The Skinny: Isles 6, Buffalo 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Isles 6, Buffalo 3

John Tavares and Casey Cizikas each scored twice and the teams combined for four shorthanded goals, all in the second period, as the Islanders defeated Buffalo 6-3 in the home opener before a crowd of 15,234 at Barclay Center.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

01:50    New York         John Tavares (1) ASST: Jordan Eberle (1)         1-0

2ND PERIOD

05:13    New York         SHG - John Tavares (2) 2-0

06:03    New York         SHG - Casey Cizikas (1) ASST: Andrew Ladd (1)           3-0

07:00    New York         Josh Bailey (1) ASST: Joshua Ho-Sang (1), Jason Chimera (1)   4-0

10:09    Buffalo              SHG - Evander Kane (1) ASST: Jack Eichel (2)  4-1

15:26    Buffalo              SHG - Evander Kane (2) ASST: Ryan O'Reilly (1)           4-2

3RD PERIOD

05:39    New York         Anthony Beauvillier (1) ASST: Nick Leddy (1), Casey Cizikas (1) 5-2

16:16    Buffalo              Jack Eichel (1) ASST: Rasmus Ristolainen (1), Evander Kane (2) 5-3

19:34    New York         EN - Casey Cizikas (2) ASST: John Tavares (1), Josh Bailey (1)  6-3

The Skinny:

The Isles improve to 27-12-6 in home openers all-time, including 2-0-1 at Barclay Center; the Isles are also 3-0-2 in their last five home openers… Josh Bailey ends up getting credited with the winning goal in the home opener for the second straight season...John Tavares recorded his 35^th multi-goal game while Casey Cizikas recorded his first multi-goal game; Cizikas also recorded his first career three point game...Jordan Eberle assisted on Tavares' first goal for his first points as an Islander…Nick Leddy played in his 500^th NHL game…Andrew Ladd assisted on Cizikas' shorty for his 12^th career shorthanded point and his 498^th career point…Dating back to last season, Jaroslav Halak has won his last seven starts…John Tavares has 14 goals in 24 games vs. Buffalo; it's his highest goal total vs. any non-divisional opponent.

About All Those Shorthanded Goals

With the Sabres' help, the Isles rewrote the team record book in a second period which saw four shorthanded goals scored in a 10:13 span:

·        Most shorthanded goals, both teams, in a game (4; previous record 3)

·        Most shorthanded goals, both teams, in a period (4; previous record 2)

·        2 Isles shorthanded goals in a period (ties record, last done in 2014, both by Michael Grabner)

·        2 opponent shorthanded goals in a period (tied record, last done in 2008)

·        Evander Kane is the first opponent to score 2 SH goals vs. the Isles in a period (Ties NHL record)

Perspective:

·        It's the seventh time in NHL history (since 1933-34, when it became an official stat) that both teams scored twice shorthanded in a game

·        It's the 12^th time in NHL history (since 1933-34, when it became an official stat) that the teams combined for four shorthanded goals  

·         It's the first time since December 3, 1995 (Dallas/Colorado) that teams combined for four shorthanded goals in a period

·        It's the first time since November 18, 2000 (Florida/Ottawa) that teams combined for four shorthanded goals in a game

·        Evander Kane is the first opponent to score 2 SH goals vs. the Isles in a game since Mike Richards (in Philadelphia on February 8, 2016) and the first to score 2 SH goals against the Isles in an Islander home game since Alexander Semak (for New Jersey on October 16, 1993). 

·        Twice in their history the Isles have scored two shorthanded goals in an entire season (1972-73 and 2012-13); they did it tonight in a 50 second span.

·        John Tavares and Casey Cizikas are the 99^th and 100^th Islanders to ever score 2 goals, including a shorthanded goal, in the same game.  It's only the third time in club history that teammates have done so in the same game. Robert Reichel and Claude Lapointe did it against Hartford on April 11,1997; Benoit Hogue and Patrick Flatley did so against San Jose on February 1, 1994.

