The Skinny: Isles 2, Washington 0. First Place.

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 47

Isles 2, Washington 0

Two words: First Place.

Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck scored 2:26 apart in the third period and Thomas Greiss made 19 saves for his 2nd shutout of the season as the Islanders moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 2-0 victory over the Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals before a sellout crowd of 18,605 at Capital One Arena.

The Isles have won four straight games overall, six straight on the road, and seven straight in back-ends of back-to-backs.  The Isles are now 13 games over NHL-.500 for the first time since ending the 2015-16 season with a 45-27-10 record.

It's the first time since March 10, 2015 that the Isles have been in first place this late in the season.

 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Josh Bailey (11) Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech 05:08 NYI 1,WSH 0

Cal Clutterbuck (4) Casey Cizikas, Adam Pelech 07:34 NYI 2,WSH 0 

The Skinny      

The Isles are 11-2-0 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 14-3-0 in their last 17 games; it's the first time since the 1989-90 season that the Isles have won 14 games in a 17-game stretch…  All eighteen skaters played at least 10:16…The Isles are now ten points ahead of last season's pace through 47 games; including shootout winners they have scored 19 fewer goals and allowed 54 fewer goals than last year's first 47 games…With the win the Isles move one point ahead Columbus and Washington for the division lead; Tampa Bay (74) and Toronto (60) are the only other teams in the East to reach 60 points.…The Isles scored first for the fifth straight game…The Isles have outscored the opposition 13-3 in the last four games; it's the first time since March 2006 that the Isles have allowed one goal or fewer in four consecutive games. The Isles have allowed one goal or fewer 15 times this season… The Isles have 31 points on the road and 29 points at home. … The Isles killed both Capital PP's and have killed 14 straight over the last five games.  It's the first time since February 15-24, 2018 (five games) that the Isles have gone five games without allowing a power play goal…The Isles have outscored the opposition 7-0 in the first period during their current four-game win streak…The Isles did not allow a goal in the first two periods for the third straight game…The Isles have the best record in the East over the last 10 games (8-2-0); Vegas and San Jose are also 8-2-0 in their last 10 games…The Isles have now had three distinct win streaks of at least four games this season (5,  6, and the current 4)…The Isles are 13 games over NHL-.500 for the first time since they ended the 2015-16 season with a 45-27-10 record.…The Isles are 7-2-0 in January with two games to play; they are assured of a fourth straight month over NHL -.500… The Caps are 3-5-2 since New Year's Eve…Washington has been outscored 49-40 in the third period....It's the 15th time the Isles have blanked the Caps; Buffalo (also 15) is the only other opponent the Isles have blanked at least 15 times.

Sweet 16

The Isles are 14-3-0 in their last 17 games, giving them the most wins and the best record in the entire NHL since December 15.

• ISLES 13-3-0

• San Jose 11-3-2

• Tampa Bay 11-3-1

• Calgary 10-3-3

• Columbus 11-4-1

First Time for Everything!

The Isles have held opponents under 20 shots on both ends of a back-to-back for the first time in franchise history.  The last time the Isles held consecutive opponents to under 20 shots in consecutive games was November 2-4, 2006.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

The Isles are 7-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season.  It's the first time that the Isles have opened a season with seven straight back-end wins and the first time since 1981 that they have done so at any time.

Longest Winning Streaks in Back Ends:

• 8 -January 22-March 14, 1976

• 8- March 26- November 22, 1978 (over two seasons)

• 7- October 18, 2018- CURRENT

• 7-February 28- November 11, 1981 (over two seasons)

• 7-November 12, 1980 – January 3, 1981

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner has allowed only 20 goals in his last 14 games (9-2-2, 1.45 GAA, .947 save percentage). In his four non-wins in that stretch he has allowed only seven goals. Lehner is 10-1-0 in his last 11 decisions.

 

Most Points Thru 47 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 65: 2014-15

• 60: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 24 Road Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 32: 2013 (Entire season)

• 31: 2018-19

Road Warriors

The Isles have won six straight games on the road; it's their longest road winning streak since a 7-game streak in the 2013-14 season.

The Isles are 9-1-0 in their last ten road games; the 18 points match the most ever for the club in a 10-game stretch of road games (done in two overlapping stretches in 1980-81).

