The Skinny: Isles 4, Colorado 3 (overtime)

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 39
 Isles 4, Colorado 3 (OT)
 
20-year old John Tavares scored 3:52 into overtime to give 20-year old
goaltender Kevin Poulin a win in his first NHL start, as the Islanders rallied
from an early 2-0 deficit, built a 3-2 lead, survived a 6th attacker goal at
19:56 of the third and defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 before a crowd of
15,171 at Pepsi Center. The Isles improve to 3-1 on their longest road trip of
the season, while is now 2-5-2 in their last nine games.
 Slow Start
After holding Edmonton without a goal in his NHL debut on Thursday, Poulin
allowed two in the first 1:47.  Milan Hejduk's 12th goal of the season came just
45 seconds into play; David Koci's first goal 1:02 later doubled the Av's
advantage.  After allowing the two goals on the first four shots, Poulin settled
in and stopped 33 of 34 the rest of the way.

It's a Power Play Goal  x2
The Isles rebounded in the first period with two power play goals.  Jeremy
Colliton, who had scored only one goal in 42 previous NHL games and hadn't
played in the league since the 2008-09 season, scored at 5:52; Blake Comeau's
10th goal of the season at 12:59, his second in two games, erased the Avalanche
advantage.  Colorado outshot the Isles 12-9 in the opening period.
Power Play Goal #3
Colliton, playing an NHL game in front of his parents for the first time in his
career, gave the Isles a 3-2 lead 3:!7 into the second with his second power
play goal of the game.  Colliton was leading Bridgeport with 5 power play goals
at the time of his recall.  Each team had 11 shots in the middle session.
Hold on…Hold on….
The Isles protected the lead until 19:56 of the third, when Hejduk's second
goal, this one off a goal mouth scramble, earned Colorado a point and sent the
game into overtime.  The Avs outshot the Isles 12-5 in the third.
Overtime is Our Time…Again
John Tavares played hero again in the extra session, making a beautiful move out
of the corner and then beating Craig Anderson for the winning goal.  It's the
third overtime goal of the season for Tavares and his 14th overall, tying Matt
Moulson for the club lead.  4-3 Final.
Won't Need This Stat Again for Awhile
For the second straight game, the Isles dressed two goaltenders who had never
won an NHL game.  They are the second NHL team to do so this season. On October
13, Nashville dressed Anders Lindback and Mark Dekanich.
Home and Road
The Isles are 13-20-6, 6-13-3 on the road. They are now 9-10-3 under Jack
Capuano, including 8-2-1 in the last 11.  It's their best stretch since a 9-3-1
stretch in late 2009/early 2010 and matches their best 11 game stretch since
their season-opening 11-1-1-1 stretch in October/November 2001. Colorado is
21-15-6, 11-8-3 at home.
In the Nets
Poulin made 34 saves to record his first NHL victory. Craig Anderson finished
with 23 saves for Colorado.  Poulin (20 years, 271 days) is the first 20
year-old to win an NHL game since Chris Mason did so for Columbus on April 11,
2009 and is the youngest to do so since Mason did so at 20 years, 266 days on
February 19, 2009 in Toronto.
Power Plays
For the third time in four games, the Isles were essentially perfect on the
power play, converting three times in four opportunities.  The only power play
that they did not score on lasted only four seconds.  The Isles are 7-15 on the
power play on the road trip (46.7%). Colorado failed on all three of their
attempts; the Isles remain perfect (11-11) on the penalty kill in the first four
games of this season-long five game road trip. 

It's the second time this season that the Isles scored 3 power play goals in a
game; they did it on Opening Night vs. Dallas. It's the first time that they had
scored three power play goals in a road game since March 15, 2009 in Chicago ;
another Islander goalie Peter Mannino made his first NHL start in that game.
It had been a long time for the Isles between multiple power play goal games
against Colorado. It was the first time since October 10, 1999 (Butch Goring's
first win as Isles coach). They hadn't scored multiple power play goals in
Denver since John Tonelli and Mike Bossy scored against Chico Resch on March 20,
1981 – just days after he had been traded to the Colorado Rockies.
In the Circle
The Isles won 34 of64 (53%) face-offs.  Zenon Konopka had another strong game on
draws, winning 11 of 17.

Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent
Hunter and Radek Martinek, Mark Eaton and Rick DiPietro remain out.  Frans
Nielsen missed his second game of the season with a groin strain while (adductor
muscle) Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch. The Isles have now lost 235
man-games to injury.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 121 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 51 game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 19 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

2009 Draft Redux
It was the third career meeting of John Tavares and Matt Duchesne, taken 1st and
3rd overall in 2009.  Tavares now has two goals against Colorado while Duchesne
is pointless against the Isles. Duchesne is 40-55-95 in his career while Tavares
is 38-44-82.
Wrong Number?
John Tavares shares a uniform number with Islander Stanley Cup hero Butch
Goring; perhaps he should be wearing #23, the retired uniform number of Islander
legend and overtime hero Bob Nystrom.   Tavares set an Islander club record by
recording his third overtime goal of the season.  Tavares is the 6th Islander to
record at least three career overtime goals; Pierre Turgeon is the only one to
have scored four.  Tavares is one overtime goal shy of the NHL record of four,
shared by several players – most recently Daniel Sedin in 2006-07.   He is tied
with Atlanta's Dustin Byfuglien for the NHL lead.
Getting Younger All the Time
The Isles, who as recently as last Saturday had a 41 year old on their roster,
dressed only three players over 30: Jon Sim and Zenon Konopka (30 years, 6
days), and they saw less than 22 minutes of ice-time combined.  With Kevin
Poulin in the lineup, the Isles now have three players who were born in the
1990's (Travis Hamonic and John Tavares are the others; Tavares remains the
youngest player on the team).  The average age of the 20 players dressed for
this game was 25.07 years.
Ch..Ch..Changes
Jeremy Colliton scored his first NHL goal since potting his first NHL tally on
April 15, 2006 against Pittsburgh.  Only one other Islander played in both that
game and this one: Bruno Gervais.
Race to 100
With his goal in this game, Blake Comeau now has 97 career points (41-56-97),
one more than Kyle Okposo (39-57-96), two more than Frans Nielsen (29-66-95) and
five more than Radek Martinek (19-73-92).  No player drafted by the Islanders
has recorded 100 points in an Islander uniform since Scott Lachance reached the
mark during the 1998-99 season.
Season Series Stats          
The Islanders win the season series two games to none and four points to one.
The Isles are 7-0-2 against Colorado since being shutout 1-0 by Patrick Roy on
November 16, 2001.
Happy Anniversary
31 years ago today (January 8, 1980):  Chico Resch records a shutout as the
Isles blank Vancouver 3-0 at the Coliseum.   It's the first of three shutouts in
eight weeks for Resch, but the only one that resulted in a victory. (The other
two were scoreless ties.)  The Isles are now 7-12-1 all-time on this date.
1,500 Club
This was the 1,502nd road game in Islander history.  The Isles are 539-752-211
all-time on the road.  The Isles will also play their 3,000th game on this road
trip (Sunday in Chicago).  Their 1,500th home game will be on January 15th
against Buffalo while their 1,500th Nassau Coliseum game will be on January 20th
against Washington (each NHL team played two neutral site games in 1992-93 and
1993-94). 

Up Next
Sunday, January 9- Islanders @ Chicago 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The road trip concludes on Sunday when the Islanders play the 3,000th game in
their history as they face the Stanley Cup Champions for the only time this
season at the United Center in Chicago.
Blake Comeau has fond memories of the team's last meeting; in the first game
after the Olympic break last March, Comeau recorded a hat trick in a 5-3
Islander win.
The Isles have dominated the series in recent years, winning six straight games,
including three straight in Chicago.  They've outscored the Hawks 30-12 in that
stretch.  The Hawks last win vs. the Isles came on December 10, 2002 at the
Coliseum.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources. Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on
Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and
follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Young Get Younger

It appears that Frans Nielen will definitely not play for the Isles this
afternoon and reports are that Jeremy Colliton will.

The Isles thus have 21 healthy bodies: Average age: 25,39 years -- average
birthdate August 16, 1985

If Trevor Gillies is the scratch, the average age of the 20 players dressed
would drop to 25.07 years -- average birthday December 14, 1985.

Gillies, who will turn 32 this month, is the second-oldest healthy Islander.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Kevin Poulin - 1st NHL Start

The Isles have announced that Kevin Poulin will make his first NHL start on
Saturday afternoon in Colorado.

Poulin will become the youngest Islander to start a game since Rick DiPietro
faced Boston on Apirl 7, 2001. DiPietro was 19 years, 200 days. Poulin is 20
years, 271 days. Di Pietro appeared in 20 games as a 19 year old

Eric Fichaud, Mark Fitzpatrick and Roberto Luongo all made their Islander debuts
at a younger age than Poulin.

Poulin won't be the youngest Islander on the ice -- he's a few months older than
both Travis Hamonic and John Tavares.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Re: Lawson's Strange Week in Alberta

Should read "Last night in Edmonton" (obviously). Thanks to those who pointed
it out.

----- Original Message ----

Islander netminder Nathan Lawson surely had a strange week in his return to his
home province of Alberta.

On Monday, he replaced Rick DiPietro early in the second period and helped the
Islanders secure the victory. In turn, DiPietro became the first starting Isles

goalie to start, play less than half of the game and win since at least 1987.

