The Skinny: Edmonton 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 60

Edmonton 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Connor McDavid scored the winning goal 1:22 into overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 3-2 deficit and defeated the Isles 4-3 before a crowd of 18,347 at Rogers Place. 

The Isles had rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and held a 3-2 lead into the final three minutes before Oscar Klefbom tied the game.

The Isles fall to 11-3-3 in their last 17 games as their lead in the Metro falls to two points over Washington (who beat Toronto 3-2).   

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Leon Draisaitl (36) Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 05:12 NYI 0,EDM 1 PPG

Sam Gagner (2) Tobias Rieder 06:30 NYI 0,EDM 2

Anders Lee (21) Johnny Boychuk, Brock Nelson 12:57 NYI 1,EDM 2

Brock Nelson (19) Jordan Eberle, Ryan Pulock 19:21 NYI 2,EDM 2 PPG

Cal Clutterbuck (7) Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews 19:49 NYI 3,EDM 2 PPG

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Oscar Klefbom (4) Milan Lucic, Colby Cave 17:08 NYI 3,EDM 3

OT

Connor McDavid (32) Leon Draisaitl 1:22

The Skinny      

Robin Lehner allowed four goals for the first time since he allowed five at Madison Square Garden on November 21… The Isles are 18-5-3 since Devon Toews joined the lineup and are 21-6-3 in their last 30 games…Anders Lee scored for the third straight game… The Isles scored two power play goals in 28 seconds late in the first period; Brock Nelson matched last season's total with his 19th goal while Cal Clutterbuck scored his 3rd power play goal of the season…The Isles have matched last season's win total (35); including shootout winners they have scored 26 fewer goals and allowed 68 fewer goals than last year's first 60 games… The Isles have 40 points at home and 37 points on the road … For the 26th straight game, the Isles did not allow three goals in any period.  That matches the longest streak of its kind, which was set in February-March 1976…The Isles are 5-2-1 in their last eight games…The Isles are 6-3-2 in February; they have had a winning record every month this season… Captain Anders Lee scored his team-leading 21st goal; it's the second time this season he has scored in three consecutive games (4 games 11/28-12/6) …. Casey Cizikas was "even"; he remains +22 on the season, a mark only one Islander forward (Ryan Strome +23 in 2014-15) has reached in the last 15 years…The Isles scored twice on the power play for the first time since January 10th…The Isles did not have a shot on goal in the second period until the 11:49 mark…The Isles went 2-2 on the power play for the first time since November 5, 2017 vs. Colorado…Sam Gagner scored his first goal since returning to the Oilers; it was his 102nd career goal for Edmonton.

The Injury

Nick Leddy left the game after an Illegal Check by Connor McDavid.  Leddy returned in the second period.

First Times in a Long Time 

The Isles scored two power play goals in the first period for the first time since March 29, 2015 vs Detroit (Kyle Okposo, Brock Nelson).  It's the first time since January 8, 2011 in Colorado (Jeremy Colliton, Blake Comeau) that they have scored two in a road first period.  

The two goals were scored 28 seconds apart; it's the fastest two power play goals for the Isles since March 10, 2014, when Ryan Strome and Calvin deHaan scored 22 seconds apart as part of the Isles' 7-goal third period. It's also the fastest two power play goals scored by the Isles in the first period since Derek King (7:34), Ziggy Palffy (7:58) and Bryan Berard (8:21) all scored in a 47-second span.

Moving on Up

Anders Lee tied Mariusz Czerkawski with his 145th Islander goal (tied-16th); Brock Nelson tied Mark Parrish, Steve Thomas and Matt Moulson with his 118th Islander goal (tied-24th).

Towards the Top

The Isles are 21-5-3 in their last 29 games; only Tampa Bay (22-4-3) has more wins in that span.

With the point, the Isles move into 5th in the NHL with 77 points, one point ahead of Toronto and Winnipeg.

Comeback Kings

The Isles erased a 2-0 deficit for the eighth time this season, and for the seventh time they earned at least one point by doing so. 

On the season, the Isles are 6-4-1 when trailing in a game by a 2-0 score, defeating NYR (11/15), CBJ (12/1), DET (12/8), OTT (12/28), STL (1/5) and COL (2/9 - OT), while earning a point vs. EDM (2/21 – OTL).

The Isles are 13-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner is 14-3-2 (1.77, .940) in his last 19 decisions. On the season, his NHL-leading GAA is 2.14 and his save percentage is .928 (.9280).

Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 in the last seven games, allowing a total of seven goals on 220 shots (5-1-1, 0.98 GAA, .968 save percentage). On the season, his GAA is 2.26 and his save percentage is .928 (.9277).

Lehner has won 18 games and Greiss 17.  It's only the 2nd time in the last 15 seasons that the Isles have gotten at least 17 wins from two different goalies.  Greiss won 23 games and Jaroslav Halak 18 in 2015-16.

Best Goals Against Average by an Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08 

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.14

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.26

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .928 (.9280) 

2. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .928 (.9277)

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 (.9276)

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

Oh, Canada

The Isles are finishing February with six consecutive games against Canadian opponents.  The Isles are 1-1-1 in this stretch, which matches a similar stretch in December 1980 for the most consecutive games against Canadian teams:

• 2/16 Vs Edm Oilers W 5-2

• 2/20 @ Cal Flames L 2-4

• 2/21 @ Edm Oilers L 3-4 (OT)

• 2/23 @ Van Canucks

• 2/26 Vs Cal Flames

• 2/28 Vs Tor Maple Leafs

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 6-1-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 98.1% of capacity on Long Island (including six sellouts).  

 

Most Points Thru 60 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 80: 2014-15

• 77: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 31 Road Games

• 41: 1976-77

• 38: 1977-78

• 37: 1978-79

• 37: 1980-81

• 37: 2014-15

• 37: 2018-19

Most Points Thru 29 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 42: 1984-85

• 42: 2014-15

• 40: 2003-04

• 40: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 60 Games (Includes SO)

• 145 1975-76

• 146 2018-19

• 147 1976-77

• 149 2015-16

• 149 1977-78

Road Warriors

The Isles are 8-3-2 in their last 13 road games and 11-4-2 in their last 17 road games.  

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Here's where they are this season:  

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (Including SO goals) 

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on goals allowed including shootout goals.

1. ISLES 146

2. Dallas 156

3. Boston 157

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 141

2. Boston 155 

3. Dallas 156 

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 797-586-60-141 in 1,584 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    839 

4. Barry Trotz   797

5. Al Arbour   782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,636

3. Al Arbour   1,607

4. Barry Trotz   1,584

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,576

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: 35-18-7 (77 points), with 174 goals scored and 146 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 29-25-6 (64 points), with 200 goals scored and 214 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 68 fewer goals, a decrease of 31.8% as compared to last season.

Last Season (final): 35-37-10 (80 points), with 264 goals scored and 296 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

First Things First

The Isles are 21-7-5 when scoring first and are 14-11-2 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss). The Isles won 12 games all last season (12-27-5) when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles      13-4-6-0=23

Edmonton 15-8-17-1=41

The Isles are 10-11-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 25-6-6 when they are outshot. [The Isles have equaled the club record for wins when being outshot, set in 1983-84 and equaled last season.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-18-7 overall; 18-7-4 at home (6-1-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 17-11-3 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Edmonton is 25-29-6 overall; 13-15-2 at home and 12-14-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-5-1 in Division games and 20-14-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 21-9-5 against the East and 14-10-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 37 saves; he is 18-9-5 on the season and 5-1-2 in his career against Edmonton.   

Mikko Koskinen made 20 saves and improves to 15-14-3 on the season and 1-1-0 against the Islanders. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 2-2 on the power play in 2:11 of PP time; Edmonton was 1-4 on the power play in 6:26 of PP time.

The Isles are 22-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-11-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-7-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-16-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 3-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

• The Isles are 6-0-1 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 5-0-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 20-18-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:34); Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl (25:01)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 17:26 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (17-8-5), Nick Leddy (13-9-2), Scott Mayfield (5-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 20, Edmonton 34 (37%).  

Josh Bailey won 5 of 10 for the Isles; Connor McDavid won 10 of 13 for Edmonton.

Face-offs by period: 1st period  10/28; 2nd period 4/10; 3rd period 5/15; overtime 1/1.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 17/45, Power play 2/5, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Matt Martin -5)  

Edmonton 24 (Kris Russell and Adam Larsson -4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –13 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk).  

 

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 25 shots (Scott Mayfield -6) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 45, Edmonton 77

5-on-5 Isles 39, Edmonton 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee +3

Edmonton: Sam Gagner +15

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 6-3-1 in the front half and 9-0-1 in the back half. The next back-to-back is February 28-March 1 vs. Toronto and Washington.

The Isles won the first nine back-ends of back-to-backs this season, establishing a new club record for consecutive wins in back ends. 

Night and Day

The Isles are 29-16-7 in night games and 6-2-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 3rd vs. Philadelphia (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 178, Brock Nelson 155, Mathew Barzal 142.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

(Thomas Hickey-INJ, Andrew Ladd-INJ), Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 120

Late Heroes

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

1/10- NY Rangers-Josh Bailey scored the winning goal (18:34)

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed a goal four 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.

12/15- DET Red Wings – Thomas Vanek tied game (18:57), but Isles won in a shootout.

Offside Challenges

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

12/20 vs VEG Golden Knights – Golden Knights goal overturned after successful Isles challenge.

1/8 vs CAR Hurricanes – Isles goal overturned after successful Hurricane challenge

2/5 vs BOS Bruins – Isles goal overturned after successful Bruin challenge.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 775

Goals

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

16. Mariusz Czerkawski and Anders Lee 145 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 137…

24. Mark Parrish, Matt Moulson, Steve Thomas and Brock Nelson 118

Assists

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

11. Derek King 288 ***12. Josh Bailey 285 …

25. David Volek 154 *** 26. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 27. Nick Leddy 147

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 422…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. David Volek 249 *** 26. Anders Lee 247

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 150

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 79

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss 9

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series one game to one (the Isles earned 3 points to Edmonton's 2).   

The Isles are 2-0-4 in the last six games and 4-1-4 in the last nine games.

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers are 6-1-1-0 in their last eight games and are 30-18-5-2 on the season as they begin a three-in-three weekend in Providence on Friday. 

Leaders:  Goals: Otto Koivula 17 (4th among AHL rookies); Assists: Chris Bourque 31; Points: Chris Bourque 41; +/-: Otto Koivula 17 (only AHL rookie with at least 17 goals and at least +17).  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 14-9-3 (2.92 GAA); Christopher Gibson 16-9-4 (2.99 GAA)

Up Next

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd – ISLANDERS AT VANCOUVER 10:00PM 

[MSG+ (Pre-game at 9:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM,WRCN 103.9FM, Radio.com] 

The Isles finish the three-game Western Canada road trip as they conclude the season series with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Isles have won five of the last six games between the teams and will be looking to sweep the season series for the second time in three seasons, having defeated the Canucks 5-2 on November 13 behind a pair of Tom Kuhnhackl goals.

The Isles are 4-2-1 in their last seven games in Vancouver, dropping an overtime decision on a Brendan Leipsic goal.  

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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