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 119

2. Boston 125

3. Dallas 126

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 116

2. Boston 125

3. Dallas 126

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

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 42

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 94 assists, 129 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

Most 3+ Point Games by an Islander Before Age 22

• 34 Bryan Trottier

• 18 John Tavares

• 16 Denis Potvin

• 14 Mike Bossy

• 12 Mathew Barzal

• 12 Pat LaFontaine

 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 790-583-60-138 in 1,571 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    837 

4. Barry Trotz   790

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,571

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,563

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: 28-15-4 (60 points), with 142 goals scored and 119 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 23-20-4 (50 points), with 161 goals scored and 173 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 16-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles         11-9-5=25

Washington 7-8-4=19

The Isles are 7-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 21-5-3 when they are outshot. [The club record for wins when being outshot is 25, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 28-15-4 overall; 13-7-3 at home (4-1-1 on Long Island and 9-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 15-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Washington is 27-15-5 overall; 13-8-3 at home and 14-7-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 13-5-1 in Division games and 15-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 19-7-4 against the East and 9-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 19 saves and improves to 14-8-1 on the season and 3-2-1 in his career against Washington.   

Braden Holtby made 23 saves but falls to 17-11-2 on the season and 15-5-3 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

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

The Isles are 18-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-14-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-5-1 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 24-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-13-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 11-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 4-1 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 

Including tonight, the Isles are 5-2-0 in the front half and 7-0-0 in the back half. The next back-to-back is February 1-2 vs. Tampa Bay and Los Angeles, with both games being played at the Coliseum.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

• The Isles are 4-0-1 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 17-15-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:21); Washington: John Carlson (24:16)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 17:49 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Nick Leddy (8-7-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Washington 22 (53%).  

Brock Nelson won 8 of 13 for the Isles; Lars Eller won 7 of 11 for Washington.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/17; 2nd period 10/15; 3rd period 5/15.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 20/40, Power play 2/3, Penalty kill 3/4.

Hit Count

Isles 17 (Matt Martin-4)  

Washington 21 (Two with 3)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –12 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 16 shots (Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews-3) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 52, Washington 50

5-on-5 Isles 46, Washington 37

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +10

Washington: TJ Oshie +5

 

Night and Day

The Isles are 25-13-4 in night games and 3-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 20th  vs. Anaheim. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 165, Brock Nelson 142, Mathew Barzal 129

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR),Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 95

Late Heroes

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

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

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.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 5-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8),OTT (12/28) and STL (1/5);  all five wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 11-1-1 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 762

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 142 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 135…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 115

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom and Josh Bailey 278 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 146

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 413…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 243

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 145

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 76

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied one game to one (and 2 points to 2). The teams will face-off at the Coliseum on March 1st (also the back-end of a back-to-back for the Isles) and then conclude the regular season in Washington on April 6th. 

The Isles are 6-6-3 in their last 15 regular season games in the Nation's Capital.

On the Farm 

Bridgeport has won only once in 2019 (1-5-0-1) and has fallen to 22-14-4-2 on the season.  The Sound Tigers begin a 5-game homestand on Saturday night as they face Providence. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Josh Ho-Sang 24; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 12-7-2 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-7-4 (2.96 GAA)

Up Next

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20th –  ANAHEIM AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 3:00PM 

[MSG+(Pre-game at 2:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM,WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles will look to extend the winning streak to five games as they face the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum.

The Ducks defeated the Isles 4-1 in Anaheim back in October 17th and have won the last three meetings between the teams. 

The Ducks broke a 12-game winless streak by shutting out the Wild on Thursday; Anaheim will face New Jersey on Saturday afternoon before heading to Long Island.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, New Jersey 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 46

Isles 4, New Jersey 1

Michael Dal Colle's 1st career goal is a game-winner. Dal Colle scored the second of three first period Islander goals as the Isles recorded the 1,600th win in franchise history: a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils before a crowd of 12,088 at the Nassau Coliseum. 

The Isles are now 4-1-1 in six games at their long-time home. 

Robin Lehner made 16 saves to improve to 10-1-0 in his last eleven games as the Isles moved twelve games over NHL-.500 for the first time since the final day of the 2016-17 season.  

Anders Lee scored the game's first and last goals; it was his first multi-goal game and first empty-net goal this season.  With the win, the Isles move within one point of Columbus and Washington for the Division lead; the Isles can move into first place on Friday with a win in DC and a Columbus regulation loss.

