The Skinny: Minnesota 5, Isles 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 61

Minnesota 5, Isles 3 

The Minnesota Wild scored three goals in a 4:12 span of the second period to overcome a 2-1 deficit and held on to defeat the Isles 5-3 before a holiday crowd of 15,342 at Barclays Center.

Anders Lee and Tanner Fritz each had milestone goals in the second period for the Islanders; it was Lee's 30th goal of the season and the first of Fritz' NHL career.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored his first goal since opening night to end the Isles' shutout streak at 140:18; Islander goalies had stopped 102 consecutive shots in that span.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

07:02 Minnesota Joel Eriksson Ek (2) ASST: Charlie Coyle (16), Tyler Ennis (9) 0-1

19:15 New York Ross Johnston (3) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (7), Casey Cizikas (8) 1-1

2ND PERIOD

01:57 New York Anders Lee (30) ASST: Thomas Hickey (12), Ryan Pulock (14) 2-1

09:54 Minnesota Matt Cullen (6) ASST: Ryan Suter (31), Matt Dumba (22) 2-2

12:17 Minnesota Jason Zucker (24) ASST: Ryan Suter (32), Matt Dumba (23) 2-3

14:06 Minnesota Tyler Ennis (8) ASST: Matt Cullen (9), Jared Spurgeon (23) 2-4

16:31 New York Tanner Fritz (1) ASST: Anders Lee (18), Sebastian Aho (2) 3-4

3RD PERIOD

16:38 Minnesota Jason Zucker (25) ASST: Eric Staal (27) 3-5

The Skinny 

Tanner Fritz is the 366th player in Islander history to score a goal…The Isles are 14-19-4 in their last 37 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 203 goals in the first 61 games (highest since 1993-94 when they had 206) and allowed 219 goals (first time since 1995-96, when they also allowed 234) … The Isles fall to 4-4-1 in February as they failed to win a third consecutive game for the first time since mid-January…The Isles allowed only 32 shots; it's the fewest shots that they have allowed in a home game since December 19th vs Detroit…Eric Staal's late assist was his 899th NHL point (and 49th vs. the Isles)..Ryan Pulock finished with a career-high 7 shots on goal (and 12 attempts).   He is the first Islander rookie defenseman since Travis Hamonic (4-9-11 vs Pittsburgh) to have at least 7 shots on goal…The Isles PP went 0-9 vs. Minnesota this season…The Wild are 4-1-2 in their last seven games…The Wild's defense contributed five assists; Minnesota leads the NHL with 143 points from the backline… The Isles finished with a +25-shot attempt differential (75-50); it was their best home differential in over two years (1/17/2016 vs. Vancouver) … Cullen, who turned 41 in November, is the oldest opponent to score vs. Isles since Jaromir Jagr did so on March 1, 2014 (just after his 42nd birthday).  Cullen is the oldest player in the NHL…The loss dropped the Isles out of a playoff spot; while tied in points with Carolina, the Isles have played one additional game.

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee!

Anders Lee reached 30 goals for the 2nd straight season; dating back to November 20, 2016, Lee's 63 goals are the most by any NHL player. Lee also added an assist for his first multi-point game since December 29th.

Lee joins John Tavares in the 30-goal club.  It’s the first time since 1992-93 that the Isles have had two players with 30 goals before the end of February (Turgeon and King).

A Salute to Dad

The Wild's Zach Parise has a new son, who was born 11 days ago.  The Parise's third child was given the name Theodore Jean-Paul Parise; JP Parise scored one of the most famous goals in Islander history when he tallied at :11 of overtime to eliminate the Rangers in 1975. 

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Since December 1st, Jaroslav Halak has faced 1048 shots.  This is 90 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henrik Lundqvist has faced 958). 

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 46 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 62 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, Artemi Panarin (then with Chicago) is the only rookie with more assists than Barzal's 46.  Panarin finished his campaign with 47.  (Nicklas Backstrom had 55 assists and Patrick Kane had 51 assists in 2007-08.)

Countdown to 50

Josh Bailey has 47 assists and Mathew Barzal has 46. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

One and (Usually) Done

The Isles are 16-2-1 this season when leading after one period.  Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first and their February 11th regulation loss to the Flames ended a 22-0-2 streak dating back to last season in which they have earned points.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals nine times at home (1-6-2) and seventeen times overall (1-14-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 25 times this season (19-5-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

First Goal 

The Isles are 19-5-1 when they score first and are 10-21-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 29-26-6 (64 points) this season; they were 29-22-10 (68 points) through 61 games last season.  

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 230 career wins; he is tied with Corey Crawford and Martin Biron for 62nd on the all-time NHL win list; Chico Resch owns 231 NHL wins.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 53-38-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles         12-6-17=35

Minnesota 11-12-9=32

The Isles are 7-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 22-16-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged four times and been successful three times.  The Isles are 2-1-0 in games they win the challenge and are 0-0-1 in games they lose the challenge.

• 10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

• 10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

• 1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

• 2/16 @ Car Hurricanes - successful

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 29-26-6 overall; 16-11-4 at home and 13-15-2 on the road.  

Minnesota is 32-20-7 overall; 20-5-6 at home and 12-15-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-8-1 in Division games and 19-18-5 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 17-17-1 against the East and 12-9-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 16-11-4 at home; they are 9-8-0 against the East and 7-3-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-7-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves but falls to 18-19-4 on the season and 3-3-4 in his career against Minnesota. 

Devyn Dubnyk made 32 saves and improves to 24-11-5 on the season and 5-4-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play in 7:23 of PP time; Minnesota was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-10-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-16-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-18-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-8-4 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 6-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play four sets of back-to-backs in March, beginning March 2nd vs. Montreal and March 3rd in Pittsburgh. 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 2-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 17-18-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:23); Minnesota: Ryan Suter (30:04)

Anders Lee led Isles forwards in ice-time (19:30) 

Face-offs

Isles 34, Minnesota 29 (54%).

Mathew Barzal won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Eric Staal won 8 of 12 for Minnesota.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/27; 2nd period 12/17; 3rd period 12/19.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/51, Power play 6/11, Penalty kill 1/1.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Cal Clutterbuck-5)

Minnesota 29 (Joel Eriksson Ek-4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 13 shots (Ryan Pulock & Thomas Hickey -3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 75, Minnesota 50.

5-on-5 Isles 58, Minnesota 45.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: 3 with +10

Minnesota: 3 with +5

Night and Day 

The Isles are 25-25-5 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.  All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Overall: Jordan Eberle 212 (including 152 for the Oilers): 

As Isles: Nick Leddy 138, Anders Lee 97, Brock Nelson 74, Jordan Eberle/Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 61.

Top 5 Club

Nick Leddy now hold the fifth longest consecutive game streak in Islander history for a defenseman: 

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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 138

(*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), (Thomas Greiss-IR), Alan Quine, Jason Chimera, Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 199

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Josh Bailey 696*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 648

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. John Tavares 265

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter and Josh Bailey 121 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 114

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 247

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 601

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 367

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 165 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 115

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 86 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 60

Season Series Stats

Minnesota wins the season series two games to none (and four points to zero). 

This was the Wild's first win ever at Barclays Center; the Wild have won the last three meetings between the teams overall.

On the Farm

Christopher Gibson made 22 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and Travis St. Denis scored twice and Bridgeport blanked Hartford 4-0 on Sunday, improving their record to 24-20-5-3. 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson (also on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

Bridgeport visits Providence on Friday and then hosts Charlotte on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd –ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:30PM 

[MSG+2 (Islander pre-game at 7:00PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles begin a three-game road trip (and start a stretch of 7 out of 8 on the road) as they head to Toronto to visit the Maple Leafs.

The Isles will look to avenge a 5-0 defeat back on January 31st and will be looking for their first win in Toronto under Doug Weight (0-2-0).

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: Isles 3, Carolina 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 60

Isles 3, Carolina 0   

Thomas Greiss made 45 saves for his 8th career shutout as the Islanders recorded shutouts on back-to-back nights for the first time in their history as the Islanders moved back into a playoff spot with a 3-0 blanking of the Carolina Hurricanes before a crowd of 15,448 at PNC Arena.

It's the Isles' first road shutout since Jaroslav Halak blanked Carolina on April 6th in Raleigh and the first time they had consecutive shutouts since January 16-19, 2017 vs Boston (in Jack Capuano's finale) and Dallas (in Doug Weight's coaching debut).

Doug Weight coached his 100th game; he has the best record through 100 games of any coach in Islander history.  An awarded goal for John Tavares in an empty net situation allowed him to reach 30 goals for the 4th time in his career.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

10:06 New York Johnny Boychuk (4) ASST: Brock Nelson (11), Ross Johnston (2) 1-0

3RD PERIOD

12:00 New York Anthony Beauvillier (14) 2-0

19:28 New York EN - John Tavares (30) 3-0

The Skinny 

The Isles are 14-18-4 in their last 36 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 200 goals in the first 60 games (highest since 1993-94 when they had 201) and allowed 214 goals (first time highest since 2005-66, when they also allowed 214) … Josh Bailey played in his 695th Isles game (passing Brent Sutter for 8th place)…The Isles improve to 4-3-1 in February as they won consecutive games for the first time since a 3-game win streak in mid-January…The Isles had an opponents' goal reversed for the second straight game; Jeff Skinner's 200th career goal was overturned due to an offside...The Isles are now 9-2-2 in the game following a win over the Rangers, including 3-0-0 this season…The Isles have not allowed a goal in 133:16; the club record is 199:14 and includes the only three consecutive shutouts in Islander history (April 1998)…Nine of Anthony Beauvillier's goals have come on the road; ten have been scored since January 7th…Three of Johnny Boychuk's four goals this season, seven of his 28 Islander goals, and ten of his 47 career goals, have been game-winners.  Boychuk is 6-10-16 vs. Carolina; he has more goals, assists and points against the Canes than any other opponent… It's only the second time this season that Carolina has been shutout; however, the Canes have been held to one goal or fewer four times in the last eight games….Counting the end of the Columbus game, Islander goalies have stopped 99 straight shots…Thomas Greiss had never faced more than 32 shots in a shutout; he is now 5-1-1 in his career when facing at least 45 shots…It's the 4th time in his career that Greiss has made at least 45 saves; three of the four have happened in his last four starts.

Shutout Stats: Rewriting the History Books

It's the 11th time in Isles history that the team has recorded consecutive shutouts, but the first in which they have done so on consecutive days.  The Isles had gotten consecutive shutouts from two different goalies on two prior occasions: February 9-12, 1980 and January 20-22, 1981. Billy Smith had the first shutout in 1980 and the second in 1981, while Chico Resch had the other two.

The Isles are the first team in NHL HISTORY to record shutouts with of at least 40 shots on consecutive days and are the first team in NHL HISTORY to record consecutive shutouts of at least 45 shots. 

Most Shots Faced in a Shutout

51- Glenn Healy 1/16/00 vs. Vancouver

50- Jaroslav Halak 2/15/18 vs. NY Rangers

45- Thomas Greiss 2/16/18 @ Carolina

45- Evgeni Nabokov 2/7/12 @ Philadelphia (shootout)

The First 100 Games

Doug Weight became the 10th man to coach 100 Islander games. He has won more games (53) and earned more points (116) than any other Islander coach through 100 games.

Here are all the Isles who coached 100 games and their records through game 100:

Doug Weight 53-37-10 

Ted Nolan         51-37-12

Terry Simpson 49-38-13

Peter Laviolette 48-39-9-4

Steve Stirling 47-38-11-4

Jack Capuano     38-46-16

Scott Gordon 32-53-15

Butch Goring 30-57-11-2

Al Arbour         28-48-24

Mike Milbury 26-58-16

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Since December 1st, Jaroslav Halak has faced 1016 shots.  This is 122 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henrik Lundqvist has faced 894). 

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 46 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 62 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, Artemi Panarin (then with Chicago) is the only rookie with more assists than Barzal's 46.  Panarin finished his campaign with 47.  (Nicklas Backstrom had 55 assists and Patrick Kane had 51 assists in 2007-08.)

What a Good Helper!

Since January 8th, when he had five points at Madison Square Garden, Mathew Barzal has 23 points, leaving him tied with Sidney Crosby for 2nd in the league lead in points (Evgeni Malkin has 24).  Barzal has an NHL-leading 20 assists in that span, one ahead of Crosby. 

Countdown to 50

Josh Bailey has 47 assists and Mathew Barzal has 46. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

One and (Usually) Done

The Isles are 16-2-1 this season when leading after one period.  Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first and their February 11th regulation loss to the Flames ended a 22-0-2 streak dating back to last season in which they have earned points.

 

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals eight times at home (1-5-2) and sixteen times overall (1-13-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 24 times this season (19-5-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

First Goal 

The Isles are 19-5-1 when they score first and are 10-20-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 29-25-6 (64 points) this season; they were 29-21-10 (68 points) through 60 games last season.  The Isles (and Thomas Greiss) also earned a shutout in game 60 last season, winning in Montreal.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 230 career wins; he is tied with Corey Crawford and Martin Biron for 62nd on the all-time NHL win list; Chico Resch owns 231 NHL wins.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 53-37-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles       7-8-7=22

Carolina 16-12-17=45

The Isles are 7-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 22-16-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged four times and been successful three times.  The Isles are 2-1-0 in games they win the challenge and are 0-0-1 in games they lose the challenge.

• 10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

• 10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

• 1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

• 2/16 @ Car Hurricanes - successful

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 29-25-6 overall; 16-10-4 at home and 13-15-2 on the road.  

Carolina are 27-23-9 overall; 15-10-5 at home and 12-13-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-8-1 in Division games and 19-17-5 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 17-17-1 against the East and 12-8-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 16-10-4 at home; they are 9-8-0 against the East and 7-2-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-6-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 45 saves for his 8th career shutout (and his 96th career win).  Greiss improves to 11-7-2 on the season and 5-3-1 in his career against Carolina. 

Cam Ward made 19 saves but falls to 17-8-3 on the season and 23-5-5 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles did not have a power play; Carolina were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-10-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-15-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-18-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-7-4 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-7-0 on the back-end. The next set of back-to-back is March 2nd vs. Montreal and March 3rd in Pittsburgh. 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 2-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 17-17-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (21:31); Carolina: Jaccob Slavin (23:02)

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (18:13) 

Face-offs

Isles 21, Carolina 37 (36%).

No Islander who took multiple face-offs won more than he lost; Elias Lindholm won 12 of 18 for Carolina.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/18; 2nd period 3/12; 3rd period 9/28.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/50, Power play 0/0, Penalty kill 3/8.

Hit Count

Isles 37(Johnny Boychuk -7)

Carolina 23 (Jordan Staal -8)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 27 shots (Thomas Hickey & Cal Clutterbuck -4). Every Islander except Anthony Beauvillier blocked at least one shot.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 42, Carolina 92.

5-on-5 Isles 40, Carolina 70.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Tanner Fritz +6

Carolina: Jaccob Slavin +21

Night and Day 

The Isles are 25-25-5 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jordan Eberle 211 (including 151 for the Oilers): 

As Isles: Nick Leddy 137, Anders Lee 96, Brock Nelson 73, Jordan Eberle/Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 60.

Top 5 Club

Nick Leddy now hold the fifth longest consecutive game streak in Islander history for a defenseman: 

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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 137

(*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), Alan Quine, Jason Chimera, Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 196

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Josh Bailey 695*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 647

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. John Tavares 265

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter and Josh Bailey 121 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 113

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 247

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 601

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 367

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 164 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 115

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 86 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 60

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series two games to one (and four points to two).  The season series will conclude on March 18th in Brooklyn.

The Isles have beaten Carolina four times in the last five games (4-1-0), despite playing only one of the five games in Brooklyn.

On the Farm

Christopher Gibson made 30 saves for a shutout, but the Sound Tigers fell 1-0 in a shootout in Providence Bridgeport is 23-20-5-3 heading into their game at home against Hartford on Sunday afternoon. 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 17-11-3 in the nets with 3 shutouts.

Up Next

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19th –MINNESOTA AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 12:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles will look to earn a split of the season series as they entertain the Minnesota Wild in their final home game of the month of February.

The Wild defeated the Isles 6-4 in St. Paul; it was their second consecutive 6-4 win over the Isles. However, both of those games were at the Xcel Energy Center; the Isles have won both previous meetings at Barclays Center and are 4-1-1 in their last six home games against the Wild.

 

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

Milestone Night for Doug Weight

(Updated)

Doug Weight became the 10th man to coach 100 Islander games on Friday.

Here are all of the Isles who coached 100 games and their records through game 100. 

Doug Weight 53-37-10

Ted Nolan         51-37-12

Terry Simpson 49-38-13

Peter Laviolette 48-39-9-4

Steve Stirling 47-38-11-4

Jack Capuano 38-46-16

Scott Gordon 32-53-15

Butch Goring 30-57-11-2

Al Arbour         28-48-24
Mike Milbury 26-58-16

Weight earned more wins and more points than any other Isles coach.

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: Isles 3, Rangers 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 59

Isles 3, Rangers 0   

Jaroslav Halak became only the 2nd goalie in Islander history to stop at least 50 shots in a shutout and Mathew Barzal assisted on all three goals, including Jordan Eberle's 20th, as the Islanders blanked the Rangers 3-0 before a sellout crowd of 15,795 at Barclays Center.

It's the Isles' first shutout since Halak blanked Carolina on April 6th in Raleigh and their first shutout on home ice since Thomas Greiss blanked Dallas 3-0 last January 19th in Doug Weight's coaching debut.

Eberle reached the 20-goal mark for the 6th time in his career; 16 of his 20 goals have been assisted by Barzal.  Barzal recorded his 7th three-point game of the season and (per Elias Sports Bureau) became only the second rookie in Islander history with four three-assist games.

The Isles were outshot 50-35; it's only the sixth time in franchise history that they have allowed at least 50 shots at home and the first time that they have allowed at least 50 shots in consecutive games.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

04:53 New York PPG - Josh Bailey (15) ASST: Nick Leddy (26), Mathew Barzal (44) 1-0

2ND PERIOD

15:06 New York Jordan Eberle (20) ASST: Nick Leddy (27), Mathew Barzal (45) 2-0

3RD PERIOD

03:57 New York Thomas Hickey (3) ASST: Mathew Barzal (46), Anthony Beauvillier (7) 3-0

The Skinny 

The Isles are 13-18-4 in their last 35 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 197 goals in the first 59 games (first time since 1993-94 when they had 199) and allowed 214 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 223) … The Isles have allowed at least 35 shots in fifteen straight home games and Jaroslav Halak has faced at least 35 shots in fourteen straight home starts … The Isles have scored 25 of their 41 power play goals at home…Mathew Barzal now has 46 assists, one behind Josh Bailey for the club lead…Entering play tonight, Brock Boeser was the only other rookie with at least 46 points…The win is the Isles 1st in the last four games when they led after the first period (1-2-1)…This was the latest in the season the Isles had gone without a shutout since the 2008-09 season, when they also recorded a shutout in their 59th game…Josh Bailey scored his 121st goal (tying Duane Sutter for 19th) while playing in his 694th Isles game (tying Brent Sutter for 8th place)…Jason Chimera was a healthy scratch, ending his 245 consecutive-game streak; Chimera had played in all 140 Islander games over the last two seasons…Nick Leddy had two assists; he has points in six of the last seven games (3-4-7)…Thomas Hickey's goal gave him 100 career points (20-80-100); both of his goals against the Rangers this season have gone in off Ranger defenders…The Isles are 3-3-1 in February while the Rangers are 2-6-0…Barzal and Bailey are now tied for 2nd in the team in scoring; they are one point behind John Tavares. The Isles trio are 11th and tied for 12th in the NHL in scoring…The Rangers have been held to one goal or less 10 times this season.

Barzal vs. Blueshirts

Barzal has a point in each of the last six periods against the Rangers and is 3-6-9 in three games this season. He is the first rookie with nine points against the Rangers since Sidney Crosby (5-5-10 in 2005-06) and is the first rookie with six assists against the Rangers since Vladimir Malakhov (7 assist in 1992-93).

What a Good Helper!

Since January 8th, when he had five points at Madison Square Garden, Mathew Barzal has 23 points, leaving him tied with Sidney Crosby for 2nd in the league lead in points (Evgeni Malkin has 24).  Barzal has an NHL-leading 20 assists in that span, one ahead of Crosby. 

Blanking Rangers

This was the Isles' 7th shutout of the Rangers. Jaroslav Halak is the first Isles goalie with two career shutouts against the Rangers.

17-Dec-75 @ NYR 3 0 W B. Smith

9-Dec-89 Vs NYR 0 0 T M. Fitzpatrick

23-Mar-95 Vs NYR 1 0 W T. Soderstrom

4-Apr-98 Vs NYR 3 0 W TEAM (Salo/Flaherty)

26-Dec-06 Vs NYR 2 0 W R. DiPietro

13-Jan-15 @ NYR 3 0 W J. Halak

15-Feb-18 Vs NYR 3 0 W J. Halak

Beating the Rangers

Jaro Halak is the 4th goalie in Islander history with 10 wins for the Isles against the Rangers:

• Billy Smith 27-18-4

• Chico Resch 12-10-1

• Rick DiPietro 11-13-2

• Jaroslav Halak 10-3-0

Halak also has the lowest goals against average of any Isles goalie (minimum 5 games) against the Rangers: 

• Jaroslav Halak 2.21

• Evgeni Nabokov 2.61

• Tommy Salo 2.67

• Wade Dubielewicz 2.68

• Chris Osgood 2.78

First Times in an Unbelievably Long Time

The Isles won a game by shutout in which they allowed at least 50 shots for the first time since January 16, 1990 vs. Vancouver but that seems like yesterday compared to the Rangers losing by shutout in regulation in a game they had at least 50 shots for the first time since November 14, 1959 vs. Detroit (Gordie Howe had 3 points in that game).  The Rangers had 51 shots in a 1-0 shootout loss to New Jersey in 2010.

Lots of Shots (Against)

The Isles allowed at least 50 shots for the second consecutive game, and a franchise-record fourth time this season.  It was only the 6th time in Islander history that they have allowed at least 50 shots on home-ice.  Glenn Healy is the only goalie to face more shots than Jaroslav Halak in an Islander shutout win (51 on January 16, 1990 vs. Vancouver)

The Isles have allowed at least 19 shots in a period in each of the last three games.

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Jaroslav Halak stopped all 50 shots he faced; since December 1st, Halak has faced 1016 shots.  This is 122 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henrik Lundqvist has faced 894). 

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal passed David Volek and became the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 46 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 62 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, Artemi Panarin (then with Chicago) is the only rookie with more assists than Barzal's 46.  Panarin finished his campaign with 47.  (Nicklas Backstrom had 55 assists and Patrick Kane had 51 assists in 2007-08.)

Countdown to 50

Josh Bailey has 47 assists and Mathew Barzal has 46. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

One and (Usually) Done

The Isles are 16-2-1 this season when leading after one period.  Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first and their February 11th regulation loss to the Flames ended a 22-0-2 streak dating back to last season in which they have earned points.

 

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals eight times at home (1-5-2) and sixteen times overall (1-13-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 24 times this season (18-5-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

First Goal 

The Isles are 18-5-1 when they score first and are 10-20-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 28-25-6 (62 points) this season; they were 28-21-10 (66 points) through 59 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak record his 230th career win; he is tied with Corey Crawford and Martin Biron for 62nd on the all-time NHL win list; Chico Resch owns 231 NHL wins.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 52-37-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles       11-16-8=35

Rangers 15-14-21=50

The Isles are 7-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 21-16-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 28-25-6 overall; 16-10-4 at home and 12-15-2 on the road.  

The Rangers are 27-26-5 overall; 18-10-3 at home and 9-16-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 98-1 in Division games and 19-17-5 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 16-17-1 against the East and 12-8-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 16-10-4 at home; they are 9-8-0 against the East and 7-2-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-6-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 50 saves for his 42nd career shutout (and third against the Rangers).  Halak approves to 18-18-4 on the season and 17-7-0 in his career against the Rangers. 

Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves but falls to 23-19-4 on the season and 30-20-7 in his career against the Isles. Lundqvist has more wins, losses and shutouts (5) against the Isles than any other active goalie.

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 2:11 of PP time; The Rangers were 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-10-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-15-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-18-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-7-4 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 26-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 4-7-0 on the back-end. This back-to-backs set concludes Friday in Carolina.

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 17-17-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Johnny Boychuk (23:32); Rangers: Neal Pionk (23:04)

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (20:21) 

Face-offs

Isles 26, Rangers 32 (45%).

Brock Nelson won 4 of 8 for the Isles; JT Miller won 9 of 10 for the Rangers.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 8/18; 2nd period 11/21; 3rd period 7/19.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/50, Power play 3/3, Penalty kill 0/5.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Dennis Seidenberg -4)

Rangers 23 (Cody McLeod -4)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Adam Pelech-3). Eleven Isles blocked at least one shot.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 55, Rangers 79.

5-on-5 Isles 45, Rangers 70.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Andrew Ladd and Brock Nelson +2

Rangers: Three with +19

Night and Day 

The Isles are 24-25-5 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jordan Eberle 210 (including 151 for the Oilers): 

As Isles: Nick Leddy 136. Eberle, Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and John Tavares have also played in every game this season.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 6th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 135 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. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 136

   Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)

7. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)

8. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130

9. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118

10. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117

11. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)

12. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110

13. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104

14. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), Alan Quine, Jason Chimera, Sebastian Aho

Total games lost: 192

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Brent Sutter and Josh Bailey 694** 10. John Tavares 646

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. John Tavares 264

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter and Josh Bailey 121 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 113

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 247

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 600

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 367

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 164 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 114

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 86 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series three games to none (and six points to zero).  The season series will conclude on April 5th in the regular season home finale.

The Isles have beaten the Rangers six straight times and are 10-1-0 against the Rangers over the last three seasons.  The Isles remain perfect against the Rangers at Barclays Center (5-0-0).

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 23-20-5-2 heading into their game in Providence on Friday. 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 17-11-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

Bridgeport hosts Hartford on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16th –ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles will look to sweep the back-to-back and move back into a playoff spot as they meet the Carolina Hurricanes for the third time this season.  The teams split a home-and-home series in November with each team winning in their home rink.

The Isles have not gone winless in Carolina since 2013, when they lost in a shootout in their only trip that season.

The Canes were beaten in New Jersey on Thursday by a 5-2 score.

 

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: Columbus 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 58

Columbus 4, Isles 1   

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored second period power play goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a 1-0 Islander lead and defeated the Isles 4-1 before a crowd of 10,232 at Barclays Center.

John Tavares had given the Isles a 1-0 lead with a power play goal of his own in the first period.  It was his 29th goal of the season, tying Anders Lee for the team lead, and the 600th point of his career.

The Isles were outshot 51-30; it's only the fifth time in franchise history that they have allowed at least 50 shots.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

17:51 New York PPG - John Tavares (29) ASST: Anders Lee (17), Josh Bailey (47) 1-0

2ND PERIOD

06:02 Columbus PPG - Oliver Bjorkstrand (10) ASST: Zach Werenski (12),Pierre-Luc Dubois (14) 1-1

19:03 Columbus PPG - Pierre-Luc Dubois (13) ASST: Zach Werenski (13),Oliver Bjorkstrand (21) 1-2

3RD PERIOD

06:01 Columbus Brandon Dubinsky (5) ASST: Boone Jenner (11), Josh Anderson (11) 1-3

06:44 Columbus Cam Atkinson (9) ASST: Artemi Panarin (31), Zach Werenski (14) 1-4

The Skinny 

The Isles are 12-18-4 in their last 34 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 194 goals in the first 58 games (first time since 1993-94 when they had 195) and allowed 214 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 223) … The Isles have allowed at least 35 shots in fourteen straight home games and Jaroslav Halak has faced …John Tavares went 17-5 on the draw, one game after winning a season-high 19 face-offs…This was the first of the five games played in Brooklyn this month that the team that trailed after two periods lost…The Blue Jackets tied their club record for shots on goal in a period (26); they had set the record 10 days ago in their last visit to Brooklyn…It was only the third time all season that Columbus scored two power play goals in a game…The Isles have scored 24 of their 40 power play goals at home…Five of Columbus' 24 power play goals this season have come against the Isles…Artemi Panarin (0-7-7) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (1-6-7) each had seven points vs. the Isles this season; Josh Bailey (4-1-5) and John Tavares (1-4-5) each had five for the Isles.

Lots of Shots (Against)

The Isles allowed at least 50 shots for the third time this season, matching the franchise record set in 1972-73. The 51 shots allowed by the Isles are a Barclays Center record.  It was only the 5th time in Islander history that they have allowed at least 50 shots on home-ice.

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Jaroslav Halak faced 51 shots and stopped 47; since December 1st, Halak has faced 966 shots.  This is 107 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henrik Lundqvist has faced 859). 

Six For 600

John Tavares is the 6th Islander to record at least 600 career points:

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 

2. Mike Bossy 1126 

3. Denis Potvin 1052 

4. Clark Gillies 663

5. Brent Sutter 610

6. John Tavares 600

Barzal Rising Fast on All-time Isles Rookie Scoring

Mathew Barzal needs only 1 point to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 43 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. David Volek 59 1988-89

  MATHEW BARZAL 59 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, Artemi Panarin (then with Chicago) is the only rookie with more assists than Barzal's 43.  Panarin finished his campaign with 47.

Countdown to 50

Josh Bailey has 47 assists and Mathew Barzal has 43. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

One and (Usually) Done

The Isles are 15-2-1 this season when leading after one period.  Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first and their February 11th regulation loss to the Flames ended a 22-0-2 streak dating back to last season in which they have earned points.

 

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals eight times at home (1-5-2) and sixteen times overall (1-13-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 23 times this season (17-5-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

First Goal 

The Isles are 17-5-1 when they score first and are 10-20-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 27-25-6 (60 points) this season; they were 27-21-10 (64 points) through 58 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 229 career wins; he is once again tied with Antti Niemi for 64th on the all-time NHL win list.  Corey Crawford and Martin Biron each have 230 NHL wins while Chico Resch owns 231.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 51-37-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles           11-7-12=30

Columbus 26-15-10=51

The Isles are 7-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 20-16-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 27-25-6 overall; 15-10-4 at home and 12-15-2 on the road.  

Columbus is 29-23-4 overall; 17-10-1 at home and 12-13-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 8-8-1 in Division games and 19-17-5 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 15-17-1 against the East and 12-8-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 15-10-4 at home; they are 8-8-0 against the East and 7-2-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-6-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 47 saves but falls to 17-18-4 on the season and 13-6-3 in his career against Columbus. 

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves to improve to 24-18-4 on the season and 15-5-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 4:35 of PP time; Columbus was 2-4 on the power play in 6:33 of PP time.

The Isles are 16-10-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-15-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-18-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-7-4 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 25-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 4-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play only one other set of back-to-backs in February (February 15 vs Rangers – February 16 in Carolina)

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 16-17-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Thomas Hickey (22:02); Columbus: Seth Jones (23:22).

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (18:48) 

Face-offs

Isles 42, Columbus 25 (63%).

John Tavares won 17 of 22 for the Isles (giving him 46 of 63 over the last three games); Nick Foligno won 3 of 6 for Columbus.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 20/24; 2nd period 12/21; 3rd period 10/22.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 34/55, Power play 4/5, Penalty kill 4/7.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Columbus 14 (Boone Jenner -6)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 19 shots (Johnny Boychuk -4)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 56, Columbus 86.

5-on-5 Isles 47, Columbus 69.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jason Chimera +4

Columbus: Jack Johnson and Markus Nutivaara +14

Night and Day 

The Isles are 23-25-5 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 246 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 209 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 140, Nick Leddy 135. Eberle, Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and John Tavares have also played in every game this season.

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 6th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 135 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. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)

6. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 135

7. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)

8. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130

9. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118

10. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117

11. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)

12. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110

13. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104

14. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), Alan Quine, Tanner Fritz, Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 188

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 693** 10. John Tavares 645

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. John Tavares 264

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Josh Bailey 120 *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 113

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 247

Points

7. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 600

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 367

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 163 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 114

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 85 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

Columbus wins the season series three games to one (and six points to two).  This was the Jackets' first regulation win in New York since November 29, 2002, ending an Isles' 9-0-4 streak against Columbus.

