The Skinny: Isles 3, Buffalo 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 38

Isles 3, Buffalo 1

Robin Lehner made 39 saves for his fifth straight win and Brock Nelson scored the winning goal as the Isles closed out 2018 with a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres before a sellout crowd of 19,070 at Keybank Center.

Lehner extended his shutout streak to 177:43 before Kyle Okposo's power play goal ended the streak. It was the first goal allowed by the Isles in 144:03.

Barry Trotz recorded his 783rd coaching victory, passing Isles legend Al Arbour for 4th place on the All-time NHL list.

Isles are 7-1-0 in their last eight games; since the 6:11 mark of the second period on Friday they have outscored the opposition by a 12-1 score.
   

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Nick Leddy (2) Mathew Barzal, Leo Komarov 02:59 NYI 1,BUF 0

Leo Komarov (5)Nick Leddy, Mathew Barzal 02:59 NYI 1,BUF 0

3rd Period

Brock Nelson (13) Joshua Ho-Sang, Scott Mayfield 01:45 NYI 2,BUF 0

Kyle Okposo (6) Nathan Beaulieu, Casey Mittelstadt 10:14 NYI 2,BUF 1 PPG

Ryan Pulock (3)EN Robin Lehner 19:28 NYI 3,BUF 1

The Skinny    

A post-game scoring change gave Leo Komarov credit for the Isles' first goal...Brock Nelson scored his 13th goal of the season; he didn't reach that mark until February 9th last season.  It was his third goal in the last seven games.… Josh Bailey played his 753rd game as an Islander passing Mike Bossy for 6th place on the all-time Isles list…The Isles now are two points ahead of last season's pace through 38 games; including shootout winners they have scored 21 fewer goals and allowed 31 fewer goals than last year's first 37 games… The Isles are a season-high eight games over NHL-.500 (22-13-4); they were last eight over .500 when they were 16-8-2 after a win on December 4, 2017 … The Isles finish December with a 9-4-1 mark; it's the first time since 2015-16 that they have opened the season with three winning months and the first time since 2003-04 that that have won at least nine December games… The Isles have earned 25 points in 21 road games this season; it's only the third time in the post-Cup era that they have had 25 points in the first 21 on the road. They had only 24 points through 26 road games last season… Vladimir Sobotka played in his 500th NHL game…Robin Lehner was credited with an assist of Ryan Pulock's 183-foot empty-netter…Leo Komarov has points in three of his last four games…Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to five games (6-3-9)… Kyle Okposo's power play goal was his first goal in 22 games…By outscoring Buffalo 2-1 in the third, the Isles have now outscored the opposition in all three periods (and in overtime) on the season.…The win moves the Isles into the second wild card spot, ahead of the Boston Bruins; the Bruins have the same number of points but have played one more game.

The Injuries

Valtteri Filppula and Jack Eichel left the game in the first period; they did not return.

First Times in a Ridiculously Long Time

The Nick Leddy goal was the 10th scored by the Isles since the opposition last scored. It's the first time since April 1998 that the Isles have scored ten straight goals.

Brock Nelson then made it 11 straight goals with the eventual game-winner. It was the first time since March 1988 that the Isles had scored at least 11 straight goals.  (They scored 13 in that stretch, including two by Denis Potvin.)

It's Just Another New Year's Eve

The Isles are 11-1-1 in their last 13 New Year's Eve games.

Calendar Year 2018 Leaders

4 players played all 81 games the Isles played in 2018  -- Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Ryan Pulock.

• Goals:  Anders Lee 30, Anthony Beauvillier 28, Brock Nelson 23

• Assists: Barzal 66, Josh Bailey 37, Pulock 32

• Points: Barzal 85, Bailey 51,Lee 50

• +/-: Hickey 21, Nelson 16, Komarov 12 (just with NYI)

• PIM: Johnston 83, Clutterbuck 65, Lee 53

• GWG: Jordan Eberle 5, Beauvillier 4, Barzal 4, Nelson 4

• Shots: Pulock 215, Lee 211, Eberle 173

One Year, Two Teams

Jan-Apr     Oct-Dec

15-22-6     21-13-4

GF 2.95         2.95    [This is correct- scoring exactly the same]

GA 3.60         2.61    [...but allowing nearly a goal less a game]

Shots For  31.4   28.3     [Taking 3.1 fewer shots]

Shots Vs  37.6   31.4     [but allowing 6.2 fewer shots]

PP 25.4% 15.8%  [PP not as successful]

PK 72.4% 77.5%  [...but PK is improved]

Most Wins in December

• 1978 10-1-3

• 2003 10-4-1

• 1983 10-3-1

• 1975 9-2-1

• 1977 9-3-1

• 1989 9-3-1

• 2018 9-4-1

Most Wins by New Year's

• 1983 26-11-2

• 2014 25-11-1

• 1980 24-7-8

• 1978 24-4-7

• 1976 22-8-5

• 2015 21-12-5

• 1981 21-11-5

• 2018 21-13-4 

Streaking Lehner

Robin Lehner has won five consecutive decisions for the first time as an Islander and the first time since he closed the 2013-14 season with four straight wins (and won the first two games the following season for a 6-game multi-season streak. Lehner has allowed only eight goals in his last eight games (5-1-2, 1.04 GAA, .964 save percentage).  In seven December appearances, Lehner's GAA is 1.06, which is the best in the NHL among goalies who have appeared in more than two games.

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals)

1. ISLES 102

2. Boston 103

3. Nashville 104

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 99

2. Nashville 103

3. Boston 103

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 41

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 89 assists, 121 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

USA Hockey

Anders Lee has 138 career goals, leaving him one goal behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine (287).

Passing Al

Barry Trotz recorded his 783rd career win, breaking a tie with Al Arbour for 4th place on the all-time list.

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 783-581-60-138 in 1562 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    832 

4. Barry Trotz   783

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1562

5. Ken Hitchcock   1555

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 21-13-4 (46 points), with 114 goals scored and 102 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 20-14-4 (44 points), with 135 goals scored and 133 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 12-5-4 when scoring first and are 9-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    15-15-3=33

Buffalo 12-15-13=40

The Isles are 4-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-4-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 21-13-4 overall; 9-5-3 at home (2-0-1 on Long Island and 7-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 12-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Buffalo is 21-13-6 overall; 12-5-3 at home and 9-8-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 11-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 15-5-4 against the East and 6-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 39 saves; he improved to 9-6-3 on the season and 5-4-0 in his career against Buffalo.   

Carter Hutton made 30 saves but falls to 13-12-3 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 3:42 of PP time; Buffalo was 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time. 

The Isles are 14-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 7-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 8-9-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 19-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 4-1-0 in the front half and 5-0-0 in the back half.   The next back-to-back is January 12th vs. the Rangers and January 13th vs. Tampa Bay.

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 2-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 13-13-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:22); Buffalo: Rasmus Ristolainen (25:06)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:58 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (11-6-3), Nick Leddy (6-6-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 26,Buffalo 31 (47%).  

Josh Bailey won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Jeff Skinner won 4 of 5  for Buffalo. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/16; 2nd period 11/20; 3rd period 5/21x

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/46, Power play 3/5, Penalty kill 1/6.

Hit Count

Isles 12 (Matt Martin & Cal Clutterbuck -3)  

Buffalo 10 (Rasmus Ristolainen-5)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –11 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee, Matt Martin).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Adam Pelech – 6) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 56, Buffalo 65

5-on-5 Isles 40, Buffalo 53

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Nick Leddy +3

Buffalo: Rasmus Ristolainen +17

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 18-12-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 156, Brock Nelson 133, Mathew Barzal 120

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR), (Jordan Eberle-IR), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ),  Luca Sbisa, Tom Kuhnhackl

Total games lost: 73

Late Heroes

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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four times 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.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 4-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8) and OTT (12.28); all four wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 8-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 753

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 138 ***19. Josh Bailey 132…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 112

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 275

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 407

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 142

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 74

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The Isles will return to Buffalo on February 12th and welcome the Sabres to Nassau Coliseum on March 30.

This was the 6th time that the Isles have provided the opposition for the traditional "Pucks and Tux" game in Buffalo; the Isles have won the last five (5-1-0 overall). 

On the Farm 

The Sound Tigers closed out 2018 with three straight wins and are 21-9-4-1 on the season.  Bridgeport, who has not lost in regulation on home ice since its opener,  has earned points in 21 of their last 25 games (17-4-3-1). The Sound Tigers next play on Wednesday in Rochester. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Sebastian Aho/Joshua Ho-Sang 20; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 11-5-1 (2.67 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-4-4 (3.06 GAA)

Up Next

THURSDAY, JANUARY 3rd – CHICAGO AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:30PM 

[NBCSN (NHL Live pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles open 2019 with a nationally televised game against the Blackhawks at the Coliseum.  It's the fourth of 21 Islander games to be played at the Coliseum this season.

The Isles have won only once of the last seven games from Chicago, a 7-2 win in the Windy City last city that was highlighted by five points from Ryan Pulock. 

Chicago, who was the opponent for the first game at Barclays Center, is one of the few Western Conference teams that has had success in Brooklyn, winning all three games (including the first game in overtime).  The Isles' last home win over the Hawks was on December 13, 2014 in their final visit to the Coliseum.

Brendan Burke and AJ Mleczko will be on the call for NBCSN.

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 Back-to-Backs (and bellies-to-bellies)!

The Isles are off to a great start in back-to-backs this season. The Isles have played five sets of back-to-backs so far, and have gone 9-1-0 in the 10 games.  The loss came in the front-end of the first back-to-back (in Anaheim on October 17).  They have won all five back-ends and have swept the last four back-to-backs.

Sweeping Back-to-Backs

The Isles have swept four back-to-backs for only the 2nd time in franchise history and the 1st time EVER in a single season.

The Stanley Cup Champion Islanders won four straight in 1981:

• Apr 4/5, 1981  (Washington 4-1, @ Buffalo 7-3)
  
• Oct 14/15, 1981 (@ Pittsburgh 4-1, Vancouver 4-1)
  
• Oct 23/24, 1981 (@ Washington 4-2, Washington 6-4)
  
• Nov 10/11, 1981 (@ Winnipeg 5-3, @ Toronto 4-3)
  

[in the midst of this stretch Butch Goring won a Conn Smythe Award]

Back Ends

It has been more than a decade since the Isles won the back-end of (at least) five straight back-to-backs--and they did that over two seasons, winning the last two of the 2007-08 season and the first four of the 2008-09 campaign.

The last time the won the back-end of (at least) five straight back-to-backs in a single season was in 2006-07, when the Isles won the first six back-ends.  Like this season, the Isles had a new Jack Adams Award-winning coach behind their bench: Ted Nolan.

The club record for consecutive back-end wins is 8, and that has been done twice:

• January 22-March 14, 1976
  
• March 26- November 22, 1978 (over two seasons)
  

Like this season, those teams had a coach who now has 782 career wins behind their bench: Al Arbour.

The next back-to-back is on January 12th vs. the Rangers and January 13th vs. Tampa Bay, with both games in Brooklyn. While the Isles/Rangers game is a 1pm start, Tampa Bay will play at 7pm on January 12th in Buffalo.

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 4, Toronto 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Isles 4, Toronto 0

Mathew Barzal scored a second period natural hat trick and Robin Lehner made 36 saves for his 2nd shutout of the season as the Isles blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 before a sellout crowd of 19,514 at Scotiabank Arena.

Barzal now has five goals in the last two games (and seven goals in his last seven games) while Lehner has now gone 127:29 without allowing a goal.

Barry Trotz recorded his 782th coaching victory, matching Isles legend Al Arbour for 4th place on the All-time NHL list.

Isles are 6-1-0 in their last seven games; since the 6:11 mark of the second period on Friday they have outscored the opposition by a 9-0 score.  The Leafs had won five straight games and had gone 9-0-1 in their prior 10 home games.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Valtteri Filppula (9) Michael Dal Colle, Ryan Pulock 09:35 NYI 1,TOR 0

2nd Period

Mathew Barzal (8) Johnny Boychuk, Anthony Beauvillier 02:49 NYI 2,TOR 0

Mathew Barzal (9) Nick Leddy, Brock Nelson 04:56 NYI 3,TOR 0 PPG

Mathew Barzal (10) Ryan Pulock 10:33 NYI 4,TOR 0

3rd Period

No Goals

The Skinny    

Mathew Barzal recorded his 2nd career hat trick, his 5th career multi-goal game and his 110th career game with at least three points; the reigning Calder Trophy winner leads the team in both assists (25) and points (35)…Barzal is the first Islander to record a natural hat trick since John Tavares did so on October 28, 2017 in Nashville; it was the 38th natural hat trick in Isles history and the 8th scored in a span of 8 minutes or less...Valtteri Filppula scored his 9th goal in the first period (he had only 11 goals all last season); Michael Dal Colle was credited with his first NHL point on the play… Josh Bailey played his 752nd game as an Islander (tying Mike Bossy)… Anthony Beauvillier recorded an assist for the 2nd straight game …The Isles have an identical record as last season through 37 games; including shootout winners they have scored 22 fewer goals and allowed 28 fewer goals than last year's first 37 games… The Isles are a season-high seven games over NHL-.500 (20-13-4); they were last seven over .500 when they were 20-13-4 last season… The Isles have clinched a winning month for the third straight month (8-4-1 in December); it's the first time since 2015-16 that they have opened the season with three winning months…The Isles snapped point streaks for six Leafs players, including John Tavares who had recorded at least one point in six straight games and had recorded two points in each of his last five games before facing the Islanders for the first time in his NHL career...The Isles have earned 23 points in 20 road games this season; they had only 23 points through 25 road games last season… The Isles have now swept four consecutive sets of back-to-backs this season (@PHL-@CAR, @NJ – Vs. CAR, @COL-@ARI, Vs. OTT-@TOR) and are 5-0-0 on the back-end of back-to-backs.

  

First Times in a Ridiculously Long Time

Mathew Barzal is the first Islander since Mike Bossy (3-20-1986) to record a hat trick against Toronto.

Robin Lehner is the first Islander to record a shutout against the Leafs since Tommy Salo did so on October 4, 1997.

First Time EVER (Regular Season Play*)

Robin Lehner is the first Islander to record a shutout against the Leafs in Toronto and is the first Islander goalie to ever record a shutout in the Province of Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa, and one game in Hamilton).

*I generally don't combine regular season and playoff stats but a couple of readers did point out that the Isles did have a playoff shutout (Garth Snow) in Ottawa in 2003.

Streaking Lehner

Robin Lehner has won four consecutive decisions for the first time as an Islander and the first time since he closed the 2013-14 season four straight wins (he also won the first two games the following season for a 6-game multi-season streak). Lehner has allowed only seven goals in his last seven games (4-1-2, 1.05 GAA, .961 save percentage).  In seven December appearances, Lehner's GAA is 1.08, which is the best in the NHL among goalies who have appeared in more than two games.

Join the Crowd

Mathew Barzal (21 years, 217 days)  is the 3rd youngest player in club history to record a natural hat trick. Only Bob Nystrom (21 years, 117 days on 1-31-74) and John Tavares (20 years, 117 days on 1-15-11) were younger. (h/t NHL PR)

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals)

1. ISLES 101

2. Nashville 101

3. Boston 103

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 98

2. Nashville 100

3. Boston 103

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 41

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 88 assists, 120 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

USA Hockey

Anders Lee has 138 career goals, leaving him one goal behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine (287).

Catching Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 7821-581-60-138 in 1561 games and has matched Al Arbour for 4th in career wins. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    832 

4. Al Arbour   782

        Barry Trotz   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1561

5. Ken Hitchcock   1553

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 20-13-4 (44 points), with 111 goals scored and 101 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 20-13-4 (44 points), with 133 goals scored and 129 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 11-5-4 when scoring first and are 9-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-10-8=28

Toronto 10-8-18=36

The Isles are 4-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 16-4-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 20-13-4 overall; 9-5-3 at home (2-0-1 on Long Island and 7-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 11-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Toronto is 26-11-2 overall; 12-6-1 at home and 14-5-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 10-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 14-5-4 against the East and 6-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 36 saves for his 10th career shutout; he improved to 8-6-3 on the season and 4-4-0 in his career against Toronto.   

Garrett Sparks made 24 saves but falls to 6-2-1 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 4:04 of PP time; Toronto was 0-2 on the power play in 3:12 of PP time. 

The Isles are 14-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 7-9-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 18-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-4 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 4-1-0 in the front half and 5-0-0 in the back half.   The next back-to-back is January 12th vs. the Rangers and January 13th vs. Tampa Bay.

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 2-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 12-13-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (21:29); Toronto: Travis Dermott (21:45)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 17:32 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (10-6-3), Nick Leddy (6-6-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 26,Toronto 37 (41%).  

Josh Bailey won 4 of 5 for the Isles; John Tavares won 15 of 19 for Toronto. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  3/16; 2nd period 13/27; 3rd period 10/20

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 26/57, Power play 0/2, Penalty kill 0/4.

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Ryan Pulock-5)  

Toronto 15 (Travis Demott-4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –11 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee, Matt Martin).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 19 shots (6 players with 2).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 55, Toronto 70

5-on-5 Isles 50, Toronto 62

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee +10

Toronto: Igor Ozhiganov +14

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 17-12-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 155, Brock Nelson 132, Mathew Barzal 119

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR), (Jordan Eberle-IR), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ),  Luca Sbisa, Tom Kuhnhackl

Total games lost: 69

Late Heroes

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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four times 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.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 4-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8) and OTT (12.28); all four wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 6-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy and Josh Bailey 752

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 138 ***19. Josh Bailey 132…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 111

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 275

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 407

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 142

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 74

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will  finish their head-to-head schedule with a pair of games at Nassau Coliseum: February 28 and April 1. 

The Isles win snaps a 4-game Leaf winning streak vs. the Isles.  It's the first Islander win in Toronto in exactly three years (12-29-2015 by a 6-3 score).  

On the Farm 

The Sound Tigers continue to roll; Travis St. Denis scored an overtime goal on Saturday to beat Hartford 3-2.  Both St. Denis and Otto Koivula had a goal and an assist as the Sound Tigers improved to 2-0-0 on their six-game road trip. Kieffer Bellows had the other Bridgeport goal.

Bridgeport is 21-9-4-1 and has earned points in 21 of their last 25 games (17-4-3-1). The Sound Tigers, who closed out 2018 with three straight wins, next play on Wednesday in Rochester. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Sebastian Aho/Joshua Ho-Sang 20; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 11-5-1 (2.67 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-4-4 (3.06 GAA)

Up Next

MONDAY, DECEMBER 31st – ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO 6:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 5:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles close out 2018 with a New Year's Eve game in Buffalo.

This will be the 6th time that the Isles have provided the opposition for the traditional "Pucks and Tux' game in Buffalo; the Isles are 4-1-0 in the previous five (winning the last four contests, including three years ago before Thomas Greiss).

The Isles won two of three from the Sabres last year, including an overtime winner from Mathew Barzal.

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 6, Ottawa 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 36

Isles 6, Ottawa 3

Mathew Barzal scored two straight goals to break a 3-3 tie as the Islanders rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits for a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators before a crowd of 13,434 at Barclays Center.