 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anders Lee (17) Nick Leddy, Jordan Eberle 05:48 NJD 0,NYI 1

Michael Dal Colle (1) Scott Mayfield, Leo Komarov 09:19 NJD 0,NYI 2

Jordan Eberle (11) Nick Leddy, Brock Nelson 15:12 NJD 0,NYI 3 PPG

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Andy Greene (3) Damon Severson 07:07 NJD 1,NYI 3

Anders Lee (18)EN Josh Bailey 17:51 NJD 1,NYI 4 

The Skinny      

The Isles are 10-2-0 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 13-3-0 in their last 16 games…Michael Dal Colle is the 373rd player in Islander history to score a goal...Anders Lee, Nick Leddy and Jordan Eberle all had two points… Josh Bailey assisted on the empty-netter; it was his 278th assist, matching Bobby Nystrom's total for 13th place on the Isles list…All eighteen skaters played at least 11:44…The Isles are now eight points ahead of last season's pace through 46 games; including shootout winners they have scored 19 fewer goals and allowed 49 fewer goals than last year's first 45 games…With the win the Isles move within one point of Columbus and Washington for the division lead, with the Jackets now holding the top spot via a tie-breaker.  Only four points separate the teams ranked 2nd-8th in the Eastern Conference …The Isles have won 58% of the games they scored first (15-7-4); they have won 60% of the games they allowed the opening goal (12-8-0)… The Isles have 29 points on the road and 29 points at home. … The Isles killed both Devils PP's and have killed 12 straight over the last four games.  It's the first time since February 15-24, 2018 (five games) that the Isles have gone four games without allowing a power play goal…The Isles have outscored the opposition 7-0 in the first period during their current three game win streak…The Isles have the best record in the East over the last 10 games (8-2-0); Vegas and San Jose are also 8-2-0 in their last 10 games…The Isles have now had four distinct win streaks of at least three games this season (5, 3, 6, and the current 3)…The Isles are 12 games over NHL-.500 for the first time since they ended the 2016-17 season with a 41-29-12 record.  They last were 13 games over .500 at the end of the 2015-16 season (when they finished 45-27-10)…Robin Lehner now has 14 of the Isles' 27 wins; it's the first time since he had 4 of the first 7 Isles wins that he has more wins than Thomas Greiss (13)…The Isles are 6-2-0 in January with three games to play; they are assured of a fourth straight month over NHL -.500…The Isles have allowed 1 goal in each of the last three games; they now have allowed 0 or 1 goal fourteen times this season…The Isles allowed only 17 shots, matching a season-low (17 vs. Vegas on December 12th); it's the first time the Isles have won a game allowing 17 or fewer shots since allowing only 10 in a 3-2 win in Buffalo on February 8, 2015.

Sweet 16

The Isles are 13-3-0 in their last 16 games, giving them the most wins and the best record in the entire NHL since December 15.

• ISLES 13-3-0

• San Jose 11-3-2

• Tampa Bay 11-3-1

• Columbus 11-3-1

• Calgary 10-3-3

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner has allowed only 20 goals in his last 14 games (9-2-2, 1.45 GAA, .947 save percentage). In his four non-wins in that stretch he has allowed only seven goals. Lehner is 10-1-0 in his last 11 decisions.

Lehner lowered his NHL-leading goals against average to 2.11; he also has the best save percentage among all goalies who have played in at more than 1/3rd of their team's games: .928.

Most Multi-Goal Games, Last 3 Seasons

• 20 – Alex Ovechkin

• 18-  Anders Lee

• 18- Auston Mathews

• 18- Patrik Laine

Most Points Thru 46 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 63: 2014-15

• 58: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 23 Road Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 31: 2013

• 29: 2018-19

Road Warriors

The Isles have won five straight games on the road; it's their longest road winning streak since a 7-game streak in the 2013-14 season.

The Isles are 8-1-0 in their last nine road games; the 16 points match the most ever for the club in a 9-game stretch of road games (done also in 1980-81, 1981-82 and 2013-14).

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 119

2. Boston 125

3. Dallas 126

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 116

2. Boston 125

3. Dallas 126

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

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 42

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 93 assists, 128 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

Most 3+ Point Games by an Islander Before Age 22

• 34 Bryan Trottier

• 18 John Tavares

• 16 Denis Potvin

• 14 Mike Bossy

• 12 Mathew Barzal

• 12 Pat LaFontaine

 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 789-583-60-138 in 1,570 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    837 

4. Barry Trotz   789

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,570

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,563

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: 27-15-4 (58 points), with 140 goals scored and 119 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 23-19-4 (50 points), with 159 goals scored and 168 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 15-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles       5-12-9=26

New Jersey 6-4-7=17

The Isles are 6-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 21-5-3 when they are outshot. [The club record for wins when being outshot is 25, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 27-15-4 overall; 13-7-3 at home (4-1-1 on Long Island and 9-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 14-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

New Jersey is 18-22-7 overall; 13-5-4 at home and 5-17-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 12-5-1 in Division games and 15-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 18-7-4 against the East and 9-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 16 saves and improves to 14-7-3 on the season and 3-6-1 in his career against New Jersey.   

Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves; he is 5-3-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 4:44 of PP time; New Jersey was 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 18-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-14-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-5-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 24-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-13-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 11-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 4-1 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 

Including tonight, the Isles are 5-2-0 in the front half and 6-0-0 in the back half.  This back-to-back concludes on Friday in Washington. The next back-to-back is February 1-2 vs. Tampa Bay and Los Angeles, with both games being played at the Coliseum.

Back Ends

The Isles are 6-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season.  It's the first time that the Isles have won six straight back-ends in a single season since  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.

This matches the longest streak since 1981, when the Isles won seven straight back-ends (over two seasons).

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)

 

Tired vs. Rested 

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

• The Isles are 4-0-1 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 17-15-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:19); New Jersey: Andy Greene (23:30)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 17:36 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Nick Leddy (7-7-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 26, New Jersey 26 (50%).  

Josh Bailey won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Travis Zajac won 9 of 15 for New Jersey.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/22; 2nd period 11/13; 3rd period 5/17.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/42, Power play 2/5, Penalty kill 2/5.

Hit Count

Isles 29 (Scott Mayfield and Johnny Boychuk -4)  

New Jersey 31 (Sami Vatanen -4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –12 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 13 shots (Adam Pelech-3) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 60, New Jersey 39

5-on-5 Isles 50, New Jersey 34

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ryan Pulock +11

New Jersey: Blake Coleman +3

 

Night and Day

The Isles are 24-13-4 in night games and 3-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 20th  vs. Anaheim. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 164, Brock Nelson 141, Mathew Barzal 128

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR),Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 93

Late Heroes

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

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

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.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 5-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8),OTT (12/28) and STL (1/5);  all five wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 10-1-1 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 761

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 142 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 134…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 115

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom and Josh Bailey 278 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 146

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 412…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 243

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 144

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 75

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series three games to none (and 6 points to 1). The final meeting of the season series will be on February 7th in Newark.

The Isles have dominated the Devils on home ice in recent years, winning 10 out of the last 11 (4-0-0 at the Coliseum and 6-1-0 in Brooklyn).  

On the Farm 

Charlotte completed a sweep of back-to-back games with the Sound Tigers, defeating Bridgeport 6-4 on Wednesday. Bridgeport has won only once in 2019 (1-5-0-1) and has fallen to 22-14-4-2 on the season.  The Sound Tigers head home to begin a 5-game homestand on Saturday night as they face Providence. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Josh Ho-Sang 24; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 12-7-2 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-7-4 (2.96 GAA)

Up Next

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18th –  ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00PM 

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

The Isles will look to improve to 7-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs as they head to DC to face the Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals. It will be Barry Trotz (and Lane Lambert)'s first game in DC since last year's Stanley Cup Final.  

It's the second meeting of the season between the squads this season; Tom Wilson had a pair of goals in Washington's 4-1 victory at Barclays on November 25th.   

The Isles lost both games in DC last season and are 5-6-3 in their last 14 regular season games in the Nation's Capital.

The teams will face-off at the Coliseum on March 1st (also the back-end of a back-to-back for the Isles) and then conclude the regular season in Washington on April 6th. 

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

It Happened at the Coliseum ... on January 17th

While the Isles have played almost all of their 3,628 NHL games wearing either White or Blue,  they have played games in Orange and in Black.

Cliff Ronning was a hero in an Orange jersey game  played on this date in 2004 and It Happened at the Coliseum.

Follow the link to relive this date in Coliseum history: It Happened at the Coliseum on January 17th

The Skinny on 1600

The Isles will be looking for the 1,600th regular season victory on Thursday when they host the Devils.