History Lesson:

·        While scoring 2 shorthanded goals in 50 seconds is unusual, it's nowhere near the club record.  On December 16, 1980, Bob Bourne and Anders Kallur scored 17 seconds apart.

Longest Scoreless Streak to Start Season

1996-97  86:50 (ended by Derek King)

2011-12  69:05 (ended by Andrew MacDonald)

2017-18  61:50 (ended by John Tavares)

The Shots

Isles            9-14-10=33

Buffalo       11-11-7=29

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

Last season, the Isles were 19-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 3-3-0 when the shots are even and are 19-17-6 when they were outshot.

Passing Bobby Ny

John Tavares had two goals, giving him 237 career goals, breaking a tie with Bobby Nystrom for eighth place on the club's all-time list.

Career goals as an Islander:

7. Bob Bourne 238

8. John Tavares 237

9. Bobby Nystrom 235

Chasing Bourne

John Tavares is 237-303=540 in his Islander career, leaving him one goal, one assist and two points behind Bob Bourne on the all-time Islander lists.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-0 in one-goal games this season.  They went 15-10-12 in one-goal games last seasons.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 1-1-0 overall; 1-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road. 

Buffalo is 0-1-1 overall; 0-0-1 at home and 0-10-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

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

The Isles went 15-10-5 in Division games and 26-19-7 in games versus other divisions last season.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to improve to 1-0-0 on the season and 9-2-0 in his career against Buffalo. Halak, dating back to last season, has won his last seven decisions.

Robin Lehner made 27 saves but falls to 0-1-1 on the season and 3-3-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play; Buffalo was 0-4.  Each team allowed 2 shorthanded goals.

The Isles are 0-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

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

One Goal Games

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

The Isles were 15-10-12 in one-goal games last season.

First Goal

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score first and are 0-1-0 when they allow the opening goal.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-1-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 1-0-0 on the back-end. 

Tired vs. Rested

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before.

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.

·        The Isles are 1-0-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

·        The Isles are 0-1-0 when both teams are rested.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (22:59); Buffalo: Rasmus Ristolainen (24:27)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk (1-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 19:50 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (1-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 31, Buffalo 28 (53%). 

Brock Nelson won 7 of 9 for the Isles; Ryan O'Reilly won 13 of 18 for Buffalo.

Face-offs by period: 1^st period- 4/17; 2^nd period 12/22; 3^rd period 15/20

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/39; Power play 3/6; Penalty kill 5/14.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Casey Cizikas 5)

Buffalo 23 (Three with 4)

Fights

None.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 11 shots; Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with 3.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations: Isles 54, Buffalo 52

5-on-5 Isles 41, Buffalo 32

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Thomas Hickey +12

Buffalo: Jason Pominville +5

Ironmen

Jason Chimera – 190 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 153 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 151, Calvin deHaan 87

Scratches

(Alan Quine-IR, Shane Prince-IR), Cal Clutterbuck (day-to-day), Dennis Seidenberg, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 5

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1.      Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900

….

8.      Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 641

…

15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 589

Goals

1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. John Tavares 237

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 107

…

36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38. Butch Goring 87 *** 39. Anders Lee 84

Assists

1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553

…

7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 303

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 201

Points

1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052

…

6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tonelli 544 *** 8. Bob Bourne 542 *** 9.  John Tavares 540

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 308

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will next meet at Barclays on December 27^th.

The Isles have won 3 straight from Buffalo, are 4-0-2 in their last six vs. the Sabres and have points in 14 of the last 15 games between the teams (9-1-5).

On the Farm

Bridgeport opened their regular season with a 2-1 loss in Binghamton on Saturday. Scott Eansor who was making his professional debut, scored the only goal for the Sound Tigers.  Bridgeport is off until next weekend, when they play a pair of games in Charlotte against the Checkers.

