The Skinny: Isles 2, Florida 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 81

Isles 2, Florida 1 (SO) 

Brock Nelson scored his 25th goal of the season and later scored the only goal of a four-round shootout as the Islanders moved closer to clinching home-ice in a playoff series for the first time since 1988 with a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers before a crowd of 13,775 at BB&T Center. 

Thomas Greiss made 29 saves in regulation and four more in the shootout to pick up his 23rd victory of the season.

The win gives the Isles 101 points; it is the 10th time in club history that they have reached 100, and they are only the 5th team in the NHL to do so this season.  The Isles will clinch home ice on Saturday if they earn a point in Washington OR if the Rangers beat Pittsburgh.  The Isles can finish no lower than 3rd but can no longer catch the Caps, who clinched their fourth consecutive division title on Thursday. 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (25) Michael Dal Colle, Josh Bailey 01:50 NYI 1,FLA 0

3rd Period

Jonathan Huberdeau (29) Keith Yandle, Sam Montembeault 12:45 NYI 1,FLA 1 PPG

OT

No Goals

The Shootout

Jonathan Huberdeau (NG) - Jordan Eberle (NG)

Aleksander Barkov(NG) - Mathew Barzal (NG)

Frank Vatrano (NG) - Josh Bailey (NG)

Vincent Trocheck (NG) - Brock Nelson (G/GDG)

Brock Nelson's goal was his 3rd career shootout-deciding goal and his first successful attempt in six tries this season.  Nelson's last goal was also a deciding goal (1/7/2018 vs. New Jersey)…The Isles improve to 5-5 this season in shootouts (Thomas Greiss is 5-2); they are 79-64 all-time in shootouts as they extend their NHL record for shootout win (Pittsburgh and the Rangers have 77).

Thomas Greiss has stopped 21 of 23 shootout attempts this season.  His 91.3 save percentage is the best among any Isles goalie who has faced at least five attempts and ranks 4th-best among all NHL  goalies who have faced at least 20 attempts in a season:

1. Jonas Enroth  (23/24 .958) – 2014-15

2. Mathieu Garon (30/32 .928) – 2007-08

3. Semyon Varlamov (22/24 .917) -2011-12

4. Thomas Greiss (21/23 .913) -2018-19

Greiss has stopped 40 of 53 shootout attempts as an Islander (.755); only Wade Dubielewicz has a better career percentage  (17/22 .773).

The Skinny   

The Isles are 33-15-3 in their last 51 games…  The Isles have surpassed last season's win and point total; including shootout winners they have scored 35 fewer goals and allowed 98 fewer goals than last year's first 81 games… The Isles have 52 points at home and 49 points on the road; if they can earn a point in Washington, they will have their first 50-50 (points at home and on the road) season since 1980-81 … The Isles have 24 wins at home and 23 wins on the road; it's only the 3th time in franchise history that the Isles have won at least 23 games both at home and on the road (1976-77, 1980-81); NO Islander team has ever won 24 games both at home and on the road in the same season.… Brock Nelson now has 25 goals (one shy of his career high); Josh Bailey reached 40 assists for the third straight season…Sam Montembeault earned his first assist on Huberdeau's goal, which give the Panthers two 90-point scorers in the same season for the first time.

Metro/Wild Card Playoff Watch 

1.x- Caps 104 points/81 games/44 ROW (Saturday vs. Isles) 

2.x- Isles 101 points/81 games/43 ROW (Saturday vs. Washington)

3.x- Penguins 99 points/81 games/42 ROW (Saturday vs. Rangers)

Wild Card Race

WC1. x- Hurricanes 97 points/81 games/43 ROW (Saturday at Philadelphia)

WC2. Blue Jackets 94 points/80 games/44 ROW (Friday at Rangers, Saturday at Ottawa)

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WC3. Canadiens 94 points/81 games/41 ROW (Saturday vs. Toronto)

Top and Bottom 

The Isles can still finish anywhere from 2nd to 3rd place in the Metro Division and 4th to 6th place in the Eastern Conference. 

23-Game Winner

Thomas Greiss has 23 wins. He is only the fourth goalie in club history to have at least three 23-win seasons, joining Glenn Resch (5), Rick DiPietro (4), and Billy Smith (3).

Streaking Lehner

Robin Lehner has played 331 minutes in his last six appearances, allowing only nine goals, including a shutout.  He has stopped 165 of 174 shots in that span, for a 1.63 GAA and a 94.8 save percentage.

Two Isles Goalies with at least 23 Wins in a Season

• 1978-79: Chico Resch (26) & Billy Smith (25)

• 2018-19: Robin Lehner (24) & Thomas Greiss (23)

Best Goals Against Average by An Islander in a Season

1. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.08

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 2.18

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.28

4. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.28

5. Jaroslav Halak 2015-16 2.30

Best Save Percentage by an Islander in a Season 

1. Robin Lehner 2018-19 .928 (.92813)

2. Chico Resch 1975-76 .928 (.92757)

3. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 .927

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

The Best (Fourth) Line in Hockey

The Isles are 34-16-6 when Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck all play and are 13-11-1 when one or more miss a game.  

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), Casey Cizikas (18-19)

Youth Is Served

Most Points by an Islander before 22nd birthday

• 290- Bryan Trottier

• 202- John Tavares

• 171- Pat LaFontaine

• 157- Mike Bossy

• 147- Mathew Barzal

• 147- Denis Potvin

It's Good to be Home

The Isles went 12-7-2 on Coliseum ice; they averaged 97.1% of capacity on Long Island (including 14 sellouts).  

Most Points (Post-Cup Era)

• 101: 2018-19 (with 1 game to play)

• 101: 2014-15

• 100: 2015-16

Most Road Points (Post Cup Era)

• 49: 2018-19 (with 1 game to play)

• 49: 2014-15

• 47: 2001-02

Most Home Points (Post-Cup Era)

• 55: 1984-85

• 55: 2015-16

• 55: 2003-04

• 54: 1987-88

• 52: 2018-19

• 52: 2014-15

Fewest Goals Allowed (Includes SO)

• 190 1975-76 (no overtime games; 80-game schedule)

• 193 1976-77 (no overtime games; 80-game schedule)

• 196 2018-19 (189 in regulation, two in overtime, and five in shootouts)

The Isles allowed 190 goals in the 80-game 1975-76 season (2.38/game). The Isles have allowed 2.33 goals in regulation and 2.42 goals including OT/SO this season.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 14-6-2 in their last 22 road games and 17-7-2 in their last 26 road games.       

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 196 in 81 games

2. Dallas 196 in 80 games ( Friday vs. Chicago, Saturday at Minnesota)

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 191 in 81 games

2. Dallas 194 in 80 games

Coach Trotz

Among active coaches, Barry Trotz has coached the most games and is 2nd to Ken Hitchcock in wins. Trotz' NHL record is 809-595-60-141 in 1,605 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    848 

4. Barry Trotz    809

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   1,605

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,597

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.

What a Difference a Year Makes

This Season: 47-27-7 (101 points), with 225 goals scored and 195 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 34-37-10 (78 points), with 260 goals scored and 293 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 98 fewer goals, a decrease of 33.4% 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 29-9-5 when scoring first and are 17-18-2 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

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles    17-8-7-4=36

Florida 4-12-11-3=30

The Isles are 17-14-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-2-0 when the shots are even and 30-11-6 when they are outshot. [The 30 wins when outshot are a franchise record; they won 25 in both 1983-84 and 2017-18.]

The Isles lead the NHL in wins when outshot.  Three teams won 30 games last year when outshot, but nobody has won more since 2015-16 when Ottawa won 33.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 47-27-7 overall; 24-13-4 at home (12-7-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 23-14-3 on the road.  

Florida is 36-32-13 overall; 20-13-7 at home and 16-19-6 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 17-9-1 in Division games and 30-18-6 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 29-17-5 against the East and 18-10-2 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 29 saves to improve to 23-14-2 on the season and 3-2-1 in his career against Florida.   He is 13-10 all-time in shootouts.

Sam Montembeault made 35 saves; he is 4-3-2 on the season.  It was his first career appearance against the Isles and his first shootout. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 in 6:00 of PP time; Florida was 1-2 on the power play in 3:01 of PP time.

The Isles are 24-3-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 23-24-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 18-15-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 29-12-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 37-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 10-25-5 when they do not.  The 10 wins when being held to two goals or fewer are a franchise record.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 19-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 8-6 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 5-5 in shootouts.  The Isles are 6-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 &1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 6-0-0 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 30-26-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (25:31); Florida: Aaron Ekblad (25:27)

Cal Clutterbuck led Isles forwards with a season-high 20:26 of ice-time (tied his career-high, set 11/25/11 vs EDM)

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (23-15-5), Nick Leddy (14-9-2), Scott Mayfield (8-1-0), Johnny Boychuk (0-1-0), Adam Pelech (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Florida 30 (49%).  

Leo Komarov won 7 of 12 for the Isles; Riley Sheahan won 8 of 12 for Florida.  

Face-offs by period: 1st period 7/14; 2nd period 10/20; 3rd period 10/22; overtime 2/3.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 25/50, Power play 2/5, Penalty kill 2/4.

