The Skinny: Game 25 - Islanders 4, Rangers 2

Game 25Isles 4, Rangers 2
Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves, including nine during a four-minute Ranger power play, and Andrew Ladd scored the game-winning goal as the Islanders improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games with a 4-2 win over the Rangers before a sellout crowd of 15,795 at Barclays Center.
Scott Mayfield and Jason Chimera both scored in a first period in which the Isles spent six minutes killing penalties but emerged with a 2-0 lead.

The Scoring:
1ST PERIOD
07:03 New York Scott Mayfield (1) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (7), Anders Lee (2) 0-1
17:24 New York Jason Chimera (4) ASST: Brock Nelson (10) 0-2
2ND PERIOD
00:56 NYR Jimmy Vesey (9) ASST: Rick Nash (7) 1-2
02:18 New York Andrew Ladd (3) ASST: Shane Prince (5) 1-3
08:54 NYR Marc Staal (3) ASST: J.T. Miller (12), Chris Kreider (11) 2-3
3RD PERIOD
11:13 New York PPG - John Tavares (7) ASST: Josh Bailey (12), Nick Leddy (7) 2-4
The Skinny
The Isles have scored the first goal in six consecutive games (4-1-1) after doing so only five times in the first 19 games…It's the first time the Isles have scored the first goal in six consecutive games since February 2015…The Isles regained NHL-.500 for the first time since October 23rd (3-3-0) … JF Berube dressed as the back-up goalie for the eighth straight game… The Isles improved to 7-0-1 when leading after two periods… The Isles defense chipped in 1 goal and 1 assist, raising the season totals to 19-35-54…Scott Mayfield, an emergency recall, scored his first goal of this season and second goal of his NHL career…Shane Prince has been on-ice for 10 Islander goals this season; he has recorded nine points on those 10 goals…The Rangers played without Michael Grabner, who was attending his grandmother's funeral in Austria…Among active goalies, only Marc-Andre Fleury (30) and Ryan Miller (15) have beaten the Rangers more often than Jaroslav Halak (14)…The Islanders converted a third period power play; it was only their 9th power play goal of the season and first in five games…Jason Chimera scored for the third time in four games…Calvin deHaan blocked seven shots for the fourth time this season; he is 3rd in the NHL with 69 blocks…Brady Skjei was on-ice for all three Islander even-strength goals and finished -3…Mats Zuccarrello had five shots (and 11 attempts on net); he has only one career goal against the Isles.
The Injuries
Both Matt Puempel (in the first period) and Rick Nash (in the second period) left the game with injuries and did not return. With only ten forwards for much of the game, the Rangers used four forwards (Mats Zuccarello, JT Miller, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider) for at least 20 minutes.
Milestone Men
Jack Capuano recorded his 220th NHL win, breaking a tie with the legendary Herb Brooks for 65th place on the all-time NHL win list…John Tavares played his 535th Islander game, tying Claude Lapointe for 20th place on the all-time club list.
Countdown to 500
John Tavares extended his point streak to three games, and recorded his 491st career point. He needs just 9 points to become the 10th player in Islander history with 500 career points.
Killing It Off
The Isles have not allowed a power play goal in their last 7 games, stopping all 19 opponent opportunities. Counting the final Anaheim opportunity on November 22nd, the Isles have killed 20 straight. The Isles went six games without allowing a power play goal last March, they were perfect in a club record 15-game stretch from 11/27/15-12/29/15 (killing 42 straight before the Sabres ended the streak on New Year's Eve).
Last Minute Heroes
The Isles have scored twice in the final minute 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
Fit to Be Tied
The Isles have allowed the final goal of regulation in all seven of their games that have gone to overtime this season, including three in the final minute:
• 10/16 - Ana Ducks - Ryan Getzlaf (19:00); Isles won in OT
• 11/3 - Phi Flyers - Jakob Voracek (19:02/PP); Flyers won in SO
• 11/12 - Fla Panthers - Jonathan Marchessault (19:46); Panthers won in OT
Late Losses
The Isles have been tied in the third period in six of their 10 regulation losses (and 10 of their 14 overall losses) but have allowed the lead goal in the final 3 minutes of regulation five times:
• 10/18 - SJ Sharks - Joe Pavelski (17:49)
• 10/26 - Mtl Canadiens - Shea Weber (17:03)
• 10/27 - Pit Penguins - Sidney Crosby (17:35)
• 11/23 - LA Kings - Dwight King (17:07)
• 11/25 - SJ Sharks - Patrick Marleau (19:37)
Home Til the Holidays
The Isles are in a stretch where they will play 10 out of 14 at home. By the time the Isles host the Capitals on December 27th, the Isles will have played 22 of their first 34 games at home.
The Isles are 3-0-1 at home and 1-0-0 on the road during this stretch. The Isles do not play consecutive road games again until after Christmas.
The Shots
Isles 9-13-10=32
Rangers 16-11-11=38
The Isles outshot the Rangers 28-25 at even-strength.
The Isles are 5-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents and 1-1-0 when the shots are even but are 4-6-3 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 10-10-5 overall; 8-4-4 at home and 2-6-1 on the road.
Rangers is 17-9-1 overall; 10-4-1 at home and 7-5-0 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 3-3-2 in Division games and 7-7-3 in games versus other divisions (1-4-2 vs. Atlantic, 1-0-0 vs. Central and 5-3-1 vs. Pacific). The Isles are 4-7-4 against the East and 6-3-1 against the West.
Last season the Isles went 18-8-4 in Division games and 27-19-6 in games against other divisions. The Isles went 19-7-2 against the Western Conference, including 12-0-2 at home.

In the Nets
Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves to improve to 5-6-5 on the season and 14-7-0 in his career against Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves but falls to 12-8-1 on the season and 30-18-6 against the Isles in his career.
Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-2 on the power play, while the Rangers were 0-6.
The Isles are 2-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-6-2 when they do not. The Isles are 3-5-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-5-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 9-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-9-3 when they do not. The Isles were 37-4-2 when they scored at least three goals (including SO winners) last season.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 4-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 1-4-0 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 in shootouts. The Isles are 1-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.
First Goal
The Isles are 7-1-3 when they score first and are 3-9-1 when they allow the opening goal.
Second to The One
Jack Capuano, the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history, is 220-186-60 behind the Islander bench. Among the 9 New York area teams, only the Yankees' Joe Girardi has led his team longer than Capuano.

Most games coached (Islanders):
1. Al Arbour 1,500
2. Jack Capuano 466
3. Mike Milbury 191
4. Terry Simpson 187
5. Scott Gordon 181
Most wins by Islander coaches:
1. Al Arbour 740
2. Jack Capuano 220
3. Terry Simpson 81
4. Peter Laviolette 77
5. Ted Nolan 74

Capuano ranks 73rd in NHL history with 466 games coached, five behind Ted Nolan and six behind Bob Gainey. His 220 wins places him 65th all-time, one behind Bob McCammon, and 9 behind Robbie Ftorek.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-2-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 2-2-0 on the back-end. Last season, the Isles went 5-5-5 on the front-end and 9-3-3 on the back end of back-to-backs.
The Isles will play 16 sets of back-to-backs this season; the next set is December 15th vs Chicago and December 16th in Buffalo.
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 4-1-2 when they are rested and their opponents are not.
• The Isles are 1-2-0 when their opponents are rested and the Isles are not.
• The Isles are 4-7-3 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Travis Hamonic (23:21); Rangers: Ryan McDonough (28:03)
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Travis Hamonic (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (5-7-3), John Tavares (1-0-0), Johnny Boychuk (1-3-1), Dennis Seidenberg (0-0-1)
John Tavares led the forwards with 18:45 of ice-time. Isles record by Forward ice-time leaders: John Tavares (6-8-3), Josh Bailey (3-1-2), Casey Cizikas (1-0-0), Cal Clutterbuck (0-1-0)
Face-offs
Isles 24, Rangers 27 (47%).
Alan Quine won 6 of 8 for the Isles; Kevin Hayes won 8 of 11 for Rangers.
The Isles won 9 of 16 face-offs in the first period but only 15 of 35 the rest of the way. The Isles won 17 of 37 draws at even strength, 3 of 4 on the power play and 4 of 10 on the penalty kill.
Hit Count
Isles 14, Rangers 20. Nick Leddy and Cal Clutterbuck led the Isles with 3 hits; Kevin Klein had four to lead the Rangers.
Fights
There were no fights. Season total - 4: (deHaan 1, Hamonic 12, Mayfield 1).
The Isles were involved in 23 fights last season.
Blocked Shots
The Isles were credited with 28 blocked shots, including seven from Calvin deHaan.
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 44, Rangers 77
5-on-5 Isles 40, Rangers 50
5-on 5 leaders:
Isles: Alan Quine +7; Alan Quine 77%
Rangers: Mats Zuccarello & Marek Hrivak +9
Ironmen
Jason Chimera - 130 (including 105 for the Capitals); Josh Bailey 93
Scratches
Thomas Greiss, Anthony Beauvillier, Johnny Boychuk (ill)
Injured Reserve: Adam Pelech
Total games lost: 44
Missing a Piece (or two)
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Isles are 19-18-4 in games in which they are missing Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic or Nick Leddy, including 3-1-1 this season.
All-time Islander Leader Boards:Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 1060 \\* 3. Bob Nystrom 900
….
13. Kenny Jonsson 597 \\* 14. Garry Howatt 596 \\* 15. John Tonelli 594\\\16. Josh Bailey 582 \\\ 17. Ken Morrow 550 \\* 18. Duane Sutter 547 \\* 19. Lorne Henning 543 \\* 20. Claude Lapointe and John Tavares 535
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 \\* 2. Bryan Trottier 500 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 310
…
7. Bob Bourne 238 \\* 8. Bob Nystrom 235 \\\\ 9. John Tavares 214
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 742 \\* 3. Mike Bossy 553
…
10. Derek King 288 \\* 11. Pat LaFontaine 279 \\* 12. Bob Nystrom 278 \\* 13. John Tavares 277
…
19. Ed Westfall 181 \\* 20. Kenny Jonsson 175 \\* 21. Duane Sutter & Alexi Yashin 171 \\* 23. Josh Bailey 169
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 \\* 2. Mike Bossy 1126 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 1052
…
9. Bobby Nystrom 513 \\* 10. Derek King 499 \\* 11. John Tavares 491…
21. Duane Sutter 292 \\* 22. Alexei Yashin 290 \\* 23. Ed Westfall 286 \\* 24 Josh Bailey 266
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied one game to one (and two points to two). The two remaining meetings are February 16th in Brooklyn and March 22nd in Manhattan.
The Isles are 5-1-0 in the last two seasons against the Rangers; the Rangers have never won in Brooklyn (0-2-1).
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers are 15-7-0-0 heading into Friday's game in Binghamton.
Bracken Kearns continues to lead the Sound Tigers in scoring (8-11-19), while Kearns and Steve Bernier share the team lead in goals with eight. Rookie Devon Toews leads the team with 12 assists and is second on the team in points (2-12-14).
Both Christopher Gibson, who hasn't played since an injury November 5th, and rookie Eamon McAdam are 6-0-0 in the Sound Tigers' net.
The Sound Tigers will host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday at 5pm.
Up NextTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 8th-ST. LOUIS AT ISLANDERS - 7:00PM[MSG+ (Isles pre-game at 6:30), WNYM 970, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]
The Isles will look to extend their point streak to six games as they face St. Louis for the first time this season.
The Isles won both games last season, winning in St. Louis in October on a Mikael Grabovski overtime goal and winning a December game in a shootout.
The Isles have not won three straight from St. Louis in over 30 years, dating back to a 5-game win streak from February 23, 1984 to October 26, 1985.