Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Preview And Notes New York Islanders/Detroit Red Wings

12/19/2014 at 9:49am EST

from TSN,

The New York Islanders have been perfect when taken beyond regulation. Their next opponent has been far from it.

The Detroit Red Wings might not mind avoiding another shootout after losing three during their season-high skid, which they'll try to end Friday night against the Islanders at Joe Louis Arena.

New York (21-10-0) has been off since Monday, when it improved to 9-0 after regulation with a 3-2 shootout victory over New Jersey. Josh Bailey had the winner in the tiebreaker and started a rally from a two-goal deficit by scoring in the second period.

Of the Islanders' 15 wins in their past 20 games, eight have come via overtime or shootout.

"We have a lot of confidence, whether it's in OT or shootout," Bailey said. "We have a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net."...

New York now tries to avoid a season-worst third consecutive road defeat when it faces a Red Wings team that's dropped four in a row overall. Detroit (17-7-8) lost 1-0 in a shootout to Columbus on Tuesday and dropped to 1-6 in that format this season.

Jimmy Howard has been in net for all six of those defeats - backup Petr Mrazek started the only win. Howard has stopped just 11 of 15 shootout attempts for a 26.7 percent success rate, the NHL's worst among goaltenders to have appeared in more than one. By comparison, Islanders goalies Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson have each stopped 80.0 percent....

Pavel Datsyuk is 2 for 3 in the past three shootout losses - all at home - but his teammates have gone 0 for 5. The Red Wings, 3-8 after regulation, are trying to avoid losing five straight overall and four in a row at home for the first time since December 2013.

more

via Brian Hedger at NHL.com,

ISLANDERS (21-10-0) at RED WINGS (17-7-8)

TV: MSG+, FS-D

Season series: The New York Islanders won two of three against the Detroit Red Wings last season, in the Red Wings' first season since moving from the Western Conference into the Eastern Conference. Casey Cizikas scored two goals and John Tavares had three points (one goal) to lead the Islanders. Darren Helm had three goals and an assist, and Pavel Datsyuk scored two goals to lead the Red Wings.

Islanders team scope: New York has won back-to-back games since coming off a three-game losing streak. Their prowess winning games via the shootout increased Tuesday with a 3-2 win in that fashion against the New Jersey Devils, improving New York's record to 6-0 in shootouts. Getting the game past regulation was even more impressive. Despite having the NHL's worst-ranked penalty kill (71.1 percent), the Islanders deftly killed off a late Devils power play to send the game to overtime. The penalty-kill effort should get another boost soon. Top-four defensemen Johnny Boychuk (upper body) and Travis Hamonic (upper body) are expected to return from injuries this weekend that have kept them out nine and six games respectively. Forward Michael Grabner (lower body) is also on injured reserve.

Red Wings team scope: Detroit's struggles in games that last past regulation continue to pile up. The Red Wings are winless in their past four games and three were shootout losses. That sunk their record in shootouts to 1-6 and 3-8 in games that go longer than 60 minutes. Their eight defeats in OT or shootout are tied with the Florida Panthers for most in the NHL. The Islanders, by contrast, haven't lost in nine games decided after regulation. The good news is a couple of skilled forwards are close to rejoining the lineup. Johan Franzen, who missed a 1-0 loss Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets because of an illness, expects to play against the Islanders. He practiced Thursday and skated at left wing on the third line with center Riley Sheahan and right wing Tomas Tatar. Center Stephen Weiss (shoulder) might return from injured reserve Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight is the 101st all-time meeting between DET and NYI
- Tonight marks the 1st of 3 meetings this season between DET and NYI; 1st of 2 in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. NYI: 47-45-6-2
- DET’s all-time home record vs. NYI: 26-20-2-1
- DET was 1-1-1 vs. NYI in 2013-14, outscoring NYI 9-8
- Brendan Smith has 2 points (0-2-2) in 2 games vs. NYI
- Pavel Datsyuk has 7 points (2-5-7) in 9 games vs. NYI
- Darren Helm has 6 points (3-3-6) in 5 games vs. NYI
- Niklas Kronwall has 5 points (1-4-5) in 7 games vs. NYI
- DET Sr. VP of Hockey Operations Jim Devellano spent 10 seasons in NYI’s front office as a scout (1972-74), director of scouting (1974-81) and assistant general manager (1981-82) before he was named general manager of DET in 1982-83
- NYI’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: Lubomir Visnovsky (5-16-21 in 37 GP), John Tavares (3-6-9 in 6 GP) and Nick Leddy (3-4-7 in 17 GP)
- Two Islanders are alums of the USNTDP in Ann Arbor: Nick Leddy (2007-08) and Brian Strait (2004-06)
- NYI assistant GM/assistant coach Doug Weight is a native of Warren

POTENT POWER PLAY

The Red Wings rank 7th in the NHL on the man advantage at 22.3%, after starting the season with just two goals in its first eight games (2-for-30, 6.7%). DET is now tied for 2nd in the league with 27 PPG (along with CBJ, trailing STL's 29) and trail only CHI (122) in PP opportunities at 121. DET has also scored two power play goals in one game on nine occasions this season.

LEAGUE LEADERS

Datsyuk: T21st with 12 goals, 3rd with 58.0 faceoff %
Franzen: T9th with 3 GWG
Glendening: T17th with a 55.2 faceoff %
Howard: T8th with 13 wins, 6th with a 2.05 GAA, T12th with a .922 SV%, T9th with 2 SOs
Kronwall: 23rd with 24:14 TOI
Nyquist: T11th with 14 goals, T1st with 8 PPG
Tatar: T21st with 12 goals, T9th with 3 GWG, T9th with 10 even strength goals
Zetterberg: 10th with 21 assists, T17th with 102 shots, 27th with a 53.9 faceoff %
TEAM: 11th with 2.84 goals for per game, 5th with 2.31 goals against per game, 7th on the power play at 22.3%, 2nd on the penalty kill at 88.1%, 10th with 30.9 shots for per game, 4th with 27.4 shots against per game

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

Dec. 19, 1943 – DET's 17-year-old goaltender Harry Lumley makes his first NHL appearance, but the DET fell to the NYR 6-2 at Madison Square Garden. Lumley went on to play seven season for DET during his 803-game NHL career, also making stops with CHI, TOR and BOS.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

The Islanders and Red Wings open their three-game season series tonight. The Isles are 7-1-1 in their last nine games against Detroit and have won four straight at the Joe, dating back to 2003.

ALL TIME ISLANDERS VS. RED WINGS

All-Time Record: 47-45-8
Last Regulation Win: 12/23/13 - NYI 3 at DET 0
Last Regulation Loss: 11/29/13 - NYI 0 vs. DET 5
Overtime Record (W-L-T): 4-2-4
Last Overtime Decision: 1/30/07 - NYI 3 vs. DET 4
Shootout Record: 1-0
Last Shootout: 11/16/13 - NYI 5 vs. DET 4

TOI Leaders (The Islanders' record when the following player leads the team in minutes)

Johnny Boychuk: 9-2-0
Travis Hamonic: 4-1-0
Lubomir Visnovsky: 3-1-0
Thomas Hickey: 2-0-0
John Tavares: 1-3-0
Frans Nielsen: 1-0-0
Nick Leddy - 1-1-0
Calvin de Haan: 1-1-0

2014-15 ISLANDERS MAKEUP

Draft Picks: Josh Bailey (2008), Casey Cizikas (2009), Calvin de Haan (2009), Matt Donovan (2008), Travis Hamonic (2008), Anders Lee (2009), Matt Martin (2008), Brock Nelson (2010), Frans Nielsen (2002), Kyle Okposo (2006), Griffin Reinhart (2012), Ryan Strome (2011), John Tavares (2009).
Free Agents: Eric Boulton (2012), Matt Carkner (2012), Cory Conacher (2014), Mikhail Grabovski (2014), Chad Johnson (2014), Nikolay Kulemin (2014).
Trades: Johnny Boychuk (2014), Jaroslav Halak (2014), Nick Leddy (2014), Lubomir Visnovsky (2012).
Waiver Claims: Michael Grabner (2010), Thomas Hickey (2013), Brian Strait (2013)

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