 

The Isles are 5-1-0 in their last six games; it's the fourth time this season that the Isles have won a game that they trailed 2-0 (and all four wins have come in regulation). 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Mark Stone (17) 16:18 OTT 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Matt Duchene (15) Bobby Ryan, Thomas Chabot 02:47 OTT 2,NYI 0 PPG

Josh Bailey (8) Mathew Barzal 03:11 OTT 2,NYI 1

Cody Ceci (5) Chris Tierney, Mikkel Boedker 06:11 OTT 3,NYI 1

Anders Lee (14) 17:28 OTT 3,NYI 2

3rd Period

Johnny Boychuk (2) Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin 02:57 OTT 3,NYI 3

Mathew Barzal (6) Leo Komarov, Anthony Beauvillier 04:51 OTT 3,NYI 4

Mathew Barzal (7) Josh Bailey 12:24 OTT 3,NYI 5

Casey Cizikas (10)EN Tom Kuhnhackl 19:06 OTT 3,NYI 6

The Skinny    

Josh Bailey scored his first goal in 14 games.  Bailey was playing his 751st game as an Islander (one fewer than Mike Bossy)…Johnny Boychuk's tying goal was his 2nd in the last four games; it was his first game since his wife gave birth to their 3rd child…Casey Cizikas' empty-netter goal set a new career high; it was his 10th goal of the season…Anders Lee extended his team lead in goals (14); the 14 goals have come in 14 different games …Mathew Barzal recorded his 4th career multi-goal game and his 10th career game with at least three points; the reigning Calder Trophy winner leads the team in both assists (25) and points (32) …Anthony Beauvillier's assist on the winning goal was his first in 15 games…The Isles have an identical record as last season through 36 games; including shootout winners they have scored 23 fewer goals and allowed 26 fewer goals than last year's first 36 games… There were three fights in the final 30 seconds; it was the first time since November 17, 1993 that the Isles have had three fights in a game with Ottawa (Mick Vukota -2, Joe Day)… Devon Toews made his home debut and played 18:51. Toews had four shots on goals, six attempts and finished +2..Mark Stone has points in six straight games against the Isles…Cody Ceci's goal came in his 400th NHL game…The Isles improve to 4-5-0 when trailing after one period and 2-9-0 when trailing after two periods…The Isles are a season-high six games over NHL-.500 (19-13-4); they were last six over .500 when they were 20-14-4 last season…The Isles scored four goals in a period for the second time this season (10/18 in Los Angeles); it's the first time they have done so at home since February 9th vs. Detroit (5 goals)…The Isles clinched a winning month for the third straight month (7-4-1 in December); it's the first time since 2015-16 that they have opened the season with three winning months.

 

The Injury

Ottawa's Thomas Chabot left in the second period with an injury and did not return.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 4-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8) and OTT (12.28); all four wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 6-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Streaking Lehner

Robin Lehner has won three consecutive decisions  for the first time as an Islander and the first time since February 14-18, 2017.  Lehner has allowed only seven goals in his last six games (3-1-2, 1.24 GAA, .952 save percentage).  In six December appearances, Lehner's GAA is 1.30, which is the best in the NHL among goalies who have appeared in at least two games.

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals)

1. Nashville 97

2. Boston 101

        ISLES 101

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. Nashville 96

2. ISLES 98

3. Boston 101

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 41

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 88 assists, 117 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

USA Hockey

Anders Lee's goal was the 138th of his career, leaving him one goal behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine (287).

Chasing Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 781-581-60-138 in 1560 games and is now just one win behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    832 

4. Al Arbour   782

5. Barry Trotz   781

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1560

5. Ken Hitchcock   1553

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 19-13-4 (42 points), with 107 goals scored and 101 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 19-13-4 (42 points), with 130 goals scored and 127 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 10-5-4 when scoring first and are 9-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-15-14=39

Ottawa 10-11-6=27

The Isles are 4-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-4-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 19-13-4 overall; 9-5-3 at home (2-0-1 on Long Island and 7-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 10-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Ottawa is 15-19-4 overall; 11-6-3 at home and 4-13-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 9-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 13-5-4 against the East and 6-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 14 saves before being removed after Ottawa's third goal.  Robin Lehner stopped all ten shots he faced to improve to 7-6-3 on the season and 7-0-3 in his career against Ottawa.   

Mike McKenna made 33 saves but falls to 1-4-1 on the season and 1-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; Ottawa was 1-2 on the power play in 0:42 of PP time. 

The Isles are 13-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 7-9-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 17-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-4 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 4-1-0 in the front half and 4-0-0 in the back half. This back-to-back concludes in Toronto on Saturday.  The next back-to-back is January 12th vs. the Rangers and January 13th vs. Tampa Bay.

 

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 2-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 12-13-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (21:46); Ottawa: Cody Ceci (26:07)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:50 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (10-6-3), Nick Leddy (6-6-1), Scott Mayfield (3-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 37,Ottawa 21 (64%).  