Last night in Calgary, Lawson was pulled after allowing 2 goals on 3 shots in
the first 5:17. It is the earliest an Islander goalie has been pulled since
Tommy Soderstrom was yanked 4:59 into a game in Hartford on March 25, 1995.
Soderstrom also allowed 2 goals; the Isles lost that game 5-1.

Lawson, who made only one save, also finishes with the lowest save percentage
(.333) of an Islander starting goalie since at least 1987. It's the first time

an Islander starter has allowed more goals than he saved since Rick DiPietro
allowed 3 goals on five shots on January 26, 2007 in Atlanta. Current teammate
Jon Sim scored the goal that chased DiPietro that night.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Chris Peters on Brock Nelson

Chris Peters, former communications coordinator for USA Hockey, has a website
now called the United States of Hockey. http://unitedstatesofhockey.com/

Today, he reviewed the play of US forwards at the World Jrs. Here's his review
of Brock Nelson (Isles 1st pick in 2010)

<<Brock Nelson — 5 GP, 0-1–1, 0 PIM, -1 — I thought Nelson was going to battle
for a spot in camp coming into this tournament. Since he had such a great camp,
it really wasn't much of a battle. Then the tournament started. He got hurt in
the first game, missing Team USA's second contest. The next game back, against
Germany, he was very good. That was probably his best game. After that, he kind
of went away, save for a few flashes in later games. I don't know the extent of
Nelson's injury, but he never seemed the same as he did in camp or in the
Finland game. Nelson has speed and skill, but he's got a lot of strength to
build. I think he was out-muscled in a variety of ways and was the subject of
several big hits. He's so tall, but thin. His wiry frame seems to allow him to
get those legs going and his hands are very good. The great thing for Nelson is
that he is at the University of North Dakota in a program that has developed
plenty of pro talent. He's a perfect guy for that program. There's no doubt
he's going to continue to build strength and be a factor. We'll see how much
strength he builds along the way, and I'd anticipate four full years at North
Dakota will allow him to be ready for the pro game. With his tremendous upside,
and room to grow, the Islanders have a solid prospect to watch out for.
>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Lawson's Strange Week in Alberta

Islander netminder Nathan Lawson surely had a strange week in his return to his
home province of Alberta.

On Monday, he replaced Rick DiPietro early in the second period and helped the
Islanders secure the victory. In turn, DiPietro became the first starting Isles
goalie to start, play less than half of the game and win since at least 1987.

Last night in Calgary, Lawson was pulled after allowing 2 goals on 3 shots in
the first 5:17. It is the earliest an Islander goalie has been pulled since
Tommy Soderstrom was yanked 4:59 into a game in Hartford on March 25, 1995.
Soderstrom also allowed 2 goals; the Isles lost that game 5-1.

Lawson, who made only one save, also finishes with the lowest save percentage
(.333) of an Islander starting goalie since at least 1987. It's the first time
an Islander starter has allowed more goals than he saved since Rick DiPietro
allowed 3 goals on five shots on January 26, 2007 in Atlanta. Current teammate
Jon Sim scored the goal that chased DiPietro that night.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Edmonton 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny"
 
By Eric Hornick
 
Game 38
Oilers 2, Isles 1
 
Gilbert Brule and Dustin Penner scored 1:55 apart, chasing Nathan Lawson just
5:17 into play and the Edmonton Oilers then road the goaltending of Devan Dubnyk
to a 2-1 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 16,839 at Rexall
Place. It's Edmonton's 217th consecutive home sellout. The Oilers break their
seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) while stopping the Islanders' three-game
winning streak.
Slow Start
Brule gave the Oilers the lead at 3:22 of the first period, converting a rebound
of an Andrew Cogliano shot, but the Isles appeared to catch a break when Dubnyk
shot the puck over the glass just nine seconds later.  However, Dustin Penner
scored shorthanded for Edmonton to give the Oilers a 2-0 advantage. It was
Edmonton's 5th shorthanded goal of the season and 4th allowed by the Isles.

Enter Kevin Poulin
Following the second goal, Capuano pulled Lawson, who had made just one save,
and replaced him with 20 year old Kevin Poulin.  Poulin, making his NHL debut,
was perfect the rest of the way, making 19 saves.
Isles Get One Back
Blake Comeau returned to the lineup after missing Monday's game and just seconds
after an Islander power play expired, he scored his ninth goal of the season,
off a pass from former Oiler Rob Schremp.  Comeau's goal came at 13:00 of the
second period.
Power Play: Lots of Shots, but no Goals
The Isles had three third period power plays but failed to convert, including on
a 1:39 5-on-3.  2-1 Final.
From The Elias Geniuses
The Isles played two goaltenders who have never won an NHL game.  It's the
second time this season that an NHL team has done that. On October 13, Nashville
dressed Anders Lindback and Mark Dekanich.
Home and Road
Edmonton is 13-19-7, 7-11-3 at home. The Isles are 12-20-6, 5-13-3 on the road.
9 of their 12 wins have come in three distinct three-game win streaks. They are
now 8-10-3 under Jack Capuano, including 7-2-1 in the last ten.  It's their best
stretch since a 9-3-1 stretch in late 2009/early 2010.

