Isles face Bruins in Boston

The Bruins host the Islanders today in the 2nd of 3 games between these teams and the 2nd and final game of this season’s series at TD Garden.

In their last game on Saturday, Brock McGinn's four-point night helped lift the Hurricanes over the Islanders 7-4 on Saturday night at Barclays Center. John Tavares scored twice while Anders Lee (1G, 1A) & Josh Bailey (2A) also added multi-point nights in the loss. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.

In Boston's last game on Jan. 14, Brad Marchand, playing in his 500th NHL game, had the 3rd 5-point game of his career and 2nd of this season with 2 goals and 3 assists to pace the offense as the Bruins beat the Flyers 6-3. David Krejci, Torey Krug (who added an assist), Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara also scored while David Pastrnak had 2 assists. Goaltender Tuukka Rask won his 3rd straight decision

Islanders starting goaltender Thomas Greiss is 1-2-0 in 3 GP against Boston with a .945 SV%, a 2.03 GAA and 101 saves in 110 shots faced, along with 176:56 of ice time against the Bruins.

JOHNNY-ALL-STAR

On Tuesday, John Tavares was selected to represent the New York Islanders at the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, taking place from January 28-29 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tavares, 26, will appear in his fourth consecutive NHL All-Star game. Last year, he took home the accuracy shooting title while representing the Metropolitan Team in Nashville, Tennessee. The Oakville, Ontario native currently leads the Islanders in points (32) and tied for first in goals (16) & second in assists (16). In 551 career NHL games, spanning eight seasons with the Islanders, Tavares has 503 points (223 goals, 280 assists).

HOME

The Islanders will play seven home games in January, including a season-long six-game home stand from Jan. 19 - Jan. 31. During the 13 day home-stand, the Islanders will host their only home back-to-back of the season. After January, New York will play just 12 of their remaining 34 games at Barclays Center.

HOT HANDS

Anders Lee has 8 points in his last 12 games (6G, 2A) & 14 goals in his last 21 games. Josh Bailey has 11 assists in his last 11 games. Thomas Greiss is 7-3-2 in his last 11 games.

SHOOTOUTS

The New York Islanders have won 70 games all-time in the shootout game, good for the second most all-time shootout wins in the NHL. This season, New York won a T14-round shootout, the longest in Islanders' franchise history.

OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE

The Islanders are currently second in the NHL lead in goals from the blueline with 25. Islanders' blueliners have recorded a goal in 21 of the last 34 games. From Oct. 21-Nov. 5 New York recorded a streak of eight-straight games with a goal from a defenseman, which set a new franchise record. Islanders' defenseman have accounted for 87 points this season (25G, 62A).

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

Dating back to last season, the Islanders are 18-2-3 (6-2-1 this season) when playing a Western Conference opponent at Barclays Center.

JASON CHASIN' 1000

Islander forward Jason Chimera is closing in on his 1000th NHL game. He currently sits at 992 games played, good for 20th among all active NHLers. Chimera made his NHL debut in December of 2000 and over his 16-year NHL career, has played for Edmonton, Columbus, Washington & the Islanders.

UNDER CAPUANO

Jack Capuano enters his seventh season as the Head Coach of the Islanders in 2016-17. He is the NHL's fourth-longest tenured coach, behind Claude Julien, Joel Quenneville and Dave Tippett. Capuano is 226-192-64 in 480 games behind the Islanders bench. He ranks second on the Islanders all-time list in both games coached (482) and wins (226), behind Al Arbour (1,500 coached, 740 wins).

THREE'S COMPANY

Last season, the Islanders went 37-4-2 when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners). This season, New York is 15-4-2 when hitting the three goal mark (1-13-6 when they do not).

McGinn has goal, 3 assists as Canes beat Isles 7-4

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Brock McGinn, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm overwhelmed another opponent for Carolina, and the Hurricanes kept on rolling.

McGinn had a goal and three assists, linemates Staal and Lindholm each had a goal and two assists and the Hurricanes pulled away late to beat the New York Islanders 7-4 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

”I’m enjoying playing alongside these guys,” Staal said. ”A lot of things have kind of clicked for us.”

The Hurricanes overcame a 3-1 deficit with three straight goals in the second period and improved to 14-1-1 in their last 16 home games.

Carolina scored three more times in the third to make it a rout, including Lee Stempniak’s goal 5:42 into the final period that broke a 4-4 tie.

McGinn has scored in three straight games and has seven points overall in that span. Lindholm has five points in three games since returning from an upper-body injury and Staal ran his point streak to four straight.

”Most important thing is they’re doing it playing against everybody’s best at home,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. ”They’re taking on tough matchups each and every shift and more often than not, they win it.”

Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina. Cam Ward made 28 saves.

John Tavares scored twice for the Islanders a night after recording a hat trick against the Panthers. Thomas Greiss gave up all seven goals on 43 shots before being pulled.

Carolina outshot New York 45-32.

The Islanders appeared in control early. Tavares and Anders Lee scored in the first period, and Jason Chimera made it 3-1 early in the second when he came streaking down the middle uncovered and buried a slick pass from Anthony Beauvillier in the left corner.

Then Lindholm, McGinn and the rest of the Canes jumped into gear, with a kick start from the Islanders defense.

Shortly after Chimera’s goal, Faulk unleased a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that was saved by Greiss, but Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield inadvertently kicked the rebound through Greiss’ legs and into the net.

”I thought they put a lot of pressure on our defense,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. ”We need to win the close battles in front of the net. To me that was the difference.”

The miscue in their favor got the Hurricanes rolling, and they took off from there.

McGinn and Lindholm teamed up to tie it with a brilliant rush down the ice, with McGinn dishing a perfect cross-ice pass for Lindholm to bury past Greiss along the far post with 11:02 left in the second.

”Ginner is playing with a lot of confidence and I think Lindy has helped with that,” Staal said. ”It’s great to see.”

Pesce gave the Hurricanes their first lead when he redirected McGinn’s saucer pass on the move along the far post late in the second.

Tavares briefly pulled the Islanders back into a tie, but Stempniak collected the loose puck off a faceoff in the right circle and fired a pristine wrist shot just under the crossbar over Greiss’ shoulder to give Carolina the lead one final time.

”It was a great faceoff,” Stempniak said. ”It felt like it was put on a tee for me, which was nice.”

NOTES: Teravainen and Staal closed out the scoring for Carolina. … It was McGinn’s first career four-point game. … The Hurricanes improved to 5-0-0 this season when wearing their black alternate home jerseys. … Tavares appeared to have a hat trick for the second straight night, but his second goal was credited instead to Lee after multiple revisions. … There were no penalties called in the game.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Finish a three-game trip at Boston on Monday before returning home to start a six-game homestand.

Hurricanes: Visit the NHL-best Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, exactly one week after beating them 5-3 at home.

Tavares gets hat trick, leads Islanders over Panthers 5-2

via Associated Press

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Jack Capuano called his team out – and the New York Islanders responded.

John Tavares scored three goals for his sixth career hat trick and the Islanders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

Capuano wasn’t happy after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at home to the Panthers and promised some changes if the team didn’t play better.

”Both teams played extremely hard, but it was nice to see us get the goals here tonight that we haven’t gotten the last three games,” Capuano said. ”They got rewarded here tonight for a really good effort.”

Nick Leddy had a goal and two assists, and Jason Chimera also scored for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss made 26 saves.

”It was a good response after Wednesday,” Tavares said. ”I was able to find some open ice off some good plays by my teammates and you want to take advantage of those.”

Tavares’ second goal gave the Islanders a 4-2 lead at 7:50 of the third for his 500th NHL point.

”It’s hard to believe that’s where I’m at. I didn’t really know about it until a couple of days ago,” Tavares said.

Tavares added an empty-net goal with 1:44 left for the hat trick that made the score 5-2.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Reilly Smith also scored for Florida, Keith Yandle added a pair of assists and Jaromir Jagr recorded his 1,138th NHL assist. Roberto Luongo stopped 37 shots.

”It was a rough game all around,” Luongo said. ”They were hungry, they got called out by their coach, they wanted it more.”

The Panthers won their past two games on the road but have lost six of their past eight home games.

”We just didn’t play good, they played really good in the first five minutes,” Panthers interim coach Tom Rowe said. ”We got back in it, but it’s not the way you want to start off a game at home.”

Trailing 3-1, the Panthers made the score 3-2 on the power-play when Smith took a shot from the point that got by Greiss with 18:18 left in the third.

The Islanders scored two goals on their first two shots in a span of 1:26 in the first. Chimera put the Islanders ahead 1-0 when he backhanded in a rebound under Luongo’s pads at 2:22.

Tavares’ first goal made it 2-0 on a wrist shot from the left circle at 3:48.

The Panthers closed to 2-1 after Trocheck took a pass from behind the net by Jagr in front of the crease and swept it past Greiss at 9:55 of the first. The goal was Trocheck’s team-leading 13th and 50th career goal.

The Islanders stretched their lead to 3-1 on Leddy’s goal when he fired a shot from the side boards above the left circle that went over Luongo’s right shoulder at 16:06 of the second.

The Panthers killed off a full two-minute 5-on-3 penalty midway through the second period, and again for 1:25 in the third.

NOTES: Panthers C Aleksander Barkov is ”week-to-week” with an undisclosed injury, according to Rowe. Barkov has missed eight games. … Rowe says that F Jonathan Huberdeau, who was hurt in the last preseason game, won’t return until March, at the earliest. … Jagr has 10 points in his last 12 games. … The Islanders have played four of their past five on the road. They have games at Carolina and Boston before returning home to face Dallas on Jan. 19.

UP NEXT:

Islanders: Visits Carolina on Saturday.

Panthers: Hosts Columbus on Saturday.

Islanders face Panthers in Sunrise

The New York Islanders (15-16-8) head to Sunrise, Florida on Friday to face the Florida Panthers (19-16-8) in a rematch of a 2016 first-round playoff series. TV: MSG+; Radio: 660AM, 101.9FM - WFAN, 88.7FM - WRHU)

Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss has been solid over the past three games, stopping 85-of-90 shots (.944 save percentage), allowing two goals or fewer in his last six games.

The Islanders and Panthers power plays are virtually deadlocked, as the Islanders are converting at 14.8% to the Panthers 14.9%. The Islanders did not have a power play opportunity in Wednesday's game.

The Panthers are tied for fourth in the NHL (85.1%), while the Islanders (80%) are tied for 20th. The Islanders' penalty kill went 1-for-1 on Wednesday and has killed 18-of-20 (90%) over the past eight games.

Travis Hamonic (lower body) was placed on injured reserve on Thursday morning, retroactive to the Islanders-Coyotes game on Jan. 7. Hamonic did not play on Wednesday night and did not practice with the team on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. Scott Mayfield was recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a corresponding move on Thursday.

Demers, Luongo lead Panthers to 2-1 win over Islanders

By VIN A. CHERWOO
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- After a disappointing start to the season, the Florida Panthers are starting to get on a little bit of a roll.

Jason Demers scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, Roberto Luongo stopped 29 shots and the Panthers held on for a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Keith Yandle also scored for Florida, which has won two straight and four of its last six. The Panthers also have four straight road wins, and points in 10 of their last 13 games overall (6-3-4).

"Guys are starting to come around and feeling more comfortable in their roles," Luongo said. "We need 20 guys in this locker room to contribute."

The Panthers made their first visit to Brooklyn since losing to the Islanders in the second overtime of the series-clinching Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs last April 24.

"Last year is last year," Panthers general manager and coach Tom Rowe said. "We're really trying to get into a playoff position. ... I don't think there was a whole lot given about being knocked out last year the way we were knocked out. It's a regular-season game, we had to get the two points."

Luongo agreed, adding: "We got other problems we're worried about right now. We're trying to stay focused on winning games."

Both teams have struggled this season. New York is mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and Florida is just out a playoff spot - even with third-place Ottawa in the Atlantic with the Senators having four games in hand, and two points behind Philadelphia for the East's second wild-card spot.

Nick Leddy had the Islanders' goal and Thomas Greiss finished with 22 saves. New York, in the midst of a stretch of seven of eight on the road, lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2).

New York coach Jack Capuano didn't hide his displeasure after the game.

"There will guys who will be out of the lineup next game, there's no doubt about that," he said. "That's the accountability as a coach. But when it comes to scoring goals and individual production, let them do their thing. You just try to give them confidence."

The Panthers improved to 8-6-7 since Rowe fired former coach Gerard Gallant on Nov. 27 and replaced him behind the bench. Florida was 11-10-1 under Gallant.

Luongo was tested several times in the third period as New York had a 12-1 advantage on shots. He stopped Islanders captain John Tavares on a wraparound attempt just past the midpoint of the period, and then Tavares and Anders Lee both jabbed at the puck from in close but couldn't poke it in. Luongo also stopped three rapid tries by Casey Cizikas with about 6 minutes to go

"Roberto was excellent," Rowe said. "Early in the game, he didn't get a whole lot of work but then as the game went on the Islanders got going, especially in the third period they had a pretty good stretch there."

Florida outshot New York 16-6 in a brisk-paced second period and took a 2-1 lead 1:09 into the period as Demers took a pass from Jonathan Marchessault and snapped it past Greiss from the right circle for his eighth.

"That was probably the worst second period we played all year," Capuano said. "We had no rhythm, no execution. Certain guys should have stayed in the (locker) room. It was bad."

Florida got on the scoreboard first as Yandle pounced on a rebound and fired a slap shot from the left faceoff circle past Greiss for his third of the season at 5:47 of the first.

Leddy tied it for the Islanders with 9:13 remaining in the opening period with a wrist shot from the left slot past Luongo on the glove side for his sixth.

NOTES: Florida won the teams' first meeting this season, 3-2 in overtime at home on Nov. 12. ... The Panthers improved to 13-5-4 when scoring first and 13-1-3 when leading after two periods. ... The 37-year-old Luongo, who was drafted by the Islanders fourth overall in 1997 and spent part of the 1999-2000 season in New York, improved to 12-11-3 against his former team. ... The Islanders honored long-time play-by-play announcer Jiggs McDonald with a video tribute during a pregame ceremony. He was presented with a bronze microphone and team jersey. He received an ovation from the crowd and also dropped the ceremonial first puck. McDonald has called NHL games since 1967. ... The Islanders fell to 4-12-3 when giving up the first goal and 0-10-1 when trailing after two periods.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host the Islanders on Friday night to complete the home-and-home set and open a back-to-back with Columbus coming in Saturday night.

Islanders: At Florida on Friday night in the opener of a three-game, four-day road trip.

PANTHERS-ISLANDERS SUMS

First Period-1, Florida, Yandle 3 (Trocheck, Mccann), 5:47. 2, N.Y. Islanders, Leddy 6 (Clutterbuck, Cizikas), 10:47. Penalties-Chimera, NYI, (interference), 13:14.

Second Period-3, Florida, Demers 8 (Marchessault, Jokinen), 1:09. Penalties-None.

Third Period-None. Penalties-Cizikas, NYI, (roughing), 13:52; Luongo, FLA, served by Jagr, (roughing), 13:52.

Shots on Goal-Florida 7-16-1-24. N.Y. Islanders 12-6-12-30.

Power-play opportunities-Florida 0 of 1; .

Goalies-Florida, Luongo 13-10-5 (30 shots-29 saves). N.Y. Islanders, Greiss 9-6-2 (24-22).

A-13,529 (15,813). T-2:25.

Referees-Kendrick Nicholson, Francois St Laurent. Linesmen-Derek Amell, David Brisebois

Tavares To Represent Isles at NHL All-Star Weekend

The National Hockey League announced today that John Tavares has been selected to represent the New York Islanders at the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, taking place from January 28-29 at Staple Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Tavares, 26, will appear in his fourth consecutive NHL All-Star game. He took home the accuracy shooting title while representing the Metropolitan Team in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Islanders selected Tavares with the first-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. The Oakville, ON, native currently leads the Islanders in points (27) and and is second in goals (11) & assists (16).

In 548 career NHL games, spanning eight seasons with the Islanders, Tavares has 498 points (218 goals, 280 assists)

Tavares won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto & the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. He was named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2012-13 and 2014-15, given annually to the NHL's most valuable player.

Prior to his professional career, Tavares played in 247 Ontario Hockey League games over four seasons, compiling 215 goals and 218 assists for 433 points. His 215 tallies set an OHL record for career goals, a mark held by Peter Lee for 33 years. In 2007, Tavares was named the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year, after scoring 72 goals to break Wayne Gretzky's OHL record for goals in a season. He also won back-to-back gold medals with Canada at the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships.

- New York Islanders PR.

MacKinnon’s OT goal lifts Avs over Islanders 2-1

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER (AP) Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche finally got to celebrate at home.

MacKinnon scored 4:43 into overtime, and the Avalanche beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Friday night for their first win at home in more than seven weeks.

MacKinnon also assisted on Gabriel Landeskog’s first-period goal, and Calvin Pickard finished with 35 saves for Colorado.

It was the Avalanche’s first home win since Nov. 15. They had lost 10 of 11 overall, with their only victory in the last four weeks coming in Chicago on Dec. 23.

”Huge relief. It’s tough to get out of a streak when you’re losing every game at home,” coach Jared Bednar said. ”We weren’t playing with a whole lot of confidence. Hopefully this builds some of that and we can string some wins together. It’s been a long time, it’s been tough.”

The Avalanche held the Islanders in check after the last three visiting teams scored six times each at Pepsi Center. Johnny Boychuk had New York’s only goal, and Thomas Greiss made 37 stops.

The Islanders had not played since Dec. 31 in Winnipeg.

”I thought we played a pretty good hockey game after the break and I thought we had chances we just didn’t score on them,” Islanders center John Tavares said. ”Obviously an unfortunate call in overtime and those are tough to kill and then an unfortunate bounce.”

With Calvin De Haan off for hooking Landeskog at 3:34 of overtime, the Avalanche took control of the puck in the New York end. Greiss stopped Jarome Iginla, but MacKinnon knocked in the rebound.

”It was a long time coming,” MacKinnon said. ”It’s been tough at home – it’s been tough in general. Wins haven’t been easy to get.”

Landeskog put Colorado in front 6:06 into the game and it stayed that way until Boychuk tied it on a 5-on-3 power play at 17:34 of the second.

MacKinnon ended Colorado’s home futility with his 10th goal of the season.

FIRST TO LAST

Matt Nieto began the week with division-leading San Jose and finished it off with one of the worst teams in the NHL. He was claimed off waivers by Colorado.

Nieto delivered a big hit on his first shift with the Avalanche and then was awarded a penalty shot late in the first. Greiss made the glove save, but Nieto gave the struggling Avalanche a jolt after having just two assists in 16 games with the Sharks.

”I don’t think this is a bad team,” Nieto said. ”There’s a lot of talented guys in this room. A lot of young talent and it’s just a matter of being able to put a couple of wins together. We can definitely do it.”

Nieto finished with four shots in 17:29 of ice time.

NOTES: New York C Shane Prince went to the locker room late in the second period after being checking into the boards. He returned in the third. … Avalanche D Francois Beauchemin was scratched because of an illness. … The Islanders recalled D Adam Pelech from the AHL but he was a healthy scratch. … Colorado assigned G Jeremy Smith to the minors to make room for Nieto on the roster.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Play at Arizona on Saturday night.

Avalanche: Host Anaheim on Thursday night after a five-day layoff.