Up Next

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9^th— ST. LOUIS AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30pm), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Isles conclude their 3-game in 4-day stretch to open the season as they play a Western Conference opponent for the first time this season, entertaining the St. Louis Blues.  The Isles have won both games with the Blues at Barclays Center and are 3-1-0 against the Blues in the last four games.

This will be the first afternoon game of the season; last season the Isles went 2-3-1 in matinee games.

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

The Skinny: Columbus 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Columbus 5, Isles 0

Massapequa native Sonny Milano scored his first NHL goal just 67 seconds into the game and the Blue Jackets added four more before the game was 32 minutes old as they blanked the Isles 5-0 in the season opener before a crowd of 18,595 at Nationwide Arena.

The Scoring:

1ST PERIOD

01:07    Columbus  Sonny Milano (1) ASST: Oliver Bjorkstrand (1), Nick Foligno (1)          0-1

11:02    Columbus  Cam Atkinson (1) ASST: Artemi Panarin (1)   0-2

2ND PERIOD

06:57    Columbus  Ryan Murray (1) ASST: Artemi Panarin (2), Alexander Weinberg (1)   0-3

10:25    Columbus  PPG - Zach Werenski (1) ASST: Alexander Wennberg (2), Artemi Panarin (3)        0-4

11:50    Columbus  Pierre-Luc Dubois (1) ASST: Seth Jones (1)  0-5

3RD PERIOD

No Scoring

The Skinny:

The Isles fall to 11-23-11 all-time in openers and fall to 11-25-9 in their first road game of the season…Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the Jacket's 5^th goal; it was his 1^st NHL goal; he is the youngest player to score a goal vs. the Isles since Noah Hanifin (2-13-16)…Artemi Panarin had three assists; he is the first player in Jacket history to record at least three points in his first game with the team…Sonny Milano's goal was the earliest the Isles have ever allowed at the start of a season; it's also the first time that the Isles have allowed the first 5 goals…It's the third time that the Isles have been shutout on opening night (2011 by Florida, 1996 in Los Angeles), and the second time that the Jackets have recorded an opening night shutout (2007 vs Anaheim)..Jordan Eberle had 5 shot attempts (1 on goal) in 16:53 of play in his Islander debut…Eberle, Lee & Tavares combined for 9 shots on goal and 20 shot attempts…Matt Barzal played 15:02; he played only 19:30 in two games last season…Fifteen Jackets were "+"; fourteen Isles were "-".

Longest Scoreless Streak to Start Season

1996-97  86:50 (ended by Derek King)

2011-12  69:05 (ended by Andrew MacDonald)

2017-18  60:00 (current)

The Shots

Isles            8-10-11=29

Columbus   14-17-6=37

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

 Last season, the Isles were 19-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 3-3-0 when the shots are even and are 19-17-6 when they were outshot.

This Generation's Mr. Islander Is Tied with Mr. Islander

John Tavares has 235 career goals, tying him with Bobby Nystrom for eighth place on the club's all-time list.

Career goals as an Islander:

7. Bob Bourne 238

8. Bobby Nystrom 235

8. John Tavares 235

One Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-0 in one-goal games this season.  They went 15-10-12 in one-goal games last seasons.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 0-1-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road. 

Columbus is 1-0-0 overall; 1-0-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

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

 The Isles went 15-10-5 in Division games and 26-19-7 in games versus other divisions last season.

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 21 saves before being pulled after allowing Columbus' 5^th goal. He falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 5-5-2 in his career against Columbus.

Jaroslav Halak stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves to improve to 1-0-0 on the season and 13-5-0 in his career against the Isles.  He recorded his 20^th career shutout and 2^nd vs. the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play; Columbus was 1-2.

The Isles are 0-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

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

One Goal Games

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

 The Isles were 15-10-12 in one-goal games last season.

First Goal

The Isles are 0-0-0 when they score first and are 0-1-0 when they allow the opening goal.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-1-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 0-0-0 on the back-end. 

Tired vs. Rested

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before.

