The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 73

Isles 4, Pittsburgh 1

Mathew Barzal reached the 20 goal and 75 point marks while Christopher made 36 saves for his 2nd win of the season as the Islanders defeated the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins before a crowd of 10,442 at Barclays Center.

Anders Lee added a third period power play goal, extending his career-high total to 36 and Jordan Eberle potted his 25th goal into an empty net.

 

The Isles recorded only their 5th home-ice win of 2018 (5-11-1).

 

The Scoring: 

1ST PERIOD

05:10 New York Mathew Barzal (20) ASST: Johnny Boychuk (10), Nick Leddy (31) 1-0

10:33 New York Adam Pelech (3) ASST: Tanner Fritz (3), Andrew Ladd (14) 2-0

2ND PERIOD

17:14 Pittsburgh Conor Sheary (15) ASST: Phil Kessel (51), Derick Brassard (24) 2-1

3RD PERIOD

05:41 New York PPG - Anders Lee (36) ASST: Mathew Barzal (55), John Tavares (42) 3-1

17:31 New York EN - Jordan Eberle (25) ASST: John Tavares (43), Ryan Pulock (20) 4-1

The Skinny  

Isles are 16-25-8 since December 1st and climb within one game of NHL-.500 (31-32-10) … The Isles scored a fourth goal for only the 2nd time in 17 games... Ryan Pulock's 27 points rank second among Islander defensemen, behind Nick Leddy's 41; Pulock, who is 4th in scoring among NHL rookie defensemen, now has an assist in four straight games as does Mathew Barzal … Pulock is the first Islander rookie defenseman with at least 27 points since Chris Campoli ...The Isles scored on the power play, giving them six power play goals (in 13 attempts) in the last three games.  The power play is now operating at 21.8%; the Isles haven't converted 20% of their power plays since the 1993-94 season (20.1%)…The Isles held Sidney Crosby without a point, stopped Crosby's 14-game point streak against the Isles…Thomas Hickey played in his 400th NHL game, all with the Isles…Adam Pelech scored his third goal of the season; Pelech finished with a career-best six shots on goal…Christopher Gibson stopped 83 of 87 Penguin shots this season…The Isles are 22-2-2 when they lead after two periods…Mathew Barzal drew two more penalties, making his total 38.  The NHL has tracked this stat since 2009-10; John Tavares (42 in 2011-12) is the only Isle to have drawn more penalties than Barzal…Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde is the only rookie in the NHL that has more points (56) than Barzal has assists (55) …The Isles have three players with 25+ goals for the first time since 2011-12.

Continuing to climb the list

Anders Lee scored again to move into a tie for 20th place on the all-time Isles goal scoring list.  He has passed five former Islanders (and tied a sixth) in the last two games.

Isles Goal List:

20. Anders Lee and Diane Sutter 120

22 Frans Nielsen and Alexei Yashin 119 

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 

Other Milestone Men

John Tavares' two assists give him 612 points, breaking a tie with Brent Sutter for 5th place on the all-time Isles list. Tavares has five assists in the last two games.

Barzal Is Highest Scoring Isles Rookie in 40 Years

Mathew Barzal is the third highest-scoring rookie in Islander history; with a team-leading 55 assists and a co-team-leading 75 points in 73 games, he is on pace for 62 assists and 84 points: 

Most Assists by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 63 1975-76

2. MATHEW BARZAL 55 2017-18 

Most Points by an Islander Rookie

1. Bryan Trottier 95 1975-76

2. Mike Bossy 91 1977-78

3. MATHEW BARZAL 75 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 eight rookies since 1983-84 with at least 55 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. Mario Lemieux PIT 1984-85 57

5. Teemu Selanne WPG 1992-93 56

6. Chris Chelios MTL 1984-85 55

Nicklas Backstrom WSH 2007-08 55

MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18 55

He is also one of only six rookies since 2000-01 with at least 75 points.

More points by a rookie: last 18 seasons

1 Alex Ovechkin WSH2005-06 106

2 Sidney Crosby PIT 2005-06 102

3 Evgeni Malkin PIT 2006-07   85

4 Paul Stastny COL 2006-07   78

5 Artemi Panarin CHI 2015-16   77

6 MATHEW BARZAL NYI 2017-18   75

32 Goal Club

Anders Lee has 36 goals and John Tavares has 32.  They are the first Islander teammates with at least 32 goals since Pierre Turgeon, Steve Thomas and Benoit Hogue all did so in 1993-94.

36 Goal Club

Anders Lee is only the 4th Islander in the last 20 years to score 35 goals in a season:

1. Jason Blake 40 2006-07

2. John Tavares 38 2014-15

3. Matt Moulson 36 2011-12

      ANDERS LEE 35 2017-18

Lee is also the first Islander with multiple 34+ goal seasons since Ziggy Palffy (1995-76 to 1997-78).

55 Helpers

Mathew Barzal has 55 assists and Josh Bailey has 49. Barzal is the first Islander with over 50 assists since Pierre Turgeon had 56 assists in 1993-94.

When Bailey reaches 50, the Isles will have teammates with 50 assists for the first time since Mike Bossy (62) and Bryan Trottier (59) did so in 1985-86.

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 ten times at home (9-1-0) and eighteen times overall (17-1-0). The Isles have also scored two shootout winners for a fifth goal of the game (not included above). The Isles scored five goals (including shootout winners) in only 10 games all last season.

Five's Trouble

The Isles have allowed at least five goals eleven times at home (1-8-2) and 20 times overall (1-17-2).  

First Things First

The Isles have scored first 34 times this season (21-8-5). The Isles won the first eleven times they scored first this season but are only 10-8-5 in the last 23 games that they scored first.

First Goal 

The Isles are 21-8-5 when they score first and are 10-24-5 when they allow the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          13-17-10=40

Pittsburgh 15-12-10=37

The Isles are 8-12-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even, and 23-19-5 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 31-32-10 overall; 17-14-4 at home and 14-18-6 on the road.  

Pittsburgh is 41-27-5 overall; 26-8-1 at home and 15-19-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-12-2 in Division games and 20-20-8 in games versus other divisions.   The Isles are 18-23-3 against the East and 13-9-7 against the West.  

Our House

The Isles are 17-14-4 at home; they are 10-11-0 against the East and 7-3-4 against the West.  All-time the Isles are 28-7-7 all-time at Barclays against the West.  However, after opening the season 9-0-2 on home ice, the Isles are 8-14-2 in their last 24 games in Brooklyn.

In the Nets

Christopher Gibson made 36 saves and improves to 2-1-2 on the season and 1-0-1 in his career against Pittsburgh. 

Matt Murray made 36 saves but falls to 23-14-2 on the season and 2-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-5 on the power play in 8:11 of PP time; Pittsburgh was 0-1 on the power play in 1:10 of PP time.

The Isles are 18-13-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-19-7 when they do not.  The Isles are 16-21-3 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 29-12-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-20-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 12-8-10 in games decided by a single goal including 3-8 in regulation. They are 6-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 6-8-0 on the front-end of back-to-backs and 5-8-1 on the back-end. The next back-to-back set will be on March 26th vs. Florida and March 27th in Ottawa.

 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 2-4-0 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 19-22-9 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:57); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (23:25)

John Tavares led Isles forwards with 20:04 of ice-time.

Face-offs

Isles 30, Pittsburgh 33 (48%).

John Tavares won 10 of 20 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 12 of 19 for Pittsburgh.

 

Face-offs by period: 1st period 11/24; 2nd period 11/21; 3rd period 8/18.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 25/53, Power play 5/8, Penalty kill 0/2.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Chris Wagner-5).  

Pittsburgh 17 (Brian Dumoulin and Bryan Rust -3)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total – 14: (Johnston 4, Boychuk 2, Mayfield 1, Cizikas 1, Chimera 1, Prince 1, Bailey 1, Eberle 1, Nelson 1, Clutterbuck 1).

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 13 shots (Adam Pelech-3)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 64, Pittsburgh 64 

5-on-5 Isles 43, Pittsburgh 56

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Brock Nelson +12

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby and Chad Ruhwedel +7

Night and Day 

The Isles are 27-31-9 in night games and 4-1-1 in matinees.   All remaining games this season will be played at night.

Ironmen

Nick Leddy 150, Anders Lee 109, Brock Nelson 86, Mathew Barzal/John Tavares 73.

Top 5 Club

Nick Leddy now holds the fifth longest consecutive game streak in Islander history for a defenseman: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Andrew MacDonald 12/19/2011- 3/2/2014 164 (**)

5. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – CURRENT 150

(*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Nikolay Kulemin -IR), (Calvin deHaan-IR), (Shane Prince- IR), (Scott Mayfield - IR), (Thomas Greiss-IR), (Alan Quine-IR), Brandon Davidson, Sebastian Aho, (Cal Clutterbuck – INJ) 

Total games lost: 271

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 

…

7.  Patrick Flatley 712 *** 8. Josh Bailey 708*** 9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 660

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 267

…

18. Jason Blake 127 *** 19. Josh Bailey 123 *** 20. Anders Lee and Duane Sutter 120 

Assists

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

5.  John Tavares 345

…

13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Billy Harris 259 *** 15. Tomas Jonsson and Josh Bailey 249

Points

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

5.  John Tavares 612

…

13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 372 

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282

…

6. Glenn Healy 176 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 173 *** 8. Roland Melanson 136*** 9. Mark Fitzpatrick 129 ***

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 86 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Glenn Healy 66 *** 8.  Tommy Salo 62 *** 

9. Thomas Greiss 60

Season Series Stats

Pittsburgh wins the season series three games to one (and six points to four). 

The Isles are 8-4-4 in their last 16 games vs. Pittsburgh.

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 31-25-5-3 heading into Friday's game in Syracuse.

Tanner Fritz (on recall to the Isles) leads Bridgeport with 37 points (10-27-37); Travis St. Denis lead the team in goals (20) and is now tied with Fritz for the club point lead. Christopher Gibson (also on recall to the Isles) is 18-11-3 in the nets with 4 shutouts.

The Sound Tigers are seven points behind Charlotte for the final playoff spot, although Bridgeport does hold two games-in-hand.  Bridgeport visits Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

THURSDAY, MARCH 20th –TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islander pre-game at 6:30PM), WFAN 660AM/101.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM]

It has been over 16 months since the Islanders have welcomed the Tampa Bay Lightning to Brooklyn.  That will end on Thursday when the Atlantic Division leaders visit Barclays Center for the only time this season.

It is the first meeting in over 15 weeks between the teams, who last faced-off on December 5th in Tampa Bay.  The teams split a pair of games at Amalie Arena, with both teams earning regulation wins.

The Lightning won both games in Brooklyn last season by a combined score of 10-1.  Overall, the Lightning have won four of the last five meetings.

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