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Monday, October 14, 2019

The Skinny: Isles 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 6
Isles 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)
Mathew Barzal scored the tying goal with 27 seconds left in regulation and Devon Toews added the winning goal in overtime as the Isles completed a historic rally from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues 3-2 before a Columbus Day matinee crowd of 10,355 at Nassau Coliseum.

Through 54 minutes the Isles had been shutout by the Blues' Jordan Binnington, who seemingly was in position for the first St. Louis shutout against the Isles since Vincent Riendeau in 1991, but Brock Nelson broke the shutout with 5:31 to play.  Barzal then scored the first tying goal in the 60th minute for the Isles since April 7, 2018 in Detroit (Ryan Pulock) and Toews' overtime goal completed the first win in Isles history when they had been shutout through 54 minutes and trailed by at least two goals.

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Brayden Schenn (5) Justin Faulk, Jaden Schwartz 06:48 STL 1,NYI 0

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Vladimir Tarasenko (1) Vince Dunn, Brayden Schenn 05:23 STL 2,NYI 0 PPG
Brock Nelson (3) Michael Dal Colle 14:29 STL 2,NYI 1
Mathew Barzal (1) Johnny Boychuk 19:33 STL 2,NYI 2

OT
Devon Toews (2) Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson 01:13 STL 2,NYI 3

The Skinny   
Brayden Schenn had the only first period goal, extending his streak to five games; the Isles have been outscored 7-3 in the first period this season…Vladimir Tarasenko's first goal of the season gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead; he now has 212 goals and 211 assists … Thomas Greiss improves to 7-2-1 against the Blues; it is his best won-lost record against any NHL team… Brock Nelson's goal was his 127th, tying Jason Blake for 20th place on the all-time Isles list…The Isles have won five overtime games since the calendar turned to 2019; a defenseman has the winner in three of them (Devon Toews-2; Ryan Pulock-1); Toews is the 12th player in the NHL with 2 overtime goals in 2019 (nobody has more); Seth Jones, Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman and Brett Burns are the other defensemen to do so – they have combined for 14 All-Star Games and three Norris Trophies..

What a Comeback
Barzal's tying goal was:
The latest in the Barry Trotz era;
The first in the 60th minute since Ryan Pulock scored at 19:30 in the 2017-18 season finale vs. Detroit;
The latest tying goal since Anders Lee scored at 19:58 on March 3, 2015 in Dallas (but the Stars won in OT);
The latest tying goal in an Islander win since Mark Streit scored against Nashville's Pekka Rinne at 19:48 in a shootout win;
The latest tying goal to be followed by an Islander overtime goal since Mikko Makela scored against New Jersey's Alain Chevrier at 19:49 and Pat LaFontaine scored at 1:01 of overtime, on March 14, 1987.

It's a Winner
Devon Toews recorded his second career overtime goal (January 3, 2019 vs. Chicago; three of his seven career goals have been game-winners).

Toews is the first Islander defenseman to score two overtime goals in his first 54 NHL games.

Most Overtime Goals by an Isles Defenseman:
5- Thomas Hickey
3- Roman Hamrlik
2- Devon Toews
2- Bryan Berard
2- Adrian Aucoin

Oliver, Oliver
Oliver Wahlstrom played 15:13 (including 1:07 on the power play) and recorded two shots and one hit. Wahlstrom (born 6/13/2000) is now the youngest on the team – he's about five months younger than Noah Dobson.  At 19 years, 123 days, Wahlstrom was the youngest Islander to make his debut since Nino Niederreiter, who debuted as an 18-year-old.

Brock-tober
Brock Nelson has been a fast starter during his NHL career.  He is now  26-22-48 in 66 career October games, tallying more goals and more points than in any other month.   

Happy Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day/Canadian Thanksgiving!
The Isles are 5-0-1 in the last six games on this holiday, after losing the first five times that hosted games on the second Monday in October.

Sound Familiar?
The Isles hosted St. Louis in a matinee on Columbus Day 2017, but at Barclays Center.  St. Louis led that game 2-0 before Andrew Ladd scored at 13:04; Anders Lee tied it at 19:00, but the Isles lost that game in a shootout.

It's Good to be Home
The Isles are 3-2-0 on Coliseum ice (1 sellout).  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 813-598-60-141 in 1,612 games.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  892
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    813
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,642
3. Barry Trotz        1,612
4. Al Arbour   1,607
5. Ken Hitchcock   1,598

First Things First
The Isles are 1-1-0 when scoring first and are 2-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles           9-4-18-1=32
St. Louis    7-10-6-0=23

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 2-2-0 when they are outshot.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 3-3-0 overall; 3-2-0 at home (2-2-0 on Long Island and 0-0-0 in Brooklyn) and 0-1-0 on the road.  
St. Louis is 3-1-2 overall; 1-0-1 at home and 2-1-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference
The Isles are 0-2-0 in Division games and 3-1-0 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 1-2-0 against the East and 2-1-0 against the West.  

In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 21 saves to improve to 2-1-0 on the season and 7-2-1 in his career against St. Louis.  

Jordan Binnington made 29 saves; he is 2-1-2 on the season and 0-0-2 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time; St. Louis was 1-2 on the power play in 3:30 of PP time.

The Isles are 1-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-2-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 1-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 3-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-3-0 when they do not.  

One Goal Games
The Isles are 2-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 1-0 in games decided in overtime and are 1-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 2-3-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Devon Toews (20:12); St. Louis: Colton Parayko (21:24)
Anthony Beauvillier Isles forwards with 20:00 of ice-time; it's only the 3rd time in his career he has played at least 20:00 
Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (1-1-0), Adam Pelech (1-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-1-0), Devon Toews (1-1-0).

Face-offs
Isles 22, St. Louis 35 (39%).  
Derick Brassard won 8 of 15 for the Isles but his teammates won only 14 of 42; Brayden Schenn won 11 of 16 for St. Louis.  

Hit Count
Isles 33 (Ross Johnston -5)
St. Louis 22 (Two with 3) 
   
Fights
There were no fights. Season total: 1 – Johnston (vs. FLA).
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 22 (Ryan Pulock -6)
St. Louis 18 (Colton Parayko -4)

For the Corsi Crowd 
All situations: Isles 58, St. Louis 48
5-on-5 Isles 47, St. Louis 43

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Scott Mayfield +9 
St. Louis: Vladimir Tarasenko +7

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 0-1-0 in the front-half and 1-0-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be October 24th vs. Arizona and October 25th in Ottawa.

Night and Day
The Isles are 2-3-0 in night games and 1-0-0 in matinees. The first matinee will be on November 9th vs. Florida.

Ironmen
Anders Lee 206, Brock Nelson 183, Mathew Barzal 170, Ryan Pulock 143, Josh Bailey 91, and Leo Komarov (90 in total; 88 with Isles).

Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 6th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 140 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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 143
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches
(Andrew Ladd -INJ), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), (Jordan Eberle-INJ), Matt Martin, Noah Dobson
Total games lost: 11.

Late Heroes
The Isles have scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:
10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed
The Isles have not allowed a goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

Challenges
Isles: 0 - 0
Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs EDM)

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 803

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Anders Lee 154 …
17. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 18. Josh Bailey 142 *** 19 Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Jason Blake and Brock Nelson 127

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne 304 *** 11.  Josh Bailey 295 …
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 437…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 260 *** 26. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***
28. David Volek 249 *** 29. Brock Nelson 246

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 166

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 87

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 lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).   

The Isles are 7-1-1 in the last nine games against St. Louis and have won four straight over the Blues for the first time since a five-game streak in 1984 and 1985 than began when the Isles were still Stanley Cup Champions.

The teams will meet again in St. Louis on February 27th to conclude the season series.

On the Farm  
The Sound Tigers are 1-2-1-0 on the season, having played all four games on the road. 

Bridgeport is now off until Saturday, when they begin a three-game homestand by hosting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Sound Tiger's home opener. 

Up Next
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17th—  ISLANDERS AT WINNIPEG 8:00PM 
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 
The Isles begin a two-game road trip on Thursday as they conclude their season series with the Jets.

The Isles defeated Winnipeg 4-1 on October 6 and will be looking to sweep the season series for the first time in four seasons.  Since the Jets returned to the NHL, the Isles have had a lot of success in Manitoba, going 8-1-1 (with four of their wins coming in overtime or in shootouts).

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

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