Valtteri Filppula won 9 of 12 for the Isles; Zack Smith won 3 of 5 for Ottawa. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  14/16; 2nd period 13/23; 3rd period 10/19

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 36/55, Power play 0/1, Penalty kill 1/2.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Matt Martin -4)  

Ottawa 24 (Mark Borowiecki-6)

   

Fights

There were three fights, all in the last thirty seconds of the game (Matt Martin vs. Mark Borowiecki, Christian Jaros vs. Ross Johnston, Ben Harpur vs. Scott Mayfield). Season total –11 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee, Matt Martin).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 14 shots (Scott Mayfield -3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 65, Ottawa 50

5-on-5 Isles 63, Ottawa 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Mathew Barzal/Anthony Beauvillier/Josh Bailey all +19

Ottawa: Nick Paul +2

 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 16-12-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 154, Brock Nelson 131, Mathew Barzal 118

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR), (Jordan Eberle-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ),  Luca Sbisa

Total games lost: 65

Late Heroes

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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four times 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.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 751

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 138 ***19. Josh Bailey 132…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 111

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 275

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 407

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 142

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 74

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will  finish their head-to-head schedule with a home-and-home series in early March.

The Isles have won four of the last five games between the squads.

On the Farm 

The Sound Tigers picked up after Christmas where they left off, beating Hartford on Thursday and Springfield on Friday.  

On Thursday, Scott Eansor scored a paired of goals (giving him four goals in three games) as they beat the Wolf Pack 3-2. Then, on Friday Parker Wotherspoon tied the game at 19:58 of the 2nd period and Otto Koivula scored the winning goal in the third period as the Sound Tigers began 6-game road trip with a 4-3 win in Springfield.  Michael Dal Colle assisted on three of the Bridgeport goals.

Bridgeport is 20-9-4-1 and has earned points in 20 of their last 24 games (16-4-3-1). The Sound Tigers will close out 2018 on Saturday night in Hartford. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 (tied-5th in AHL) ; Assists: Sebastian Aho/Joshua Ho-Sang 20; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 10-5-1 (2.67 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-4-4 (3.06 GAA)

Up Next

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29th – ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:00PM 

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

The Isles close out 2018 with a two-game road trip, beginning on Saturday in Toronto when they face former captain John Tavares and the Maple Leafs.

It's the first meeting of the season between the teams, who will finish their head-to-head schedule with a pair of games at the Nassau Coliseum on February 28th and April 1st.

The Leafs have won the last four games from the Isles, outscoring NY 21-8 (including a SO winner); Fredrik Andersen has been in goal for all four games.

The last Islander win in Toronto came three years ago to the day (12-29-2015) by a 6-3 score. Since then the Leafs have won all four meetings, including twice in shootouts.

The Isles' final game of 2018 will be on New Year's Eve in Buffalo on Monday.

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, Dallas 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Isles 3, Dallas 1

Anders Lee scored a third period power play goal to break a 1-1 tie as the Isles headed to the Christmas break with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars before a crowd of 18,031 at American Airlines Center.

The Isles head to Christmas off a 3-1-0 road trip, and they have the identical record thru 35 games that they had last season: 18-13-4.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Tyler Pitlick (4) Mattias Janmark, Jason Spezza 06:20 NYI 0,DAL 1

Casey Cizikas (9)14:10 NYI 1,DAL 1

3rd Period

Anders Lee (13) Nick Leddy, Mathew Barzal 08:50 NYI 2,DAL 1 PPG

Leo Komarov (4)EN 19:00 NYI 3,DAL 1

The Skinny    

Devon Toews made his NHL debut and played 18:05. Toews had three shots on goals, seven attempts and finished +1…Tyler Pitlick's goal was his first in 17 games…Casey Cizikas' tying goal was his 9th of the season, matching his career high (in 70 games in 2014-15)…The Isles improve to 4-1-0 in their last five games, both on the road and overall …Anders Lee regained the team lead in goals (13); he has seven of the team's 17 power play goals…Mathew Barzal's assist on the winning goal gives him the team lead in both assists (24) and points (29) at the break…Leo Komarov's empty-netter was his first goal in 17 games…The Isles have an identical record as last season through 35 games; including shootout winners they have scored 24 fewer goals and allowed 27 fewer goals than last year's first 35 games…The Isles have earned 21 points in 19 road games this season; they had only 21 points through 24 road games last season…The Isles have allowed 1 goal or fewer nine times this season; they allowed 1 goal or fewer eight times last season.

The Injury

Cal Clutterbuck left in the first period with an injury and did not return.

Streaking Lehner

Robin Lehner has won consecutive starts for the first time since October 28-November 1, when he suffered an injury against Pittsburgh.  Lehner has allowed only seven goals in his last five games (2-1-2, 1.37 GAA, .948 save percentage)

Most times allowing 0 or 1 goals (excluding shootouts) in first 35 games

• 1975-76 12

• 1976-77 11

• 2001-12 11

• 2018-19 11

The Isles allowed one goal or fewer only nine times all last season (three times in first 35 games).  They allowed one goal or fewer three times on this road trip.

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals)

1. Nashville 95

2. Boston 96

3. ISLES 98

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. Nashville 94

2. ISLES 95

3. Boston 96

Heading Home for Christmas…After This Four-Game Road Trip

The Isles finish their four-game road trip with a record of 3-1-0:

12/17- Beat COL Avalanche 4-1

12/18- Beat  ARI Coyotes 3-1

12/19- Lost  VEG Golden Knights 2-4

12/22- Beat DAL Stars 3-1

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 41

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 87 assists, 114 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

USA Hockey

Anders Lee's winning goal was the 137th of his career, leaving him two goals behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine.

Chasing Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 780-581-60-138 in 1560 games and is now just two wins behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    832 

4. Al Arbour   782

5. Barry Trotz   780

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1559

5. Ken Hitchcock   1552

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 18-13-4 (40 points), with 101 goals scored and 98 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 18-13-4 (40 points), with 125 goals scored and 125 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 10-5-4 when scoring first and 8-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    9-9-10=28

Dallas 7-7-6=20

The Isles are 3-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-4-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 18-13-4 overall; 8-5-3 at home (2-0-1 on Long Island and 6-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 10-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Dallas is 18-16-3 overall; 11-5-1 at home and 7-11-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 8-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 12-5-4 against the East and 6-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 19 saves to improve to 6-6-3 on the season and 2-5-1 in his career against Dallas.   

Anton Khudobin made 25 saves but falls to 6-7-2 on the season and 3-5-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 5:25 of PP time; Dallas was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time. 

The Isles are 13-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front half and 4-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 28th vs. Ottawa and December 29th in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 2-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 11-13-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:31); Dallas: Esa Lindell (25:41)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:52 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (10-6-3), Nick Leddy (6-6-1), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22,Dallas 29 (43%).  

No Islander who took more than three face-offs won more than he lost; Jason Spezza won 10 of 11 for Dallas. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  9/16; 2nd period 5/16; 3rd period 8/19

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/45, Power play 4/5, Penalty kill 1/1.

Hit Count

Isles 11 (Three with 2)  

Dallas 20 (Blake Comeau-4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –8 (Scott Mayfield -3, Ross Johnston-2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 9 shots (Ryan Pulock -2).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 59, Dallas 38

5-on-5 Isles 47, Dallas 34

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Mathew Barzal +13

Dallas: Tyler Seguin +7

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 15-12-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 153, Brock Nelson 130, Mathew Barzal 117

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR), (Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Ross Johnston, Johnny Boychuk (paternity)

Total games lost: 61

Late Heroes

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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four times 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.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 3-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1) and DET (12/8); all three wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 6-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 750

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 137 ***19. Josh Bailey 131…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 111

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 274

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 405

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 141

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 74

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series one game to one (and 2 points to 2).   

Tonight's win broke a three-game losing streak to Dallas in which the Stars had outscored the Isles 16-4. 

On the Farm 

The Sound Tigers closed out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule by splitting a pair of games in Charlotte against the team with the best record in the AHL.

On Friday, Bridgeport beat Charlotte 6-1 as Steve Bernier scored twice in the first period and Michael Dal Colle added his club-leading (and career-high) 16th goal in the 2nd period. Scott Eansor had Bridgeport's only goal on Saturday in a 3-1 defeat; he also scored on Friday.

Bridgeport is 18-9-4-1 and has earned points in 18 of their last 22 games (14-4-3-1). The Sound Tigers will end 2018 with  3-games in 3-nights beginning on Thursday against Hartford. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 (tied-4th in AHL) ; Assists: Sebastian Aho/Joshua Ho-Sang 20; Points: Dal Colle 25.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 9-5-1 (2.71 GAA); Christopher Gibson 9-4-4 (3.07 GAA)

Up Next

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28th –OTTAWA AT ISLANDERS AT BARCLAYS CENTER 7:00PM 

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

The Isles will spend the final weekend of 2018 playing the two teams from Ontario, beginning on Friday when they entertain Ottawa at Barclays Center.

It's the first meeting of the season between the teams, who will finish their head-to-head schedule with a home-and-home series in early March. 

The Isles have won three of the last four games between the teams; the road team won all three games last season.

Following this game, the Islanders will head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs for the first time this season.

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: Vegas 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Vegas 4, Isles 2

William Karlsson and Paul Stastny scored 63 seconds apart in the third period as the Vegas Golden Knights rallied from a 2-1 third period deficit to defeat the Isles 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,226 at T-Mobile Arena.  

Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson scored late in the first period to give the Isles a 2-0 lead after the first period.  It was the first time this season (6-1-1) that the Isles lost in regulation in a game that they scored the first two games. .

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Mathew Barzal (5) Josh Bailey 18:30 NYI 1,VGK 0