Here's a list of their other century mark wins (as well as the number of games it took them to get there)

						Games	Win
3/7/1976	@	Pittsburgh	5	3	W	303	100
4/8/1978	Vs	New York	7	2	W	475	200
11/15/1980	Vs	Buffalo	4	1	W	654	300
10/21/1982	Vs	Washington	6	3	W	804	400
12/3/1984	@	Vancouver	5	4	W	980	500
10/8/1987	@	Los Angeles	4	1	W	1197	600
10/27/1990	Vs	Philadelphia	5	2	W	1446	700
11/6/1993	Vs	Hartford	5	3	W	1694	800
10/16/1997	@	San Jose	5	2	W	1982	900
10/10/2001	@	Pittsburgh	6	3	W	2307	1000
2/3/2004	Vs	Vancouver	5	4	Wot	2521	1100
11/24/2007	Vs	Boston	2	1	W	2734	1200
2/5/2011	Vs	Ottawa	5	3	W	3012	1300
3/29/2014	Vs	New Jersey	2	1	Wso	3246	1400
10/23/2016	Vs	Minnesota	6	3	W	3424	1500

Each of the last five milestone wins have come at home; the fewest games between milestones was the 150 between wins 300 and 400 (100-30-20); not surprisingly the Isles spent that entire period as Stanley Cup Champions. The longest stretch was the 325 games between wins 900 and 1,000 (100-186-39).

Adrian Aucoin has the only overtime goal in a century win (1,100); Frans Nielsen had the shootout winner for win #1,400.

Win #200 was a special win - it clinched the Isles' first (Patrick) division championship.  If they earn win #1,600 on Thursday it will move them within one point of Columbus and Washington for the division lead.

The Thursday game against New Jersey will be game 3,628; the Isles are 99-78-26 since defeating Minnesota for win #1,500.

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, St. Louis 1 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 45

Isles 2, St. Louis 1 (OT)

Valtteri Filppula has had quite an NHL career but on Tuesday night at Barclays Center he did something he had never done in 918 previous regular season (and 158 playoff) games.  Filppula scored 1:37 into overtime for his first career OT tally as the Isles defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 before a crowd of 10,042. 

Robin Lehner made 30 saves to improve to 9-1-0 in his last ten games as the Isles moved 11 games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season.  

Jordan Eberle's 200th career goal gave the Isles a 1-0 lead in the first period; David Perron extended his point streak to 12 games with the tying goal in the third period.

 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Jordan Eberle (10) Anders Lee 08:43 STL 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

David Perron (17) Ryan O'Reilly, Jay Bouwmeester 06:07 STL 1,NYI 1

OT

Valtteri Filppula (10) Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier 01:37 STL 1,NYI 2

The Skinny      

Anders Lee assisted on Eberle's goal; it's the 6th assist in the last seven games for the Captain … The Isles "fourth line" played a leading role again. Cal Clutterbuck led all Isles forwards in both ice-time (season-high 17:46) and shots on goal (4); Cal also led all players with six hits.… The Isles remain six points ahead of last season's pace through 45 games; including shootout winners they have scored 22 fewer goals and allowed 46 fewer goals than last year's first 45 games…With the win the Isles move into third place in the Metro Division (tied in points with Pittsburgh but having played one fewer games.  The Isles are three points behind both Columbus and Washington, with the Jackets now holding the top spot via a tie-breaker.  Only three points separate the teams ranked 2nd-8th in the Eastern Conference …The Isles have won only 56% of the games they scored first (14-7-4); they have won 60% of the games they allowed the opening goal (12-8-0)… The Isles have 29 points on the road and 27 points at home. Of the four top teams in the Metro, only Columbus has earned at least more points at home than on the road … The Isles improve to 21-5-3 when they are outshot; the 21 wins lead the entire NHL when outshot…The Isles killed all three Blues PP's and have killed 10 straight over the last three games.  The three straight perfect games on the PK matches a season high. 

The Injuries

Oskar Sundqvist left the game in the first period after colliding with an official while falling; he returned late in the period. Zach Sanford left the game in the third period with an upper body injury; he did not return.

An Unlikely Overtime Hero

Valtteri Filppula began the game as one of four active NHL players to have played at least 900 regular season goals without ever scoring an overtime goal.   However, two of the other three had not only scored playoff overtime goals, they had done so against the Islanders in the same series (Chris Kunitz and Brooks Orpik in 2013).  The only active player who had appeared in more regular season games without ever scoring an overtime goal (regular season or playoffs) was Jay Bouwmeester, who assisted on the goal that forced overtime tonight.  Among active forwards with no overtime goals of any type, the Rangers' Cody McLeod has now played in the most NHL regular season games (763).

The Great Eight

The Isles now have eight players who have scored at least 10 goals.  It's the first time since the 1984-85 season that eight Islanders have scored at least 10 goals in the first 45 games of a season.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner has allowed only 19 goals in his last 13 games (9-2-2, 1.49 GAA, .947 save percentage). In his four non-wins in that stretch he has allowed only seven goals. Lehner is 9-1-0 in his last 10 decisions.

Lehner lowered his NHL-leading goals against average to 2.16; he also has the best save percentage among all goalies who has appeared in at least 1/3rd of their team's games: .928.

Most Points Thru 45 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 61: 2014-15

• 56: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 23 Road Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 31: 2013

• 29: 2018-19

Road Warriors

The Isles have won five straight games on the road; it's their longest road winning streak since a 7-game streak in the 2013-14 season.

The Isles are 8-1-0 in their last nine road games; the 16 points match the most ever for the club in a 9-game stretch of road games (done also in 1980-81, 1981-82 and 2013-14).

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 118

2. Boston 119

3. Two with 124

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 115 

2. Boston 119

3. Nashville 123

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

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 42

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 93 assists, 128 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

Most 3+ Point Games by an Islander Before Age 22

• 34 Bryan Trottier

• 18 John Tavares

• 16 Denis Potvin

• 14 Mike Bossy

• 12 Mathew Barzal

• 12 Pat LaFontaine

 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 788-583-60-138 in 1,569 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    836 

4. Barry Trotz   788

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,569

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,562

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: 26-15-4 (56 points), with 136 goals scored and 118 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 23-18-4 (50 points), with 158 goals scored and 164 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 14-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles       11-6-7-1=25

St. Louis 5-18-8-0=31

The Isles are 5-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 21-5-3 when they are outshot. [The club record for wins when being outshot is 25, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 26-15-4 overall; 12-7-3 at home (3-1-1 on Long Island and 9-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 14-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

St. Louis is 20-20-5 overall; 11-13-2 at home and 9-7-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-5-1 in Division games and 15-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 17-7-4 against the East and 9-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 30 saves and improves to 13-7-3 on the season and 6-3-1 in his career against St. Louis.   

Jordan Binnington made 23 saves; he is 3-0-1 on the season and 0-0-1 in his career against the Isles.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 4:10 of PP time; St. Louis was 0-3 on the power play in 4:10 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-14-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-5-1 when they do not.    

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-13-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 11-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 4-1 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 4-2-0 in the front half and 6-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is Thursday vs. New Jersey and Friday at Washington.

Back Ends

The Isles are 6-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season.  It's the first time that the Isles have won six straight back-ends in a single season since  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.

This matches the longest streak since 1981, when the Isles won seven straight back-ends (over two seasons).

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)

 

Tired vs. Rested 

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

• The Isles are 4-0-1 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 16-15-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:26); St. Louis: Alex Pietrangelo (25:01)

Cal Clutterbuck Isles forwards with 17:44 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (14-7-3), Nick Leddy (7-7-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 18, St. Louis 32 (36%).  

No Isle won more than he lost: Ryan O'Reilly won 14 of 22 for St. Louis.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  5/12; 2nd period 6/21; 3rd period 7/16; Overtime 0/1.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 15/43, Power play 2/3, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)  

St. Louis 17 (Two with 3)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –12 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 17 shots (Scott Mayfield -4) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 42, St. Louis 63

5-on-5 Isles 37, St. Louis 51

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Nick Leddy +4

St. Louis: David Perron +15

 

Night and Day

The Isles are 23-13-4 in night games and 3-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 20th vs. Anaheim. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 163, Brock Nelson 140, Mathew Barzal 127

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR),Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 91

Late Heroes

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

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

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.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 5-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8),OTT (12/28) and STL (1/5);  all five wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 9-1-1 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 760

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 140 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 134…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 115

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 277 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Travis Green 145 *** 28. Nick Leddy 144

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 411…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 241

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 144

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 75

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series two games to none (and 4 points to 1).    

The Isles are 6-1-1 in the last eight games against the Blues and are 3-0-1 against the Blues at Barclays Center; all four Brooklyn meetings have been decided by a single goal.

On the Farm 

Christopher Gibson made 25 saves, but Bridgeport dropped a 1-0 decision in Charlotte on Tuesday.  Bridgeport is 22-13-4-2 on the season and stay in Charlotte to face the Checkers again on Wednesday. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Josh Ho-Sang 22; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 12-7-2 (2.77 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-6-4 (2.96 GAA)

Up Next

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17th –  NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM 

[MSG+(Pre-game at 6:30pm), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles conclude the home stand as they return to the Coliseum to face the Devils for the third time this season.  Thomas Greiss already owns two wins this season over New Jersey, shutting out the Devils on November 3rd in Brooklyn and getting Mathew Barzal overtime goal in New Jersey on Black Friday.

The Isles have dominated the Devils on home ice in recent years, winning 9 out of the last 10 (3-0-0 at the Coliseum and 6-1-0 in Brooklyn).  The Devils' last win at the Coliseum was by a 6-1 score on March 1, 2014; Jaromir Jagr scored the deciding goal in Martin Brodeur's last win against the Isles (as a Devil).

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 5, Tampa Bay 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 44

Isles 5, Tampa Bay 1

Brock Nelson scored a power play goal just 81 seconds into play, the first of three Isles goals in the first 4:43, and the Islanders rode that to a 5-1 victory over the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning before a crowd of 11,193 at Barclays Center. 

Thomas Greiss made 38 saves to record his 13th victory of the season and first since December 17th.  

The Isles handed the Lightning only their second regulation loss in the last 21 games (18-2-1) and just their 9th regulation loss of the season as the Isles remained perfect on the back-end of back-to-backs (6-0-0).

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Brock Nelson (16) Jordan Eberle, Mathew Barzal 01:21 TBL 0,NYI 1 PPG

Cal Clutterbuck (3) Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas 04:27 TBL 0,NYI 2

Devon Toews (3) 04:43 TBL 0,NYI 3

2nd Period

Casey Cizikas (11) Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck 11:03 TBL 0,NYI 4

Ryan McDonagh (5) Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat 18:12 TBL 1,NYI 4

3rd Period 

Joshua Bailey (10) Anders Lee, Nick Leddy 19:08 TBL 1, NYI 5 ENG

The Skinny      

Brock Nelson's goal ties him with Anders Lee for the team lead; it was his first power play goal of the season and the first scored by the Isles at Barclays Center since November 15th vs. the Rangers… The Isles "fourth line" each had two points in the game; Matt Martin, the game's #1 star, recorded his 4th career two assist game…Devon Toews capped the Isles' three goals in the first 4:43 with his 3rd goal in his 10-game NHL career (and third in the last six games); Vladimir Malakhov (1992-93) was the last Isles defenseman to score three times in his first 10 games…Josh Bailey extended his point streak to three games with the empty net goal; three of Bailey's 10 goals this season have been scored against the Lightning…The Isles remain six points ahead of last season's pace through 44 games; including shootout winners they have scored 19 fewer goals and allowed 43 fewer goals than last year's first 44 games… With the win the Isles move back into the top wild card spot); they also remain in 4th place in the Metro,  just two points behind Pittsburgh…  Anders Lee has an assist in five of the last six games….Ryan McDonagh has scored six of his 58 career goals against the Isles…The Isles have won only 54% of the games they scored first (13-7-4); they have won 60% of the games they allowed the opening goal (12-8-0)… The Isles have 29 points on the road and 25 points at home.  Each of the top four teams in the Metro has earned at least as many points on home ice as they are on the road… The Isles improve to 20-5-3 when they are outshot; the 20 wins lead the entire NHL when outshot…Tampa Bay did not score on 6:00 of power play time or 5:00 of 6th attacker time; the Lightning's power play is #1 in the NHL but is 0-7 vs. the Isles…Five of the nine Lightning regulation losses have been by three goals or more…Thomas Greiss, playing on the 11th anniversary of his NHL debut, recorded his 75th win as an Islander.

The Injury

Viktor Hedman left the game after colliding with an official in the second period. He did not return.

What A Start!

The Isles held a 3-0 lead at the 4:43 mark.  It's the 5th time in Isles history that they have scored three goals in the first 4:43:

• 1/26/82 vs Pittsburgh (2:46)

• 10/20/05 vs. Rangers (2:47)

• 12/13/83 vs. Edmonton (4:19)

• 2/22/89 in Buffalo (4:39)

• 1/13/2019 vs. Tampa Bay (4:43)

That Fourth Line

Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck each had two points.

Third period ice-time:

• Cizikas 5:37

• Clutterbuck 5:40

• Martin 6:07

Only the Barzal line saw more ice-time in the third period.

Back Ends

The Isles are 6-0-0 in back-ends of back-to-backs this season.  It's the first time that the Isles have won six straight back-ends in a single season since  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.

This matches the longest streak since 1981, when the Isles won seven straight back-ends (over two seasons).

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)

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner has allowed only 18 goals in his last 12 games (8-2-2, 1.540 GAA, .945 save percentage). In his four non-wins in that stretch he has allowed only seven goals. 

