The Skinny - Islanders 3, Rangers 4 (OT)
Tavares ties Moulson with 28th goal, then Moulson scores no. 29 on the year
Monday, 03.12.2012 / 4:55 PM
/ News
By Eric Hornick
Print
Game 69
Rangers 4, Isles 3 (OT)
Marian Gaborik scored a power-play goal with less than six seconds remaining in overtime as the Rangers won a game they never led, defeating the Islanders 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden. The loss breaks a five-game Islanders overtime/shootout winning streak against the Rangers.
The Scoring:
1st Period
11:15 NYI John Tavares (28) - ASST: P. Parenteau (46) AND T. Hamonic (15)
18:47 NYR PPG - Brad Richards (20) - ASST: A. Stralman (14) AND H. Lundqvist (1)
2nd Period
07:44 NYI PPG - Matt Moulson (29) - ASST: M. Streit (31) AND T. Hamonic (16)
16:03 NYR PPG - Brad Richards (21) - ASST: M. Gaborik (28) AND M. Zuccarello (1)
19:24 NYI Andrew MacDonald (5) - ASST: J. Tavares (38) AND M. Jurcina (7)
3rd Period
03:29 NYR Brian Boyle (6) - ASST: R. McDonagh (20) AND B. Prust (12)
OT Period
04:54 NYR PPG - Marian Gaborik (33) - ASST: B. Richards (29) AND D. Stepan (30)
The Skinny
Tavares briefly tied Moulson for the club lead in goals before Moulson regained it later in the game. Tavares and Moulson have combined to open the scoring 17 times this season, tops of any two teammates in the NHL. The Isles have scored first a total of 35 times. MacDonald tied Mark Streit for the club lead in defensemen goals (5). Brad Richards now has 241 career goals, more than any forward in NHL history who has not scored a hat trick in his career; Richards passed former Islander Mike Sillinger (240). The Rangers improve to 10-7 in extra time (7-2 in games decided by an overtime goal) while the Isles are 8-10 (3-7 in games decided by an overtime goal). Gaborik now has three overtime goals this season; Steven Stamkos (4) is the only other NHL player with at least three. The Rangers have allowed at least three goals in six straight games for the first time since early in the 2006-07 season.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 28-31-10 overall and are 13-16-5 on the road.
The Rangers are 43-18-7 overall and 23-7-2 at home. The win stops a three-game Rangers losing streak.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 32 shots. He is 16-17-2 on the season. Nabokov played all six games against the Rangers, going 2-3-1. This was his 600th NHL game (309-195-68 with 28 no decisions).
Henrik Lundqvist made just 16 saves for New York as he improved to 32-14-5 on the campaign. Lundqvist won for the first time in his career when allowing three goals or more while facing 20 shots or less (1-20-1). He also recorded his 10th career assist and first of the season.
Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 66 points (28-38-66) on 155 Islanders goals this season (42.6%). No Islander since Zigmund Palffy has recorded points on over 40% of the team’s goals in a complete season. He is four points shy of becoming the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record at least 70 points in a season.
Don’t Forget PA
With 61 points, Parenteau has points on 39.4% of the Islanders’ goals this season. He has 46 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had 74 and Vladimir Malakhov had 47 in the 1993-94 season.
Most Assists, Islanders, Since 1989-90
• Pierre Turgeon 1992-93 74
• Pierre Turgeon 1993-94 56
• Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 51
• Steve Thomas 1992-93 50
• Pierre Turgeon 1991-92 49
• Jeff Norton 1989-90 49
• Vladimir Malakhov 1993-94 47
• Patrick Flatley 1992-93 47
• Tom Kurvers 1991-92 47
• PA Parenteau 2011-12 46
Last Second Overtime Defeat
This is the third time in Islanders history that they have allowed a goal in the final ten seconds of overtime:
• 11/17/95 Peter Douris (at Anaheim) 2-1 (4:59)
• 3/28/98 Sylvain Cote (at Toronto) 4-3 (4:56)
• 3/11/12 Marian Gaborik (at New York) 4-3 (4:54)
Can’t Nail it Down
The Islanders trailed for a total of 85 seconds this weekend but went 0-1-1. The Isles have won only 15 of 24 games (15-1-8) this season when leading after two periods.
Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while the Rangers were 3-6. The Isles are 3-33 in their last 11 games with the extra man and have killed only 25 of 38 in the same span. It was the first time all season that the Isles have allowed three power-play goals in a game.
They Said It
Travis Hamonic: “It's very frustrating. I thought we played a good game, but we couldn't get it done in the end.”
They Tweeted It
@KatieStrangESPN #NYR #Isles Wouldn't be surprised to see Stu Bickel and Micheal Haley go at it. Bickel suffered facial fractures when they fought Dec 26. Asked Haley before game about whether he expects retaliation: "I'm sure a lot of guys can pick out something I've done to them." (The players fought just 2:14 into the game).
The Coach
"Our special teams were good for a while but we've gotten away from it and we're taking things for granted."
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 26:31; Ryan McDonough led New York with 26:36. Hamonic was in the penalty box when Gaborik scored the winning goal; he received a misconduct penalty after the goal was scored.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 draws; the Rangers won 30. Frans Nielsen won 7 of 14 for the Isles; Brian Boyle won 12 of 19 for the Rangers.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 24-13. With NHL hits leader Matt Martin sidelined, Josh Bailey and Micheal Haley each had a team-leading three hits. Martin has a club record 314 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09.
Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 10 blocks. They lead the NHL with 1,174. Mark Streit led the Isles with three blocks.
Goals by Period (Season)
Isles: 54-49-49-3 = 155
Opponents: 61-61-74-7 = 203
Third period goals include eight empty-net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.
All-time Winners
The Islanders fall to one game over all-time NHL .500 (1341-1340-430 in 3,111 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.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 89 goals in their 28 wins (3.18 per game) and 67 goals in their other 41 games (0-31-10; 1.63 per game). In their 31 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 39 goals (1.26 per game).
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 187 career points; he is 39 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close.
Longest Point Streaks in NHL, last two seasons
• Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)
• Eric Staal, 12 games (2/8/12-3/6/12)
• John Tavares, 12 games (12/29/11-1/21/12)
• Ilya Kovalchuk 12 games (2/1/11-2/25/11)
Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 29 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 19 of them. He has now been on-ice for 53 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 35 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa Bay.
Three Different Leaders
Matt Moulson continues to lead the Isles in goals (29); PA Parenteau leads the Isles in assists (46); John Tavares leads the Isles in points (66).
25-25-25, 30-30-30?
Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy to have at least three consecutive 25-goal seasons. He is one goal away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; Palffy, from 1995-96 to 1997-98 was also the last Islander to accomplish that feat. Moulson has 90 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the work stoppage. Moulson has opened the scoring 10 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-0 when he does so. He is the first Islander with at least 10 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.
20-20-20 x 2
Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at least 20 goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2005-06. Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:
• Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78)
• Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79)
• Bryan Trottier (13: 1975-76 through 1987-88)
• Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87)
Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles’ reigning ironman, has played in all 233 games since joining the team. Moulson’s streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islanders history; that figure still stands as the club record.
Three other forwards: PA Parenteau, Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islanders defender to do so. The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islanders History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Denis Potvin 262
4. J.P. Parise 240
5. Matt Moulson 233
Missing Men
Mark Eaton (upper body), Matt Martin (ill) and Casey Cizikas (ill) were scratched as was Al Montoya (upper body injury). Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 323 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson served as the back-up.
Career Years
• Matt Moulson: 28 assists and 57 points are new career highs. He has 29 goals, two shy of his career best.
• PA Parenteau: 46 assists and 61 points are new career highs. He has 15 goals, five shy of his career best.
• John Tavares is 28-38-66; His 38 assists matches last career-best total, while he is one goal, one assist and one point shy of career highs, both set last season.
• Frans Nielsen has 13 goals, matching a career-high set last year.
• Kyle Okposo has 15 goals, four shy of his career-high set in 2009-10.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
1. Martin Brodeur 650
2. Roberto Luongo 335
3. Nikolai Khabibulin 328
4. Evgeni Nabokov 309
5. Miikka Kiprusoff 306
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
22. Evgeni Nabokov 309
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 306
Most First Goals of Game (NHL This Season)
1 Matt Moulson 10
1 Ilya Kovalchuk 10
3 Evander Kane 9
3 Curtis Glencross 9
Career Goals as an Islander
31 Travis Green 92
32 Matt Moulson 90
33 Butch Goring 87
34 Tomas Jonsson 84
35 John Tavares 81
35 Wayne Merrick 81
35 Dave Scatchard 81
38 Marty McInnis 79
Career Assists as an Islander – active players
1 Mark Streit 109
2 John Tavares 107
3 Frans Nielsen 103
4 Kyle Okposo 90
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
55 Gerald Diduck 314
56 Mikko Makela 307
57 Frans Nielsen 306
58 Gord Lane 304
61 Gord Dineen 287
62 Jeff Norton 282
63 Josh Bailey 278
64 Steve Thomas 275
65 Blake Comeau 261
65 Andre St. Laurent 261
67 Brad Lauer 259
68 Benoit Hogue 258
69 Kyle Okposo 258
70 Pierre Turgeon 255
80 Adrian Aucoin 235
81 Matt Moulson 233
82 Zdeno Chara 231
82 Billy MacMillian 231
84 John Tavares 230
85 Chris Campoli 228
86 Bryan Smolinski 227
87 Mark Streit 225
88 Michael Peca 222
Career Points as an Islander
37 Butch Goring 195
38 Jeff Norton 188
39 John Tavares 187
40 Lorne Henning 184
47 Miroslav Satan 166
48 Matt Moulson 159
49 Oleg Kvasha 158
50 Alan Kerr 154
51 Roman Hamrlik 153
51 Frans Nielsen 153
53 Kyle Okposo 149
54 Michael Peca 142
Season Series Stats
The Rangers win season series four games to two (and nine points to 5). The Rangers won all three Garden games against the Isles for the second straight season, but the Isles stopped a six-game regulation losing streak at MSG.
From the Geniuses at Elias
A leftover from Saturday’s game vs. New Jersey: The Isles had three players win at least 70% of their faceoffs Saturday: Frans Nielsen (6-2, 75%), Marty Reasoner (6-2, 75%) and John Tavares 14-6, 70%). It was the first time since October 21, 2009 vs. Carolina that that had happened: Frans Nielsen (8-1, 88.9%), Nate Thompson (9-2, 81.8%) and Josh Bailey (12-4, 75.0%).
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago Saturday (3-11-80): Newly-acquired Butch Goring made his Islanders debut and the Isles defeated Colorado 4-1 at the Coliseum. The Isles went 8-0-4 over the remainder of the regular season after Goring’s acquisition.
All-time, the Isles are 8-9-3 on this date.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers ran into a team hotter than themselves Sunday, dropping a 6-3 decision to Norfolk, who has won 15 straight games. Bridgeport is 32-20-3-5 overall, having earned points in 24 of their last 27 games. Bridgeport has 72 points, tied with Connecticut for the division lead. The Sound Tigers also hold a game in hand. Bridgeport is off until Friday, when they begin a three road game in three-day weekend at Connecticut.
Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH 13th WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders return home to face Dale Hunter’s Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at the Coliseum. It will be the Capitals’ first visit to Long Island since Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau as Capitals coach. The Caps are currently 8th in the East, but trail Florida by just one point for the Southeast Division lead. The Isles are 2-0-1 vs. Washington this season
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in “The Skinny” has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
Rangers 4, Isles 3 (OT)
Marian Gaborik scored a power-play goal with less than six seconds remaining in overtime as the Rangers won a game they never led, defeating the Islanders 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden. The loss breaks a five-game Islanders overtime/shootout winning streak against the Rangers.
