian led Winnipeg with 26:22.
The Isles are 15-17-6 when MacDonald leads in ice-time, are 9-10-2 when Hamonic leads, are 0-1-0 when Okposo leads, are 0-1-0 when Strait leads, are 0-2-0 when Tavares leads and are 0-1-0 when Vanek leads.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 23 of 51 draws (45%). Josh Bailey won 4 of 7 for the Isles; Jim Slater won all seven draws he took for Winnipeg.
Heavy Hitters
The Isles were out-hit by Winnipeg 33-30; Colin MacDonald led the Isles with 6 hits while Matt Martin added 5. Martin's 280 hits lead the NHL by a wide margin. He had now recorded at least 200 hits in four straight seasons.
Matt Martin fought Chris Thorburn and Eric Boulton fought Mark Stuart in the first period. The Isles have received 27 fighting penalties this season: Martin (9), Boulton (8), Carkner (5), McDonald (2), Hamonic (2) and Okposo (1).
Giving Up the Body
The Isles were credited with 16 blocked shots. Calvin deHaan led the way with four blocks.
Back Over All-Time .500
The Islanders improve to 1 game over all-time NHL .500 (1395-1394-447 in 3,236 games). The Isles have been 1-under all-time .500 after six games this season and have gone 4-0-2 in the following game.
The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above all-time NHL .500 and have not been more than 1 game under NHL-.500 since January 11, 1978.
Ironmen
With the trade of Andrew MacDonald, Thomas Hickey is the Islanders' reigning ironman. He has played 65 consecutive regular season games, and is the only Islander to have played in every game this season.
Century Club
Andrew MacDonald had the 4th longest consecutive game streak for a defenseman in Islander history:
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. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)
6. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)
7. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130
8. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117
9. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2011– 2/4/2012 113 (*)
10. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110
11. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Missing Men
John Tavares is on injured reserve; Travis Hamonic returned from suspension and replaced the traded Andrew MacDonald. Matt Martin returned after missing three straight games with a lower body injury and replaced Thomas Vanek. Radek Martinek was scratched for the 11th straight game.
The Isles have lost 157 games this season due to injury.
Career Wins, Active Goalies
Career Wins
17. Rogie Vachon 355
19. Gump Worsley 335
20. Nikolai Khabibulin 333
Career Shutouts, Active Goalies
Career Shutouts
17 John Ross Roach 58
18 Clint Benedict 57
18 Evgeni Nabokov 57
20 Bernie Parent 54
20 Ed Giacomin 54
Career Goals as an Islander
|
15 Mariusz Czerkawski 145
16 John Tavares 136
17 Jason Blake 127
27 Trent Hunter 99
28 Kyle Okposo 97
29 Mikko Makela 95
29 David Volek 95
31 Randy Wood 94
32 Greg Gilbert 93
32 Garry Howatt 93
34 Travis Green 92
35 Butch Goring 87
36 Tomas Jonsson 84
37 Michael Grabner 82
37 Wayne Merrick 81
37 Dave Scatchard 81
40 Marty McInnis 79
41 Miroslav Satan 78
41 Frans Nielsen 78
43 Claude Lapointe 76
Career Assists as an Islander
|
16 Ed Westfall 181
17 John Tavares 179
18 Kenny Jonsson 175
19 Alexei Yashin 171
20 Duane Sutter 171
21 Jean Potvin 167
22 Jeff Norton 166
23 Zigmund Palffy 163
24 Frans Nielsen 162
25 David Volek 154
26 Mariusz Czerkawski 150
27 Kyle Okposo 148
28 Travis Green 145
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
|
24 Eddie Westfall 493
25 Radek Martinek 479
26 Gerry Hart 476
29 Scott Lachance 450
30 Frans Nielsen 429
31 Jason Blake 426
34 Wayne Merrick 411
35 Jean Potvin 402
36 David Volek 396
37 Bert Marshall 392
38 Travis Green 388
38 Josh Bailey 388
40 Anders Kallur 383
41 Kyle Okposo 382
42 Randy Wood 381
43 John Tavares 350
44 Dave Scatchard 347
Career Points as an Islander
|
16 Ziggy Palffy 331
17 John Tavares 315
18 Mariusz Czerkawski 295
24 David Volek 249
25 Kyle Okposo 244
26 Frans Nielsen 240
27 Ray Ferraro 238
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series 1 game each (Winnipeg earned 3 points to the Isles 2).
The Isles are 4-0-1 in Manitoba since the Jets returned to the NHL and own 6 wins, a tie and an overtime loss in Winnipeg since a 3-1 loss to the original Jets on November 20, 1991.
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago tonight (3-4-82): Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy both had hat tricks as the Islanders pounded the Maple Leafs 10-1 at the Coliseum. The 9-goal margin shares the club record. No Islander defenseman has had a hat trick in the 30 years since.
All-time, the Isles are 9-9-3 on this date, including four wins in the last five games.
On The Farm
Bridgeport suffered back-to-back 2-1 home-ice losses this past weekend, breaking their seven game win streak. Bridgeport is 26-26-1-4 on the season. Kevin Poulin was in nets for both defeats. The Sound Tigers are off until Friday and Saturday, when they head to St. John's (Newfoundland) to play two games against the Ice Caps
Up Next
THURSDAY, MARCH 6th – ISLANDERS AT EDMONTON 9:30PM
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 7:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
[MSG-Plus (Isles Pre-game at 7:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]
The NHL trading deadline is on Wednesday at 3pm Eastern Time. The deadline will pass with the Isles in Edmonton and the Isles will face the Oilers on Thursday night.
The Isles overcame a pair of Taylor Hall goals eight seconds apart and defeated the Oilers 3-2 at the Coliseum on October 17th. It was the Isles seventh straight win against Edmonton at the Coliseum. The Isles are 9-3-0 in the last 12 games overall between the teams but have not won in Edmonton since March 13, 2003 when Garth Snow backstopped the Isles to a 5-2 win, going 0-3-0 since.
This is the Isles' first trip to Edmonton since January 6, 2011 when the Oilers defeated the Isles 2-1.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
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
