The Skinny: Isles 4, San Jose 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 3

Isles 4, San Jose 0

Robin Lehner made 35 saves to become the first Islander goalie to debut with a shutout and the Isles got goals from four different players to blank the San Jose Sharks 4-0, before a Columbus Day crowd of 8,790 at Barclays Center.

Anders Lee had a second period power play goal in the middle period; Scott Mayfield, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas (SH-EN) all scored in the third as the Isles moved to 2-1-0 on the young campaign.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD 

No Goals Scored

2ND PERIOD

14:34 Anders Lee (2) (Power Play) Assists: Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 1-0

3RD PERIOD

5:16 Scott Mayfield (1) Assists: Casey Cizikas 2-0

13:02 Matt Martin (1) Assists: Valtteri Filppula, Leo Komarov 3-0

19:04   Casey Cizikas (1) (Shorthanded – Empty Net) Assists: Johnny Boychuk 4-0

The Skinny  

Captain Anders Lee scored the only goal the Isles would need on a power play, he passed Josh Bailey as the leading goal scorer among all active Islanders (126-125). Lee has scored 75 goals since 11/23/2016, matching Alex Ovechkin for the most in the NHL in that stretch. He has scored 25 power play goals in that stretch; only Ovechkin (32) has more …Mat Barzal, Josh Bailey and Valtteri Filppula all had assists to extend their season-opening point streaks to three. … Casey Cizikas recorded his 5th career shorthanded goal to seal the game…The Isles blanked San Jose for the first time since Garth Snow turned the trick in 2003; all three previous Isle shutouts of the Sharks had come in California…Scott Mayfield's goal was his first in 39 games (11/5/2017 vs Colorado); Matt Martin's goal was his first in 16 games (12/29/17, for Toronto vs. Colorado) and his first as an Islander since April 10, 2016 vs. Philadelphia…Tom Kuhnhackl played 11:42 in his Islander debut; he is the 500th skater to appear in an Islander game…Mathew Barzal drew another penalty, his 3rd in the season. Barzal drew 40 opposing penalties in his rookie season…Rourke Chartier made his NHL debut for San Jose.

 

Chasing "The King"

Robin Lehner improved his career save percentage to .916 with his 9th career shutout.  Among Swedish-born netminders, only Henrik Lundqvist (.919) has a better career same percentage.

Picking Up Where He Left Off

Mathew Barzal has assists in all three games this season, extending his assist streak over two seasons to seven games (3-8-11).

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season:  2-1-0 (4 points), with 9 goals scored and 5 goals allowed

Last Season: 1-1-1 (3 points), with 8 goals scored and 11 goals allowed

It's the first time in four years that the Isles have scored at least nine goals in the first three games and the first time in seven years they have allowed five goals or fewer. 

Streaking

The season is just over 180 minutes old, and the Isles have already had shutout streaks of 58:30 and 83:18 (current streak).

Good Start for Special Teams

The Isles have scored a power play goal in each of the first three games and have not allowed a power play goal so far this season.  It's the fourth time in Isles history they have done that in each of the first three games (1987-88, 2009-10, January 2013).

The Western World

This was the second of six straight games against the West.  The Isles are playing their entire season series with both San Jose and San Jose in these six games.  The Isles are1-1-0 in this stretch:

• 10/6 Lost to NSH Predators 4-3

• 10/8 Beat SJ Sharks 4-0

• 10/13 @ NSH Predators

• 10/17 @ ANA Ducks

• 10/18 @ LA Kings

• 10/20 @ SJ Sharks

99'ers

Brock Nelson has 99 career goals; Thomas Greiss has 99 career wins.

First Things First

The Isles are 2-0-0 when scoring first and 0-1-0 when allowing the first tally. Last season, the Isles were 23-10-5 when they scored first and were 12-27-5 when they allowed the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          13-12-5=30

San Jose  11-8-16=35

The Isles are 0-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents and 2-0-0 when they are outshot.  Last season, the Isles were 10-15-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 25-21-5 when they are outshot.  (The 25 wins while being outshot tied the club record, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road

The Islanders are 2-1-0 overall; 1-1-0 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 1-0-0 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Brooklyn and 20 games in Uniondale this season.

