The Skinny: Toronto 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 80

Toronto 2, Isles 1    

Calle Rosen and John Tavares scored goals to build a 2-0 lead for Toronto early in the third period and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves as the Leafs spoiled the Isles' regular season home finale with a 2-1 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at Nassau Coliseum. 

Jordan Eberle got the Isles on the board with a late power play goal, his 4th in the last three games, but the Isles could not find the equalizer that would have moved them within one point of Washington in the Metro Division.  The Leafs win clinched a playoff spot and a first-round matchup with Boston.  

The Isles still have 99 points, and they remain three points behind Washington (who lost to Florida 5-3). Tampa Bay). Idle Pittsburgh has 97 points and could move ahead of the Isles with a ROW vs. Detroit on Tuesday. The Isles and Capitals have two games and Pittsburgh has three games to play.

The Isles' magic number to clinch home-ice remains five (against Pittsburgh).  It can fall to three on Tuesday with a Detroit win over the Penguins.

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Calle Rosen (1) Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri 02:17 TOR 1,NYI 0

3rd Period

John Tavares (46) Mitchell Marner 03:50 TOR 2,NYI 0

Jordan Eberle (19) Brock Nelson, Devon Toews 14:55 TOR 2,NYI 1 PPG

The Skinny   

The Isles are 32-15-3 in their last 50 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 80 games… The Isles have 52 points at home and 47 points on the road; if they can go 1-0-1 in the final two road games, they will have their first 50-50 (points at home and on the road since 1981-82) … The Isles have 24 wins at home and 22 wins on the road; it's only the 5th time in franchise history that the Isles have won at least 22 games both at home and on the road (1976-77, 1980-81, 1983-84, 2014-15)… . Calle Rosen is the second opponent in as many games to score his first NHL goal against the Isles; Victor Olofsson did so on Saturday…The Isles suffered only their 3rd regulation loss (24-3-2) while scoring a power play goal; it was their 1st power play goal on home ice since February 16th vs. Edmonton and their first at the Coliseum since January 20th vs. Anaheim…John Tavares' goal was his first against the Isles and the 318th of his career (one fewer than Clark Gillies).  It was his 87th point, one more than he had in 2014-15, when he lost out on the scoring title on the final day of the season...The Isles finished the home season 16-121 (13.2%) on the power play; the 16 power play goals match the fewest the club has ever scored – they were 16-120 (13.3%) in 2016-17. 

Metro/Wild Card Playoff Watch 

1.x- Caps 102 points/80 games/43 ROW (Thursday Vs. Montreal, Saturday vs. Isles) 

2.x- Isles 99 points/80 games/42 ROW (Thursday @ Florida, Saturday vs. Washington)

3. Penguins 97 points/79 games/41 ROW (Tuesday at Detroit, Thursday vs. Detroit, Saturday vs. Rangers)

Wild Card Race

WC1. Blue Jackets 94 points/79 games/44 ROW (Tuesday vs. Boston, Friday at Rangers, Saturday at Ottawa)

WC2. Hurricanes 93 points/79 games/41 ROW (Tuesday at Toronto, Thursday vs. New Jersey, Saturday at Philadelphia)

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WC3. Canadiens 92 points/79 games/40 ROW (Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay, Thursday at Washington, Saturday vs. Toronto

Magic Numbers:

The Isles Magic Number to clinch the Division is 8.  The Isles will need to earn one more point than Washington does on Thursday (and will need some help from the teams facing Pittsburgh) to have a chance to win the division in game 82.

Isles magic numbers to assure home ice :

• 5 vs. Pittsburgh

• 2 vs. Columbus

• 1 vs. Carolina

Tie Breakers:

Head-to-Head

Isles will need a regulation win in Washington on April 6th to tie this tie-breaker.  Isles have tied the season series with Pittsburgh and won the season series from Columbus and Carolina. 

Goal Differential

Pittsburgh +33

Washington +31

Isles +28

Top and Bottom 

The Isles can still finish anywhere from 1st to 5th place in the Metro Division and 3rd to 8th place in the Eastern Conference. (With the loss tonight, the Isles can no longer catch Boston for 2nd in the East).

22-Game Winner

Thomas Greiss has 22 wins. He is only the fourth goalie in club history to have at least three 22-win seasons, joining Glenn Resch (5), Billy Smith (5), and Rick DiPietro (4).

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 22 Wins in a Season

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

• 1981-82: Billy Smith (32) & Roland Melanson (22)

• 2018-19: Robin Lehner (24) & Thomas Greiss (22)

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. Chico Resch 1975-76 2.28

4. Jaroslav Halak 2015-16 2.30

5. Thomas Greiss 2018-19 2.31

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 .926

4. Thomas Greiss 2015-16 .925

The Best (Fourth) Line in Hockey

The Isles are 33-166 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).  

 

That's All Folks

The Isles are now 25-14-7 all-time in home finales (23-13-7 when the finale takes place at the Coliseum).