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested and their opponents are not.

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.

·        The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams are rested.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk  Nick Leddy (22:54); Columbus: Seth Jones (21:30)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Johnny Boychuk  Nick Leddy (0-1-0)

John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 18:41 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 29, Columbus 29 (50%). 

John Tavares won 11 of 18 for the Isles; Nick Foligno won 8 of 10 for Columbus.

Face-offs by period: 1^st period- 11/22; 2^nd period 9/20; 3^rd period 9/16

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 26/53; Power play 2/3; Penalty kill 1/2.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Cal Clutterbuck/Johnny Boychuk 4)

Columbus 17 (Nick Foligno/Brandon Dubinsky 3)

Fights

Johnny Boychuk fought Matt Calvert in the second period.  Season total – 1: (Boychuk 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 15 shots; Dennis Seidenberg led the Isles with 3.

For the Corsi Crowd

All situations: Isles 61, Columbus 67

5-on-5 Isles 58, Columbus 59

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Thomas Hickey +10

Columbus: Pierre-Luc Dubois +10

Ironmen

Jason Chimera – 189 (including 106 for the Capitals); Jordan Eberle 152 (including 151 for the Oilers), Josh Bailey 150, Calvin deHaan 86

Scratches

Joshua Ho-Sang, Scott Mayfield, Ryan Pulock

Total games lost: 0

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1.      Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900

….

8.      Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 640

…

15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 588

Goals

1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. Bob Nystrom and John Tavares 235

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 106

…

36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38. Butch Goring 87 *** 39. Anders Lee 84

Assists

1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553

…

7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 302

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielson and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 200

Points

1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052

…

6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tonelli 544 *** 8. Bob Bourne 542 *** 9.  John Tavares 537

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 306

Season Series Stats

Columbus leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet again in Ohio on December 14^th.

The Isles have lost 3 straight in Columbus by a combined 18-2 score and are 5-11-2 all-time on the road against the Jackets. The Isles have allowed 16 straight goals in Columbus.

On the Farm

Bridgeport will open their regular season in Binghamton against the relocated Devils franchise on Saturday.  It's their only game this weekend and their first game of a 4-game road trip.

Up Next

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7^th— BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WFAN 660/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]
The Islanders return to Brooklyn for their home opener as they take on the Sabres.

It will be the second time that the Isles have faced Buffalo in a home opener; in 2007, Mike Comrie finished off a huge opening weekend (6 points in 2 games) as the Isles defeated Buffalo 3-2 to complete a sweep of a season-opening home-and-home series.  The Isles are 26-12-6 all-time in home openers (1-0-1 at Barclays Center) and have gone 2-0-2 in their last 4 home openers.

 The home opener extends an Islander streak of home openers on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  The last midweek opener was on Thursday, October 16, 1986 vs. Washington; the Isles defeated the Caps 7-4.  Six months later the Isles would need 7 periods to win their 4th game of the series against Washington, winning the Easter Epic.

This game will be played on the 45th anniversary of the Isles' first home game (and first-ever game), a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Flames at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  That was the only previous time the Isles opened a home season on October 7th.

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

"The Skinny" on the Season Opener

 By Eric Hornick

It's been 180 days since the Islanders skated off Barclays Center ice with a 6-game winning streak, but without a playoff spot for the first time in three seasons.  The drive to get back to the playoffs begins on Friday.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6^th— ISLANDERS AT COLUMBUS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WMCA 570, WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]
 
The Islanders begin their 46^th NHL season at Nationwide Arena in Columbus as they face the Blue Jackets in an Opener for the first time.

It's the first of four meetings between the teams this season as the Isles return to an arena where they were outscored 13-2 last season after sweeping all three games in Ohio the previous season.

The Isles are 2-1-1 on Opening Night over the last four years; however, they are only 3-8-3 in their last 14 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 11-22-11 on Opening Night (9-18-8 on the road). The Isles are 11-24-9 in their first road game of the season.

