Game 38
Anaheim 4, Isles 2

Bobby Ryan scored two goals, including a shorthanded goal to tie the game midway through the third period and Ryan Getzlaf’s first goal in 13 games proved to be the winner as the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 4-2 win over the Islanders in front of 13,892 at Honda Center.  The loss ends the Islanders’ three-game winning streak.

The Scoring:
1st Period
NONE

2nd Period
14:18 ANA Bobby Ryan (14) - ASST: J. Blake (1) AND S. Koivu (13)
16:0 4NYI Matt Martin (5) - ASST: M. Eaton (2) AND M. Grabner (7)

3rd Period
06:20 NYI Kyle Okposo (8) - ASST: J. Tavares (22) AND M. Moulson (15)
09:22 ANA SHG - Bobby Ryan (15) - ASST: C. Perry (16) AND T. Lydman (9)
12:25 ANA Ryan Getzlaf (7) - ASST: C. Perry (17) AND L. Sbisa (9)
17:06 ANA Teemu Selanne (12) - ASST: N. Hagman (7) AND C. Fowler (14)

The Skinny: 
John Tavares and Kyle Okposo each have four-game point streaks and Matt Moulson has a three-game streak after Tavares and Moulson set-up Okposo for a goal that temporarily gave the Isles the lead in the third period. Tavares has two goals and six assists in those four games (including three multi-point games). 

Corey Perry assisted on the tying and winning goals; they were his 400th and 401st career points.  Selanne’s goal was the 649th of his career; among active player only Jaromir Jagr (658) has more. Former Islander Jason Blake, playing just his second game after missing 34 games with tendon surgery, recorded his first point of the season and 475th of his career.

The Shots
The Islanders outshot the Ducks 8-3 in the first period, but the Ducks rebounded to outshoot the Islanders 9-8 in the second and 8-5 in the third.  For the game, the Isles outshot Anaheim 21-20.  It’s the second time this season that each team has had 21 shots or fewer in an Islander game.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 14-18-6 overall and are 6-9-3 on the road.  They are 6-4-1 in their last 11 road games, after going 0-5-2 in their first seven away from home.
 
The Ducks are 11-22-6 overall and 8-12-1 at home.  Anaheim is 4-9-2 under new head coach Bruce Boudreau.

In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov made 16 saves,  but his three game winning streak came to an end. Nabakov, making his seventh straight start, is now 5-9-0 on the season.  Nabby is 26-18-3 in his career against Anaheim with his 26 wins representing his highest total against any opponent.
Jonas Hiller made 19 saves for Anaheim as he recorded his 99th NHL win.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 0-3 on the power play (allowing a shorthanded goal); the Ducks were 0-2.  The Isles are 7-18 on the power play over the last seven games after going just 1-22 in the previous seven games.

The Isles have killed 16-17 (94.1%) over the last nine games; it is the fewest times that they have been shorthanded in a 9-game stretch since at least the mid-1980’s.
Anaheim’s shorthanded goal was their first of the season.

2 to 300
Evgeni Nabokov has 298 career wins. He is just two wins shy of becoming the 26th goalie in NHL history with 300 career wins. Among current NHL goalies, only Martin Brodeur, Nikolai Khabibulin and Roberto Luongo have more career wins.

They Said It
Mark Eaton: “Any time you have the lead with 10 minutes left and give up a (shorthanded) goal it’s a bit deflating, but it’s no excuse.”

They Tweeted It
@BrianCompton NHL: “Game over. #Ducks 4, #Isles 2. Hiller's save on Parenteau was the turning point.”

The Coach
“Their best players were their best players…. Big turning point was the save that Hiller made (on Parenteau); instead of going up 3-1, it’s 2-2.”

Leading Ice Men
Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with 25:29, 14 seconds more than Travis Hamonic; Francois Beachemin led Anaheim with 25:02.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 draws; Anaheim won 35. Josh Bailey was the Isles’ best, winning nine of 15. Saku Koivu won 15 of 19 for Anaheim.

Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 30-26.  Milan Jurcina had six hits for the Isles while Ryan Getzlaf had six for Anaheim.

Third Periods
The Isles were outscored 3-1 in the third period; they had outscored the opposition 4-1 in the previous three third periods. The Isles have been outscored 45-24 overall in the third period (35-21 excluding empty nets); the 24 goals scored are the fewest of any team in the third period.  In the first two periods, the Isles have been outscored 69-63. 

4 on 4
The winning goal was scored on a 4-on-4.  The Isles have been outscored 4-0 in 4-on-4’s this season.

39 to Go
The Isles have scored 9,961 goals in their history (excluding 42 shootout winners), leaving the club
39 shy of 10,000.

One Over .500
The Islanders drop to one game over all-time NHL .500 (1327-1326-427 in 3,080 games).  The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Good Time to Get Going
This was the 4th game of a five-game stretch against teams currently not holding a playoff spot (and the Isles are 3-1-0).  The Isles concluded a stretch of three consecutive games against a team that is currently in last place in its division by going 2-1-0.

Scoring
The Isles have scored 49 goals over the last 18 games (9-7-2) after scoring only 15 in the previous nine games (1-6-2).  The Isles have scored 44 goals in their 13 wins (3.39 per game) and 39 goals in their other 24 games (0-18-6; 1.63 per game).  In their 18 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 23 goals (1.28 per game).

Head of the Class
John Tavares had an assist, giving him eight points over the last four games.  He now has 156 career points; he is ten points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks.  No other player in that draft is anywhere close. (Duchene suffered a knee injury last week and is expected to miss the next month.)

From the Geniuses at the Elias Sports Bureau
Tavares was not named the game’s first star (all three stars were Ducks); it ended a streak of three straight games in which he was the first star.  No Islander has been the first star in three straight games since Mark Parrish in December 2003.

Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 18 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 12 of them.  He has now been on-ice for 42 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 28 of them, dating back to Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.  Moulson is now 12 goals away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; no Islander since Ziggy Palffy has accomplished that feat.
Reasoner Hurt
After the game it was announced that Marty Reasoner has a broken right hand. There is no timetable.

Missing Men
Al Montoya (concussion) and Dylan Reese (healthy) were scratched.  Mike Mottau, David Ullstrom, Jay Pandolfo, Rick DiPietro, and Mark Katic are injured.  The Isles have lost 186 man-games to injury so far this season.  Anders Nilsson dressed as the back-up to Nabokov for the seventh straight game.  Reese had been recalled on an “emergency basis” but the recall was changed to a regular recall with the Islanders having six other healthy defensemen.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles’ reigning ironman, has played in all 202 games since joining the team. He is the 93rd skater in Islander history to appear in 200 games. Moulson’s streak is the longest for an Islander since Richard Park played in 221 games from October 2006- February 2009.  Travis Hamonic has now played 100 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles. 

The Ducks have a pair of ironmen as well.  Andrew Cogliano (367) and Corey Perry (242) are among the top seven on the current NHL list.

Century Club (as Seen on MSG+)
Hamonic is only the 8th defensemen in Islander history to play in 100 consecutive games and the first since Janne Niinimaa.
•    Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979  262
•    Bryan McCabe 10/7/95-2/4/98 220
•    Gerry Hart 3/1/75-11/22/77 198
•    Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136
•    Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134
•    Jean Potvin 10/23/75-1/2/77 110
•    Kenny Jonsson 12/26/96-2/4/98 104
•    Travis Hamonic 11/24/10 – CURRENT 100
Like Hamonic, McCabe and Morrow’s streaks came at the start of his NHL career.  Niinimaa’s streak included the only 136 games he played as an Islander.

Lucky 13.8?
The last three games (in three different arenas) has seen crowds of 13,807, and 13,828 and 13,892.

List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
1. Martin Brodeur 636
2. Nikolai Khabibulin 327
3. Roberto Luongo 325
4. Evgeni Nabokov  298
5. Miikka Kiprusoff 293

Career Goals, Active Players
13. Patrik Elias 348
14. Brian Rolston 339
15. Dany Heatley 337

Career Goals as an Islander
34    Wayne Merrick     81
34    Dave Scatchard     81
36    Marty McInnis     79
36    Matt Moulson     79
38    Miroslav Satan     78

42    Alan Kerr     69
43    Brad Isbister     67
44    John Tavares     66
45    Jude Drouin     64

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
61    Jeff Norton     282
62    Steve Thomas     275
62    Frans Nielsen     275
       
68    Pierre Turgeon     255
69    Jude Drouin     250
70    Josh Bailey     249
71    Brendan Witt     247
71    Brad Isbister     247
73    Sean Bergenheim     246
       
91    Tom Fitzgerald     205
92    Matt Moulson     202
93    Billy Carroll     200
94    Ralph Stewart     199
94    John Tavares     199
96    Mark Streit     194
97    Tom Kurvers     192
97    Todd Bertuzzi     192

Career Points as an Islander
46    Miroslav Satan     166
47    Oleg Kvasha     156
47    John Tavares     156
49    Alan Kerr     154
50    Roman Hamrlik     153
51    Michael Peca     142
52    Dave Lewis    141
53    Robert Reichel     140
54    Frans Nielsen     139
54    Bryan Smolinski     139

Season Series Stats
The Ducks win the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Isles are 0-2-1 in their last three trips to Anaheim.

Happy Anniversary
31 years ago tonight (1-6-81): John Tonelli becomes the second Islander  to score five goals in a game and Mike Bossy adds a club record six assists as the Isles defeat the Maple Leafs 6-3 at the Coliseum.

Overall, the Isles are 8-9-0 on this date, having gone 2-8-0 in the last ten.

On The Farm
Kevin Poulin has had a perfect start to 2012, as he has recorded consecutive shutouts over Worcester and Manchester.  Bridgeport is 14-17-3-1 on the season.  Poulin is less than one period from the club scoreless streak record held by Rick DiPietro and he will be looking for the record as the Sound Tigers visit Portland on Saturday.

Up Next
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7th ISLANDERS AT PHOENIX 8:00PM
[MSG+2 (Islanders Game Night at 7:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The road trip concludes on Saturday as the Islanders visit Phoenix.
It’s the only meeting of the season between the clubs, who did not meet at all in calendar year 2011.  Each of the last five meetings has been decided by a single goal; the Isles have gone 3-1-1 in the five games.  The teams split a pair of shootout games over the past two seasons, with each team winning on the road.



Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in “The Skinny” has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.