Bleacher Report - New York Islanders

Matt Moulson Might Be the New York Islanders' Best Player

Dan Karell — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:24:22 -0500

Who is the guy wearing the No. 26 for the New York Islanders you ask?

That would be Matt Moulson, the 26-year-old left winger from Canada, who is second on the Islanders with 18 points in 21 games.

The guy ahead of him, John Tavares, who has 19 points, is also his linemate, and the two of them have gelled into a dynamic duo on the ice.

After last season, where the leading point man was defenseman Mark Streit, this season it looks like the Islanders have turned it around.

But who would have thought it would be this quick.

The John Tavares affect to me is like a combination of having a great scorer and a great assist man, who is able to cause defenseman to collapse on him, leaving other players open for shots.

And that's where Matty Moulson steps in. After not being given much of a chance the last couple years with the Los Angeles Kings, Moulson signed a one year deal this summer with the Islanders.

And he is immediately paying dividends.

The Islanders resurgent goal scoring has helped push the team to victory on more than one occasion, and Moulson leads the team with 10 goals on the year, including two in the Isles' last game, a 4-1 win in Boston.

If Moulson keeps pace and plays every game, he is projected to finish with 70 points from 39 goals and 31 assists. One can only hope that it will happen.

After a horrific 2008-2009 season, Islanders fans now have something to be excited about, and Moulson and Tavares are a huge part of that.

Read more New York Islanders news on BleacherReport.com

Stat Trick: Islanders Extend Point Streak to Five After 4-1 Win in Boston

Eric Hornick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:55:54 -0500

In perhaps their most solid effort of the season, the New York Islanders went into Boston on Monday night and pounded the Bruins, 4-1.

The Isles have earned a point on all four games of their road trip (2-0-2) and are 3-0-2 in their last five overall.

On to the trick:

1. Matt Moulson scored twice to become the first Islander to reach double-digit goals with 10. His second goal, with 1:11 left in the middle session, proved to be the winner. Moulson has four goals in the last five games and he nearly had a fifth. John Tavares was credited with a goal that went in off the skate of Matt Hunwick. Hunwick's deflection denied Moulson the chance to become the first Islander to ever record a hat trick in Boston. The Isles have five hat tricks against the Bruins, including two in the playoffs, but all came at the Coliseum.

2. Daniel Paille had the Bruins' goal, which needed video review to confirm. Paille now has scored in consecutive games after not scoring in his first 13 with Boston.

3. Trent Hunter finished the scoring with an empty-net goal, securing the Isles first regulation win on the road this season and only the seventh regulation win in 53 road games under Scott Gordon. You have to go back to Jan. 22, 2008 (Isles 6, Carolina 3) to find another road game that the Islanders won by at least three goals, making this the most lopsided road win of the Gordon era.

4. The Isles have scored at least four goals in five straight games. It's the first time they've done that since 1993, when they scored four in seven consecutive games from Dec. 11 to Dec. 26. They've scored at least four in each of the four games on this trip; it's the first time since December 1983 that the Isles have had four straight games on the same road trip in which they scored at least four goals.

5. Richard Park assisted on the first three goals, tying his career high. Park has earned five assists in the last three games.

6. As the score suggests, it was a strong night for the Islanders' defense. Mark Streit led the Isles with 28:35 of ice time, blocking four shots. Bruno Gervais was plus-three and Andy Sutton was plus-two with six hits. Andy MacDonald, making his season debut for the Isles, was plus-one as he played 11:44 in his fourth NHL game.

7. John Tavares now has a five-game point streak (4-4-8). He is the second NHL rookie to have a streak of at least five games this season. (Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly had a seven-game streak in October.)

8. The Isles have earned at least one point in 11 of Roloson's 12 starts (6-1-5) and are 6-0-3 in his last nine starts. He has made 12 appearances, more than any goalie who has one or fewer losses. Roloson, who made 28 saves, has played in four of the last five Islander games.

9. The Isles have earned points in 11 of their last 13 games (7-2-4) and are 9-3-4 since their 0-3-3 start. Their 8-6-7 record gives them 23 points in the season's first 21 games; they had 23 points last season through 34 games. The Isles are also two games over NHL .500 for the first time since they were 32-30-7 after losing to the Rangers on March 6, 2008.

10. It was the Isles' first win in Boston after six straight losses (0-4-2), dating back to a shootout win on Jan. 11, 2007. The Isles all broke a seven-game losing streak to Boston overall (0-6-1) with their first win over the Bruins since Nov. 24, 2007. The season series is even at a game each, with the Isles holding a three-to-two point edge. The teams have two meetings left, both on Long Island (Dec. 12 and March 6).

Up next: The Isles will look to extend the point streak to six for the first time under Scott Gordon when the road trip continues on Friday in Minnesota against the Wild. The Isles are 3-6-1 all-time against the Wild and have lost four straight (0-3-1). They've won only once ever in St. Paul, on Dec. 19, 2002, but are only 0-1-1 in Minnesota since then.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Read more New York Islanders news on BleacherReport.com

Stat Trick: Florida Panthers 5, New York Isles 4 (Shootout)

Eric Hornick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:49:41 -0500

How many two goal leads will the Islanders blow on this trip? It's now three, as the Isles have given away a lead of at least two goals in each of the three games. Saturday's blown lead results in the second shootout loss in the three games. On to the trick...

1. Tim Jackman celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring 16 seconds into the game and Trent Hunter added a goal before the five minute mark to give the Isles a 2-0 lead. That gave the Isles 11 goals in their last four games. However, they couldn't get a third goal in the session—the Isles have never scored three goals in four straight first periods.

2. Florida took over the game in the second period as Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss scored 31 seconds apart, before Rusty Olesz gave the Cats the lead in the final half-minute. Michael Frolik scored three minutes into the third to give Florida a two-goal bulge. Weiss was active in the face-off circle as well, taking 34 draws and winning 19 of them.

3. However, the Panthers couldn't hold a two goal lead any better than the Isles as John Tavares and Kyle Okposo both scored on third period power plays to send the game into the overtime and the eventual shootout. Frans Nielsen scored first in the shootout but Stephen Weiss scored in the third round and Sean Bergenheim did not, the Panthers had the shootout win.

It's the second time this season that the Isles have played three consecutive overtime games and the frst time since April 2-6, 1994 that the Isles had played three consecutive overtime games, all on the road.

...a few more...

4. The Isles have scored at least four goals in four straight games. It's the first time that they've done that since doing it in four consecutive games in December 9-19, 2006 (they haven't had a longer streak since scoring four straight in seven straight games in December, 1993).

5. The Islanders have scored two power-play goals in consecutive games for first time since November 22-24, 2008. Both goals in Washington came in the first period; both goals in Florida came in the third period.

6. The Isles have now lost six straight in Sunrise, but earn a point in South Florida for the first time since beating the Panthers 4-1 on November 18, 2006. The Panthers outshot the Isles 42-40; every Panther and all but three Islanders (Matt Moulson, Freddy Meyer, and Brendan Witt) had at least one.

7. John Tavares now has a four-game point streak (3-4-7). He has back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career. Kyle Okposo has goals in consecutive games for the second time this season.

8. The Isles have earned at least one point in ten of Roloson's 11 starts (5-1-5) and are 5-0-3 in his last eight starts. Roloson's five "loser points" not surprisingly leads the NHL.

9. Ten of the Isles' first 20 games have gone to overtime. Isles are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and 1-4 in games decided in shootouts. Isles are 4-9 under Gordon in shootouts, having lost eight of the last ten. Twelve of the first 20 have been decided by a single goal (3-2-7).

10. Isles have earned points in 10 of the last 12 games (6-2-4) for the first time since going 7-2-3 from December 21, 2007 to January 13, 2008.

Up next: Isles now head to Boston for a Monday meeting with the Bruins-- they've lost six straight in Boston (0-4-2) since winning in a shootout on January 11, 2007. Isles have lost seven straight to Boston overall (0-6-1) since beating the B's 2-1 on November 24, 2007, including a 4-3 shootout loss on October 10 in a game in which the Isles blew a 3-0 lead.

This is the middle game of a club record-tying seven game road trip. Face-off is at 7:00 on MSG-Plus.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Read more New York Islanders news on BleacherReport.com

Stat Trick: New York Isles 4, Carolina Hurricanes 3 (overtime)

Eric Hornick — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:37:35 -0500

It was John Tavares early and Kyle Okposo late, as two of the key building blocks in the Islanders' rebuilding played leading roles as the Isles built, and blew a three-goal lead, before emerging victorious in overtime. On to the trick:

1. Tavares scored twice in the first period, once on a power play as he batted the puck out of mid-air, and once just after another power play expired as the Isles came within seconds of matching the club record for power play goals in a period (three).

2. Mark Streit also scored on the power play, as the Isles built a 3-0 first period lead. The Isles, who have scored as many first period goals over their last three games (nine) as they did in the first 16 games, scored three first period goals for the third straight game. It's the first time they've done that since March 15-16-18, 1980 (the second, third, and fourth games played after the acquisition of Butch Goring jump-started the Cup run).

3. Tuumo Ruutu and Ray Whitney got the Canes back in the game in the second period, before Tim Gleason tied it with a stoppable shot from just inside the blueline with 2:31 to play.

It was enough to get the 'Canes a point, but when Okposo scored with 15 seconds left in overtime, it was not enough for the Canes to avoid matching a franchise record 14 game winless streak (0-10-4) that was set by the Whalers in 1992. Ruutu's goal came on the powerplay and was Carolina's first after going 0-23 in their prior six games.

...and a few more...

4. Okposo is the fifth Islander to score in the final 15 seconds of overtime, joining Stefan Perrson, Mike Bossy, Michael Peca and Mike Comrie. He also became the 14th Islander with multiple regular season overtime goals. Pierre Turgeon is the only Islander to record four OT goals (in regular season play).

5. The Isles improve to 2-4-4 on the road. Both wins have been in overtime. The Isles haven't won in regulation time on the road since March 27, 2009 in Detroit.

6. It's the third time this season that the Isles have scored two power play goals in a game, but the first time that they have done it in the same period since Mark Streit and Frans Nielsen did so in the 2nd period on March 15, 2009 in Chicago. The Islanders last scored two power play goals in the first period on October 5, 2007 when Ruslan Fedontenko and Mike Comrie scored against Buffalo in the season opener,

7. The Isles go over NHL .500 (7-6-6) for the second time this season (they were 5-4-5 after beating Edmonton on November 2). Nine of the first nineteen games have gone into overtime (3-0-6); eleven of the 19 have been decided by one goal (3-2-6). The Isles have scored 14 goals in their last three games (2-0-1); it's the most goals that they've scored over a three-game stretch since February 28-March 3, 2007.

8. John Tavares recorded the first two-goal game of his career. His seven goals leads all NHL rookies, while his sixteen points are tied for the club lead. Tavares now has five points in the last three games, matching his production in his first three NHL games. He had a rough night in the face-off circle, though, losing nine of eleven.

9. Andy Sutton led the Isles with four hits and five blocked shots. The Isles were out-hit by a hard-to-believe 48-22 with Ruutu and Erik Cole combining for seventeen hits.

10. The Islanders lead the season series two games to 0, and four points to two. The team will play twice more, nine days apart, just before the Olympic break. The Isles also improved to 3-1-1 on regular season Friday the 13th's. It was the first time they played on Friday the 13th since beating Phoenix 5-2 in February, 2004.

Not surprisingly, all five games have been played on the road. (The Isles have played twice on Friday the 13th in the playoffs, evening a series with Washington in 1984, and being eliminated by the Rangers in 1990.)

Up next: The Isles will look to go two games over .500 for the first time since March 6, 2008 when they visit Florida on Saturday night. The Isles are now 1-0-1 on this club record-tying seven game road trip. While the home team won all four Islander-Panther games last season, the Isles have lost five straight in Sunrise, Florida, dating back to a 4-1 win on November 18, 2006.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Read more New York Islanders news on BleacherReport.com