The Skinny: Pittsburgh 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 29

Pittsburgh 2, Isles 1 (SO)

Jake Guentzel set up Derick Brassard's tying goal and then scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Islanders 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Anthony Beauvillier scored the only Islander goal; it was his 7th goal in the last 12 games (and his second in two games at the Coliseum).

 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (8) Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal 06:32 PIT 0,NYI 1

3rd Period

Derick Brassard (4) Jake Guentzel 02:13 PIT 1,NYI 1

OT

No Goals

The Shootout

Mathew Barzal (NG)  - Phil Kessel (G)

Leo Komarov (NG) - Sidney Crosby (NG)

Josh Bailey (G) - Evgeni Malkin (NG)

Anthony Beauvillier (NG) - Kris Letang (NG)

Valtteri Filppula (NG) - Jake Guentzel (G/ Game Deciding Goal)

It was Guentzel's first career shootout attempt.  The Penguins have now won 76 shootouts, tying the Rangers for the most in NHL history; the Islanders have won 75 shootouts.  Josh Bailey is now 2/4 in shootouts this season; he is the only Islander to score a shootout goal this season.

The Skinny   

The Isles have earned points in all 14 of the games they led after two periods (11-0-3) …The Isles' power play went 0-4 and is now 5-56 (8.9 %) since November 1; the power play is 1-27 in the last 11 games.  …The Isles' fourth line combined for 14 hits; it's the sixth straight game since the trio was reunited that they have had at least 11; Matt Martin had eight of the 14 hits … Mathew Barzal drew his 15th  penalty;  moving him into the top-5 in the NHL in that category.  He has drawn an NHL-leading 55 penalties since the start of last year… The Isles remain in a playoff spot; they are now tied with Pittsburgh but have one more ROW…The Isles have sold out both Coliseum games this season and have recorded 13 consecutive Coliseum sellouts (16 including playoff games) dating back to 2015…Robin Lehner started his first home game since October 24th; Lehner has allowed one goal in each of his last two starts, but lost both in shootouts…The Isles won all seven face-offs on the power play and have won 12 of 14 on the power play over the last two games after winning only 20 of 43 over the prior nine games…The Isles power play went 1-12 against Pittsburgh this season.

The Injuries

Thomas Hickey and Cal Clutterbuck left the game with injuries at the 12:29 mark of the third period; only Hickey returned.  Jordan Eberle left after regulation time and did not return. 

One- Goal Games

The Isles fall to 6-1-4 in one-goal games.  The Isles went 31-21-22 in 1-goal games over the last two seasons (winning just.41.9% of the games).

Cutting Down on Shots Against

The Isles have allowed 30 shots or fewer in five consecutive games for the first time since a 5-game streak in February 2017; they haven't had a longer streak since October 2016 (6 games)

USA Hockey

Anders Lee has 135 career goals, leaving him four goals behind Kyle Okposo.  Okposo is 2nd on the Islander goal-scoring list among American-born players, trailing only Pat LaFontaine.

Chasing Al

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 776-579-60-138 in 1553 games and is now just six wins behind Al Arbour on the all-time win list.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    830

4. Al Arbour   782

5. Barry Trotz   776

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2141

2. Joel Quenneville 1636

3. Al Arbour   1607

4. Barry Trotz   1553

5. Ken Hitchcock   1546

Trotz will catch Al Arbour in games coached on Opening Night next season. If Quenneville doesn't return to coaching Trotz would pass him sometime in December 2019.

This Season vs. Last Season

This Season: 14-11-4 (32 points), with 83 goals scored and 85 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 16-9-3 (35 points), with 105 goals scored and 99 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 9-4-4 when scoring first and 5-7-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      9-7-7-3=26

Pittsburgh 5-11-7-1=24

The Isles are 1-7-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-3-3 when they are outshot. 

Home and Road

The Islanders are 14-11-4 overall; 7-4-3 at home (1-0-1 on Long Island and 6-4-2 in Brooklyn) and 7-7-1 on the road.  The Isles will play 21 games in Uniondale and 20 games in Brooklyn this season.

Pittsburgh is 13-10-6 overall; 7-6-2 at home and 6-4-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-3-1 in Division games and 4-8-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 11-5-4 against the East and 3-6-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 23 saves; he is 4-5-3 on the season and 2-3-3 in his career against Pittsburgh.  He is 8-19 in career shootouts

Casey DeSmith made 25 saves and improves to 9-4-4 on the season and 2-0-0 in his career against the Isles. He is now 1-1 in career shootouts.

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time, including a 2:00 4-on-3 in overtime; Pittsburgh was 0-4 on the power play in 8:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 10-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-10-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-7-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-4-1 when they do not.    

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-10-3 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs 

The Isles are 2-1-0 in the front half and 3-0-0 in the back half.  The next back-to-back is December 17th in Colorado and December 18 in Arizona. 

 

Tired vs. Rested

• The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 1-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 10-11-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (24:49); Pittsburgh: Mike Green (23:18)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:15 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (9-5-3), Nick Leddy (4-5-1), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, Pittsburgh 30 (42%).

Anders Lee won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 15 of 21 for Pittsburgh. 

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/17; 2nd period 5/16; 3rd period 6/17; Overtime 1/2

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 14/38, Power play 7/7, Penalty kill 1/7.

Hit Count

Isles 40 (Matt Martin-8)  

Pittsburgh 27 (Zach Aston-Reese - 8)

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –7 (Scott Mayfield -2, Ross Johnston-2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 18 shots (Scott Mayfield -3).  

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 54, Pittsburgh 63

5-on-5 Isles 33, Pittsburgh 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +6

Pittsburgh: Jake Guentzel +13 

 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 11-10-4 in night games and 3-1-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on January 12th vs. the Rangers. 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 147, Brock Nelson 124, Mathew Barzal 111

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd – IR), (Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Josh Ho-Sang, (Luca Sbisa-INJ)

Total games lost: 43

Late Heroes

The Isles have not yet scored in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

Late Goals Allowed

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

10/4 – CAR Hurricanes – Jordan Staal tied game (18:25), but Isles won in overtime.

11/8 – TB Lightning – Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal (18:34)

11/23 – NJ Devils – Marcus Johansson tied game (19:49), but Isles won in overtime.

Comeback Kids

The Isles are 3-3-0 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1) and DET (12/8); all three wins have been in regulation.

The Isles are 5-0-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Offside Challenges

12/8 vs DET Red Wings – Red Wings goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Mike Bossy 752 *** 7. Josh Bailey 744

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

16. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 17. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 18.  Anders Lee 135 ***19. Josh Bailey 131…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson and Steve Thomas 118 *** 27. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 28. Brock Nelson 109

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

12. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 13. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 14. Josh Bailey 270

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 401

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 138

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Rollie Melanson 77*** 7. Thomas Greiss 72

Season Series Stats

The team split the season series two games to two (and 5 points to 5).  This is the first season series against an Eastern Conference opponent to be completed.

The Isles are 3-1-21 in their last six home games and 5-2-4 in their last 11 overall games against Pittsburgh.

On the Farm 

Bridgeport is 14-8-3-1 and has earned points in 13 of their last 16 games (10-3-2-1) as they head into a 3-in-3 weekend beginning on Friday against Providence.

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 10; Assists: Joshua Ho-Sang 20 (2nd in AHL); Points: Ho-Sang 22.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 7-5-1 (2.82 GAA); Christopher Gibson 7-3-3 (3.34 GAA)

Up Next

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12th – VEGAS AT ISLANDERS AT BARCLAYS CENTER 7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), WRCN 103.9FM, 88.7 WRHU-FM, Radio.com] 

In their 114-game history, the Vegas Golden Knights have defeated every opponent at least once, except one.  The Islanders, who swept a pair of games from the Golden Knights last season, hope to keep that going on Wednesday.

The season series will conclude the following Thursday in Las Vegas.

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