The Skinny - Game 81: Isles 4, New Jersey 2

Game 81Isles 4, New Jersey 2
School is out.
Anders Lee recorded his 8th two-goal game of the season and Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves as the Islanders defeated New Jersey 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 16,514 at Prudential Center in Newark. However, just over an hour after the Isles completed their victory, the Maple Leafs completed their win as three Maple Leafs rookies scored in the final 5:30 to give Toronto a 6-4 win over Pittsburgh and eliminate the Isles from the playoff race.

The Scoring:1ST PERIOD
No Scoring
2ND PERIOD
02:48 New York Adam Pelech (3) ASST: Nikolay Kulemin (11) 1-0
06:23 New York Anders Lee (32) ASST: Nick Leddy (33), Anthony Beauvillier (15) 2-0
3RD PERIOD
03:52 New York Jason Chimera (19) ASST: Alan Quine (12), Calvin de Haan (20) 3-0
05:00 New Jersey Beau Bennett (7) 3-1
08:11 New York PPG - Anders Lee (33) ASST: Josh Bailey (42), Nick Leddy (34) 4-1
19:57 New Jersey Beau Bennett (8) ASST: Dalton Prout (6), Miles Wood (9) 4-2
The Skinny:
The Isles are 23-12-4 (.641) under Interim Coach Doug Weight …Since opening the season 6-10-4, Isles are 34-19-8 in their last 61 games… The Isles finish the road season with a 19-17-5 record; they finish with an above NHL .500 road record for the 5th straight season FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR HISTORY…Jaroslav Halak extended his shutout streak to 139:22 before Beau Bennett's goal ended the streak.…The Isles have won five straight games for the first time since November 2014 and in doing so have matched their longest single-season win streak since 2008.…The Isles have killed 24 of the last 27…Dennis Seidenberg went +1, improving his team-leading +/- to +26. Only two Islanders has finished a season with a rating of +25 or better since 1994-95 (Adrian Aucoin +29, Kenny Jonsson +25, both in 2003-04) … Anders Lee's first goal gave him 50 points for the first time in his career… Both Nick Leddy (45) and Josh Bailey (55) extended their career highs in points… The Isles are 23-16-5 all-time in road finales, including 4-2-0 against the Devils.
What a Road Trip
The Isles finish their final road trip of the season with a 4-0-0 record; it's the first time that they have gone 4 straight on the road since November 2015 and only the 20th time in franchise history that they have done so. It's the first time that the Isles have won every game on a road trip of at least four games since they opened the 2001-02 season with four straight wins, all on the road.
Most Points in NHL Since January 19th (Weight's First Game)
Flying since Thanksgiving
Anders Lee has scored 32 goals in his last 62 games (since November 23rd). Only 2 players in the NHL have more goals in that span: Auston Matthews (34) and Brad Marchand (33).
Jaro, Jaro
Jaroslav Halak is 6-1-0 since his recall from Bridgeport (and 6-0-0 as a starter). He has played to a 1.58 GAA and 94.9 save percentage in those seven games.
Most Wins Since March 24
Lowest Goals Against Average Since March 24 (minimum 3 starts)
Highest Save Percentage Since March 24 (minimum 3 starts)
Experience Counts … 19 Times
Jason Chimera is only the second Islander age 37 or over to score 19 goals in a season; Bill Guerin, who turned 37 early in the 2007-08 season, scored 23 times that season.
More Milestones for Bailey
Josh Bailey played in his 638th Isles game, tying Derek King for 9th place among Isles skaters in games played. Bailey, who has a career-high 55 points, is one assist from 200. He recorded his 100th goal and 300th point earlier this season.
Let's Hear It for the Ladd
Andrew Ladd has reached the 20-goal mark for the 4th straight season and the sixth straight full season (he had 18 goals in the lockout year). He is one of 17 players to score at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons and one of only ten to do so six times in the last seven seasons. He is now four points shy of 500 for his career (232-264-496); his goal tonight broke a tie with two Original Islanders: Ed Westfall and Billy Harris on the all-time NHL list.
This Generation's Mr. Islander Is Tied with Mr. Islander
John Tavares has 235 career goals, tying him with Bobby Nystrom for eighth place on the club's all-time list.
Career goals as an Islander:
One Goal Games
The Isles are 15-10-12 in one-goal games, winning only 14 of the 36 games (.405). That .405 percentage in 1-goal games won is the second lowest in the NHL - the Leafs are 14-7-15 (.389) in 1-goal games. (The Isles were 21-6-10 in one-goal games last season.)
The Stretch Run
The Isles are playing their final 11 regular-season games in a span of 19 days. The Isles are 7-3-0 in this stretch (1-2-0 at home and 6-1-0 on the road), with six of the ten games decided by empty net or less:
64 in 50
The Isles are now 29-15-6 in their last 50 games (since December 20th vs. Boston). In those games, the PP is 24-147 (16.3%) and the penalty kill is 18-120 (85.0%).
50 Game Club
Thomas Greiss is the 11th different Islander goalie to appear in 50 games in a season. Rick DiPietro did it four times and Tommy Salo did so three times. The other eight, and now Greiss, have done so once. An Isles goalie has appeared in more than 53 games only 9 times (3 by DiPietro, 2 by Salo, and once by Smith, Osgood, Hextall, and Halak). Greiss has appeared in a career high 50 games, and set career highs for both wins (25) and shutouts (3).
Weight Lifted
Isles leading scorers since Doug Weight became the Isles' interim coach:
A Different Road
The Isles are 17-11-2 in their last 30 road games, after winning only 2 of their first 11 road games (2-6-3). They are 12-4-1 in their last 17 road games after going 7-13-4 in their first 24 on the road.
Longest Home-Ice Point Streaks in Post-Cup Era
11 - 1/19/17 - 2/19/17 (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 4-10-6=20
New Jersey 14-11-14=39
The Isles are 19-10-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 3-3-0 when the shots are even and are 18-17-6 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 40-29-12 overall; 21-12-7 at home and 19-17-5 on the road.
New Jersey is 28-39-14 overall; 16-17-8 at home and 12-22-6 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 15-10-5 in Division games and 25-19-7 in games versus other divisions (10-10-3 vs. Atlantic, 7-5-2 vs. Central and 8-4-2 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 25-20-8 against the East and 15-9-4 against the West.
In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves to improve to 12-9-5 on the season and 11-4-2 in his career against New Jersey.
Keith Kinkaid made 16 saves but falls to 8-13-3 on the season and 0-3-2 in his career against the Isles.
Power Plays
The Isles went 1-4 on the power play; New Jersey was 0-3.
The Isles are 18-7-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-22-6 when they do not. The Isles are 14-14-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 26-15-7 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 37-8-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-21-9 when they do not. The only Islander wins when not scoring 3 goals were on November 28th vs. Calgary (2-1 in OT), March 31 vs. New Jersey (2-1), and April 4 @ Nashville (2-1 in OT).
One Goal Games
The Isles are 15-10-12 in games decided by a single goal including 7-10 in regulation. They are 6-8 in games decided in overtime and are 2-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-2 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 24-9-8 when they score first and are 14-20-4 when they allow the opening goal.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 7-8-1 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 6-4-5 on the back-end.
The Isles will conclude the season with the back-end of this back-to-back on Sunday vs. Ottawa.
Tired vs. Rested
The Isles are 4-1-3 when both teams played the night before.
The Isles are 7-4-2 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
The Isles are 2-3-2 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 27-21-5 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Calvin de Haan (23:50); New Jersey: Taylor Hall (20:25)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (7-0-0), Nick Leddy (16-21-9), John Tavares (2-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (8-4-1), Dennis Seidenberg (1-1-1), Calvin de Haan (4-2-1), Tied (1-0-0).
Andrew Ladd led the Isles forwards with 16:50 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (28-21-10), Josh Bailey (4-5-2), Andrew Ladd (3-0-0), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-2-0), Shane Prince (1-0-0), Joshua Ho-Sang (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 25, New Jersey 29 (46%).
Brock Nelson won 5 of 8 for the Isles; Travis Zajac won 13 of 20 for New Jersey.
Face-offs by period: 1st period- 6/15; 2nd period 6/15; 3rd period 13/24
Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 21/40; Power play 3/6; Penalty kill 1/8.
Hit Count
Isles 35, New Jersey 25. Dennis Seidenberg and Adam Pelech led the Isles with seven hits; Blake Coleman led New Jersey with five.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total - 17: (Hamonic 4, Mayfield 3, Chimera 2, Strome 2, Lee 2, Boychuk 1, deHaan 1, Hickey 1, Ladd 1).
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 17 blocked shots; Calvin de Haan and Dennis Seidenberg led the Isles with three.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 38, New Jersey 67
5-on-5 Isles 33, New Jersey 56
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Nick Leddy +2; Nick Leddy 53%
New Jersey: Taylor Hall +18
Ironmen
Jason Chimera - 187 (including 106 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 148, Calvin deHaan 84
Scratches
JF Berube, Connor Jones, Ryan Strome (injured), Casey Cizikas (injured), Travis Hamonic (injured), John Tavares (injured), Shane Prince (injured)
Total games lost: 192
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 1060 \\* 3. Bob Nystrom 900
…
8. Brent Sutter 694 \\* 9. Derek King 638 and Josh Bailey 638
…
15 Garry Howatt 596 \\* 16. John Tonelli 594 \\* 17. John Tavares 587
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. Bob Bourne 238 \\* 8. Bob Nystrom and John Tavares 235
…
25. Ray Ferraro 116 \\* 26. Josh Bailey 106
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 742 \\* 3. Mike Bossy 553
…
8. Stefan Persson 317 \\* 9. Bob Bourne 304 \\* 10. John Tavares 302
…
16. Frans Nielson and Kyle Okposo 230 \\* 18. Josh Bailey 199
Points
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 537
…
18. Tomas Jonsson 333 \\* 19. Ziggy Palffy 331 \\* 20. Josh Bailey 305
Late Heroes
The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:
11/25 - SJ Sharks -- Nick Leddy (19:02); tied game, but Isles lost in regulation
11/30 - Pit Penguins - Anders Lee (19:33); Game Winning goal
2/6 - Tor Maple Leafs - Andrew Ladd (18:31); Isles won in overtime
Late Losses
The Isles have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation seven times (including one game they rallied to win):
Fit to Be Tied
The Isles have allowed the final goal of regulation in 13 of their 20 games that have gone to overtime this season, including four in the final minute:
Better at Night
The Isles finished the season with a record of 2-3-1 in day games (0-0-1 at home and 2-3-0 on the road):
Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series three games to one (and 6 points to 2)
The Isles are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games against the Devils and 8-1-1 in their last ten trips to New Jersey.
On The Farm
Bridgeport is 43-26-3-1 on the season after being swept by Providence in a home and home series (2-1 in Providence and 3-0 in Bridgeport). The Sound Tigers have fallen three points behind Hershey in the battle for the final playoff spot (Bridgeport has three games to play while Hershey has only 2).
Bracken Kearns leads the Sound Tigers in goals (23) and points (23-26-49). Rookie Devon Toews leads the team in assists with 37. Ryan Pulock leads the defense with 13 goals and 43 points (13-30-43).
Bridgeport hosts Hartford to close out the season's final 3 games-in-3 days on Sunday at 3pm. They will conclude their season with games on Saturday in Springfield and next Sunday against Lehigh Valley.
Up NextSUNDAY, APRIL 9th -OTTAWA AT ISLANDERS- 5:00PM[MSG+/MSG GO (Isles Pre-Game begins at 4:30), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles return home to close out the 2016-17 regular season as they face Ottawa in the 3,500th regular season game in Islander history.
Ottawa has owned this year's season series, defeating the Isles 6-2 in Brooklyn in December and 3-0 in Ottawa in February. Mark Stone scored the winning goal in both games. The December 18 loss dropped the Isles' record to 11-14-6; they have gone 29-15-6 since then.
The Isles are 22-14-7 in season finales, but have not won a season finale in regulation time since 2003. Since then, they have won three (all in shootouts), lost five in regulation, lost one in overtime, lost two in shootouts, and played the final tie in their history.
The Isles are 23-13-7 in home finales, including 0-2-1 in the last three.