On the Farm

Bridgeport fell to 23-20-5-2 with a 5-0 home ice defeat Tuesday to Lehigh Valley.  The Sound Tigers were blanked despite having 40 shots on goal. 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 17-11-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

Bridgeport visits Providence on Friday and then hosts Hartford on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15th –RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+2 (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

The Isles will look to break their two-game losing streak as they welcome the Rangers to Brooklyn for the first time this season.

The Isles won both meetings on Broadway earlier this season (4-3 in a shootout and 7-2) and will be looking for their 6th straight win overall against the Rangers.

The Isles are 9-1-0 against the Rangers the last three seasons, including a perfect 4-0-0 at Barclays Center.  It's the first time in their long rivalry that the Isles have won 9 out of 10 from the Blueshirts.

 

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: Calgary 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 57

Calgary 3, Isles 2

Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals in the third period, including the winner with 65 seconds to play as the Calgary Flames rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Islanders before a crowd of 11,192 at Barclays Center.

The loss is the Isles' first in regulation (54-1-6) that they led in the second intermission since February 28, 2016 in Edmonton (led 1-0, lost 3-1); and the first time it has happened at home since November 1, 2015 vs. Buffalo (37-1-2) (led 1-0, lost 2-1).

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

03:08 New York Casey Cizikas (7) 1-0

2ND PERIOD

02:59 New York Anthony Beauvillier (13) ASST: Mathew Barzal (43), Nick Leddy (25) 2-0

10:35 Calgary PPG - Mark Jankowski (9) ASST: Sam Bennett (12), Johnny Gaudreau (48) 2-1

3RD PERIOD

09:38 Calgary Matthew Tkachuk (19) ASST: Michael Frolik (10), Brett Kulak (5) 2-2

18:55 Calgary Matthew Tkachuk (20) ASST: Travis Hamonic (7), Michael Frolik (11) 2-3

The Skinny 

The Isles are 12-17-4 in their last 33 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 193 goals in the first 57 games (first time since 1992-93 when they had 237) and allowed 210 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 220) … The Isles have allowed at least 35 shots in thirteen straight home games and Jaroslav Halak has faced at least 35 shots in 12 straight home starts…The Isles had gone 10-0-0 this season and 22-0-1 in the last 23 games that they scored the first two goals.…Nick Leddy extended his point streak to five straight games; John Tavares, Brock Nelson, and Josh Bailey all saw  their point streaks end at four games… Tavares still has 599 career points…Mike Smith played in his 47th game, tying Frederik Andersen for the NHL lead…Johnny Gaudreau extended his point streak to six games (3-6-9)..Travis Hamonic assisted on the winning goal in his first game against his former team…The Flames are 11-3-4 in their last 18 games…With the Isles' loss tonight, Boston and New Jersey are the only NHL teams to have not lost a game in regulation that they led after two periods over the last two seasons...John Tavares won a season-high 19 face-offs.

Third Period Lead Changes

This was the fourth game played in Brooklyn in February.  The team that trailed after the second period has won all four games:

• 2/3 – Isles trailed CBJ 3-2, won 4-3

• 2/5- Isles led Nashville 4-3, lost 5-4 (OT)

• 2/9- Isles trailed Detroit 3-1, won 7-6 (OT)

• 2/11- Isles led Calgary 2-1, lost 3-2

The Injuries

Ryan Lomberg left the game for Calgary after a first period fight with Ross Johnston; he did not return. Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the third period; he did not return.  Mike Smith left the game with 1.1 seconds to play due to a lower body injury but was walking normally after the game.

Tka-Chip off the Old Block

Matthew Tkachuk scored twice to reach 20 goals for the first time as a professional; he also drew three Islander penalties, raising his total of penalties drawn to an NHL-leading 36.  Matt's father Keith scored 20 or more goals 15 times in his NHL career.

Lots of Rubber for Jaro

Jaroslav Halak faced 42 shots and stopped 39; since December 1st, Halak has faced 915 shots.  This is 85 more than any other goaltender in that span (Henrik Lundqvist has faced 830). 

Barzal Rising Fast on All-time Isles Rookie Scoring

Mathew Barzal now needs only 1 point to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 43 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. David Volek 59 1988-89

  MATHEW BARZAL 59 2017-18 

Over the last 10 seasons, Artemi Panarin (then with Chicago) is the only rookie with more assists than Barzal's 43.  Panarin finished his campaign with 47.

Countdown to 50

Josh Bailey has 46 assists and Mathew Barzal has 43. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).

One and (Usually) Done

The Isles are 15-1-1 this season when leading after one period.  Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first and their February 11th regulation loss to the Flames ended a 22-0-2 streak dating back to last season in which they have earned points.

 

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals eight times at home (1-5-2) and sixteen times overall (1-13-2).  

Chili

The Isles have scored at least six goals eight times this season.  The Isles have won 45 straight games, dating back to 2005, when they score at least six times. 

Seventh Heaven

The Isles have scored seven goals three times this season. The Isles have won 44 straight games, dating back to a 1991 tie in St. Louis, when they score at least seven times.

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 22 times this season (17-4-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.

First Goal 

The Isles are 17-4-1 when they score first and are 10-20-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

This Year vs. Last Year

The Isles are 27-24-6 (60 points) this season; they were 26-21-10 (62 points) through 57 games last season.

Lots of Wins

Jaroslav Halak has 229 career wins; he is once again tied with Antti Niemi for 64th on the all-time NHL win list.  Corey Crawford and Martin Biron each have 230 NHL wins while Chico Resch owns 231.

Fastest to 50

Doug Weight is now 51-36-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:

Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:

93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)

98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)

102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)

103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)

106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)

The Shots

Isles     11-7-7=25

Calgary 9-14-19=42

The Isles are 7-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 20-15-3 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.

10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 27-24-6 overall; 15-9-4 at home and 12-15-2 on the road.  

Calgary is 29-19-8 overall; 13-13-3 at home and 16-6-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 8-7-1 in Division games and 19-17-5 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 15-16-1 against the East and 12-8-5 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 15-9-4 at home; they are 8-7-0 against the East and 7-2-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-6-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves but falls to 17-17-4 on the season and 8-6-1 in his career against Calgary. 

Mike Smith made 23 saves to improve to 23-16-6 on the season and 5-3-0 in his career against the Isles. He was replaced by David Rittich for the final 1.1 seconds after suffering an injury.

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-5 on the power play in 8:02 of PP time; Calgary was 1-4 on the power play in 7:59 of PP time.

The Isles are 16-9-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-15-4 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-17-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-7-4 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 25-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-17-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 4-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play only one other set of back-to-backs in February (February 15 vs Rangers – February 16 in Carolina)

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 16-16-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:05); Calgary: Mark Giordano (27:17).

John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (22:43). 

Face-offs

Isles 37, Calgary 22 (63%).

John Tavares won 19 of 24 for the Isles (giving him 29 of 41 over the last two games); Mark Jankowski won 7 of 12 for Calgary.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 12/22; 2nd period 11/18; 3rd period 14/19.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/40, Power play 5/9, Penalty kill 5/10.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Mathew Barzal and Ross Johnston -3)

Calgary 20 (Mark Giordano and Micheal Ferland -3)

Fights

Ross Johnston fought Ryan Lomberg late in the 1st period. Season total – 11: (Boychuk 2, Johnston 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 19 shots (Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ladd-3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 51, Calgary 77 (Including 13-1 in Calgary's favor to end the game).

5-on-5 Isles 37, Calgary 58.

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ross Johnston and Jason Chimera +4

Calgary: Dougie Hamilton +126

Night and Day 

The Isles are 23-24-5 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees.  The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).

Ironmen

Overall: Jason Chimera 245 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 208 (including 151 for the Oilers: 

As Isles: Jason Chimera 139, Nick Leddy 134

Century Club

Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 130 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. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)

6. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)

    Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 134

8. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130

9. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118

10. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117

11. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)

12. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110

13. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104

14. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), Alan Quine, Tanner Fritz, Dennis Seidenberg

Total games lost: 184

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored four times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 692** 10. John Tavares 644

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. John Tavares 263

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Josh Bailey 120, *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 113

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 246

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 599

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 366

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 162 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 114

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 85 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 59

Season Series Stats

Calgary leads the season series one game to none (and two points to zero).  The teams will meet in Alberta on March 11th.

This was only the Flames' third 3-2 win in New York against the Isles; the first came on October 7, 1972 when Atlanta defeated the Isles 3-2 in the first NHL game for each franchise.

The Isles are 10-5-0 in their last 15 games against Calgary.

On the Farm

Bridgeport fell to 23-19-5-2 with a pair of home ice defeats this weekend, losing 3-1 to Providence and 3-2 to Syracuse.  Casey Bailey had the only goal for Bridgeport on Saturday as the Sound Tigers fell despite outshooting the Bruins 37-16; Syracuse scored twice in the third period to erase a 2-1 Bridgeport advantage on Sunday.

 

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 17-11-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.

Bridgeport hosts Lehigh Valley on Tuesday before visiting Providence on Friday.  The week concludes with a Sunday afternoon home game against Hartford.

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13th –COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]

The Isles begin a stretch of three divisional games in four days as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to Brooklyn for the second time this month.  This has been a homer series this season, as the home team has taken each of the first three games (all in regulation).

The Isles are 9-0-4 on home-ice in their last 13 home games against the Jackets.  Columbus hasn't won a regulation game in New York since November 29, 2002; current Islander assistant coach Luke Richardson played 23:46 in that game for the Jackets.

The teams will come into the game tied with 60 points; the second tie-breaker (after ROWs) is points earned head-to-head and the Isles will need a regulation victory to earn a split of that tie-breaker.

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 All Those Power Play Goals (and a Bertuzzi tie-in to boot)

The Isles scored their four power play goals in a span of 3:37; the first three of those goals came just 2:05 apart.  Best I can tell it's the FIRST TIME IN ISLANDER HISTORY THAT THEY HAVE SCORED THREE GOALS ON A MAJOR POWER PLAY, let alone four.

While they are the fastest four PP goals the Isles ever scored, it's not close to the fastest three.

November 23, 1996

New York Islanders 3 @ Phoenix Coyotes 3

First Period

1 - NY Islanders : King 11 (B Berard, Smolinski) (power play) 7:34 

2 - NY Islanders : Palffy 13 (Smolinski, B Berard) (power play) 7:58 

3 - NY Islanders : B Berard 1 (Green, King) (power play) 8:21 

(3 PP goals in 47 seconds)

These goals didn't come on a major -- rather they were on a series of minor penalties 1:21 apart.  The first minor came when Keith Tkachuk instigated a fight with the Isles' Derek Armstrong.  Who got thrown out of the game on that play?  Todd Bertuzzi (Tyler's uncle), for being the 3rd man in.

PHO - Tkachuk (instigator, fighting major, misconduct) 5:58 ; NYI - Armstrong (fighting major) 5:58 ; NYI - T Bertuzzi (game misconduct) 5:58 ; PHO - Finley (high sticking) 7:19 ; PHO - Khabibulin (high sticking) 7:19 ;

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