The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 77

Isles 4, Ottawa 3

Andrew Ladd scored the game-winning goal with 2:03 to play and Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves for his first victory in 40 days as the Isles defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3 before a crowd of 15,284 at Canadian Tire Center.

Mathew Barzal assisted on the last two goals, giving him 58 on the season.  Barzal's assists allowed him to pass the rookie totals of Teemu Selanne (56) and Mario Lemieux (57).

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

06:15 New York PPG - Anders Lee (39) ASST: John Tavares (46), Adam Pelech (13) 1-0

12:54 Ottawa PPG - Matt Duchene (24) ASST: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (15), Bobby Ryan (21)1-1

14:49 Ottawa Erik Karlsson (9) ASST: Matt Duchene (29), Bobby Ryan (22) 1-2

2ND PERIOD

01:23 New York Anthony Beauvillier (17) ASST: Mathew Barzal (57), Jordan Eberle (30) 2-2

18:42 New York Brock Nelson (18) ASST: Tanner Fritz (4), Andrew Ladd (15) 3-2

3RD PERIOD

15:26 Ottawa Bobby Ryan (11) ASST: Matt Duchene (30), Ryan Dzingel (16) 3-3

17:57 New York Andrew Ladd (11) ASST: Thomas Hickey (18), Mathew Barzal (58) 4-3

The Skinny  

Isles are 17-28-8 since December 1st … Anders Lee scored his 6th goal in the last 6 games as he became the first Islander in 11 years to score as many as 39 goals …The Isles went 1-2 on the power play.  The power play is operating at 22.6%; the Isles haven't converted 20% of their power plays over a full season since 1993-94 (20.1%)… The Isles are 3-10-4 in their last 17 games…Nick Leddy did not play, ending a 153-game streak; Anders Lee is the new Islander ironman… This was the Isles' final game in Canada this season; the Isles finished 4-3-3 North of the Border this year…Jaroslav Halak recorded his first win since his 50-save shutout against the Rangers on February 15th and his first win on the road since the All-Star Break…Halak played his 176th game as an Islander, tying Glenn Healy for 6th place on the all-time Isles list…Josh Bailey played in his 712th Islander game, tying Patrick Flatley for 7th place on the all-time Isles list…Bobby Ryan had a three-point game (1-2-3) for Ottawa. His goal was deflected past Halak by the stick of Brandon Davidson…The Isles are 2-0-2 in games played in Canada this month but only 1-7-1 in March in the USA…Dennis Seidenberg was involved in his first fight in six seasons; he is the oldest Islander defender to be in a fight since Steve Staios in 2011…Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist in the same game for the first time since November 24th in Philadelphia…After not having an assist in his first 22 games, Tanner Fritz has four assists in the last eight games…Brock Nelson recorded his 98th career goal with his 18th goal of the season; he is two goals shy of his fourth consecutive 20-goal season.…The Isles recorded their 4th one-goal win in regulation this season; two of the four have come in Ottawa.

Lottery Update

In addition to their own picks, the Isles own Calgary's first two picks in the upcoming entry draft.  Both teams were eliminated from playoff contention on Monday night. At the end of play Monday, the Isles held the 8th and 12th picks heading into the upcoming draft lottery, giving them an 8.5% chance of winning the lottery.

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; with a team-leading 58 assists and 78 points in 77 games, he is on pace for 62 assists and 83 points: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. MATHEW BARZAL 58 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 78 2017-18 

Denis Potvin is the only rookie to ever lead the Isles in assists; Billy Harris, Potvin, Trent Hunter (tied) and John Tavares are the only rookies to ever lead the Isles in points.

Nice Company

Mathew Barzal is one of only four rookies since 1983-84 with at least 58 assists in a season.   

1. Joe Juneau BOS 1992-93 70

2. Sidney Crosby PIT 2005-06 63

3. Sergei Makarov CGY 1989-90 62

4. MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18 58

(Barzal broke a tie with Teemu Selanne with his 2nd period assist and passed Mario Lemieux with an assist on the winning goal)

He is also one of only five rookies since 2000-01 with at least 78 points.

More points by a rookie: last 18 seasons

1 Alex Ovechkin WSH 2005-06 106

2 Sidney Crosby PIT 2005-06 102

3 Evgeni Malkin PIT 2006-07   85

4 Paul Stastny COL 2006-07   78

MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18   78

(Barzal passed Artemi Panarin's rookie total of 77)

33 Goal Club

Anders Lee has 39 goals and John Tavares has 33.  They are the first Islander teammates with at least 33 goals since Pierre Turgeon, Steve Thomas and Benoit Hogue all did so in 1993-94 and the first to combine for at least 72 goals since Ziggy Palffy (48) and Bryan Smolinski (28) had 76 in 1996-97.

39 Goal Club

Anders Lee is only the 2nd Islander in the last 20 years to score 39 goals in a season:

1. Jason Blake 40 2006-07

2.    ANDERS LEE 39 2017-18

Lee is also the first Islander with multiple 34+ goal seasons since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98). 

58 Helpers

Mathew Barzal has 58 assists; it's the most by an Islander since Pierre Turgeon had 74 helpers in 1992-93, which is the most by an Islander in the Post-Cup era.

Two Over 50

Barzal and Josh Bailey are the first Islander teammates with more than 50 assists since Mike Bossy (62) and Bryan Trottier (59) did so in 1985-86.

Pulock Moving up on Rookie Season Lists Too!

Pulock has 9 goals on the season; only two rookie defensemen (Denis Potvin-17 and Vladimir Malakhov-14) have scored more goals.  Ken Leiter, Chris Campoli and Tomas Jonsson also finished their rookie seasons with 9 goals.

Four of Pulock's goals have come on the power play.  Among Islander rookie defensemen, only Malakhov (7) and Potvin (6) have more.  Ken Leiter also scored four power play goals as a rookie.

Pulock is only the 8th Islander rookie defenseman to record 29 points in his rookie season. Ken Leiter also had 29 points.

Three's Company

Mathew Barzal has eight games of at least three points this season (five games with three points and three games with five points). Since 1993-94, only Sidney Crosby (11 times), Artemi Panarin (10 times) and Alex Ovechkin (8 times) have done so as often in their rookie seasons.

Five's Alive

The Isles have scored at least five goals 11 times at home (9-2-0) and 19 times overall (17-2-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). 

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals 12 times at home (1-9-2) and 21 times overall (1-18-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 35 times this season (22-8-5). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season but are only 11-8-5 in the last 24 games that they scored first.

First Goal 

The Isles are 22-8-5 when they score first and are 10-27-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    15-7-9=31

Ottawa 8-13-15=36

The Isles are 8-14-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 24-20-5 when they are outshot.  (The club record for wins while being outshot in one season is 25, set by the 1983-84 team)

Home and Road

The Islanders are 32-35-10 overall; 17-17-4 at home and 15-18-6 on the road.  

Ottawa is 26-39-11 overall; 15-18-6 at home and 11-21-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-12-2 in Division games and 21-23-8 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 19-25-3 against the East and 13-10-7 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 17-17-4 at home; they are 10-13-0 against the East and 7-4-4 against the West.  However, after opening the season 8-0-2 on home ice, the Isles are 9-17-2 in their last 28 games in Brooklyn.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves and improves to 19-26-6 on the season and 8-7-3 in his career against Ottawa. Halak had gone 0-8-2 in his prior 10 decisions.

Mike Condon made 27 saves but falls to 5-16-5 on the season and 3-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 3:01 of PP time; Ottawa was 1-4 on the power play in 6:41 of PP time.

The Isles are 19-14-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-21-7 when they do not.  The Isles are 17-24-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-11-7 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 30-13-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-22-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 13-9-10 in games decided by a single goal including 4-9 in regulation. They are 6-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-9-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 6-8-1 on the back-end.   The final back-to-back set of the season will be on March 30th vs. Toronto and March 31st in New Jersey.

 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-2-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-4-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 19-25-9 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (23:10); Ottawa: Erik Karlsson (30:16)

John Tavares led Isles forwards with 18:05 of ice-time.

Face-offs

Isles 31, Ottawa 26 (54%).

John Tavares won 11 of 18 for the Isles; no Sen who took multiple draws won more than he lost.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/16; 2nd period 10/20; 3rd period 14/21.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 29/50, Power play 0/2, Penalty kill 2/5.

Hit Count

Isles 36 (3 with 5)  

Ottawa 25 (Mark Borowiecki -6)

Fights

Dennis Seidenberg fought Zack Smith in the second period. Season total – 15: (Johnston 4, Boychuk 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Clutterbuck 1, Seidenberg 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 23 shots (Adam Pelech-4)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 54, Ottawa 74 

5-on-5 Isles 48, Ottawa 63

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Brandon Davidson +2

Ottawa: Christian Wolanin +10

Night and Day 

The Isles are 28-34-9 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.   All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 113, Brock Nelson 90, Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 77.

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Thomas Greiss-IR), (Alan Quine-IR), Casey Cizikas-INJ, Nick Leddy-INJ, Johnny Boychuk-INJ 

Total games lost: 298

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/9 – STL Blues – Anders Lee (19:00); tied game, but Isles lost in shootout

12/7 – PIT Penguins – Brock Nelson (18:50); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

12/27- BUF Sabres – Josh Bailey (18:51); tied game, and Isles won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Josh Bailey (18:11); took lead, Isles allowed tying goal but then won in overtime

3/5 – VAN Canucks – Jordan Eberle (18:56); tied game, but Isles lost in overtime

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal six times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

12/16 – LA Kings – Anze Kopitar (19:47); tied game, but Isles won in overtime

12/21—ANA Ducks – Rickard Rakell (18:45); tied game and Ducks won in overtime

2/6 – NAS Predators – Ryan Johansen (19:17); tied game and Predators won in overtime

2/9 – DET Red Wings – Mike Green (19:31); tied game but Isles won in overtime

2/11- CLG Flames – Mathew Tkachuk (18:55); won game

3/9 – EDM Oilers – Connor McDavid (18:10); tied game and Oilers won in shootout

Offside Challenges

The Isles have challenged four times and been successful three times.  The Isles are 2-1-0 in games they win the challenge and are 0-0-1 in games they lose the challenge.

• 10/10 vs STL Blues – unsuccessful; Isles killed ensuing power play.

• 10/12 @ Ana Ducks – successful

• 1/15 @ Mtl Canadiens – successful 

• 2/16 @ Car Hurricanes - successful

The opponents have not yet challenged an Islander goal due to an offside this season.

7-11

The Isles have used 7 defensemen four times this season (10/19 @NYR, 10/21 vs SJ, 1/16 vs. NJ, 3/2 vs. MTL) and are 2-2-0 in those games.  Under Doug Weight, the Isles are 6-2-0 when they dress seven natural defensemen.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 

…

6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7.  Patrick Flatley & Josh Bailey 712*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 664

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 *** 4. Clark Gillies 304***

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 268

…

17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey 124 *** 20. Anders Lee 123 

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553*** 4. Clark Gillies 359***

5.  John Tavares 348

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Josh Bailey 251

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052 *** 4. Clark Gillies 663 ***

5.  John Tavares 616

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 375 

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***

5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Glenn Healy and Jaroslav Halak 176 

…

10. Garth Snow 127 *** 11.  Evgeni Nabokov 123 *** 12. Thomas Greiss 115

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130***4. Kelly Hrudey 106 ***

5. Jaroslav Halak 87 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 60

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series two games to one (and four points to two). 

The road team won all three games in the season series.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 32-26-5-3 heading into Wednesday's game with Hershey.

 

Travis St. Denis leads the team in both goals (22) and points (41). Christopher Gibson (on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

Bridgeport heads to Springfield on Friday and Hartford on Saturday.

 

Up Next

FRIDAY, MARCH 30th –TORONTO AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WNYM 970AM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN]

The Islanders return home to face the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

 

Toronto has won the first two games, both at the Air Canada Center.  The Leafs won the first game 5-0 and the second game was decided in a shootout.

The Isles will be looking for their third straight win at Barclays Center against the Leafs after sweeping a pair of games last 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 & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick