"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 56
Isles 7, Detroit 6 (OT)
In one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history, the Isles rallied from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits behind a Brock Nelson hat trick and five more assists from Mathew Barzal, as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 7-6 in overtime before a crowd of 11,847 at Barclays Center.
The Islanders scored four power play goals in a span of 3:37 following a match penalty assessed to Detroit's Tyler Bertuzzi. It is the first time in Islander history that they have scored four power play goals in a period. Nelson had two goals in the third period and then capped his second career hat trick with the overtime winner. Mathew Barzal assisted on the winning goal as he re-wrote the NHL record, becoming the first rookie in 100 years to record three 5-point games (Joe Malone in 1917-18) and the first rookie in NHL history to record two 5-assist games.
It's the first time that the Isles have rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win since March 10, 2014 in Vancouver and the second time this season that they have erased a two goal second intermission deficit to win (5-4 in Philadelphia on Black Friday).
The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
02:13 Detroit Anthony Mantha (17) ASST: Henrik Zetterberg (29), Niklas Kronwall (12) 0-1
05:12 Detroit Martin Frk (10) ASST: Tyler Bertuzzi (8) 0-2
14:40 Detroit Henrik Zetterberg (7) ASST: Gustav Nyquist (10), Mike Green (22) 0-3
2ND PERIOD
09:36 New York Jordan Eberle (19) ASST: Mathew Barzal (38) 1-3
3RD PERIOD
03:02 New York Brock Nelson (12) ASST: Thomas Hickey (11), Adam Pelech (12) 2-3
07:42 Detroit Darren Helm (6) ASST: Frans Nielsen (9), Justin Abdelkader (14) 2-4
09:54 Detroit PPG - Niklas Kronwall (3) ASST: Henrik Zetterberg (30), Gustav Nyquist (11) 2-5
14:34 New York PPG - Brock Nelson (13) ASST: Mathew Barzal (39) 3-5
15:28 New York PPG - Anders Lee (29) ASST: Mathew Barzal (40), Josh Bailey (46) 4-5
16:39 New York PPG - Nick Leddy (9) ASST: John Tavares (33), Jordan Eberle (23) 5-5
18:11 New York PPG - Josh Bailey (14) ASST: John Tavares (34), Mathew Barzal (41) 6-5
19:31 Detroit Mike Green (6) ASST: Henrik Zetterberg (31), Dylan Larkin (32) 6-6
OT PERIOD
03:15 New York Brock Nelson (14) ASST: Mathew Barzal (42) 7-6
The Skinny
The Isles are 12-16-4 in their last 32 games … Including shootout winners, the Isles have scored 191 goals in the first 55 games (first time since 1992-93 when they had 230) and allowed 207 goals (highest since 1995-96, when they allowed 217) … The Isles have allowed at least 35 shots in twelve straight home games…The Isles had lost 31 straight games (all in regulation) when trailing 3-0; their last point when trailing 3-0 was when they defeated the Canucks with a 7-goal third period in March 2014…. The Isles have scored a power play goal in four straight games after scoring goals in only 3 of 16 games since Christmas… Anders Lee's goal was his 63rd since the start of last season. He is the first Isles winger with 29 goals in successive seasons since Matt Moulson (2009-10 to 2011-12) …Tavares, Nelson, Bailey and Leddy all extended their point streaks to four games… The Isles have now outscored the opposition 71-61 in the 3rd period…The Isles have won six games in overtime this season, with six different players scoring goals…The Isles are only the third team in NHL history to win a game that they trailed by three goals with 5:30 minutes to play…Petr Mrazek had never allowed more than five goals in a game before allowing seven tonight…The Isles scored four power play goals in a game for the first time since December 31, 2013 in Boston…Josh Bailey's goal was his 120th, giving him sole possession of 20th place on the all-time Islander list… John Tavares now has 599 career points…Tavares and Bailey each finished -4; the only other Isles to finish -4 in a team win was Mark Parrish on April 2, 2004 in Carolina…Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and three assists for Detroit; he is the first opponent to have four points vs. the Isles in a game the Isles won since Ilya Kovalchuk and Maxim Afinogenov both did so on January 2, 2010 for Atlanta.
Record-Tying Third Period
The Isles scored five goals in the third period; it's only the second time since 1990 that the Isles have scored at least five goals in a third period (7 in Vancouver on March 10, 2014). The Isles had not scored five goals in the third period at home since January 28, 1986 vs. Toronto.
The 8 goals for both teams combined ties the Isles club record for most goals in a third period:
10/31/78 vs. Colorado (6-2)
11/13/79 vs. Rangers (5-3)
1/2/86 vs. Boston (6-2)
3/10/14 @ Vancouver (7-1)
2/9/18 vs. Detroit (5-3).
Jaro Wins in Relief
Jaroslav Halak faced 7 shots and stopped 6; since December 1st, Halak has faced 873 shots. This is 108 more than any other goaltender in that span (Frederik Anderson has faced 765).
It's only the second relief win of his career and his first since March 7, 2010 for Montreal against Anaheim.
Brock's Hat
Brock Nelson completed his 2nd hat trick in overtime, giving him 4-3-7 in the last four games. His first hat trick was on January 12, 2016 vs. Columbus. Nelson now has 14 goals on the season, putting him on pace for a 20-goal season.
It was Nelson's 2nd career overtime goal; his other OT goal won a 6-5 game vs. Toronto last February 6th. He is the first Islander to complete a hat trick with an overtime goal since Michael Grabner did so on February 13, 2011 in Buffalo; that was the last 7-6 game the Isles had played before tonight. (per TSN, Patrick Flatley is the only other Isles to do so in a regular season game; Mike Bossy also did it in game 1 of the 1982 Stanley Cup Final)
Nutty Barzal Numbers
Mathew Barzal is the first player IN ISLANDER HISTORY with multiple 5-assist games in a season. Mike Bossy is the only other Islander with two career 5-assist games (1/6/81 vs. Toronto (6 assists), 2/13/82 vs. Philadelphia).
Barzal is the first Islander since Pat LaFontaine (1989-90) to have three 5-point games in a season. LaFontaine (4), Trottier (15), Bossy (15) and Potvin (5) are the only Isles will more CAREER 5-point games.
Barzal recorded his sixth game with at least three points in his rookie season, joining Mike Bossy (6) and Bryan Trottier (9) as the only players in Islander history to do so.
The Isles are only the 3rd team in NHL history (and 2nd in the last 100 years) to have four 5-point games from rookies in one season. Ryan Pulock has the other one this season. Peter/Anton Stastny did it for Quebec in 1980-81 and the original Ottawa Senators did it in 1917-18l
Barzal Rising Fast on All-time Isles Rookie Scoring
The first of Mathew Barzal's five assists came on Jordan Eberle's second period goal. It was his 38th assist (tying rookie totals of Mike Bossy and Vladimir Malakhov) and 54th point (tying rookie total of Denis Potvin, Pat LaFontaine and John Tavares). By the time the night was over he had also passed Bryan Berard in assists (to move into 3rd all-time) and Stefan Persson in points (to move into 4th place all-time).
Barzal now needs only 2 points to become the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history.
Most Assists by an Islander Rookie
1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76
2. Stefan Persson 50 1977-78
3. MATHEW BARZAL 42 2017-18
Most Points by an Islander Rookie
1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76
2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78
3. David Volek 59 1988-89
4. MATHEW BARZAL 58 2017-18
Countdown to 50
Josh Bailey recorded his 46th assist of the season. No Islander has had 50 assists since John Tavares reached the mark in 2011-12; Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to exceed 50 assists in the last 28 seasons (74 in 1992-93 and 56 in 1993-94).
One and (Usually) Done
The Isles are 15-0-1 this season when leading after one period. Dating back to last season the Isles are 22-0-2 in their last 24 games when leading after twenty minutes. Their February 5th overtime loss to the Predators ended a 19-game winning streak when scoring first.
Five's Alive
The Isles have scored at least five goals ten times at home (9-1-0) and seventeen times overall (16-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.
Five's (Usually)Trouble
The Isles have allowed at least five goals eight times at home (1-5-2) and sixteen times overall (1-13-2).
Chili
The Isles have scored at least six goals eight times this season. The Isles have won 45 straight games, dating back to 2005, when they score at least six times.
Seventh Heaven
The Isles have scored seven goals three times this season. The Isles have won 44 straight games, dating back to a 1991 tie in St. Louis, when they score at least seven times.
First Things First
The Isles have scored first 21 times this season (17-3-1). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season and had won a franchise-record 16 straight dating back to last season.
First Goal
The Isles are 17-3-1 when they score first and are 10-20-5 when they allow the opening goal.
This Year vs. Last Year
The Isles are 27-23-6 (60 points) this season; they were 26-20-10 (622 points) through 56 games last season.
Lots of Wins
Jaroslav Halak has 229 career wins; he is once again tied with Antti Niemi for 64th on the all-time NHL win list. Corey Crawford and Martin Biron each have 230 NHL wins while Chico Resch owns 231.
Fastest to 50
Doug Weight is now 51-35-10 as an NHL coach. On February 3rd vs. the Blue Jackets, he reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Islander history:
Fewest Games to 50 Wins by an Islander Coach:
93 – Doug Weight (50-34-9)
98 – Ted Nolan 2006-07 & 2007-08 (50-36-12)
102- Terry Simpson 1986-87 & 1987-88 (50-39-13)
103– Peter Laviolette 2001-02 & 2002-03(50-39-10-4)
106—Steve Stirling 2003-04 & 2005-06 (50-40-11-5)
The Shots
Isles 8-3-16-2=29
Detroit 14-10-14-1=39
The Isles are 7-7-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 20-15-3 when they are outshot. (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)
Offside Challenges
The Isles have challenged three times and been successful twice.
10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.
10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful
1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful
The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 27-23-6 overall; 15-8-4 at home and 12-15-2 on the road.
Detroit is 21-24-8 overall; 11-11-7 at home and 10-12-2 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 8-7-1 in Division games and 19-16-5 in games versus other divisions. The Isles are 15-16-1 against the East and 12-7-5 against the West.
Our House
The Isles are 15-8-4 at home; they are 8-7-0 against the East and 7-1-4 against the West. All-time the Isles are 28-5-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 27 saves before being pulled after Detroit's fifth goal. Jaroslav Halak made six saves in relief to improve to 17-16-4 on the season and 7-6-2 in his career against Detroit.
Petr Mrazek made 22 saves; he is 7-6-3 on the season and 6-3-1 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles were 4-7 on the power play in 9:00 of PP time; Detroit was 1-2 on the power play in 2:54 of PP time.
The Isles are 16-9-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-14-4 when they do not. The Isles are 16-16-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-7-4 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 25-7-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-16-3 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 12-5-6 in games decided by a single goal including 3-5 in regulation. They are 6-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 5-6-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 4-7-0 on the back-end. The Isles will play only one other set of back-to-backs in February (February 15 vs Rangers – February 16 in Carolina)
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 1-3-0 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not.
• The Isles are 3-4-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
• The Isles are 16-15-6 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy and John Tavares (23:39); Detroit: Trevor Daley (23:44).
John Tavares led Isles forwards in ice-time (23:39).
Face-offs
Isles 27, Detroit 33 (45%).
John Tavares won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Frans Nielsen won 10 of 15 for Detroit.
Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/18; 2nd period 10/20; 3rd period 6/19; Overtime 1/3.
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/47, Power play 2/9, Penalty kill 2/4.
Hit Count
Isles 26 (Johnny Boychuk -4)
Detroit 17 (Justin Abdelkader -4))
Fights
Johnny Boychuk fought Justin Abdelkader late in the 2nd period. Season total – 10: (Boychuk 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Johnston 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles blocked 15 shots (Nick Leddy -6)
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 52, Detroit 63.
5-on-5 Isles 33, Detroit 54.
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech and John Tavares +3
Detroit: Henrik Zetterberg +16
Night and Day
The Isles are 23-23-5 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees. The Isles, who went 2-3-1 in matinees last season have only one matinee remaining this season: February 19th vs Minnesota (1pm).
Overall: Jason Chimera 244 (including 106 for the Capitals), Jordan Eberle 207 (including 151 for the Oilers:
As Isles: Jason Chimera 138, Nick Leddy 133
Century Club
Nick Leddy is only the 8th defenseman in Islander history to have played at least 130 consecutive regular season games:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)
5. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)
6. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)
7. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 133
8. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130
9. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118
10. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117
11. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)
12. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110
13. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104
14. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Scratches
(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), Alan Quine, Tanner Fritz, Dennis Seidenberg
Total games lost: 180
Late Heroes
The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout
12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime
12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime
2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime.
Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have allowed a goal three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime
12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime
2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime
2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime.
7-11
The Isles have used 7 defensemen three times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ) and are 2-1-0 in those games. Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-1-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900
…
7. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Brent Sutter 694 *** 9. Josh Bailey 691** 10. John Tavares 643
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 263
…
18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Duane Sutter 121 *** 20. Josh Bailey 120, *** 21 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 *** 23. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 26. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 27. Anders Lee 113
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***
5. John Tonelli 338 *** 6. John Tavares 336
…
13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 16. Josh Bailey 246
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***
5. Brent Sutter 610 *** 6. John Tavares 599
…
13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Kyle Okposo & Stefan Persson 369 *** 16. Josh Bailey 366
Games Played (Goalies)
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282
…
6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 161 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***
10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11. Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 114
Wins (Goalie)
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***
5. Jaroslav Halak 85 *** 6. Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8. Tommy Salo 62 ***
9. Thomas Greiss 59
Season Series Stats
The season series is even one game to one (Detroit has earned three points to the Isles' two). The teams will meet in Detroit in the regular season finale on April 7th.
The Isles are 3-4-1 in their last 8 games against Detroit.
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 23-17-5-2 and holds 4th place (and the final playoff spot) in their division by percentage points.
Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Rookie Scott Eansor leads the team in goals with 16. Christopher Gibson is 17-9-2 in the nets with 2 shutouts.
Bridgeport returns home to host Providence on Saturday and host Syracuse on Sunday.
Up Next
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11th –CALGARY AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM]
It's been a long time since the Isles have played their expansion cousins, the Flames. They'll meet for the first time this season, and the first time in Brooklyn in 14 ½ months.
The Isles have won three straight at home vs. Calgary (and six of the last seven home games vs. the Flames). Overall the Isles are 10-4-0 in their last 14 against the Flames.
The game will mark the return to Brooklyn for Travis Hamonic. Hamonic played the first 444 games of his career for the Islanders. Perhaps fittingly, the game will be played on the 7th anniversary of Hamonic's Gordie Howe Hat Trick (in the fight game vs Pittsburgh in 2011).
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