Hit Count

Isles 32 (Ryan Pulock and Cal Cluttebuck-5)  

Florida 33 (Jayce Hawryluk-9)

   

Fights

There were no fights. Season total –16 (Scott Mayfield -4, Ross Johnston-3, Matt Martin -3, Anders Lee- 2, Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Jordan Eberle, Thomas Hickey).  

Blocked Shots

The Isles blocked 14 shots (Scott Mayfield and Thomas Hickey - 3) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 72, Florida 52

5-on-5 Isles 58, Florida 42

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Devon Toews +15 

Florida: Vincent Trocheck +4

Back-to-Backs

The Isle played 13 sets of back-to-backs this season. The Isles went 8-4-1 in the front half and 11-1-1 in the back half. 

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 39-23-7 in night games and 8-4-0 in matinees.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 199, Brock Nelson 176, Mathew Barzal 163.  Four other Isles: Ryan Pulock (136), Josh Bailey (84), Leo Komarov (83 overall, 81 with Isles) and Nick Leddy (81) have appeared in every game this season.

The Isles have never had more than four players appear in 82 games in a season.

Century Club

Ryan Pulock is only the 7th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 136 consecutive regular season games:

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 – 3/26/2018 153

6. Janne Niinimaa 3/13/2004-1/7/2006 136 (**)

7. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT (136)

8. Ken Morrow 3/1/1980-12/29/1981 134 (*)

9. Mark Streit 10/8/2011-4/26/2013 130

10. Calvin deHaan 4/7/2016- 12/16/2017 118

11. Travis Hamonic 2/24/2012-1/12/2014 117

12. Travis Hamonic 11/24/2010– 2/4/2012 113 (*)

13. Jean Potvin 10/23/1975-1/2/1977 110

14. Kenny Jonsson 12/26/1996-2/4/1998 104

15. Thomas Hickey 4/26/2013- 11/22/2014 103

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Valtteri Filppula -INJ), (Andrew Ladd -INJ), (Tanner Fritz- INJ),Johnny Boychuk, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 151

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored three times 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)

3/29- WPG Jets – Casey Cizikas scored the tying goal (18:14); Jordan Eberle scored the winner (18:47)

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.

Comeback Kings

The Isles are 7-9-1 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), COL (2/9 - OT), and WPG (3/28) while earning a point vs. EDM (2/21 – OTL).

The Isles are 17-1-1 when scoring the game's first two goals.

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 796

Goals

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

14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Anders Lee 152 …

17. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 18. Josh Bailey 140…

20. Jason Blake 127 *** 21.  Brock Nelson 124

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne 304 *** 11.  Josh Bailey 293 …

26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. David Volek 154 *** 28. Nick Leddy 151

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 433…

24.. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Steve Thomas and  Jason Blake 258 *** 27. Anders Lee 257

Games Played (Goalies)

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

6. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 7. Glenn Healy 176 *** 8. Thomas Greiss 162

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 85

Shutouts (Goalie)

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

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Season Series Stats

Florida wins the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3).   

This was the Isles' first win in that last five games against Florida, snapping an 0-3-1 stretch in which they were outscored 14-5.

On the Farm  

Jeremy Smith 31 saves, but the Bridgeport Sound Tigers dropped a 3-1 decision to Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Tuesday at Webster Bank Arena, ending a 12-game home point streak.

The Sound Tigers are 10-1-1-1 in their last 13 games at home; their magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains two. The Sound Tigers can clinch a playoff spot on Friday in Providence in the front-end of a home-and home series against the Bruins.

Bridgeport is 12-4-1-1 in their last 17 games, 16-5-2-1 in their last 23 games and 40-22-6-3 on the season.  

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 22; Assists: Chris Bourque 37; Points: Chris Bourque 52; +/-: Jeff Kubiak +16.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 21-11-4 (2.67 GAA); Christopher Gibson 19-11-5 (2.91 GAA)

Up Next

SATURDAY, APRIL 6th –ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00PM 

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

The Isles close out the regular season as they head to DC  to face the Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals.  All three games between the teams this season have been decided in regulation with the road team winning all three games. 

While the Caps have nothing to play for, having locked up the division on Thursday, the Isles could assure themselves of home-ice in the first round of the playoffs by earning at least one point (or having the Rangers beat Pittsburgh).

The Isles have won their final road game of a season in each of the last five years and are 24-16-5 all-time in road finales.  The Isles are 3-1-2 in their last six season finales and are 24-14-7 all-time in their final game of the year. Their only game 82 loss in the last six years came in 2016 and assured the Isles of a match-up with Florida which they would win in six games for their first playoff series win since 1993.

The Stanley Cup Playoff schedule will be released at 10am on Sunday.

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