The Scoring:
1st Period
11:15 NYI John Tavares (28) - ASST: P. Parenteau (46) AND T. Hamonic (15)
18:47 NYR PPG - Brad Richards (20) - ASST: A. Stralman (14) AND H. Lundqvist (1)
2nd Period
07:44 NYI PPG - Matt Moulson (29) - ASST: M. Streit (31) AND T. Hamonic (16)
16:03 NYR PPG - Brad Richards (21) - ASST: M. Gaborik (28) AND M. Zuccarello (1)
19:24 NYI Andrew MacDonald (5) - ASST: J. Tavares (38) AND M. Jurcina (7)
3rd Period
03:29 NYR Brian Boyle (6) - ASST: R. McDonagh (20) AND B. Prust (12)
OT Period
04:54 NYR PPG - Marian Gaborik (33) - ASST: B. Richards (29) AND D. Stepan (30)
The Skinny
Tavares briefly tied Moulson for the club lead in goals before Moulson regained it later in the game. Tavares and Moulson have combined to open the scoring 17 times this season, tops of any two teammates in the NHL. The Isles have scored first a total of 35 times. MacDonald tied Mark Streit for the club lead in defensemen goals (5). Brad Richards now has 241 career goals, more than any forward in NHL history who has not scored a hat trick in his career; Richards passed former Islander Mike Sillinger (240). The Rangers improve to 10-7 in extra time (7-2 in games decided by an overtime goal) while the Isles are 8-10 (3-7 in games decided by an overtime goal). Gaborik now has three overtime goals this season; Steven Stamkos (4) is the only other NHL player with at least three. The Rangers have allowed at least three goals in six straight games for the first time since early in the 2006-07 season.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 28-31-10 overall and are 13-16-5 on the road.
The Rangers are 43-18-7 overall and 23-7-2 at home. The win stops a three-game Rangers losing streak.
In the Nets
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 32 shots. He is 16-17-2 on the season. Nabokov played all six games against the Rangers, going 2-3-1. This was his 600th NHL game (309-195-68 with 28 no decisions).
Henrik Lundqvist made just 16 saves for New York as he improved to 32-14-5 on the campaign. Lundqvist won for the first time in his career when allowing three goals or more while facing 20 shots or less (1-20-1). He also recorded his 10th career assist and first of the season.
Leaning on #91
John Tavares has 66 points (28-38-66) on 155 Islanders goals this season (42.6%). No Islander since Zigmund Palffy has recorded points on over 40% of the team’s goals in a complete season. He is four points shy of becoming the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record at least 70 points in a season.
Don’t Forget PA
With 61 points, Parenteau has points on 39.4% of the Islanders’ goals this season. He has 46 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had 74 and Vladimir Malakhov had 47 in the 1993-94 season.
Most Assists, Islanders, Since 1989-90
• Pierre Turgeon 1992-93 74
• Pierre Turgeon 1993-94 56
• Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 51
• Steve Thomas 1992-93 50
• Pierre Turgeon 1991-92 49
• Jeff Norton 1989-90 49
• Vladimir Malakhov 1993-94 47
• Patrick Flatley 1992-93 47
• Tom Kurvers 1991-92 47
• PA Parenteau 2011-12 46
Last Second Overtime Defeat
This is the third time in Islanders history that they have allowed a goal in the final ten seconds of overtime:
• 11/17/95 Peter Douris (at Anaheim) 2-1 (4:59)
• 3/28/98 Sylvain Cote (at Toronto) 4-3 (4:56)
• 3/11/12 Marian Gaborik (at New York) 4-3 (4:54)
Can’t Nail it Down
The Islanders trailed for a total of 85 seconds this weekend but went 0-1-1. The Isles have won only 15 of 24 games (15-1-8) this season when leading after two periods.
Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while the Rangers were 3-6. The Isles are 3-33 in their last 11 games with the extra man and have killed only 25 of 38 in the same span. It was the first time all season that the Isles have allowed three power-play goals in a game.
They Said It
Travis Hamonic: “It's very frustrating. I thought we played a good game, but we couldn't get it done in the end.”
They Tweeted It
@KatieStrangESPN #NYR #Isles Wouldn't be surprised to see Stu Bickel and Micheal Haley go at it. Bickel suffered facial fractures when they fought Dec 26. Asked Haley before game about whether he expects retaliation: "I'm sure a lot of guys can pick out something I've done to them." (The players fought just 2:14 into the game).
The Coach
"Our special teams were good for a while but we've gotten away from it and we're taking things for granted."
Leading Ice Men
Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 26:31; Ryan McDonough led New York with 26:36. Hamonic was in the penalty box when Gaborik scored the winning goal; he received a misconduct penalty after the goal was scored.
In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 draws; the Rangers won 30. Frans Nielsen won 7 of 14 for the Isles; Brian Boyle won 12 of 19 for the Rangers.
Heavy Hitters
The Islanders were out-hit 24-13. With NHL hits leader Matt Martin sidelined, Josh Bailey and Micheal Haley each had a team-leading three hits. Martin has a club record 314 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09.
Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 10 blocks. They lead the NHL with 1,174. Mark Streit led the Isles with three blocks.
Goals by Period (Season)
Isles: 54-49-49-3 = 155
Opponents: 61-61-74-7 = 203
Third period goals include eight empty-net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.
All-time Winners
The Islanders fall to one game over all-time NHL .500 (1341-1340-430 in 3,111 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.
Scoring
The Isles have scored 89 goals in their 28 wins (3.18 per game) and 67 goals in their other 41 games (0-31-10; 1.63 per game). In their 31 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 39 goals (1.26 per game).
Head of the Class
John Tavares has 187 career points; he is 39 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close.
Longest Point Streaks in NHL, last two seasons
• Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)
• Eric Staal, 12 games (2/8/12-3/6/12)
• John Tavares, 12 games (12/29/11-1/21/12)
• Ilya Kovalchuk 12 games (2/1/11-2/25/11)
Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 29 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 19 of them. He has now been on-ice for 53 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 35 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa Bay.
Three Different Leaders
Matt Moulson continues to lead the Isles in goals (29); PA Parenteau leads the Isles in assists (46); John Tavares leads the Isles in points (66).
25-25-25, 30-30-30?
Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy to have at least three consecutive 25-goal seasons. He is one goal away from a third consecutive 30-goal season; Palffy, from 1995-96 to 1997-98 was also the last Islander to accomplish that feat. Moulson has 90 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the work stoppage. Moulson has opened the scoring 10 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-0 when he does so. He is the first Islander with at least 10 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.
20-20-20 x 2
Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at least 20 goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2005-06. Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:
• Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78)
• Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79)
• Bryan Trottier (13: 1975-76 through 1987-88)
• Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87)
Ironman
Matt Moulson, the Isles’ reigning ironman, has played in all 233 games since joining the team. Moulson’s streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islanders history; that figure still stands as the club record.
Three other forwards: PA Parenteau, Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islanders defender to do so. The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.
Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islanders History
1. Billy Harris 576
2. Bob Nystrom 301
3. Denis Potvin 262
4. J.P. Parise 240
5. Matt Moulson 233
Missing Men
Mark Eaton (upper body), Matt Martin (ill) and Casey Cizikas (ill) were scratched as was Al Montoya (upper body injury). Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve. The Isles have lost 323 man-games to injury so far this season. Anders Nilsson served as the back-up.
Career Years
• Matt Moulson: 28 assists and 57 points are new career highs. He has 29 goals, two shy of his career best.
• PA Parenteau: 46 assists and 61 points are new career highs. He has 15 goals, five shy of his career best.
• John Tavares is 28-38-66; His 38 assists matches last career-best total, while he is one goal, one assist and one point shy of career highs, both set last season.
• Frans Nielsen has 13 goals, matching a career-high set last year.
• Kyle Okposo has 15 goals, four shy of his career-high set in 2009-10.
List Time
Career Wins, Active Goalies
1. Martin Brodeur 650
2. Roberto Luongo 335
3. Nikolai Khabibulin 328
4. Evgeni Nabokov 309
5. Miikka Kiprusoff 306
Career Wins
21. Sean Burke 324
22. Evgeni Nabokov 309
23. Miikka Kiprusoff 306
Most First Goals of Game (NHL This Season)
1 Matt Moulson 10
1 Ilya Kovalchuk 10
3 Evander Kane 9
3 Curtis Glencross 9
Career Goals as an Islander
31 Travis Green 92
32 Matt Moulson 90
33 Butch Goring 87
34 Tomas Jonsson 84
35 John Tavares 81
35 Wayne Merrick 81
35 Dave Scatchard 81
38 Marty McInnis 79
Career Assists as an Islander – active players
1 Mark Streit 109
2 John Tavares 107
3 Frans Nielsen 103
4 Kyle Okposo 90
Career Games as an Islander (skaters)
55 Gerald Diduck 314
56 Mikko Makela 307
57 Frans Nielsen 306
58 Gord Lane 304
61 Gord Dineen 287
62 Jeff Norton 282
63 Josh Bailey 278
64 Steve Thomas 275
65 Blake Comeau 261
65 Andre St. Laurent 261
67 Brad Lauer 259
68 Benoit Hogue 258
69 Kyle Okposo 258
70 Pierre Turgeon 255
80 Adrian Aucoin 235
81 Matt Moulson 233
82 Zdeno Chara 231
82 Billy MacMillian 231
84 John Tavares 230
85 Chris Campoli 228
86 Bryan Smolinski 227
87 Mark Streit 225
88 Michael Peca 222
Career Points as an Islander
37 Butch Goring 195
38 Jeff Norton 188
39 John Tavares 187
40 Lorne Henning 184
47 Miroslav Satan 166
48 Matt Moulson 159
49 Oleg Kvasha 158
50 Alan Kerr 154
51 Roman Hamrlik 153
51 Frans Nielsen 153
53 Kyle Okposo 149
54 Michael Peca 142
Season Series Stats
The Rangers win season series four games to two (and nine points to 5). The Rangers won all three Garden games against the Isles for the second straight season, but the Isles stopped a six-game regulation losing streak at MSG.
From the Geniuses at Elias
A leftover from Saturday’s game vs. New Jersey: The Isles had three players win at least 70% of their faceoffs Saturday: Frans Nielsen (6-2, 75%), Marty Reasoner (6-2, 75%) and John Tavares 14-6, 70%). It was the first time since October 21, 2009 vs. Carolina that that had happened: Frans Nielsen (8-1, 88.9%), Nate Thompson (9-2, 81.8%) and Josh Bailey (12-4, 75.0%).
Happy Anniversary
32 years ago Saturday (3-11-80): Newly-acquired Butch Goring made his Islanders debut and the Isles defeated Colorado 4-1 at the Coliseum. The Isles went 8-0-4 over the remainder of the regular season after Goring’s acquisition.
All-time, the Isles are 8-9-3 on this date.
On The Farm
The Sound Tigers ran into a team hotter than themselves Sunday, dropping a 6-3 decision to Norfolk, who has won 15 straight games. Bridgeport is 32-20-3-5 overall, having earned points in 24 of their last 27 games. Bridgeport has 72 points, tied with Connecticut for the division lead. The Sound Tigers also hold a game in hand. Bridgeport is off until Friday, when they begin a three road game in three-day weekend at Connecticut.
Up Next
TUESDAY, MARCH 13th WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders return home to face Dale Hunter’s Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at the Coliseum. It will be the Capitals’ first visit to Long Island since Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau as Capitals coach. The Caps are currently 8th in the East, but trail Florida by just one point for the Southeast Division lead. The Isles are 2-0-1 vs. Washington this season
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in “The Skinny” has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
