The Skinny - Game 62: Isles 5, Dallas 4

Game 62Isles 5, Dallas 4
Nick Leddy, Dennis Seidenberg and Nikolay Kulemin all scored third period goals as the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars before a crowd of 17,438 at American Airlines Center.
Ryan Strome had a goal and 2 assists for the Isles, who trailed 3-1 midway through the game.
It's the first time all season that the Isles have earned a point in a road game that they trailed after two periods (1-11-0) and the first time that the Isles have won a road game in regulation time that they trailed after 40 minutes since the famed 7-goal third period in Vancouver on March 10, 2014.
With the win, the Isles regain the second wild card spot, by virtue of having played one fewer game than Toronto. The Leafs lost in a shootout in Los Angeles.

The Scoring:1ST PERIOD
09:29 New York Ryan Strome (12) ASST: Jason Chimera (10) 1-0
19:52 Dallas PPG - Jamie Benn (22) ASST: Tyler Seguin (40), Jason Spezza (26) 1-1
2ND PERIOD
07:33 Dallas Radek Faksa (9) ASST: Patrick Sharp (9), Greg Pateryn (6) 1-2
10:14 Dallas Jason Spezza (10) ASST: John Klingberg (28), Tyler Seguin (41) 1-3
14:49 New York Andrew Ladd (17) ASST: Ryan Strome (15), Josh Bailey (32) 2-3
3RD PERIOD
00:25 New York Nick Leddy (10) ASST: Anders Lee (15), John Tavares (30) 3-3
07:46 New York Dennis Seidenberg (5) ASST: Calvin de Haan (13), Ryan Strome (16) 4-3
09:30 New York Nikolay Kulemin (11) ASST: Nick Leddy (24) 5-3
17:09 Dallas SHG - Jamie Benn (23) 5-4
The Skinny:
The Isles improve to 13-5-2 (.700) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 24-12-6 in their last 42 games…The Isles have won 4 out of 5 and extend their streak of not losing consecutive games in regulation time; the Isles haven't lost consecutive games in regulation since December 13-15…Excluding empty-nets, the Isles have been outscored 9-5 in the final 30 seconds of periods, including 6-0 since Anders Lee's late goal beat Pittsburgh on November 30th…Four of Nikolay Kulemin's 11 goals this season have been game-winners; he is tied with Anders Lee for the team lead…Dennis Seidenberg scored for the first time since November 3rd and went +3; he is a team-leading +23 on the season…Nick Leddy equaled his career high with 10 goals…Jamie Benn's shorthanded goal was the 4th allowed by the Isles this season…The Isles have now outscored the opposition in each regulation period: 53-52 in the first, 58-56 in the second, and 70-68 in the third…The Isles scored three goals in the third period for the sixth time this season.
Tying the GM
Thomas Greiss recorded his 44th win as an Islander, tying Garth Snow for 12th place on the all-time Islander list. Greiss is only the 3rd Islander goalie in the Post-Cup era to record consecutive seasons with at least 21 wins (DiPietro: 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and Hrudey 1986-87 and 1987-88).
Welcome to the Show!
Joshua Ho-Sang made his NHL debut; he played 17:01 and had two shots on goal.
Playoff Chase:
Last 31
The Isles are now 19-8-4 in their last 31 games (since December 20th vs. Boston). In those games, the PP is 17-90(18.9%) and the penalty kill is 13-72 (81.9%).
#1 is #1 (aka The Greiss is Right)
Thomas Greiss has started 23 of the last 27 games (13-7-3 with three shutouts) and 25 of the last 32 games (15-7-3 with three shutouts).
Weight Lifted
Isles leading scorers since Doug Weight became the Isles' interim coach:
The Long Road Ahead
The Isles are playing 17 of their final 24 on the road, including nine consecutive road games for the first time in their history. The Isles are 3-1-0 in this stretch, despite being outscored 12-11:
Home is Where the Heart Is
The Isles have earned points in their last 11 home games (9-0-2). It's their longest point streak at home in the post-Cup era. The last time the Isles had a longer streak was in 1982; the Isles ended the 1981-82 season with a 23-game unbeaten streak (21-0-2). That streak began on January 2, 1982 and was extended to 30 games over two seasons (28-0-2).
The last time that the Isles had a point streak of at least ten home games in a single season was in 1989-90, when they also earned points in ten straight games (12/16/1989 - 1/28/1990).
Longest Point Streaks in Post-Cup Era
11 - CURRENT (9-0-2)
10 - 12/16/89-01/28/90 (9-0-1)
10 - 3/24/13-10/17/13 (7-0-3 - Multi-season Streak)
The Shots
Isles 8-11-14=33
Dallas 10-8-7=25
The Isles are 15-7-4 when they outshoot their opponents and 3-2-0 when the shots are even but are 12-14-5 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 30-22-10 overall; 20-8-6 at home and 10-14-4 on the road.
Dallas is 25-29-10 overall; 18-11-6 at home and 7-18-4 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 9-8-4 in Division games and 21-14-6 in games versus other divisions (9-9-3 vs. Atlantic, 6-2-1 vs. Central and 6-3-2 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 18-17-7 against the East and 12-5-3 against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 21 to improve to 21-12-3 on the season and 5-1-0 in his career against Dallas.
Antti Niemi made 28 saves but falls to 11-10-4 on the season and 2-1-1 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles went 0-2 on the power play, allowing a shorthanded goal, while Dallas was 1-1.
The Isles are 13-6-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-16-4 when they do not. The Isles are 12-11-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-11-5 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 29-5-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-17-7 when they do not.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 9-8-10 in games decided by a single goal including 5-8-0 in regulation. They are 3-7 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game (including one game that they allowed a goal after scoring an empty-netter).
First Goal
The Isles are 20-6-6 when they score first and are 10-16-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 5-6-1 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 4-3-4 on the back-end.
The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs this season. This back-to-back concludes on Friday in Chicago.
Tired vs. Rested
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Johnny Boychuk (24:25); Dallas: Esa Lindell (23:26)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (5-0-0), Nick Leddy (13-16-8), John Tavares (2-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (7-4-1), Dennis Seidenberg (1-1-1), Calvin de Haan (1-0-0), Tied (1-0-0).
John Tavares led the Isles forwards with 19:13 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (23-14-8), Josh Bailey (4-5-2), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-2-0), Shane Prince (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 27, Dallas 29 (48%).
John Tavares won 12 of 20 for the Isles; Jason Spezza won 12 of 17 for Dallas.
Face-offs by period: 1st period- 9/17; 2nd period 8/16; 3rd period 10/23
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/47; Power play 2/5; Penalty kill 2/4.
Hit Count
Isles 27, Dallas 28. Scott Mayfield led the Isles with five hits; Curtis McKenzie had 5 for Dallas.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total - 11: (Hamonic 3, Mayfield 2, Strome 2, Boychuk 1, Chimera 1, deHaan 1, Hickey 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 13 blocked shots; Johnny Boychuk led the Isles with four hits.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 69, Dallas 55 (including 22-5 in the first 15 minutes of the third period)
5-on-5 Isles 62, Dallas 40
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Josh Bailey +18; Anders Lee 81%
Dallas: Patrick Sharp +6
Ironmen
Jason Chimera - 168 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 129, Brock Nelson 76, Calvin deHaan 65, John Tavares 62
Scratches
Adam Pelech, Anthony Beauvillier (ill), Alan Quine (injured)
Injured Reserve: Travis Hamonic, Casey Cizikas
Total games lost: 124
All-time Islander Leader Boards:Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 1060 \\* 3. Bob Nystrom 900
…
10. Billy Harris 623 \\* 11. Stefan Persson 622 \\* 12. Josh Bailey 619
…
15 Garry Howatt 596 \\* 16. John Tonelli 594 \\* 17. John Tavares 572
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 \\* 2. Bryan Trottier 500 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 310
…
7. Bob Bourne 238 \\* 8. Bob Nystrom 235 \\\\ 9. John Tavares 230
…
25. Ray Ferraro 116 \\* 26. Ed Westfall, Benoit Hogue and Josh Bailey 105
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 742 \\* 3. Mike Bossy 553
…
8. Stefan Persson 317 \\* 9. Bob Bourne 304 \\* 10. John Tavares 294
…
16. Frans Nielson and Kyle Okposo 230 \\* 18. Pierre Turgeon 193 \\* 19. Josh Bailey 189
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 \\* 2. Mike Bossy 1126 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
6. Pat LaFontaine 566 \\* 7. John Tonelli 544 \\* 8. Bob Bourne 542 \\* 9. John Tavares 524
…
19. Ziggy Palffy 331 \\* 20. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 \\* 21. Josh Bailey 294
Late Heroes
The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
Fit to Be Tied
The Isles have allowed the final goal of regulation in 10 of their 14 games that have gone to overtime this season, including three in the final minute:
Late Losses
The Isles have been tied in the third period in 12 of their 22 regulation losses (and 22 of their 32overall losses) but have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation seven times (including one game they rallied to win):
Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series two games to none (and four points to zero).
The Isles are 6-1-1 in the last eight games against Dallas, sweeping the series in both 2013-14 and 2016-17. The Isles are also 3-1-1 in their last five road games against the Stars.
On The Farm
Tanner Fritz scored two goals including the winner 70 seconds into overtime as the Sound Tigers defeated Toronto 4-3 in a game that began at 11am Thursday morning in Ontario. Coupled with Bridgeport's 2-1 win at home on Sunday over Hershey, the Sound Tigers improve to 35-18-1-1 on the season (and 17-3-0-0 in their last 20).
Bracken Kearns leads the Sound Tigers in goals (19) and points (19-22-41). Rookie Devon Toews has regained the team lead in assists with 27. Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 11 goals (11-17-28 in only 34 games) while Jaroslav Halak leads the team in wins (14-2-2).
Bridgeport visits Rochester Saturday and Utica Sunday before returning home to face Providence on Tuesday.
Up NextSATURDAY, MARCH 3rd -ISLANDERS AT CHICAGO- 8:30PM[MSG+ (Isles Game Night begins at 8:00), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The rest of this road trip will be odd; at least according to the calendar, as the Isles will play every other day beginning on Friday.
The United Center has not been a friendly stop in recent years for the Isles, who are 0-4-1 there in the Tavares era. The Isles' last win in Chicago came on March 15, 2009; it was Peter Mannino's only NHL win.
The Isles are 0-3-1 in their last four games vs. Chicago, losing a pair of 4-1 games in Chicago and a pair of one goal decisions in Brooklyn (one in overtime). In their last meeting, Chicago scored on all three of their power play attempts and defeated the Isles 5-4; it's the only time this season that the Isles have allowed 3 power play goals.