October 6th is the 25th anniversary of their 1992 opener in New Jersey. While the Isles lost 4-3 that night, that season included an upset win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (sound familiar?) in the Patrick Division Final.

Opening Night Skinny:
The Isles 11-22-11 (.375) Opening Night record is 3^rd worst among current teams; it is better than Carolina (8-20-9, .338, including Hartford) and Anaheim 5-18-0 (.217).

The Blue Jackets will be opening at home for the 11^th time in their sixteen NHL seasons; however, the Jackets are only 3-6-2 in those 11 games, including a 6-3 loss to Boston last season. The Jackets' .364 winning percentage when opening at home is the lowest of any incumbent NHL team.

The Isles have been involved in three shutouts on Opening Night.  Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976, while the Kings (Stephane Fiset in 1996) and Panthers (Jose Theodore in 2011) turned the trick on the Isles.

A defenseman has scored the first goal of the season for the Isles in six of the last eight seasons, including Nick Leddy at Madison Square Garden last season.

The Islander club record for the fastest goal on Opening Night is 1:01, set by Dave Scatchard on October 10, 2002 in Buffalo.  The NHL record for the fastest Opening Night goal is 0:10, set by Kent Nilsson of Minnesota (10/11/86 @ Quebec).

Doug Weight is one of 4 NHL coaches who will coach on Opening Night for the first time.  Former Islander Travis Green (Vancouver), Bob Boughner (Florida), and Phil Housley (Buffalo) are the others. Jackets' coach John Tortorella is 6-5-1 in 12 previous Opening Nights.

The Isles will be looking for their 7^th straight regular season win (over 2 seasons).  The last time that the Isles won seven straight games it was also over two seasons as they ended the 2013-2014 season with three wins, and then won the first four games the following October.

And some other Skinny notes:

 

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs, opening the season with one and then playing the 2^nd the following weekend in California. After that they will play 5 back-to-backs in a 5-week period beginning in mid-November.

 

The Isles will play five road back-to-backs (all by mid-December), seven home-road back-to-backs, and four road-home back-to-backs.

 

The Isles played also had 16 back-to-back sets last season. They played 15 sets in 2015-16, 16 sets in 2014-15 and 18 sets in 2013-14.

 

Vegas' Arrival Changes the Schedule

With the NHL expanding to 31 teams, there is a slight change in the schedule.  The Isles will play all seven divisional opponents four times, will face all eight Atlantic Division teams three times and will play the 15 Western Conference teams, including Vegas, twice each.

 

To accommodate the two Vegas games (October 30 in Brooklyn and January 25 in Las Vegas) there will no longer be a 5^th game against two divisional opponents.

 

Familiar Faces

For the second straight season, Jason Chimera (5-2-79) is the only player on the Islanders 23-man active roster born in the 1970s. Denis Seidenberg (7-18-81) is the second oldest player on the roster and is one of nine players born in the 1980s (Johnny Boychuk, Jaroslav Halak, Andrew Ladd, Thomas Greiss, Nikolay Kulemin, Cal Clutterbuck, Thomas Hickey and Josh Bailey).  All 11 players are returnees.

The youngest Islander remains Anthony Beauvillier, who turned 20 on June 8^th.  He is 13 days younger than Mathew Barzal. 

Of the 23 players, newcomer Jordan Eberle is "middle-age".  Eberle, born May 15, 1990 is older than 11 teammates and younger than 11 others.

Calder Candidates

The Islanders have three rookies on their NHL roster, although all three have already made their Islanders/NHL debuts.

Joshua Ho-Sang has the most experience, going 4-6-10 in 21 games last season. Ryan Pulock went 2-2-4 in fifteen games for the Isles two seasons ago; he also played one NHL game last season.  Mathew Barzal played two NHL games (0-0-0) for the Isles last season; he was then returned to Seattle and led the Thunderbirds to the Western Hockey League title.

Consistency

The Islander 23-man roster looks a lot like the Opening Night roster last year as there are only five newcomers (Joshua Ho-Sang, Jordan Eberle, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock).  Alan Quine and Shane Prince are both on injured reserved after being on the Opening Night roster last season; JF Berube, Ryan Strome and Travis Hamonic are no longer with the organization.

The 23 players represent six nationalities: American (Leddy, Lee, Mayfield, Nelson), Canadian (15 players), German (Seidenberg & Greiss), Russian (Kulemin) and Slovakian (Halak)

Experienced Staff

Doug Weight begins his first full season as an NHL bench boss; the Islanders were 24-12-4 (.650) in 40 games under Weight. The Isles have added three assistant coaches with extensive NHL playing experience (Kelly Buchberger, Luke Richardson, and Scott Gomez).

 

Most Points in NHL Since January 19th (Weight's First Game)

1. Caps 26-10-2 (54)

2. ISLES 24-12-4 (52)

3. Pens   22-10-6 (50)

Garth Snow begins the season as the 4th-longest tenured GM with his current squad (David Poile, Ken Holland, and Doug Wilson).  Snow celebrated his 11^th anniversary as Islander general manager on July 18^th.

A Look Back

The Isles finished the 2016-17 regular season with a 41-29-12 record, which was the exact same record as the Western Conference Champion Nashville Predators. After opening the season 6-10-4, Isles finished 35-19-8 in their last 62 games

The Isles went 22-12-7 at Barclays Center; in two seasons in Brooklyn the Isles are 47-23-12.

The Isles went 19-17-5 on the road, including 17-11-2 in their last 30 road games. 

The Isles went 30-0-5 in games they led after two periods, marking the first time since 2003-04 (26-0-0) that the Isles have earned a point in every game they led after 40 minutes.

 

The Captain Shall Lead Them

Islander Captain John Tavares turned 27 in September.  In his eight NHL seasons he has moved into the Islanders all-time Top 10s in goals (tied-8), assists (10^th) and points (9^th).

Since Tavares entered the NHL in 2009-10, only six players have scored more goals than JT's 235 (Alex Ovechkin 339, Steven Stamkos 298, Corey Perry 258, Sidney Crosby 250, Patrick Kane 239, Joe Pavelski 237).   Tavares has played in more games, and tallied more goals, assists, and points than any other player in his Entry Draft class (2009).

Milestone Seeker

Andrew Ladd has scored at least 23 goals in each of the last four seasons; he is one of 16 NHL players to reach that mark in four straight seasons.   Ladd enters the new campaign three points shy of 500 for his career (233-264-497).

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee!

Anders Lee recorded 33 goals in the final 63 games (since November 23rd).  Only Calder Trophy winner Auston Matthews (34) scored more goals in that span.  Lee recorded 19 of those goals in 39 games he played under then-interim Coach Doug Weight.

About the New Guy

Jordan Eberle joins the Isles after spending his first seven NHL seasons in Edmonton.  Eberle has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons, and had a career-high 34 goals in 2011-12.   His career totals stand at 165-217-382 in 507 NHL games. Of the players drafted in 2008, only Steven Stamkos has scored more goals than Eberle. Josh Bailey, also selected in that draft, is 7th on the list with 106 goals.

 

Ironmen

Four current Islanders appeared in all 82 games last season, although Jordan Eberle did so for Edmonton.   Jason Chimera begins the season as the Isles' ironman, having appeared in 188 consecutive games.  Eberle has appeared in 151 consecutive games.

 

Josh Bailey owns the longest current streak of Islanders games (149) while Calvin deHaan has appeared in 85 consecutive Islander games.

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1.      Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900

….

8.      Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 639

…

15 Garry Howatt 596 *** 16. John Tonelli 594 *** 17. John Tavares 587

 

Goals

1.      Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Bob Bourne 238 *** 8. Bob Nystrom and John Tavares 235

…

22.  Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 25. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 26. Josh Bailey 106

…

36. Travis Green 92 *** 37. Michael Grabner 90 *** 38. Butch Goring 87 *** 39. Anders Lee 84

 

Assists

1.      Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553

…

7. Brent Sutter 323 *** 8. Stefan Persson 317 *** 9. Bob Bourne 304 *** 10. John Tavares 302

…

15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Frans Nielson and Kyle Okposo 230 ***18. Josh Bailey 200

 

Points

1.      Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052

…

6. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 7. John Tonelli 544 *** 8. Bob Bourne 542 *** 9.  John Tavares 537

…

17. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 18. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 20. Josh Bailey 306

 

Same Voices, Same Places

MSG Networks will carry 81 of the Isles' 82 games this season (NBCSN has the January 15th game in Montreal).  Brendan Burke and Butch Goring partner for the second season; Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for the 4th season.

 

On radio, Chris King and Greg Picker are partnered for the third straight season.  In New York City, you'll hear 30 games on CBS Radio (primarily WFAN 660AM/101.9FM), with the remainder airing on WNYM 970 AM.  On Long Island, all games will air on WRHU (88.7FM); games that air on 970AM will also air on   WRCN (103.9FM).  Note that Friday's opener will air on WMCA (570 AM) in New York City.

 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

"The Skinny" … on the Schedule

 By Eric Hornick

The NHL opens the 2017-18 season on Wednesday.  Islander fans will have to wait until Friday for the first game of the Islanders' 3^rd season in Brooklyn and their 46^th NHL season.

 The Islanders are coming off a 6-0-2 pre-season and are 12-0-2 in their last 14 games (regular season/pre-season); the Isles will look to match their longest (multi-season) regular season win streak since 1990 with an opening night victory.

 The Opener:

The Isles will open the season on Friday, October 6^th at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.  It will be the first time that the teams have faced each other on Opening Night. All-time, the Isles are 11-22-11 in 44 previous openers, including 2-1-1 in their last 4.  The Isles are 11-24-9 in their first road game of the season.

The Isles are opening on October 6th for the fourth time in their history (all on the road), having previously done so in 1988, 1992 and 2000. 

In 1988, the Isles began the post-Denis Potvin era with a 4-4 tie in Calgary; in 2000 the Isles knotted Tampa Bay 3-3.

October 6^th will be the 25th anniversary of their 1992 opener in New Jersey. While the Isles lost 4-3 that night, that season included an upset win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (sound familiar?) in the Patrick Division Final.

The Home Opener:

The Isles will begin their third season in Brooklyn on Saturday, October 7th as they face the Buffalo Sabres. It will be the second time that the Isles have faced Buffalo in a home opener; in 2007, Mike Comrie completed a huge opening weekend (6 points in 2 games) as the Isles completed a sweep of a season-opening home-and-home series.  The Isles are 26-12-6 all-time in home openers (1-0-1 at Barclays Center) and have gone 2-0-2 in their last 4 home openers.

The home opener extends an Islander streak of home openers on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  The last midweek opener was on Thursday, October 16, 1986 vs. Washington; the Isles defeated the Caps 7-4.  Six months later the Isles would need 7 periods to win their 4th game of the series against Washington, winning the Easter Epic. 

Saturday will also be the 45^th anniversary of the first game in Islander history; the Isles lost that night to Atlanta (also playing their first NHL game) by a 3-2 score in their only previous October 7 home game.

Much More Balanced

Last season the Isles opened with 10 of the first 13 at home, playing their 10^th home game on November 7^th.  The Isles will open with 14 of 23 on the road this season, and won't play their 10^th home game until after Thanksgiving (November 28^th  vs. Ottawa).  While the Isles will play 18 of their first 29 on the road, by Christmas time (December 27) the Isles will have played 18 at home and 19 on the road.

By mid-February, the Isles will play 31 of the first 61 at home.  They will then play 7 of 8 on the road before returning home for 9 of the final 13.