Most Points (Post-Cup Era)

• 101: 2014-15

• 100: 2015-16

• 99: 2018-19 (with 2 games to play)

Most Road Points (Post Cup Era)

• 49: 2014-15

• 47: 2018-19 (with 2 games to play)

• 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)

• 195 2018-19 (188 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 2.35 goals in regulation and 2.44 goals including OT/SO this season.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 13-6-2 in their last 21 road games and 16-7-2 in their last 25 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. Dallas 194 in 79 games (Tuesday vs. Philadelphia, Friday at Chicago, Saturday vs. Minnesota)

2. ISLES 195 in 80 games

3. Boston 207 in 79 games 

Fewest Goals Allowed This Season (excluding SO goals)

1. ISLES 190 in 80 games

2. Dallas 192 in 79 games

3. Boston 204 in 79 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 808-595-60-141 in 1,604 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  890

3. Ken Hitchcock    848

4. Barry Trotz    808

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   1,604

5. Ken Hitchcock   1,595

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: 46-27-7 (99 points), with 223 goals scored and 194 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

Last Season: 33-37-10 (76 points), with 258 goals scored and 292 goals allowed (includes SO winners)

The Isles have allowed 98 fewer goals, a decrease of 33.6% 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 28-9-5 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    12-9-8=29

Toronto 16-11-11=38

The Isles are 16-14-1 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 46-27-7 overall; 24-13-4 at home (12-7-2 on Long Island and 12-6-2 in Brooklyn) and 22-14-3 on the road.  

Toronto is 46-26-7 overall; 23-14-2 at home and 23-12-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 17-9-1 in Division games and 29-18-6 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 28-17-5 against the East and 18-10-2 against the West.  

In the Nets

Robin Lehner made 36 saves but falls to 24-13-5 on the season and 5-5-0 in his career against Toronto.   

Frederik Andersen made 28 saves and improves to 36-15-6 on the season and 7-1-1 against the Islanders.   

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 in 7:14 of PP time; Toronto was 0-2 on the power play in 4:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 24-3-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-24-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 17-15-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 29-12-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 37-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 9-25-5 when they do not.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 18-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 8-6 in regulation. They are 6-2 in games decided in overtime and are 4-5 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 -- .581

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 29-26-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:21); Toronto: Morgan Reilly (24:18)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:43 of ice-time

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (22-15-5), 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, Toronto 33 (47%).  

Leo Komarov won 8 of 12 for the Isles; John Tavares won 14 of 22 for Toronto.  

Face-offs by period: 1st period 10/22; 2nd period 11/21; 3rd period 8/19.

Face-offs by strength: Even strength: 23/48, Power play 4/10, Penalty kill 2/4.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Adam Pelech -5)  

Toronto 21 (Kasperi Kapanen -6)

   

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 11 shots (Casey Cizikas - 3) 

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 57, Toronto 65

5-on-5 Isles 46, Toronto 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Devon Toews +11 

Toronto: Calle Rosen +10

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 38-23-7 in night games and 8-4-0 in matinees. The remaining games are all at night.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 198, Brock Nelson 175, Mathew Barzal 162.  Four other Isles: Ryan Pulock (135), Josh Bailey (83), Leo Komarov (82 overall, 80 with Isles) and Nick Leddy (80) have appeared in every game this season.

Century Club

Ryan Pulock is only the 7th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 135 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 (135)

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), Thomas Hickey, (Tanner Fritz- INJ), Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg, Ross Johnston

Total games lost: 148

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 795

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. Kyle Okposo 139 ***19. Josh Bailey 140…

20. Jason Blake 127 *** 21.  Brock Nelson 123

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne 304 *** 11.  Josh Bailey 292 …

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 432…

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 161

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 84

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

The Isles win the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2).   

The Isles outscored the Leafs 11-3 this season but have not won three straight vs. Toronto, even in multiple seasons, since December 9, 2009 – October 18, 2010.

On the Farm  

Christopher Gibson made 25 saves, but the Bridgeport Sound Tigers dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to Hershey on Sunday at Webster Bank Arena.

The Sound Tigers are 10-0-1-1 in their last 12 games at home; their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now two. The Sound Tigers can clinch a playoff spot against Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Tuesday morning.

Bridgeport is 12-3-1-1 in their last 17 games, 16-4-2-1 in their last 23 games and 40-21-6-3 on the season.  

Leaders:  Goals: Steve Bernier 22; Assists: Chris Bourque 37; Points: Chris Bourque 52; +/-: Jeff Kubiak +16.  Goalies: Jeremy Smith 21-10-4 (2.66 GAA); Christopher Gibson 19-11-5 (2.91 GAA)

Up Next

THURSDAY, APRIL 4th –ISLANDERS AT FLORIDA 7:00PM 

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

The Isles begin the (regular) season-ending road trip with a trip to South Florida to face the Panthers.

The Isles have had more success against the President's Trophy-winner Lightning than they have had against the Panthers this season.  Florida rallied for a 3-2 overtime win at Barclays in October and then defeated the Isles 4-2 on November 10th in Sunrise that dropped the Isles to 8-6-2 on the season.

Overall the Isles have gone 0-3-1 in the last four against Florida and they have been outscored 14-5 by the Cats in those four games.

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