San Jose is 1-2-0 overall; 0-1-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

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

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 35 saves and improves to 1-0-0 on the season and 1-4-0 in his career against San Jose.  

Martin Jones made 26 saves in his first games against the Isles in three seasons to fall to 1-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 7:48 of PP time; San Jose was 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-0-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

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

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 1-0 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.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play 13 back-to-backs this season.  The first back-to-back is in Anaheim and Los Angeles on October 17-18.

 

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 2-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:22); San Jose: Brent Burns (26:06).  

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:59 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Pulock (2-0-0), Leddy (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, San Jose 35 (39%).

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Joe Pavelski won 10 of 14 for San Jose. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/24; 2nd period 4/10; 3rd period 9/23.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/40, Power play 2/10, Penalty kill 3/7.

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)  

San Jose 9 (Kevin Labanc -2)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 0.  The Isles had 15 fights last season; Ross Johnston led the team with four.

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 23 shots (Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield with 3).  Fourteen players recorded at least one block.

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 50, San Jose 70 

5-on-5 Isles 31, San Jose 52

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin +4

San Jose: Timo Meier +15

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-1-0 in night games and 1-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee is October 27th in Philadelphia.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 121, Brock Nelson 98, Mathew Barzal 85. 

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd-IR), Ross Johnston, Luca Sbisa, Tanner Fritz 

Total games lost:3

Late Heroes

The Isles have not yet scored the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed

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

10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have not challenged a goal due to an offside this season. 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 718

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Anders Lee 126 ***20. Josh Bailey 125 

Assists

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

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 256

Points

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

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 381

Games Played (Goalies)

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

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 120

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Thomas Greiss 63

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0). The teams will conclude the season series on October 20th in San Jose.

The Isles have won three straight vs. San Jose for the first time since winning four straight games between 1992 and 1994.

 

On the Farm

Steve Bernier scored the winning goal early in the third period on Sunday as Bridgeport earned a split of their two-game, season-opening road trip with a 2-1 win in Hershey. Michael Dal Colle assisted on both Sound Tiger goals to complete a four-point weekend as he recorded consecutive multi-point games for the first time since last October.  Jeremy Smith made 30 saves for his first win with Bridgeport.  The Sound Tigers open the home season with matinees against Rochester on both October 13 and 14.

 

Up Next

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13th—ISLANDERS AT NASHVILLE 8:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

  

The Isles are off for the next four days.  It is the only time this season other than the Christmas break and the All-Star/bye Break that the Isles are off for four consecutive days.

The Islanders begin a four-game road trip on Saturday in Nashville as they conclude the season series with the Nashville Predators.  The Preds defeated the Isles 4-3 in the Islander home opener on Saturday.

The Isles have won in Nashville each of the last two seasons; it's the first time the Isles have ever won consecutive games in Music 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: Nashville 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Nashville 4, Isles 3

Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals and Juuse Saros made 26 saves as the Nashville Predators held on for a 4-3 win over the Islanders, spoiling the home opener before a crowd of 12,517 at Barclays Center.

The Isles outshot the reigning President's Trophy champions 22-11 over the 40 minutes but could not find the equalizer.  Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal each had multi-point games for the Isles.

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

3:42         Viktor Arvidsson (1) Assists: Filip Forsberg, P.K. Subban 0-1

12:01 Mathew Barzal (1) Assists: Josh Bailey 1-1

16:56 Mattias Ekholm (1) Assists: P.K. Subban, Colton Sissons 1-2

2ND PERIOD

2:46         Valtteri Filppula (2) Assists: Tanner Fritz, Luca Sbisa 2-2 

13:30 Craig Smith (1) Assists: Kyle Turris, Ryan Ellis 2-3

16:42 Viktor Arvidsson (2) Assists: Ryan Johansen, Anthony Bitetto 2-4

19:31 Anders Lee (1) (Power Play) Assists: Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 3-4

 

3RD PERIOD

No Goals Scored

The Skinny  

Valtteri Filppula scored for the second straight game; Luca Sbisa earned his first point on the play…Captain Anders Lee scored his first goal of the season on a power play, tying Josh Bailey as the leading goal scorer among all active Islanders (125) …Mat Barzal had a goal and an assist, but finished -3 as he was on-ice for all four Predator goals; Anthony Beauvillier was also on for all four goals…The Isles allowed only 23 Predator shots (half of what they allowed in Carolina) and the Preds had only 37 attempts; the Isles allowed more than 37 attempts in 81 of 82 games each of the last two seasons…Brock Nelson played his 400th NHL game…Ryan Pulock celebrated his 24th birthday…Colton Sissons played 16:24 for Nashville, including 11:16 when Barzal was also on the ice…The Isles scored a power play goal and did not allow a goal while shorthanded for the second straight game; it's only the second time in the last 14 seasons (January 2013) that the Isles have scored a PP goal in each of their first two games while not allowing a goal on their PK.

 

For Openers

The Isles lose their home opener for the first time since January 19, 2013 (2-1 to New Jersey).  The Isles are 27-13-6 all-time in home openers.

 

The Western World

This was the first of 6 straight games against the West.  The Isles are playing their entire season series with both Nashville and San Jose in these six games.  The Isles are 0-1-0 in this stretch:

• 10/6 Lost 4-3 to NSH Predators

• 10/8 Vs. SJ Sharks

• 10/13 @ NSH Predators

• 10/17 @ ANA Ducks

• 10/18 @ LA Kings

• 10/20 @ SJ Sharks

99'ers

Brock Nelson has 99 career goals; Thomas Greiss has 99 career wins.

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first and 0-1-0 when allowing the first tally. Last season, the Isles were 23-10-5 when they scored first and were 12-27-5 when they allowed the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          7-15-7=29

Nashville  12-6-5=23

The Isles are 0-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents and 1-0-0 when they are outshot.  Last season, the Isles were 10-15-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 25-21-5 when they are outshot.  (The 25 wins while being outshot tied the club record, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road

The Islanders are 1-1-0 overall; 0-1-0 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 1-0-0 on the road.  

Nashville is 2-0-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 2-0-0 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

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

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 19 saves but falls to 1-1-0 on the season and 3-5-0 in his career against Nashville.  

Juuse Saros made 26 save to improve to 1-0-0 on the season and 2-1-0 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 6:35 of PP time; Nashville was 0-1 on the power play in 1:40 of PP time.

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

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

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

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 1-0 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.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play 13 back-to-backs this season.  The first back-to-back is in Anaheim and Los Angeles on October 17-18.

 

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 1-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:11); Nashville: PK Subban (25:09).  

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:46 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Pulock (1-0-0), Leddy (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Nashville 25 (55%).

Valtteri Fillpula won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Colton Sissons won 9 of 14 for Nashville. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 9/14; 2nd period 13/22; 3rd period 9/20.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 27/47, Power play 3/6, Penalty kill 1/3.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Matt Martin -6)  

Nashville 28 (Zac Rinald0-6)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 0.  The Isles had 15 fights last season; Ross Johnston led the team with four.

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 7 shots (7 with 1).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 53, Nashville 37 

5-on-5 Isles 37, Nashville 34

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +8

Nashville: Craig Smith +8

Night and Day 

The Isles are 1-1-0 in night games and 0-0-0 in matinees. The first matinee of the season is Monday vs. San Jose (1:00)

Ironmen

Anders Lee 120, Brock Nelson 97, Mathew Barzal 84. 

Scratches

(Andrew Leddy-IR), Scott Mayfield, Ross Johnston, Tom Kuhnhackl

Total games lost:2

Late Heroes

The Isles have not yet scored the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed

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

10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have not challenged a goal due to an offside this season. 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 717

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey and Anders Lee 125 

Assists

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

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 255

Points

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

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 380

Games Played (Goalies)

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

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 120

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Thomas Greiss 63

Season Series Stats

Nashville leads the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0). The teams will conclude the season series next week in Nashville.

The regulation loss was the Isles' first in the last four games against Nashville.

 

On the Farm

Kieffer Bellows scored his first professional goal and fellow former first round picks Michael Dal Colle and Joshua Ho-Sang each had two points, but Bridgeport dropped their season opener 6-3 to Lehigh Valley on Saturday.  Bridgeport visits Hershey on Sunday before opening the home season with matinees against Rochester on both October 13 and 14.

 

Up Next

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8th—SAN JOSE AT ISLANDERS  1:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 12:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

  

The Islanders conclude the brief two-game homestand as they welcome the Sharks to Barclay's Center in a holiday matinee. 

The teams have alternated sweeps of the season series in the last three seasons, with all games played before the end of November.  Former Shark Thomas Greiss beat San Jose twice in a week last season; the Isles also swept in 2015-16 with San Jose winning a pair in 2016-17.

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 2, Carolina 1 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Isles 2, Carolina 1 (OT)       

On a night the Isles debuted a new General Manager, a new Coach and a new Captain it was the longest-tenured Islander, Josh Bailey, who scored the winning goal at 0:43 of overtime as the Isles opened the 2017-18 campaign with a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes before a sellout crowd of 18,680 at PNC Arena.

It was the 6th career overtime goal for Bailey, who has now scored an overtime goal in four straight seasons. The Isles won on Opening Night for the first time in four seasons.

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

No Goals Scored

2ND PERIOD

9:27 Valtteri Filppula (1) Assists: Brock Nelson 1-0

3RD PERIOD

18:25 Jordan Staal (1) Assists: Dougie Hamilton, Sebastian Aho 1-1

OT SUMMARY

0:43 Josh Bailey (1) (Power Play) Assists: Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock 2-1

The Skinny  

Valtteri Filppula scored the season's first goal in his Isles debut.  He is the 369th player to score a goal for the Islanders…Bailey's winning goal makes him the leading goal scorer among all active Islanders (125, one more than new Captain Anders Lee) …The Isles won their final three games last season, so they have now won four straight over two seasons…Carolina's goal came with a 6th attacker on the ice, and followed a lengthy video review…Thomas Greiss recorded his 63rd win as an Isle, breaking a tie with Tommy Salo for 8th place on the all-time club list…Greiss has been in nets for the last three Isles wins over Carolina, including consecutive 45 save effort; the Isles had a -50 Corsi differential in both of those games…Jordan Staal's tying goal was the first allowed by Greiss in his last 158:19 of play in Carolina…The Isles allowed 46 shots on goal; the most on any Opening Night in their history. 

Most Regular Season Overtime Goals by an Islander:

• 11 – John Tavares

• 6- Josh Bailey

• 6-Kyle Okposo

• 5-Thomas Hickey

The Debutantes

Three players made their Isles debuts: Luca Sbisa, Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov, making 499 skaters that have appeared in Islander games.  Robin Lehner dressed for the Islanders as the back-up goalie but did not play; he will become the 51st goalie in Islander hockey upon his debut.  

New Coach Barry Trotz

The Isles improved to 8-10-2 in their first game for a new coach, including 3-6-2 in season openers. Trotz is the first Islander coach to win his debut in a season opener since Peter Laviolette.  It's Trotz' 763rd coaching win, which ranks 5th all-time (19 behind Al Arbour).

New Captain Anders Lee

The Isles named Anders Lee their 15th Captain today. All-time, the Isles are 7-7-1 in their first game under a new captain, including 5-6-1 when the new captain starts a season.  

Lee is only the seventh Islander captain to be drafted by the team.  Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Brent Sutter, Patrick Flatley, Bryan McCabe and John Tavares are the others, and all but Tavares served in succession from 1977-1998.  

Lee also becomes the 3rd American to Captain the squad, joining Bill Guerin and Doug Weight (who did so in succession).

12 for 1212

Bailey's overtime goal gave General Manager Lou Lamoriello his 1,212th career win.  Perhaps fitting that Bailey wears "12".

For Openers

The Isles improve to 32-2-1 on Opening Night over the last six years; however, they are only 4-9-3 in their last 16 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 12-23-11 on Opening Night (10-19-8 on the road). The Isles are 12-25-9 in their first road game of the season.  The Isles now own as many Opening Night wins in Raleigh (2) as they had had in Uniondale and Brooklyn combined.

Carolina is now 9-21-9 all-time (including Hartford) on Opening Night.  Only Anaheim has a worse record on opening night. 

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first. Last season, the Isles were 23-10-5 when they scored first and were 12-27-5 when they allowed the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          7-7-4-2=20

Carolina  16-15-15-0=46

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they are outshot.  Last season, the Isles were 10-15-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 25-21-5 when they are outshot.  (The 25 wins while being outshot tied the club record, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road

The Islanders are 1-0-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home (all in Brooklyn) and 1-0-0 on the road.  

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

By Division & Conference

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

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 45 saves to improve to 1-0-0 on the season and 6-3-1 in his career against Carolina.  

Petr Mrazek made 18 saves; he is 0-0-1 on the season and 6-4-2 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 4:47 of PP time; Carolina was 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.

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

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

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

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 1-0 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.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play 13 back-to-backs this season.  The first back-to-back is in Anaheim and Los Angeles on October 17-18.

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 1-0-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:30); Carolina: Sebastian Aho (21:30).  

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:07 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Pulock (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, Carolina 33 (40%).

Casey Cizikas won 6 of 11 for the Isles; Jordan Staal won 19 of 27 for Carolina. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/18; 2nd period 2/16; 3rd period 9/20; Overtime 1/1.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 18/44, Power play 1/4, Penalty kill 3/7.

Hit Count

Isles 32 (Anders Lee-6)  

Carolina 29 (Jordan Staal-8)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 0.  The Isles had 15 fights last season; Ross Johnston led the team with four.

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 22 shots (Johnny Boychuk-4).

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 39, Carolina 89 

5-on-5 Isles 32, Carolina 71

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Cal Clutterbuck -3

Carolina: Justin Williams +23

Night and Day 

The Isles are 1-0-0 in night games and 0-0-0 in matinees. The first matinee of the season is Monday vs. San Jose (1:00)

Ironmen

Anders Lee 119, Brock Nelson 96, Mathew Barzal 83. 

Scratches

(Andrew Leddy-IR), Scott Mayfield, Ross Johnston, Tom Kuhnhackl

Total games lost:1

Late Heroes

The Isles have not yet scored the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed

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

10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

Offside Challenges

The Isles have not challenged a goal due to an offside this season. 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 716

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey 125 **** 20. Anders Lee 124 

Assists

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

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 252

Points

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

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 377

Games Played (Goalies)

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

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 119

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Thomas Greiss 63

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 1). 

The Isles are 4-1-0 in their last five trips to Raleigh and are 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Canes. The Isles return to Carolina on October 28th.

On the Farm

Bridgeport will open their season on Saturday in Lehigh Valley and Sunday in Hershey.  The home opening weekend features matinees against Rochester on both October 13 and 14.

Up Next

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6th—NASHVILLE AT ISLANDERS  7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

  

The Islanders play their 46th home opener as they entertain the reigning President's Trophy Champion Nashville Predators.  It's the first game of a two-game homestand and the first game of a six-game stretch against Western Conference opposition.  

It will be the first time that the Isles have faced Nashville in a home opener.  The Isles are 27-12-6 all-time in home openers (2-0-1 at Barclays Center) and have gone 3-0-2 in their last 5 home openers.

The Isles went 1-0-1 against the Preds last season, with the road team winning both games.  Overall, the Isles have points in their last three games against Nashville (2-0-1).

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

The Isles named Anders Lee their 15th Captain today. All-time, the Isles are 6-7-1 in their first game under a new captain, including 4-6-1 when the new captain starts a season.  

Lee is only the seventh Islander captain to be drafted by the team.  Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Brent Sutter, Patrick Flatley, Bryan McCabe and John Tavares are the others, and all but Tavares served in succession from 1977-1998.  

Lee also becomes the 3rd American to Captain the squad, joining Bill Guerin and Doug Weight (who did so in succession).

Lee begins the season with 124 goals, tied with Josh Bailey for the team lead among active players.

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 New Coach

In addition to being the season opener, tonight's game marks the first game behind the Isles' bench for head coach Barry Trotz.

With tonight's game, every coach in Nashville Predators history has also coached for the Isles (Trotz and Peter Laviolette).

Speaking of Laviolette, he was the last Islander coach to be a winner on Opening Night in his first game as Isles coach (3-2 in Tampa Bay on 10/5/2001).

Since then, three other men have taken the Isles' reigns on Opening Night: Steve Stirling (2003), Ted Nolan (2006) and Scott Gordon (2008).   All three were beaten in their Isles debut but both Stirling and Nolan led the Isles to a playoff berth in their first season.

Not counting Al Arbour's "1,500" game, new Isles coaches are 7-10-2 in the first game of their stints (Arbour lost both of his others).  

This is the 11th time the Isles will start a season with a new coach. The only coach besides Laviolette to win his debut in a Season Opener was Lorne Henning- a 2-1 win over Florida on January 21, 1995.

Lou Lamoriello will try to do something tonight that Bill Torrey, Don Maloney, Mike Milbury and Garth Snow were unable to do - win their first game as an Isles GM.  Maloney's first game, in October 1992, was against Lamoriello's Devils.

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 Opener

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

It's been 180 days since the Islanders skated off the ice with an overtime win at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena, but without a playoff spot for the second straight season.  The drive to get back to the playoffs begins on Thursday.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4th— ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM] 

  

The Islanders begin their 47th NHL season at PNC Arena in Raleigh they face the Carolina Hurricanes in an Opener for the second time.  Four years ago, the Isles opened the final season of the Coliseum era with a home-and-home sweep of the Canes; this season 20 of the Isles' 41 home games will Happen at the Coliseum.

It's the first of four meetings between the teams this season; the teams split four games last season (all in regulation) with each team winning once at home and once on the road.  Thomas Greiss was in goal for both Islander victories, including a 45-save shutout in February while Johnny Boychuk scored the winning goal in both games.

The Isles are 2-2-1 on Opening Night over the last five years; however, they are only 3-9-3 in their last 15 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 11-23-11 on Opening Night (9-19-8 on the road). The Isles are 11-25-9 in their first road game of the season.

This is the fifth time that the Isles will open a season on October 4th.  All four previous games were also on the road, with the Isles going 1-3-0 with a 2013 shootout victory in New Jersey.

Opening Night Skinny:

The Isles 11-23-11 (.367) Opening Night record is 3rd worst among current teams; however, one of the teams that they are better than is Carolina (9-20-9, .355, including Hartford). Anaheim has the worst record on opening night of any current team:  6-18-0 (.250).

The Hurricane franchise will be opening at home for the 22nd time in their 38 NHL seasons; however, the Canes are only 6-8-7 in the first 21.

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

A defenseman has scored the first goal of the season for the Isles in six of the last nine seasons; departed forward John Tavares had the honors in the second minute of the second game a season ago.

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).

New Islander coach Barry Trotz will be behind an NHL bench on Opening Night for the 20th time – as many as any other current NHL coach; Trotz is 9-7-3 in Openers while Chicago's Joel Quenneville is 5-8-6 in his 19 Openers.  Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour is one of four NHL coaches who will coach on Opening Night for the first time.  Jim Montgomery (Dallas), David Quinn (Rangers) and Todd Reirden (Washington) are the others.

Schedule Skinny:

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play only 13 sets of back-to-backs (three fewer than last season). The first back-to-back will be in California against the Ducks and Kings on October 17-18.  

The Isles will play five road back-to-backs, four home back-to-backs, two home-road back-to-backs, and two road-home back-to-backs.

The Isles played 16 back-to-back sets each of the last two seasons. They played 15 sets in 2015-16, 16 sets in 2014-15 and 18 sets in 2013-14.

It Will Happen at the Coliseum, Again!

The Isles will split their 41 home games this season, playing 21 at Barclays Center and 20 at NYCB Live, the home of the Nassau Coliseum.

The Isles will play their first 11 home games in Brooklyn (beginning Saturday vs. Nashville), before returning to the Coliseum on Saturday, December 1st vs. Columbus.  The back of the schedule is reversed, as the final ten home games will be played on Long Island.  The Toronto Maple Leafs will be the final opponent in both buildings (February 27th in Brooklyn and April 1st on Long Island).

Feels like Home

24 of the Isles' 41 home games will follow the traditional Tuesday (7), Thursday (6), Saturday (11) schedule.  They will also play six home games on both Sunday and Monday, two on Wednesday and three on Friday.

Matinee Isles

The 2018-19 schedule features twelve afternoon games, including eight in the second half.  Nine of the twelve afternoon games will be at home; both Isles games in Philadelphia will be played on Saturday afternoon.  The first matinee will be on Columbus Day against San Jose (1pm at Barclays Center).

Schedule by Month

October (11), November (13), December (14), January (11), February (14), March (16), April (3)

Schedule Streaks

The Isles have a 5-game homestand in late February/early March and a 4-game homestand in mid-January.  They have two 4-game road trips: in October they head to Nashville and California while they visit the Southwest in the four games leading into the Christmas Break.

Busy Times

The Isles will play seven games in an 11 day stretch in mid-January.  All seven games will be part of three games in four day stretches.   The Isles will also play eight games in a 13 day stretch in March.

The 2018-19 Islanders:

Lots of New Faces

The Islander 23-man roster looks a lot different than Opening Night last year as there are eight newcomers (Valtteri Filppula, Matt Martin, Luca Sbisa, Leo Komarov, Robin Lehner, Tanner Fritz, Tom Kuhnhackl and Ross Johnston).  Andrew Ladd is on Injured Reserve and Joshua Ho-Sang is with Bridgeport while Jaroslav Halak, Dennis Seidenberg, Jason Chimera, Calvin deHaan, Nikolay Kulemin and John Tavares are no longer with the organization.

The 23 players represent seven nationalities: American (Leddy, Lee, Mayfield, Nelson), Canadian (thirteen players), German (Greiss and Kuhnhackl), Finnish (Filppula), Swedish (Lehner), Italian (Sbisa), and Estonian (Komarov).

Old and Young

Johnny Boychuk (1-19-84) is the oldest player on the current roster. For the third straight season, the youngest Islander remains Anthony Beauvillier, who turned 21 on June 8th.  

Of the 23 players, Casey Cizikas is "middle-age".  Cizikas, born February 27, 1991 is older than 11 teammates and younger than 11 others.  The average Islander is 27 years, 11 months old.

Big and Small

Scott Mayfield and Ross Johnston are both listed at 6'5"; six Isles are listed at 5'11".  Robin Lehner is listed at 240 pounds, while Anthony Beauvillier is 182 pounds.  The average Isles is 6'1", and 210 pounds.

Experienced Staff

Stanley Cup Champion Head Coach Barry Trotz begins his first season with the Isles.  Scott Gomez is the only holdover from last year's assistant staff, while Trotz has added Lane Lambert, John Gruden, goaltender coach Piero Greco, special assignment coach Jacques Lemaire and director of goaltending Mitch Korn.

Keeping Great Company

Entering the 2018-19 season, Barry Trotz ranks fifth in NHL history in wins (762) and games coached (1,524). Trotz also ranks second among active head coaches in wins and games coached to Joel Quenneville's 884 wins and 1621 games.  Trotz is 83 games coached behind Al Arbour; he will tie Arbour's career total on Opening Night next season.  He is also 20 wins behind Arbour's total of 782.

Win, Win, Win

After 27 seasons in New Jersey and three seasons in Toronto, Lou Lamoriello is the new Islander President and General Manager.  Lou's teams have combined to go 1,211-854-179-142 in 2,386 games.

A Look Back

The Isles finished the 2017-18 regular season with a 35-37-10 record. The Isles opened the season 15-7-2 but went 20-30-8 in their final 58 games.

The Isles went 19-18-4 at Barclays Center (including an 8-0-2 start); in three seasons in Brooklyn the Isles are 66-41-16.   The Isles went 16-19-6 on the road last season.  

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee!

Anders Lee became the Isles' first 40 goal score since Jason Blake.  Since Thanksgiving Eve 2016, Lee has recorded 75 goals in 145 games.  Only Alex Ovechkin (75 goals in 146 games) has as many goals in that span.  Lee is also the first Islander with multiple 34+ goal seasons since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98). 

The B Brothers

Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier both reached the 21-goal mark last season, becoming the first duo in Islander history to each 21 games in the same season, prior to reaching their 21st birthday.   

Barzal, the Calder Trophy Winner, became the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; tying Bryan Trottier's club rookie record with a team-leading 63 assists and recording a team-leading 85 points. Barzal joined Denis Potvin as the only rookies in Islander history to lead the team in both assists and points. Over the last 18 seasons, only Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin recorded more points in their rookie years.

Beauvillier, who led the Isles in goals after New Year's (17), also went +11 in that span [best among Isles forwards].

Whoa Nellie

Brock Nelson begins the season with 99 goals. He will become the 31st Islander to reach 100 goals with his next tally.

Eberle's Countdown to 200

Jordan Eberle begins the season with 190 NHL goals and will be the second player from his 2008 draft class to reach 200 (Stamkos 348).  Eberle has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last five seasons and had a career-high 34 goals in 2011-12.  Josh Bailey, also selected in that draft, is 7th on the list with 124 goals.  Bailey has played in 715 NHL games, more than any other forward from that draft year.

Hit Club

Matt Martin has rejoined the Isles after spending the last two seasons with Toronto. Martin has 2,475 hits in his career, which is 7th all-time since the NHL began recording hits in 2005-06.  His linemate Cal Clutterbuck is 3rd all-time (2,806; just 9 hits fewer than Brooks Orpik).  Dustin Brown is the NHL record holder with 3,166.  

Martin has the three largest single-season totals in NHL history (and four of the top five).  Cal Clutterbuck holds spots 6, 7, 8, and 9 on the single season hit list.

Ironmen

Three current Islanders appeared in all 82 games last season. Anders Lee begins the season as the Isles' ironman, having appeared in 118 consecutive games.  Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal also played every game for the Isles last season.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 715

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310

…

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey and Anders Lee 124 

Assists

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

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 252

Points

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

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 376 

Games Played (Goalies)

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

…

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 118

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130

…

6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo and Thomas Greiss 62

Same Voices, Same Places

MSG Networks will carry 81 of the Isles' 82 games this season (NBCSN has the January 3rd game vs. Chicago).  Brendan Burke and Butch Goring partner for the third season; Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for the 5th season. 

On radio, Chris King and Greg Picker are partnered for the fourth straight season.  All games will air on WRHU (88.7FM) and on WRCN (103.9FM), as well as the NHL App and on Satellite Radio. 

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.

The Skinny on the Openers

"The Skinny" … on the Openers 

By Eric Hornick

The NHL released the home opener schedules for the 2017-18 season on Wednesday.  It's the Islanders' 46th NHL season and one that will include 12 regular season games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Opener:

The Isles will open the season on Thursday, October 4th at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina against the Hurricanes.  It will be the second time that the teams have faced each other on Opening Night, with the previous game (a 5-3 Islander win in 2014) also in Raleigh. All-time, the Isles are 11-23-11 in 45 previous openers, including 2-2-1 in their last 5.  The Isles are 11-25-9 in their first road game of the season.

Both teams will have new head coaches for that game as Rod Brind'Amour was named Hurricane coach on May 8th; the Isles have yet to name their head coach.

The Isles are opening on October 4th for the fifth time in their history (all on the road), having previously done so in 1983, 1990, 1996 and 2013.  

In 1983, the Isles opened with a loss in Quebec; the Isles lost in Los Angeles to open in both 1990 and 1996.  The Isles defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on October 4, 2013 in Newark as Michael Grabner scored twice and Matt Moulson was credited with the winning tally in a shootout.

That 2014 game marked the started of the Isles final (for at least three years) home season on Long Island and featured the Islander debuts of nine players, including Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk.

The Home Opener:

The Isles will begin the home slate with the first of 29 home games scheduled for Brooklyn on Saturday, October 6th as they face the reigning Presidents Trophy Champion Nashville Predators. It will be the first time that the Isles have faced Nashville in a home opener.  The Isles are 27-12-6 all-time in home openers (2-0-1 at Barclays Center) and have gone 3-0-2 in their last 5 home openers.

Like the Isles, this will be the second game of the season for the Preds, who will play the Rangers two nights earlier.

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 is the second time in franchise history that the Isles have had an October 6th home opener.  Back in 2007, the Isles defeated Buffalo 3-2 as Mike Comrie opened his Islander career with his second consecutive two-goal game.

The entire NHL schedule, including the first Islander regular season game on Long Island since April 2015, will be released on Thursday.

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