Brock Nelson (12) Jordan Eberle, Ryan Pulock 19:38 NYI 2,VGK 0

2nd Period

Brandon Pirri (1) Nate Schmidt, Cody Eakin 08:48 NYI 2,VGK 1 PPG

3rd Period

William Karlsson (14) Shea Theodore, Nate Schmidt 06:22 NYI 2,VGK 2

Paul Stastny (2) Reilly Smith, Nick Holden 07:25 NYI 2,VGK 3

Nate Schmidt (3)EN 19:45 NYI 2,VGK 4

The Skinny    

The Isles saw their 3-game win streaks, both on the road and overall, snapped by the loss … The Isles have allowed a power play goal in four of the last five games....Mathew Barzal led the Isles with four shots (a 5th attempt, which appeared to be stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury, was ruled a missed shot); Barzal's goal tied him for the team lead in points…Brock Nelson scored for the 2nd straight game and extended his point streak to three games; Josh Bailey extended his assist streak to four games while Jordan Eberle's point streak reached three.…The Isles remain just one point off last season's pace; including shootout winners they have scored 23 fewer goals and allowed 23 fewer goals than last year's first 34 games…The Isles have earned 19 points in 18 road games this season; they had only 19 points through 23 road games last season. … Ryan Pulock had an assist for the third straight game (0-5-5) …Brandon Pirri scored in his season debut for Vegas; he has played three games for the Golden Knights and scored four times…William Karlsson, who tonight became the last player to appear in every game in Golden Knight history, scored his 9th goal in 13 games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 33-28 in the first period but have been outscored 36-30 in the third period.

We'll Be Home for Christmas…After This Four-Game Road Trip

The Isles are 2-1-0 on this four-game road trip:

12/17- Beat COL Avalanche 4-1

12/18- Beat  ARI Coyotes 3-1

12/19- Lost  VEG Golden Knights 2-4

12/22- @ DAL Stars

Last 30 Seasons: Most Goals by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 41

Beauvillier's 22nd birthday is not until June.

Last 30 Seasons: Most Assists and Points by an Islander Before 22nd Birthday:

1. John Tavares 118 assists, 202 points

2. Mathew Barzal 86 assists, 113 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

USA Hockey

Anders Lee has 136 career goals, leaving him three goals behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine.

Chasing Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 779-581-60-138 in 1558 games and is now just three wins behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    833

4. Al Arbour   782

5. Barry Trotz   779

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1558

5. Ken Hitchcock   1550

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 17-13-4 (38 points), with 98 goals scored and 97 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 18-13-3 (39 points), with 121 goals scored and 120 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 10-5-4 when scoring first and 7-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    8-5-8=21

Vegas 15-18-14=47

The Isles are 2-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-4-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 17-13-4 overall; 8-5-3 at home (2-0-1 on Long Island and 6-5-2 in Brooklyn) and 9-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Vegas is 20-15-2 overall; 11-3-1 at home and 9-12-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 7-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 12-5-4 against the East and 5-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 42 saves but falls to 12-7-1 on the season. It was his first career appearance against Vegas.   

Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves and improves to 20-10-2 on the season and 25-11-5 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time; Vegas was 1-2 on the power play in 3:52 of PP time. 

The Isles are 12-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 15-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 2-1 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 1-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front half and 4-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 28th vs. Ottawa and December 29th in Toronto.

Tired vs. Rested

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

• The Isles are 2-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 11-13-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:59); Vegas: Nate Schmidt (22:25)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:10 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (10-6-3), Nick Leddy (5-6-1), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 30,Vegas 30 (50%).  The Isles won exactly half of the face-offs in each period.

Josh Bailey won 6 of 8 for the Isles; Paul Stastny won 12 of 17 for Vegas. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  8/16; 2nd period 11/22; 3rd period 11/22

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 26/53, Power play 1/2, Penalty kill 3/5.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Three with 4)  

Vegas 24 (William Carrier -7)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –8 (Scott Mayfield -3, Ross Johnston-2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Adam Pelech -4).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 49, Vegas 73 (including 34-12 in Vegas' favor in the second period)

5-on-5 Isles 45, Vegas 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Josh Ho-Sang +8

Vegas: Brayden McNabb +12

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 14-12-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 152, Brock Nelson 129, Mathew Barzal 116

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR), (Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Ross Johnston, Devon Toews

Total games lost: 58

Late Heroes

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

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four times 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.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 3-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1) and DET (12/8); all three wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 6-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 749

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 136 ***19. Josh Bailey 131…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 111

Assists

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

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 274

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 405

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 141

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 74

Season Series Stats

Vegas wins the season series two games to none (and 4 points to 0).   

Both season series have ended in sweeps, with the Isles sweeping last season and Vegas doing so this season.

On the Farm 

Former Islander Kevin Czuczman scored the winning goal in overtime as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits for a 4-3 with over the Sound Tigers on Wednesday. Michael Dal Colle scored his team-leading 15th goal while rookie Otto Koivula added two assists.

Bridgeport is 17-8-4-1 and has earned points in 17 of their last 20 games (13-3-3-1). The Sound Tigers will finish their pre-Christmas schedule with a pair of games in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday.

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 15 (tied-4th in AHL) ; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 20; Points: Dal Colle 24.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 8-5-1 (2.83 GAA); Christopher Gibson 9-3-4 (3.13 GAA)

Up Next

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23th – ISLANDERS AT DALLAS 8:00PM 

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

The Isles will look to earn a split of the season series with the Stars as they play the final game before the Christmas break in Dallas.

The Stars defeated the Isles 6-2 in Brooklyn back on November 18th and have outscored the Isles 16-4 in the last three games between the teams (all Dallas victories).

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