Mostly at Night

Of their 41 home games, the Isles will play thirty-seven night games (including a 6pm start vs. Colorado on Sunday, November 6 and a 5pm start vs. Carolina on Sunday, March 18). The Isles will play four home matinees: Columbus Day vs. St. Louis, Saturday, December 23^rd vs. Winnipeg, Sunday, January 7^th vs New Jersey, and President's Day (February 19^th) vs Minnesota.  All four games will begin at 1pm.  The Isles have one road matinee, on January 13^th against the Rangers (also at 1pm).

An Early Trip to California

The Isles' annual California road trip will take place in the second week of the season as the Isles will go up and down the coast, facing Anaheim on Wednesday, October 11^th and then facing San Jose and Los Angeles, back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.

The Isles will host San Jose the following Saturday (October 21^st), meaning they will conclude their season series with the Sharks within the first eight games of the schedule.

Lots of West Early

That California trip is part of a stretch in which the Isles will play 13 of their first 17 games against Western Conference opponents. (After that, the Isles will play 48 of their last 65 games against the East.)

The Isles have had a lot of success against the West in recent years, going 15-9-4 last season and 34-16-6 the last two seasons against Western Conference opponents.

About Those Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs, opening the season with one and then playing the 2^nd the following weekend in California. After that they will play 5 back-to-backs in a 5-week period beginning in mid-November.

The Isles will play five road back-to-backs (all by mid-December), seven home-road back-to-backs, and four road-home back-to-backs.

The Isles played 16 back-to-back sets, last season as well. They played 15 sets in 2015-16, 16 sets in 2014-15 and 18 sets in 2013-14.

Out with the Old in Denver

For the fifth straight season, the Isles will play a New Year's Eve game on the road.  The Isles have won six straight New Year's Eve games, including a 6-2 win in Winnipeg last season, and are 10-0-1 in their last eleven Auld Lang Syme games.

Better Bye Week

The Isles' Bye Week comes a week later this season than last, and unlike last season, their opponent will also be coming off a bye when they resume play.  The Isles will host New Jersey on Sunday, January 7^th and will resume play at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, January 13^th.  Both games are matinees.

Vegas' Arrival Changes the Schedule

With the NHL expanding to 31 teams, there is a slight change in the schedule.  The Isles will play all seven divisional opponents four times, will face all eight Atlantic Division teams three times and will play the 15 Western Conference teams, including Vegas, twice each.

To accommodate the two Vegas games (October 30 in Brooklyn and January 25 in Las Vegas) there will no longer be a 5^th game against two divisional opponents.

No Long Road Trip

The Isles played a franchise record 9-game road trip last February/March.  This season the Isles have no road trip of longer than four games, doing so in October (California teams and Rangers), December (Florida teams, Pittsburgh and Boston) and March (Pittsburgh and Western Canada).

The Isles have two five-game homestands (December 16–27 and March 18-26).

Eastern Finish

Following their trip to Western Canada, the Isles will play 12 of their final 13 games against Eastern Conference opponents (the only Western Conference game is on March 24^th vs. Chicago) and nine of the 13 will be at home.  The Isles will end the regular season on April 9^th in Detroit, as they become the final NHL team to make their first visit to Little Caesars Arena.

A Little More Breathing Room

The Isles will play their 82 games over a span of 184 days, five more days than last season.  Last season's schedule was slightly condensed due to the World Cup of Hockey.

 Almost All on MSG Networks

MSG will have 81 of the Isles' 82 regular season games.  Brendan Burke returns for his 2^nd season and is joined by Islander legend Butch Goring.  Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for the 4^th straight season.

The January 15^th game in Montreal will be shown on NBCSN.

The Streaking Skinny

Counting a special double edition in March 2013, The Skinny has been published after every Islander game since February 28, 2012 – 396 regular season games (and 24 playoff games).   We'll see if we can make it to 400 regular season games on October 11th and 500 games (including playoffs) in early April!

 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick