The Skinny; Philadelphia 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 67

Philadelphia 5, Isles 2

The Flyers scored four goals in five shots starting late in the first period as they spoiled Bill Torrey Appreciation Night with a 5-2 win over the Isles before a sell-out crowd of 13,917 at Nassau Coliseum.

Both Islander goals came from defensemen (Scott Mayfield early and Nick Leddy late) as the Isles dropped to 4-5-1 in their last ten games.

The Isles remain two points behind idle Washington for the Metro Division lead.  Pittsburgh lost to Columbus while Carolina beat Nashville.  Carolina moves into 3rd place with 81 points; Pittsburgh also has 81.  Columbus moves into 2nd Wild Card with 79.   

With tonight's results, the Isles' magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains 21; their magic number to win a division for the first time since 1987-88 is still 31.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Scott Mayfield (4) Nick Leddy, Mathew Barzal 06:30 PHI 0,NYI 1

Ryan Hartman (11) Ivan Provorov, Shayne Gostisbehere 15:20 PHI 1,NYI 1

James van Riemsdyk (20) Jakub Voracek, Travis Sanheim 19:56 PHI 2,NYI 1

2nd Period

Sean Couturier (28) Jakub Voracek, Travis Sanheim 01:34 PHI 3,NYI 1

Nolan Patrick (13) Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk 05:35 PHI 4,NYI 1

Travis Konecny (22) Shayne Gostisbehere, Scott Laughton 17:26 PHI 5,NYI 1

3rd Period

Nick Leddy (3) Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock 16:28 PHI 5,NYI 2 

The Skinny       

The Isles are 25-10-3 in their last 38 games but are 0-3 with a chance to go 19 games over NHL-.500 for the first time since April 2015.… Nick Leddy had a goal and an assist, extending his assist streak to three games; it was his 150th assist as an Isle… Mathew Barzal recorded his 100th and 101st career assists; it is the first time he has had points in consecutive games since mid-January…The Isles have surpassed last season's win and point total; including shootout winners they have scored 19 fewer goals and allowed 75 fewer goals than last year's first 68 games… The Isles have 44 points at home and 41 points on the road … The Isles did not have a power play goal for the eighth straight game (0-18); their power play falls to 4-45 in games played at the Coliseum… With their goals tonight, the Isles have scored 64 goals in the 1st period, 60 goals in the 2nd period, and 65 goals in the third period… The Flyers got goals from five different players; 11 players had points… Both Travis Sanheim and Ivan Provorov went +4…Claude Giroux extended his assist streak to seven games; it was his 750th NHL point…After changing goalies only four times in the first 64 games, the Isles have used two goalies in three of the last four games…The Isles are 8-8-1 in their last 17 games against Metro opponents after winning their first seven games against divisional foes.

The Injury

Johnny Boychuk left the game in the third period; Philadelphia's Jakub Voracek was assessed a major penalty for interference on the play.

Metro Playoff Watch

1. Caps 87 points/68 games/36 ROW (Sunday vs. Winnipeg)

2. Isles 85 points/68 games/35 ROW (Monday vs. Columbus)

3. Hurricanes 81 points/67 games/36 ROW (Monday at Colorado)

4. Penguins 81 points/68 games/35 ROW (Sunday vs. Boston)

5. Blue Jackets 79 points/68 games/37 ROW (Monday at Isles)

The Blue Jackets currently hold the second Wild Card, so five Metropolitan Division teams are currently in playoff spots.

Strength in the Nets

Robin Lehner has won 20 games and Thomas Greiss 19.  It's the 1st time in the last 33 years that the Isles have gotten at least 19 wins from two different goalies.  Billy Smith won 20 games and Kelly Hrudey won 19 in 1985-86.

Best Goals Against Average by An Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.19

3. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.28

4. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.30

        Jaroslav Halak 2015-16 2.30

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .927

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .925 

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

For the + Column

Casey Cizikas was -1 today and is now +25 on the season.  In the last 30 seasons, only three Islander forwards have finished +25 or higher.

1. Marty McInnis 1993-94 +31 

2. Benoit Hogue 1991-92 +30

3. Casey Cizikas 2018-19 +26

4. Ray Ferraro 1991-92 +25

5. Ryan Strome 2014-15 +23

        Trent Hunter 2003-04 +23

Most Goals by an Isle With 0 PP goals

• 22- Bob Nystrom (81-82), Butch Goring (83-84), Randy Wood (87-88)

• 21- Garry Howatt (75-76), Brent Sutter (82-83)

• 20- John Tonelli (85-86), Jason Chimera (16-17)

• 19- Steve Tambellini (80-81), Casey Cizikas (18-19)

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 8-5-2 on Coliseum ice; they are averaging 97.3% of capacity on Long Island (including ten sellouts).  

 

Most Points Thru 68 Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 90: 2014-15

• 85: 2018-19

• 85: 2015-16

Most Points Thru 33 Road Games

• 43: 1976-77

• 41: 2018-19

• 41: 1980-81

• 40: 1981-82

• 39: 1975-76

• 39: 1978-79

• 39: 2014-15

Most Points Thru 35 Home Games (Post-Cup Era)

• 48: 1984-85

• 48: 1987-88

• 46: 2003-04

• 46: 2014-15

• 46: 2016-17

• 46: 2015-16

• 44: 1985-86

• 44: 2018-19

Fewest Goals Allowed Thru 68 Games (Includes SO)

• 160 1975-76

• 163 1976-77  

• 168 2018-19

Road Warriors

The Isles are 10-3-2 in their last 15 road games and 13-4-2 in their last 19 road games.  The 28 points match the most that the Isles have earned in any single-season stretch of 19 road games in their history (done several times).

Worst to First

The Isles allowed the most goals in the NHL last season.  Only once in NHL history has a team allowed the most goals in one season and the fewest in the next; the Ottawa Senators did so in 1917-18 and 1918-19.   Here's where the Isles 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 168

2. Boston 169

3. Dallas 172 

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 163

2. Boston 166 

3. Dallas 172

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 801-589-60-141 in 1,592 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    843 

4. Barry Trotz   801

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   1,592

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,583

Trotz, who will coach his 1,600th game on March 24th, 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: 39-22-7 (85 points), with 198 goals scored and 168 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 29-29-10 (68 points), with 217 goals scored and 243 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 75 fewer goals, a decrease of 30.9% 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 24-9-5 when scoring first and are 15-13-2 when allowing the opening goal (which includes a 1-0 shootout loss).  

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .500 (15-13-2) 2018-19

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles      6-13-8=27

Philadelphia 10-5-10=25

The Isles are 12-13-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-2-0 when the shots are even and 27-7-6 when they are outshot. [The 27 wins when outshot are a franchise record; they won 25 in both 1983-84 and 2017-18.]

Home and Road

The Islanders are 39-22-7 overall; 20-11-4 at home (8-5-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 19-11-3 on the road.  All their remaining regular season home games are at the Nassau Coliseum.

Philadelphia is 33-27-8 overall; 17-13-4 at home and 16-14-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 15-8-1 in Division games and 24-14-6 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 24-12-5 against the East and 15-10-2 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 10 saves over the first two periods; he falls to 19-11-2 on the season and 6-4-20 in his career against Philadelphia.  Christopher Gibson made 10 saves in the third period in his 2nd NHL appearance of the season.

Brian Elliott made 25 saves to improve to 10-8-1 on the season and 8-1-6 against the Islanders.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 5:26 of PP time, including a 1:34 5-on-3; Philadelphia was 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 22-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-20-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-13-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 26-9-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 33-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-20-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 15-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 4-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-6 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 5-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 24-21-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (25:11); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (25:33)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with a season-high 17:59 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (18-11-5), Nick Leddy (14-9-2), Scott Mayfield (6-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (0-1-0), Adam Pelech (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 26, Philadelphia 23 (53%).  

Anthony Beauvillier won 4 of 4 for the Isles; Sean Couturier won 8 of 11 for Philadelphia.

Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/17; 2nd period 9/17; 3rd period 7/15.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 22/40, Power play 3/5, Penalty kill 1/4.

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Four with 3)  

Philadelphia 18 (Radko Gudas and Travis Sanheim - 4)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –14 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -2, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Jordan Eberle).  

 

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 14 shots (Ryan Pulock with 3) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 59, Philadelphia 47

5-on-5 Isles 45, Philadelphia 38

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Nick Leddy +13

Philadelphia: Oskar Lindblom +5

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 7-3-1 in the front half and 9-1-1 in the back half. The next back-to-back is March 16-17 in Detroit and Minnesota and the final back-to-back of the season is the following week (March 23-24) in Philadelphia and vs. Arizona. 

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, but are 0-1-1 in the last two back-ends. 

Night and Day

The Isles are 33-19-7 in night games and 6-3-0 in matinees. The next matinee is on March 16th in Detroit. The final two matinees are the following weekend (March 23rd in Philly and March 24th vs. Arizona (at the Coliseum). 

Ironmen

Anders Lee 186, Brock Nelson 163, Mathew Barzal 150.  Four other Isles: Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Josh Bailey and Leo Komarov have appeared in every game this season.

Scratches

(Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), (Robin Lehner -INJ), Andrew Ladd, Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 131

Comeback Kings

The Isles are 6-5-1 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 14-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

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.

2/28 vs TOR Maple Leafs – Maple Leaf 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 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5. Bob Bourne 814***6. Josh Bailey 783

Goals

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

14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Pierre Turgeon and Anders Lee 147 *** 17. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 18. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 138…

21. Duane Sutter 121 *** 22. Brock Nelson 120

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne 304 *** 11.  Josh Bailey 289 …

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

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 427…

23. Ed Westfall 286 *** 24. Jason Blake 258 *** 25. Anders Lee 250

Games Played (Goalies)

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

7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 155

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 81

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

Philadelphia leads the season series two games to one (and 4 points to 2). The final meeting will be in Philadelphia on March 23rd.

The road team has won all three meetings this season.

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers had their seven-game win streak ended on Friday with a 5-0 loss in Rochester. Bridgeport is 11-2-1-0 in their last 14 games (including three OT wins and two shootout wins) and  35-19-5-2 on the season.  

The Sound Tigers will play on Sunday afternoon at 4pm in Toronto.  That game will be televised by NHL Network.

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 20; Assists: Chris Bourque 33; Points: Chris Bourque 46; +/-: Otto Koivula +16.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 17-10-3 (2.95 GAA); Christopher Gibson 18-9-4 (2.89 GAA)

Up Next

MONDAY, MARCH 11th  – COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS AT NASSSAU COLISEUM 7:00PM 

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

The homestand continues as the Isles host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus moved back into a playoff spot with their win on Saturday over Pittsburgh and will beginning a difficult week of their own, including two games against Boston.

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 0, rallying to win the Coliseum re-opener in December, and blanking the Jackets on Valentine's Day.  Overall, the Isles are 10-1-4 in their last 15 home games against Columbus.

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