The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 10

Isles 4, Ottawa 2 

Nick Leddy scored twice, including a penalty shot goal, and added an assist as the Isles extended their winning streak to six straight games with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators before a crowd of 11,189 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Thomas Greiss made 30 saves to earn his third straight win as the Isles earned their first October win streak of at least six games since 1982 (8 straight).  The six-game streak is the longest in the NHL so far this season.

The Isles improved to 7-3-0; their 14 points matches their highest total through ten games in 18 years. 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Tyler Ennis (1) Thomas Chabot, Connor Brown 07:59 NYI 0,OTT 1

Nick Leddy (1) Matt Martin, Johnny Boychuk 13:00 NYI 1,OTT 1

Nick Leddy (2)PS 17:19  NYI 2,OTT 1 PPG

2nd Period

Matt Martin (2) Nick Leddy, Cal Clutterbuck 04:58 NYI 3,OTT 1

Derick Brassard (2) Mathew Barzal, Devon Toews 06:08 NYI 4,OTT 1

3rd Period

Tyler Ennis (2) Logan Brown, Anthony Duclair 07:08 NYI 4,OTT 2 PPG 

The Skinny   

Nick Leddy matched career highs in both goals (2) and points (3)…The Isles led after the first period for the third straight game (after not doing it in the first seven games) …The Isles went 1-3 on the power play, ending the franchise record streak of having one power play or fewer at five games; the Isles and the 1982-83 Flyers are the only teams in NHL history to win five straight games while having one power play or less. … The Isles won under 40% of the draws for the fourth time in the last five games…After taking only 51 penalty minutes in the first nine games, the Isles racked up 31 penalty minutes tonight…Tyler Ennis had both Sens goals (his first two with Ottawa); he is 7-6-13 in 22 career games against the Isles…The Sens had opened the season 1-32 on the power play before Ennis' third period goal…Johnny Boychuk's assist on Nick Leddy's first goal was his 200th NHL point…At least one defenseman earned a point on all four Islander goals.

The Penalty Shot

Nick Leddy is the first Islander defenseman to attempt (and score on) a penalty shot in a regular season game; Denis Potvin had a penalty shot attempt in the 1983 playoffs vs. Washington but was stopped.

Leddy is the first Isle to score on a penalty shot since Jason Chimera did so on February 14, 2017 in Toronto; Anthony Beauvillier had the only penalty shot for the Isles last season but was stopped by Buffalo's Carter Hutton (3/30/2019).

Anders Nilsson, the goalie who allowed the penalty shot goal, was part of the package the Isles sent to Chicago on October 4, 2014 to acquire Leddy.

The Almost Hat Trick

Nick Leddy matched a career-high in points (3) when he was credited with an assist on what turned out to be Martin's game-winning goal.  It was originally credited to Leddy, which would have given him a natural hat trick.  No Islander defenseman has had a hat trick since Denis Potvin did so on 3/4/1982 vs. Toronto.  It would also have been the first hat trick by a defenseman in NHL history that included a penalty shot goal.

The Injuries

Tom Kuhnhackl left the game in the first period with a lower body injury; he did not return.  Matt Martin was checked into an unlocked door in the 2nd period; he went to the room but returned before the period ended.  

7-11

The Isles used seven defensemen and eleven forwards for the first time under Barry Trotz.  At one point in the second period, injuries to Martin and Kuhnhackl and a misconduct to Cal Clutterbuck left the Isles with only eight forwards.

As a result, four forwards played over 20 minutes – only the second time that has happened under Barry Trotz (6 on 12/15/2018 at Detroit).

Moving On Up

Thomas Greiss is now the 5th-winningest goalie in Isles history, as he recorded his 89th win (breaking a tie with Jaroslav Halak).  Over the last 30 years, only Rick DiPietro (130) has more wins for the Islanders.

Brock-tober

Brock Nelson has been a fast starter during his NHL career.  He is 27-26-53 in 70 career October games, tallying more goals, assists and points than in any other month.

It's Good to be Home

The Isles are 4-2-0 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 817-598-60-141 in 1,616 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  893

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    817

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,645

3. Barry Trotz        1,616

4. Al Arbour   1,607

+78

The win pushes the Isles four games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season and to 78 games over NHL-.500 all-time for the first time since a 5-0 loss to the Flyers dropped them to 941-863-294 on January 7, 1999.

First Things First

The Isles are 3-1-0 when scoring first and are 4-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles      13-7-4=24

Ottawa  8-14-10=32

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 6-2-0 when they are outshot.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 7-3-0 overall; 4-2-0 at home (4-2-0 on Long Island and 0-0-0 in Brooklyn) and 3-1-0 on the road.  

Ottawa is 2-7-1 overall; 2-4-0 at home and 0-3-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 1-2-0 in Division games and 6-1-0 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 3-2-0 against the East and 4-1-0 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 30 saves to improve to 4-1-0 on the season and 6-1-0 in his career against Ottawa.  

Anders Nilsson made 12 saves before being replaced after the Isles' 4th goal; he is 1-3-1 on the season and 0-5-0 in his career against the Isles.

Craig Anderson stopped all eight shots he faced in relief.

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 5:17 of power play time; Ottawa was 1-6 on the power play in 8:31 of PP time.

The Isles are 3-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-2-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 3-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 7-0-0 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 3-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 2-0 in games decided in overtime and are 1-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-0 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 1-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 4-3-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (22:43); Ottawa: Thomas Chabot (30:37)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:07 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (2-1-0), Adam Pelech (3-0-0), Nick Leddy (0-1-0), Devon Toews (1-1-0), Scott Mayfield (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, Ottawa 35 (39%).  

Mathew Barzal won 8 of 16 for the Isles, but his teammates won only 14 of 41; Chris Tierney won 13 of 17 for Ottawa.  

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Adam Pelech and Anthony Beauvillier -4)

Ottawa 26 (Nick Paul -5) 

   

Fights

Casey Cizikas fought Brady Tkachuk in the first period. Season total: 2 – Johnston (vs. FLA), Cizikas (vs. OTT).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Devon Toews and Adam Pelech -3)

Ottawa 10 (Three with 2)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 50, Ottawa 67

5-on-5 Isles 40, Ottawa 42

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Johnny Boychuk +7

Ottawa:  Erik Brannstrom +9

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 1-1-0 in the front-half and 2-0-0 in the back-half.  The next back-to-back will be November 1st vs. Tampa Bay and November 2nd in Buffalo. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 13-1-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 6-3-0 in night games and 1-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee will be on November 9th vs. Florida.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 210, Brock Nelson 187, Mathew Barzal 174, Ryan Pulock 147 and Josh Bailey 95. 

Iron D

Ryan Pulock is only the 6th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 145 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 147

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Andrew Ladd -INJ), (Jordan Eberle-INJ), (Leo Komarov-ILL), Ross Johnston, Oliver Wahlstrom, Michael Dal Colle

Total games lost: 24.

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 807

Goals

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

14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Anders Lee 155 …

17. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 18. Josh Bailey 144 *** 19 Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Jason Blake and Brock Nelson 128

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne 304 *** 11.  Josh Bailey 297 …

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

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Billy Harris 443 *** 14. Josh Bailey 441…

24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 262 *** 26. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***

28. Brock Nelson 250

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 168

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 89

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 games to 0 (and 2 points to 0).   The season series will continue in Brooklyn on Election Day (November 5th).

The Isles have now won five straight overall against the Sens and four straight in Ottawa; both streaks are the Isles longest streaks ever against the Sens. 

On the Farm  

The Sound Tigers are 1-4-1-1 on the season, following a 7-4 home-ice loss to Springfield on Friday. 

Bridgeport has a home-and-home with Hartford this weekend, playing in Hartford Saturday and hosting the Wolfpack Sunday. 

Up Next

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27th —  PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS (AT NASSAU COLISEUM)  7:00PM 

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 

The Isles look for their first single-season seven-game winning streak since 1990 when they close out this "Brocktober" by hosting the Philadelphia Flyers.

The teams split the season series last season, with the road team winning all four games.  Over the last two seasons, the Isles are 5-3-0 vs. the Flyers.

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