Game 2

Isles 4, Tampa Bay 3

The Islanders scored three straight goals in the second period, but it was a David Ullstrom tally early in the third that proved to be the difference as the Islanders spoiled Vincent Lecavalier’s 1000th NHL game with as they edged the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 before a crowd of 15,322 at Nassau Coliseum.

The Scoring:

1st Period

None

2nd Period

06:50 NYI PPG - M. Grabner (1) Tip-In - ASST: M. Streit (1) AND E. Nabokov (1)

1 - 0 NYI

16:23 NYI M. Martin (1) Wrist - ASST: J. Tavares (1)

2 - 0 NYI

17:35 NYI K. Okposo (1) Snap - ASST: J. Tavares (2) AND M. Moulson (1)

3 - 0 NYI

3rd Period

01:31 NYI D. Ullstrom (1) Wrist - ASST: K. Aucoin (1) AND T. Hamonic (1)

4 - 0 NYI

02:22 TBL M. St Louis (3) Wrist - ASST: S. Stamkos (3) AND C. Conacher (2)

4 - 1 NYI

07:26 TBL B. Pouliot (1) Wrist - ASST: B. Crombeen (1) AND A. Hall (1)

4 - 2 NYI

08:00 TBL S. Stamkos (1) Snap - ASST: C. Conacher (3) AND M. St Louis (2)

4 - 3 NYI

The Skinny: The Islanders hosted an MLK matinee for the seventh straight season, but recorded only their second win in that span (2-2-3). The Islanders held Ryan Malone off the scoresheet; Malone has 19 goals in 41 career games against the Isles. Mark Streit briefly held the club lead in active player assists (119), breaking a tie with John Tavares; Tavares added two assists later to re-take the lead (120). The Isles held on after building a 4-0 lead; they have not lost a game that they have had a four-goal lead in the third period since October 15, 1991 vs. Pittsburgh (Led 6-2, lost 7-6 [OT])

The Shots:

Isles 10-16-18=44

Lightning 7-8-11=26

The 44 shots are the most for the Islanders in a game since they had 47 on October 9, 2010 vs. Dallas). It’s also the most shots the Islanders have ever had in a game against Tampa Bay (previous high 42 on February 11, 2000).

Home and Road

The Islanders are 1-1-0 overall, 1-1-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 1-1-0 overall, and 0-1-0 on the road.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 23 shots to even his record at 1-1-0. Nabokov, who also recorded his first point as an Islander, now has 313 career wins (4th among all active goalies).

Anders Lindback made 40 saves but drops to 1-1-0.

Power Plays

The Isles went 1-7 on the power play while Tampa Bay was 0-3. Matt Martin’s goal came when he was sprung from the penalty box after the Islanders killed his penalty.

They Said It

Matt Martin: “I'm not much of a dangler, so I usually get the shot off as quick as I can. It worked out great for me. Coming out of the box, Johnny clears the puck and it's pretty well right on my tape. Not a whole lot of time to think about what I'm going to do; just go in and let it rip."

They Tweeted It

@THamonic3: “Great game this afternoon. Nice to get the first win in front of our @NYIslanders fans!! #theBest”

The Coach

Jack Capuano returned after missing the opener while hospitalized. “I sense a different team than last year. We’ve got some veteran leadership on this team now. Guys are a year older than they were last year. This is the National Hockey League. There’s great players in this league. No lead is safe. You know [Tampa Bay] is going to get chances with the guys they have.”

Leading Ice Men

Mark Streit led the Isles with 29:18; Matt Carle led Tampa Bay with 24:28.

Lots of Ice

Brad Boyes saw 21:00 of ice-time in his second game for the Islanders. It’s the most ice time for Boyes in a game since he played 21:11 on February 14, 2011. Boyes is wearing #24 as an Islander, the same number he wore when he broke into the NHL. His #22 from his days in St. Louis and Buffalo is retired by the Islanders (and if you’re reading The Skinny I bet you know that this is in honor of Mike Bossy).

In the Circle

The Islanders won 30 draws; the Lightning won 35. Newcomer Keith Aucoin won 9 of 12 for the Isles; he’s won 17 of 22 in his first two games. Former Islander Nate Thompson won 10 of 13 for Tampa Bay.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders were out-hit 15-14. Newcomer Colin McDonald led the Isles with four. There were two fights in the game, both off the opening draw. Matt Martin fought BJ Crombeen while Joe Finley battled Pierre-Cedric Labrie. It was the first two fights of the season for the Islanders.

Lots of Blocks

The Isles, who led the NHL with 1364 blocked shots last year, blocked eight shots.

Lots of Shots to Go Around

Every Islander forward had at least one shot on goal. Five different players each had five shots on goal (Moulson, Tavares, Grabner, Ullstrom and Aucoin).

All-time Winners

With the loss, the Islanders are now two games over .500 all-time (1348-1346-432 in 3,126 games). The Isles fell one game below .500 on two occasions last season. Prior to that, they had not been below .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Ironman

Matt Moulson, the Isles’ reigning ironman, has played in all 248 games since joining the team. Moulson’s streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era and the fourth-longest in club history. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.

Three other Islanders, Frans Nielsen, John Tavares and Mark Streit, also played in every game last season. Tavares extended his streak to 161 consecutive games, while Nielsen and Streit have each played in 84.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History

1. Billy Harris 576

2. Bob Nystrom 301

3. Denis Potvin 262

4. Matt Moulson 248

Missing Men

Casey Cizikas replaced Eric Boulton in the lineup. Radek Martinek and Thomas Hickey were also scratched. Josh Bailey and Jesse Joensuu remain suspended after suffering injuries in Europe. Lubomir Visnovsky has not yet reported.

As Seen on MSG+

Most Goals Since 2009-10: Steven Stamkos 157, Alex Ovechkin 120, Corey Perry 114

List Time

Career Wins, Active Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur 657

2. Roberto Luongo 339

3. Nikolai Khabibulin 328

4. Evgeni Nabokov 313

5. Miikka Kiprusoff 311

Career Wins

21. Sean Burke 324

22. Evgeni Nabokov 313

23. Miikka Kiprusoff 311

Career Goals as an Islander

25 Trent Hunter 99

26 Matt Moulson 97

27 Mikko Makela 95

27 David Volek 95

32 Travis Green 92

33 Butch Goring 87

34 Tomas Jonsson 84

34 John Tavares 84

36 Wayne Merrick 81

36 Dave Scatchard 81

Career Assists as an Islander – active players

1 John Tavares 120

2 Mark Streit 119

3 Frans Nielsen 113

4 Kyle Okposo 94

Career Games as an Islander (skaters)

49 Eric Cairns 327

50 Alan Kerr 326

51 Frans Nielsen 321

51 Brad Dalgarno 321

53 Steve Webb 316

53 Ray Ferraro 316

53 Richard Park 316

59 Arron Asham 300

59 Roman Hamrlik 300

61 Josh Bailey 292

62 Gord Dineen 287

63 Jeff Norton 282

64 Steve Thomas 275

65 Kyle Okposo 273

66 Blake Comeau 261

66 Andre St. Laurent 261

71 Jude Drouin 250

72 Matt Moulson 248

73 Brad Isbister 247

73 Brendan Witt 247

75 Sean Bergenheim 246

76 John Tavares 245

77 Miroslav Satan 243

78 Bryan Berard 242

79 JP Parise 240

79 Mark Streit 240

81 Adrian Aucoin 235

Career Points as an Islander

31 Mark Parrish 214

32 Jean Potvin 213

32 Garry Howatt 213

34 Anders Kallur 211

35 John Tavares 204

36 Marty McInnis 198

40 Lorne Henning 184

41 Randy Wood 172

42 Matt Moulson 171

42 Claude Lapointe 171

42 JP Parise 171

45 Shawn Bates 170

46 Jude Drouin 169

47 Dave Scatchard 168

48 Frans Nielsen 167

49 Miroslav Satan 166

50 Kyle Okposo 163

51 Oleg Kvasha 158

52 Alan Kerr 154

53 Roman Hamrlik 153

54 Mark Streit 152

Season Series Stats

The Islanders lead the season series 1-0-0 and two points to zero. They have dominated the series at home in recent years, having won four straight and 9 of 11 (9-2-0) vs. the Bolts. The teams will next meet on March 14 in Tampa, before completing the season series on April 6 at the Coliseum.

Happy Anniversary

31 years ago tonight (1-21-82): The Islanders began their 15-game winning streak and Bryan Trottier began his club-record 25 game point streak as the Islanders blasted Pittsburgh 6-1. Thanks to my MSG colleagues for recognizing the anniversary of my first game on Isles telecasts.

All-time, the Isles are 12-5-3 on this date, having won on January 21 in each of the past five seasons.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers lost to Springfield 4-1 on Sunday, breaking their two-game win streak. Bridgeport is 19-17-2-2. The Sound Tigers are off until Friday, when they begin a two-game series in Norfolk.

Up Next

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:00PM

[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]

The Islanders begin a five-game, eight-day road trip on Thursday when they visit the Maple Leafs in Toronto. The teams have split a pair of games in Toronto in each of the last three seasons (with two of the Islander wins coming in overtime). This is the first of two five-game road trips this season for the Isles; the other one will complete the regular 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.