Lehner was the 4th Goalie in Isles history to record at least eight straight wins:

• 11: Jaroslav Halak (Nov-Dec 2014)

• 10: Billy Smith (Jan-Feb 1982)

• 8: ROBIN LEHNER (Dec 2018-Jan 2019)

• 8: Mark Fitzpatrick (Dec 1989-Jan 1990)

Most Points Thru 44 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 61: 2014-15

• 54: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 23 Road Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 31: 2013

• 29: 2018-19

Road Warriors

The Isles have won five straight games on the road; it's their longest road winning streak since a 7-game streak in the 2013-14 season.

The Isles are 8-1-0 in their last nine road games; the 16 points match the most ever for the club in a 9-game stretch of road games (done also in 1980-81, 1981-82 and 2013-14).

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. Boston 116

2. ISLES 117

3. Three with 122

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 114 

2. Boston 116

3. Nashville 121

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

1. John Tavares 84

2. Anthony Beauvillier 42

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 92 assists, 127 points

Barzal's 22nd birthday is not until May.

Most 3+ Point Games by an Islander Before Age 22

• 34 Bryan Trottier

• 18 John Tavares

• 16 Denis Potvin

• 14 Mike Bossy

• 12 Mathew Barzal

• 12 Pat LaFontaine

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 787-583-60-138 in 1,568 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    835 

4. Barry Trotz   787

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,568

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,561

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: 25-15-4 (54 points), with 134 goals scored and 117 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 22-18-4 (48 points), with 153 goals scored and 160 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 13-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-8-0 when allowing the opening goal. The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles       10-14-4=28

Tampa Bay 6-22-11=39

The Isles are 5-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 20-5-3 when they are outshot. [The club record for wins when being outshot is 25, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 25-15-4 overall; 11-7-3 at home (3-1-1 on Long Island and 8-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 14-8-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Tampa Bay is 35-9-2 overall; 19-4-0 at home and 16-5-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-5-1 in Division games and 14-10-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 17-7-4 against the East and 8-8-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 38 saves and improves to 13-8-1 on the season and 5-3-0 in his career against the Rangers.   

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves but falls to 18-5-2 on the season and 5-3-0 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-1 on the power play in 1:01 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 17-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-14-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-5-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-2-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-13-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 3-1 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 

Including today, the Isles are 4-2-0 in the front half and 6-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is Thursday vs. New Jersey and Friday at Washington.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

• The Isles are 3-0-1 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 16-15-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (22:12); Rangers: Mikhail Sergachev (23:29)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:57 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (13-7-3), Nick Leddy (7-7-1), Scott Mayfield (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%).  

Mathew Barzal won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Brayden Point won 11 of 18 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  6/17; 2nd period 13/24; 3rd period 10/20

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 24/42, Power play 0/1, Penalty kill 3/8.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Matt Martin - 5)  

Tampa Bay 33 (Adam Erne - 7)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –12 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 26 shots (Scott Mayfield -7) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 44, Tampa Bay 81

5-on-5 Isles 37, Tampa Bay 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Johnny Boychuk +1

Tampa Bay: Ondrej Palat +18

Night and Day

The Isles are 22-13-4 in night games and 3-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 20th  vs. Anaheim. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 162, Brock Nelson 139, Mathew Barzal 126

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Thomas Hickey- IR),Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 89

Late Heroes

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

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

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.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 5-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8),OTT (12/28) and STL (1/5);  all five wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 9-1-1 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 759

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Anders Lee 140 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 134…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 115

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 277

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 411

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 144

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 75

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied one game to one (and 2 points to 2).   The teams will conclude the season series at the Coliseum on February 1st.

It's only the second win for the Isles against the Lightning in the last eight meetings (2-6-0).

On the Farm 

Bridgeport suffered their first regulation home-ice loss since Opening Night on Saturday, falling 4-2 to Hartford.  Bridgeport is 22-12-4-2 on the season and head to Charlotte to face the Checkers on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Leaders:  Goals: Michael Dal Colle 16 ; Assists: Josh Ho-Sang 22; Points: Dal Colle 28.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 12-7-2 (2.77 GAA); Christopher Gibson 10-5-4 (3.06 GAA)

Up Next

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15th –  ST. LOUIS AT ISLANDERS AT BARCLAYS CENTER 7:00PM 

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

The Isles look to sweep the season series from St. Louis as the Blues visit Barclays Center on Tuesday.

The Isles are 5-1-1 in the last seven games against the Blues and are 2-0-1 in three previous games against the Blues at Barclays Center; all three Brooklyn meetings have been decided by a single goal.

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