New York Islanders vs. Minnesota Wild
February 2, 7:00 p.m.
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Islanders: 25-16-6 (56 points)
Wild: 23-17-9 (55 points)
TV: MSG+
Radio: 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 FM LINews Radio, 91.5 WNYE
Twitter: ISLANDERS & WILD
Game Preview: CLICK HERE for the Islanders Game Preview
LAST THREE (1-1-1)
* Saturday’s game (1/23 vs. PHI) was postponed due to weather.
1/25/15: NYI 2 vs. DET 4
Detroit took a 3-1 lead into the third period and held off the Islanders late push for a 4-2 win Monday at Barclays Center. Brock Nelson and Mikhail Grabovski tallied the goals for New York. Jaroslav Halak allowed three goals on 25 shots in the loss. Detroit’s Petr Mrazek made 27 saves for the win. Brad Richards’ power-play goal at 10:57 of the first period ended a streak of 22 straight kills for the Islanders.
1/22/15: NYI 5 at OTT 2
The Islanders netted three third-period goals to top the Senators in Ottawa 5-2. Four different Islanders, Travis Hamonic (1G, 1A), Kyle Okposo (1G, 1A), Frans Nielsen (2A) and John Tavares (1G, 1A) recorded multi-point games. After missing four games due to injury, Hamonic returned to lead the Islanders in TOI for the 22nd time this season and was named the game’s #2 Star. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves in the win.
1/17/15: NYI 1 vs. VAN 2 SO
The Islanders fired a season-high 48 shots, but could only beat Canucks goalie Ryan Miller once in a 2-1 shootout loss to Vancouver on Sunday at Barclays Center. New York’s lone goal came off the stick of Ryan Strome with just under 50 seconds left in the game to force overtime. In the shootout, Miller stopped all three Islanders (Nielsen, Okposo and Tavares), while Vancouver’s Radim Vrbata connected on his shootout attempt for the game winner. Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves, including five in overtime, to help the Islanders earn a point in their third straight game.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Islanders’ return from the All-Star break to take on the Minnesota Wild for the first time this season. This will mark the first of two meetings between the teams. The Islanders went 0-1-1 against Minnesota last season.
CURRENT INJURIES
* indicated player is on IR
PLAYER INJURY GAMES MISSED DATES
JOHNNY BOYCHUK* Upper Body 9 Jan. 1 – Present
ERIC BOULTON* Upper Body 6 Jan. 2 – Present
ADAM PELECH* Upper Body 3 Jan. 17 – Present
MAN GAMES LOST TO INJURY
2015-16: 108
2014-15: 275
2013-14: 243
2012-13: 81
2011-12: 351
ACTIVE IRON MAN STREAKS
Nikolay Kulemin: 196 games – NYI (127), TOR (68)
Brock Nelson: 182 games – All with NYI
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
02/01/16: Scott Mayfield was recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL).
02/01/16: JF Berube was recalled from loan from Bridgeport (AHL).
01/25/16: Scott Mayfield was returned on loan to Bridgeport (AHL).
01/19/16: Adam Pelech was placed on injured reserve (upper body).
01/19/16: JF Berube was loaned to Bridgeport for conditioning (AHL) .
01/19/16: JF Berube was activated off injured reserve (lower body).
01/08/16: Scott Mayfield was recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL).
01/08/16: Eric Boulton was placed on injured reserve (upper body).
01/05/16: Jaroslav Halak was activated off injured reserve (upper body).
01/05/16: Chris Gibson was returned on loan to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL).
01/01/16: Adam Pelech was recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL).
01/01/16: Johnny Boychuk was placed on injured reserve (upper body).
ALL TIME ISLANDERS VS. WILD
All-Time Record: 7-9-0-2
Last Regulation Win: 12/29/13, NYI 5 vs. MIN 4
Last Regulation Loss: 12/9/14, NYI 4 at MIN 5
Overtime Record (W-L-T): 0-1-0
Last Overtime Decision: 2/9/08, NYI 3 at MIN 4
Shootout Record: 1-1
Last Shootout: 3/24/15, NYI 1 vs. MIN 2
2015-16 SEASON SERIES VS. WILD (0-0-0)
02/02 – NYI vs. MIN
02/23 – NYI at MIN
ISLANDERS LEADERS VS. WILD
GP: Bernier (22), Zidlicky (18), Leddy (17)
G: Bernier (6), Okposo (3), Four with 2
A: Leddy (8), Zidlicky (6), Bernier (4)
P: Bernier (10), Leddy (9), Zidlicky (8)
PIM: Zidlicky (14), Okposo (10), two with 6
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
All times in Eastern Standard Time
02/04 – NYI at WSH 7:30
02/06 – NYI at DET 2:00
02/07 – NYI vs. EDM 2:30
02/09 – NYI at CBJ 7:00
02/11 – NYI vs. LAK 7:00
ISLANDERS ALL-TIME RECORD:
(W-L-T-OTL)
1477-1443-347-116
TEAM NOTES
Johnny All-Star: John Tavares represented the New York Islanders at the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. Tavares was named the Metropolitan Division team captain on Thursday, replacing the injured Alex Ovechkin. During Saturday nights skills competition, Tavares took home the accuracy shooting title, hitting four targets on five shots in just 12 seconds. This marked Tavares’ third straight All-Star Game selection.
Brock N’ Roll: Brock Nelson has six points (5G, 1A) in his last five games, including his first career NHL hat trick on 1/12 vs. the Blue Jackets. Nelson leads all Islanders with 19 goals this season.
Heavy Hitters: Matt Martin leads the NHL in hits with 226. Linemate Cal Clutterbuck is just behind him with 190, fifthin the league. Martin has led the NHL in this category each of the last four seasons, while Clutterbuck led the league the three season prior to that (2008-09 -2010-11). The Islanders as a team currently lead the NHL in hits with 1,460.
Killin’ It: The Islanders currently boast the second best penalty kill in the league and have killed 72-of-77 penalties over their last 25 games. That stretch included a franchise record 15 straight games without allowing a power-play goal; New York went a perfect 42-for-42.
Division Dominance: This season, New York is 9-3-2 against division foes. Last season, the Islanders finished 21-6-3 against the Metropolitan Division.
Overtime: Last season the Islanders went 14-7 in overtime (6-1 OT, 7-6 SO). The Islanders are currently 6-5 in overtimes this season (3-2 OT, 3-3 SO).
Under Capuano: Jack Capuano, the second winningest coach in Islanders history, began the season as the NHL’s fourth-longest tenured coach with his current team. The Islanders are 189-164-51 under Capuano. He ranks second on the Islanders all-time list in both games coached (406) and wins (187), behind Al Arbour (1,500 coached, 740 wins).
TOI Leaders:
The Islanders’ record when the following player leads the team in minutes
Travis Hamonic: 15-3-3
Johnny Boychuk: 4-3-1
Calvin de Haan: 2-2-1
Nick Leddy: 4-6-2
John Tavares: 0-1-0
Leddy/Hamonic tie 0-1-0
MILESTONE WATCH:
Josh Bailey: 12 goals from 100
Johnny Boychuk: 7 assists from 100
Cal Clutterbuck: 9 goals from 100
Mikhail Grabovski: 8 points from 300
Thomas Greiss: 1 win from 50
Jaroslav Halak: 6 wins from 200
Brock Nelson: 3 points from 100
Kyle Okposo: 6 games played from 500
John Tavares: 10 goals from 200
RECENT MILESTONES:
Travis Hamonic: 100 assists (1/22 at OTT)
Brock Nelson: 200 games played (1/22 at OTT)
2015-16 ISLANDERS MAKEUP
Draft Picks: Josh Bailey (2008), Casey Cizikas (2009), Calvin de Haan (2009), Travis Hamonic (2008), Anders Lee (2009), Matt Martin (2008), Scott Mayfield (2011), Brock Nelson (2010), Frans Nielsen (2002), Kyle Okposo (2006), Adam Pelech (2012), John Tavares(2009).
Free Agents: Steve Bernier (2015), Eric Boulton (2012), Mikhail Grabovski (2014), Thomas Greiss (2015), Nikolay Kulemin (2014).
Trades: Taylor Beck (2015), Johnny Boychuk (2014), Cal Clutterbuck (2013), Christopher Gibson (2015), Jaroslav Halak (2014), Nick Leddy (2014).
Waiver Claims: Jean-Francois Berube (2015), Thomas Hickey (2013), Brian Strait (2013).
MULTIPLE POINT GAMES
Bailey (2),Cizikas (1), Clutterbuck (1), Grabovski (2), Hamonic (1), Kulemin (1), Leddy (2), Lee (4), Nelson (4), Nielsen (7), Okposo (8), Pelech (1), Strome (2), Tavares (8), Zidlicky (2)
MULTIPLE GOAL GAMES
Clutterbuck (1), Nelson(2), Nielsen (3), Okposo (2), Tavares (2), Zidlicky (1)
MULTIPLE ASSIST GAMES
Bailey (1), Cizikas (1), Grabovski (1), Kulemin (1), Leddy (2), Lee (1), Nelson (1), Nielsen (2), Okposo (3), Pelech (1), Strome (1), Tavares (2), Zidlicky (1)
JUST FOR FUN:
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
(age the will be turning)
Feb. 3 – Marek Zidlicky (39)
Feb. 8- Thomas Hickey (27)
Feb. 27- Casey Cizikas (25)
THREE STAR SELECTION LEADERS:
(1st Star, 2nd Star, 3rd Star, Total)
Tavares 5-3-2 10
Okposo 4-2-3 9
Nielsen 1-6-1 8
Nelson 1-5-1 7
RECORD BY JERSEY:
Blue: 12-6-2
White: 10-8-3
Black: 3-2-1