In the Nets
Dubnyk made 30 saves, including 15 when the Isles were on the power play to
reach NHL .500.  He's 3-3-5 on the season.  Kevin Poulin ends the night as an
NHL record holder.  He played 53:43 before vacating the net for an extra
attacker; he has played the most time of any goalie in NHL who has never allowed
a single goal.
22 Shots Against
The Isles allowed only 22 shots.  They have allowed 22 or fewer four times this
season and are 0-3-1 in those games.  They are 0-4-1 in road games that they
allowed 22 shots or fewer since winning at Madison Square Garden and holding the
Rangers to 19 shots on November 19, 2007.
Power Plays
After going 4-4 on the power play in the last two games, the Isles were 0-7 with
the man advantage and allowed a shorthanded goal.  Edmonton had only one power
play attempt, which the Isles killed, so they are a perfect 8-8 on the penalty
kill in the first three games of this season-long five game road trip. 

In the Circle
The Isles won 39 of 59 (66%) face-offs.  Zenon Konopka was perfect, winning all
11 draws he took, while Rob Schremp won 13 of 18.  
Missing Men
Mike Mottau is out for the season. Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Trent
Hunter and Radek Martinek remain out.  Frans Nielsen missed his first game of
the season with a groin strain while Rick DiPietro (adductor muscle) and Mark
Eaton joined them on the injured list.  The Isles announced on Thursday that
Eaton, who played 50:49 in the first two games of this road trip, is out
indefinitely with a hip injury. Blake Comeau returned from injury and Trevor
Gillies saw 4:07 of ice-time in his first game in the last 9. The Isles have now
lost 226 man-games to injury.
Moulson Extends Streak
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 120 games since
joining the team last season.  Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 50 game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 18 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles. The Oilers have two players, Tom Gilbert and Andrew Cogliano, who have
played every game for the past 3 ½ seasons.
Battle of #1's
It was the first meeting of John Tavares and Taylor Hall, the #1 overall picks
in the last two NHL entry drafts.  Tavares, who had recorded six points in the
prior two games, was held pointless, recording 4 shots on goal while winning 11
of 20 face-offs.  Hall played 19:56, including a game-high 18:55 at even
strength and finished with three shots on goal.
Getting Younger All the Time
The Isles, who as recently as Saturday had a 41 year old on their roster,
dressed only three players over 30: Jon Sim, Trevor Gillies, and Zenon Konopka
(30 years, 4 days), and they saw less than 22 minutes of ice-time combined. 
With Kevin Poulin in the lineup, the Isles now have three players who were born
in the 1990's (Travis Hamonic and John Tavares are the others; Tavares remains
the youngest player on the team)
Season Series Stats          
The Oilers win the only meeting of the season series between the teams that
competed for the Stanley Cup in both 1983 and 1984.   The Isles have not won in
Edmonton since 2003 (0-3-0).  The Oilers' win deprived the Isles of a rare
Alberta sweep.  The Isles have swept consecutive games in Alberta only once in
their history, in October 1982.
A Much Faster 15
The Isles were 5-18-5 on December 15th; their 15 points were the fewest in the
NHL.  Since then, the Isles are 7-2-1, earning them 15 points in that stretch.
Happy Anniversary
30 years ago today (January 6, 1981):  Mike Bossy was 2 ½ weeks away from 50
goals in 50 games.  With defenses keying on him, it was John Tonelli's time to
play goal scorer.  Tonelli tied the club record with five goals and Bossy added
a club record six assists as the Isles beat Toronto 6-3 at the Coliseum.  The
Isles are 8-8-0 all-time on this date.
1,500 Club
This was the 1,501st road game in Islander history.  The Isles are 538-752-211
all-time on the road.  The Isles will also play their 3,000th game on this road
trip (next Sunday in Chicago).  Their 1,500th home game will be on January 15th
against Buffalo while their 1,500th Nassau Coliseum game will be on January 20th
against Washington (each NHL team played two neutral site games in 1992-93 and
1993-94). 

Up Next
Saturday, January 8- Islanders @ Colorado 3:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 2:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles and Avalanche play the second-half of their season series on Saturday
afternoon in Denver.  The Isles defeated Colorado 5-2 at the Coliseum on October
16th, extending a remarkable run against the Avalanche.  The Isles are 6-0-2
against Colorado since being shutout 1-0 by Patrick Roy on November 16, 2001.
This is the 4th game of the season-long road trip and the first of a weekend
matinee set of back-to-backs.  The Isles will finish the trip in Chicago on
Sunday.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick