Isles-Flyers facts

The Isles will look to break their 15 game losing streak against the Flyers on Thursday night.

Some fact and figures:

The Isles are 0-12-3, with one overtime loss and two shootout losses.

The Flyers have won all five this season in regulation, and six straight overall.

Goals:  Flyers 76, Isles 25

PP's
Isles: 7-62   (11.3%)  with 3 SH Goals Allowed 
Flyers: 20-49  (40.8%)

5 different Flyer goaltenders have won games during the streak:
Biron (9), Boucher (2), Leighton (2), Niittymaki (1) and Emery (1)
 
5 different Flyers have scored winning goals:
Carter (4), Gagne (3), Hartnell (3), Coburn (2) and Richards
Richards and Briere have scored the shootout-winning goals

Nine of the last 12 games have been decided by one goal, one by 2 goals, three by 3 goals and two by 4 goals.

The Isles have scored three goals or less in all 15 games, and two goals or less in all five games this season.

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

Isles Blown 2-goal leads

Last night was (at least) the 8th time that the Isles have blown a 2-goal lead.  I say "at least" because I saw a report that it was the 9th time, but I haven't found it.

Here's the list (0-3-5):

Oct 10  - Led Boston 3-0; lost 4-3 in shootout
Oct 24  - Led Washington 2-0; lost 3-2 in overtime
Nov 11 - Led Washington 3-1; lost 5-4 in shootout
Nov 14 - Led Florida 2-0, lost 5-4 in shootout
Feb 14 - Led Ottawa 3-1, lost 4-3
Mar 9   - Led Philadelphia 2-0, lost 3-2
Mar 19 - Led Anaheim 4-2, lost 5-4 in ovetime
Mar 30 - Led New York 2-0, lost 4-3 

The Isles are 18-13-10 in one-goal games.  It's the first time in club history that they have played at least 41 games settled by one goal.  Two seasons ago, they played 40, winning 17 of them  (17-14-9).

However, the Isles have had more than 41 games settled by one goal or less (i.e. with ties) twice in their history: 

45 in 2001-02  (20-17-  8)
43 in 1986-87  (18-13-12)
41 in 1998-99  (  8-23-10)

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

Pushed to the brink

The Islanders' loss on Tuesday night has pushed them to the precipice of elimination from the playoffs.

They can be eliminated as early as tomorrow night, unless they beat the Flyers for the first time in 16 tries.

If the Isles:
Beat Philly- they can not be eliminated on Thursday
Lose in OT/SO- they are eliminated if Montreal earns a point vs Carolina tonight and Boston beats Florida on Thursday
Lose in regulation- they are eliminated if Boston earns a point vs Florida

The Isles have six games to play; if they earn no more than seven point in those games, they are guaranteed to finish in the bottom eight, with bottom six appearing quite likely.

While Edmonton has locked up the worst record in the league, five Eastern Conference teams, including the Islanders, are separated by only four points for 25th-29th.

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

Stat Trick: Rangers 4, Isles 3

Marian Gaborikm became only the 17th player in Ranger history to record 40 goals as the Rangers rallied from a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Isles 4-3 on Tuesday at the Coliseum, effectively extinguishing the Isles' playoff hopes.  On to the trick:

1. The Isles started well.  After the Rangers were caught for too many men just 1:12 in, Mark Streit converted on the power play at 2:09.  It was his 9th power play goal of the season, tying Drew Doughty and Mike Green for the NHL lead among defensemen.  The Isles dominated play throughout most of the first period and upped their advantage to 2-0 on Blake Comeau's 13th goal of the season and first since March 2.

2. The Rangers grabbed control of the game in the second period, scoring three times and killing off a 59 second 5-on-3.  Vinny Prospal, Olli Jokinen and Gaborik had the Ranger goals. It was Gaborik's fourth goal of the season against the Isles.

3. Marc Staal's first goal since January 19th gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead 5:05 into the third period.  Staal's goal became the game-winner when Comeau scored his second goal of the game with 6:33 to play.  It's the 3rd time in the last 15 games that Comeau has recorded at least two goals

...a few more..

4. The Isles went 1-4 on the power play while the Rangers were 0-2.  The Isles finished the season 2-21 against the Rangers, while the Blueshirts were 5-27 with the extra man.  The Isles have now scored two power play goals in their last 49 attempts against the Rangers.

5. Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves to record his 31st win of the season. He is now 17-8-5 in his career against the Isles. Dwayne Roloson finished with 23 saves for the Isles. The Isles have been held to 32 shots or fewer in 11 straight games, after totalling 32 shots or more in ten of the prior 11 games.

6. Richard Park won 15 of 20 faceoffs, assisted on Comeau's first goal, and was +1.  The Isles won 32 of 53 face-offs overall.

7. The loss breaks an Islander three-game home win streak (and four-game home point streak).

8. It's the eighth time this season that the Isles have lost a game (three in regulation, five in overtime or shootout) that they have led by two goals at some point. That makes a total of 11 points lost by the Isles in games that they had at least a two goal lead. 

9. The Isles finish March with a 6-6-3 record. It's the fourth time this season that the Isles have ended a month with exactly an NHL .500 record.  The Rangers were 6-5-3 in March.

10.  The teams split the season series, with each team winning three times.  One of the Isles' wins was in overtime, giving the Rangers seven points to the Isles' six. The Rangers stay two points behind Atlanta and four points behind the Bruins.  They are also four points behind Philadelphia and Montreal.  The Isles drop to 10 points behind Philadelphia, Montreal, and Boston, who all have 82 points, with only six games to play.  The Isles could be eliminated from playoff competition as early as Thursday.

Up next:  The Flyers look to seek the Islanders for the second straight season as they visit the Coliseum on Thursday. The Isles have not managed even a loser point against Philadelphia this season, and have lost 15 straight to the Flyers overall.  The Isles' last victory over the Flyers was on February 12, 2009

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

Streit and the Power Play; 11-season streak in jeopardy

Entering tonight's game, Mark Streit leads the entire NHL in power play time, just ahead of Ilya Kovalchuk. He has played 31 minutes more on the power play than any other defenseman in the NHL. The Isles rank tied-22nd in PP opportunities with 275 this season.

Power Play Ice Time
1. Mark Streit NYI D 382:13
2. Ilya Kovalchuk NJD, ATL L 380:41
3. Brad Richards DAL C 369:19
4. Sidney Crosby PIT C 365:29
5. Martin St Louis TBL R 351:42
6. Mike Green WSH D 351:13

John Tavares leads all rookies in power play time with 297:05; the Rangers' Michael del Zotto is 2nd with 283:11.

The Isles have had 275 power plays to their opponents' 273, putting in jeopardy a long-standing streak. The Isles have had fewer power plays than their opponents in each of the last 11 seasons, and in all but two seasons in their history (1992-93 and 1996-97).

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

Eastern update

Buffalo beats Boston, Carolina beats Atlanta, and Florida earns a loser point.
 
 
EASTERN CONFERENCE
GP Ptsxz 1. Washington (SE) 75 109
xy 2. Pittsburgh (A) 76 95
xy 3. Buffalo (NE) 75 94
x 4. New Jersey (A) 75 93
5. Ottawa (NE) 76 87
6. Philadelphia (A) 76 82
7. Montreal (NE) 76 82
8. Boston (NE) 75 80
-----------------------------------------
9. Atlanta (SE) 76 78
10. NY Rangers (A) 75 76
11. Carolina (SE) 75 73
12. NY Islanders (A) 75 72
13. Tampa Bay (SE) 75 72
14. Florida (SE) 75 72
15. Toronto (NE) 76 69
 
Rangers can move within 2 points of Boston on Tuesday with a win at the Coliseum. 
 
7 points separate 23rd and 29th....
 

 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

Stat Trick: Isles 4, Columbus 3 (overtime).

Josh Bailey scored 2:58 into overtime as the Isles did something that they had never done before: win a game in Columbus.  The win allowed the Isles to sweep the season series from the Blue Jackets.  On to the Trick:

1.  The Isles grabbed the early lead as Kyle Okposo and Sean Begenheim scored 62 seconds apart to give the Isles a 2-0 lead before the first television timeout. It was Okposo's 17th goal of the season, one fewer than he had last season when he led the squad.

2.  RJ Umberger scored the only goal of the second period, recording his 21st goal just 51 seconds into play. RJ now has 50 points on the season (21-29-50), matching a career high.  It was Umberger's 11th goal in 25 games against the Isles.

3. The Blue Jackets struck for two goals in the first 1:18 of the third to grab the led.  Rick Nash's 31st goal tied the game just 33 seconds into play; Grant Clitsome, playing just his 4th NHL game then gave the Jackets the lead. Jon Sim tied the game at 4:14 of the third, setting the stage for Bailey's overtime heroics.
 
... a few more...
 
4.  Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves to record his 23rd win of the season, which equals the third highest total of his career; Mathieu Garon had 24 saves for Columbus.
 5. The Jackets went 1-4 on the power play while the Isles did not have a single power play opportunity for the second time this month (3/2 vs. Chicago).  It's the first time since November 17, 2006 in Tampa Bay that the Isles have not had a power play in a road game.

6. Bailey assisted on Sim's goal before scoring the winner.  It was his 19th assist, one more than he had last season.  He now has career highs in goals, assists, and points (15-19-34).

7. With the win, the Isles rewrote several sections of their record book:

Most overtime games 23 (previous record 22 in 2006-07); also played 22 ties in 1974-75.
Most overtime/shootout wins 13 (previous record 12 in 2005-06)
Most overtime goals 6 (ties record set in 2001-02)

Most overtime games, road 13 (ties record set in 1993-94)
Most overtime goals, road 5 (previous record 4 in 1985-86)

Most overtime goals, season  (one player)  2, (ties record held by several others, including Kyle Okposo earlier this season)
Most overtime goals, season, road (one player) 2, ties record set by Pierre Turgeon in 92-93 and again in 93-94,  and equaled by Okposo earlier this season

8. Sims' tying goal and Bailey's winner helped overshadow that the Isles lost another third period lead.  They have been oustcored 82-43 in the third period this season.

9.  The Isles improve to 2-2-1 in their last five on the road and 5-2-2 in their last nine overall.   They are now 11-21-7 in road games this season; their 29 road points are eight more than last season's total.  The eight point improvement is their biggest since improving by 21 points on the road between 2000-01 and 2001-02.  The Isles end the season 10-6-2 against the West and 5-1-1 against the Central Division.  Buffalo is the only other Eastern Conference team to beat the West ten times this season (Washington has nine wins, with one game to play).  The Isles finish with the best record of any Eastern team against the Central, losing only to St. Louis (0-1-1).

10.  The Isles sweep the season series two games to none, and four points to two.  The Isles have beaten Columbus four times since the Jackets came into the NHL; with the exception of a Rick DiPietro shutout in 2006, all of their wins have come in either overtime or shootouts.  The Isles now have 72 points, putting them eight points behind Boston for the final playoff spot (with seven games to play).  With the win, the Isles move into a tie for 25th in the overall standings; three points separates 25th and 29th.

Up next:

The Isles return home to battle the Rangers on Tuesday night.  It's the final meeting of the season between the Isles and Rangers this season. The Rangers blanked the Isles 5-0 on Wednesday; they have not done had consecutive shutouts against the Isles in regular season play since blanking them 6-0, 6-0 in a home-and-home series in 1973.  The Rangers also won the first two games on the 1994 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals against the Isles by that identical set of scores.  The Isles lead the season series three games to 2 (and six points to five).  The teams have split two games at the Coliseum this season.  This is the first of a four-game homestand for the Isles, who will play five of their final seven games at home.

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