The Skinny: Isles 3, Vegas 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 27

Isles 3, Vegas 2 (OT)

Ryan Pulock scored 10 seconds into an overtime power play drawn by Mathew Barzal as the Isles extended their home-ice point streak to twelve (11-0-1), their home-ice win streak to five, and their Coliseum win streak to seven with a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights before a crowd of 13,117 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson had the goals in regulation for the Isles, who twice held one goal leads in the game.

The Isles have won three of their last four overall and are now 5-2 in games decided by an overtime goal.  It's the first time in the Post-Cup era that they have had a home point streak of at least 12 games; their last point streak of at least this length came in 1982 (21-0-2).

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Cal Clutterbuck (3) 04:26 VGK 0,NYI 1

Alex Tuch (5) Cody Glass, Jon Merrill 15:27 VGK 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

Brock Nelson (9) Anthony Beauvillier, Scott Mayfield 03:56 VGK 1,NYI 2

Jonathan Marchessault (9) Nicolas Hague, Reilly Smith 15:28 VGK 2,NYI 2

OT

Ryan Pulock (4) Anders Lee, Josh Bailey 03:20 VGK 2,NYI 3 PPG

The Skinny     

Ryan Pulock recorded his second career overtime goal; this one made Semyon Varlamov happier than the first, which was against Varly on February 9, 2019 at Barclays… Pulock has two of the last seven Islander overtime goals; Devon Toews has one (vs. St. Louis on Columbus Day) and Brock Nelson has the other four…It was the first power play overtime goal for the Isles since Josh Bailey made Barry Trotz a winner in Carolina in his first game as Islander coach (10-4-2018) and the 16th overtime power play goal in Isles history…Bailey extended his assist streak to four games (0-5-5) as he passed Bob Bourne for 10th place on the all-time Isles assist list..… Varlamov has stopped 89 of 92 shots (.967) since replacing Thomas Greiss last Saturday in Brooklyn …The Isles improve to 5-2 in games decided in overtime while Vegas falls to 1-5… The Isles are 3-3-1 in their last seven games and are 13 games over NHL-.500 for the third time this season (15-2-1, 18-5-2, 19-6-2)…This is the 12th time in Coliseum history that the Isles have won at least seven straight games and matches their longest Coliseum win streak in 30 years (1989-1990)…Pulock played in his 154th consecutive game; it's the fifth-longest streak ever by an Islander defensemen.  He leads Islander defensemen in assists (10) and points (14) and is tied with Scott Mayfield for the lead in goals (4)…Vegas is 4-0-1 in their last five games, all with Malcolm Subban in goal…Ross Johnston played a season-high 12:58…The Isles were shorthanded only once after not being shorthanded at all on Tuesday…It's the first time this season that the Isles have had more power plays than the opposition in consecutive games…The Isles are 12-2-1 at home (25 points); they have earned more points at home through 15 games only once in their history, going 11-0-4 (26 points) in 1978-79.

Most Overtime Goals by an Isles Defenseman

5 – Thomas Hickey

3 – Roman Hamrlik

2 – Adrian Aucoin, Bryan Berard, Mark Streit, Ryan Pulock &  Devon Toews

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are 8-2-0 on Coliseum ice, where they have won seven straight games.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-1 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12th (9-0-1); their next Brooklyn game is on January 11, 2020 vs. Boston.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 829-601-60-143 in 1,633 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  903

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    829

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,662

3. Barry Trotz        1,633

4. Al Arbour 1,607

The Rotation

The Islanders are first team since the Sharks in 2006-07 to alternate starting goalies for each of the first 27 games of the season. (The Sharks used Vesa Toskala in the odd games and Evgeni Nabokov in the even games before Nabokov started games 36 and 37 around the Christmas break)

This is the longest streak in Isles history:

• 27 games (Varlamov/Greiss) in 2019-20; CURRENT

• 24 games (Hrudey/Smith) in 1985-86; Smith played games 24 and 25.

• 23 games (Smith/Melanson) in 1982-83; Smith played games 23 and 24.

The NHL record of 76 was set by the Rangers in 1990-91 (John Vanbiesbrouck/Mike Richter). 

   

First Things First

The Isles are 10-2-1 when scoring first and are 9-4-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles    13-12-4-2=31

Vegas 8-13-11-1=33

The Isles are 6-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-4-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 19-6-2 overall; 12-2-1 at home (8-2-0 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 7-4-1 on the road.  

Vegas is 15-11-5 overall; 7-5-3 at home and 8-6-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 6-2-1 in Division games and 13-4-1 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 14-3-1 against the East and 5-3-1 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves and improves to 9-3-2 this season and 3-2-0 against Vegas.

Malcolm Subban made 28 saves; he is 4-4-3 on the season and 0-0-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 2:10 of power play time; Vegas was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time.

The Isles are 8-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-5-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 7-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-3-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 3-2-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 2-1-0 when the power plays are even, and 14-3-1 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-6-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-2-3 when scoring three or more.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 10-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 5-2 in games decided in overtime and are 2-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 2-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 5-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

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

• The Isles are 11-5-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Devon Toews (22:45); Vegas: Shea Theodore (25:06)

Anthony Beauvillier led Isles forwards with 21:24 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (7-1-0), Ryan Pulock (8-1-2), Devon Toews (2-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (0-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Vegas 23 (57%).  

Josh Bailey won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Cody Glass won 6 of 10 for Vegas.

Hit Count

Isles 39 (Matt Martin and Ross Johnston -7). 

Vegas 13 (Five with 2)

   

Fights

There were no fights.  Season total: 6 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech -3)

Vegas 14 (Brayden McNabb -4)

For the Corsi Crowd 

All situations: Isles 60, Vegas 59

5-on-5 Isles 54, Vegas 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Johnny Boychuk +14

Vegas: William Karlsson +9

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 3-1-0 in the front-half and 3-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 6th vs Colorado and January 7th in New Jersey. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 14-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 17-6-2 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee will be on December 14th vs. Buffalo.

Ironmen

Anders Lee 227, Brock Nelson 203, Mathew Barzal 191, Ryan Pulock 154 and Josh Bailey 112. 

Iron D

Ryan Pulock is only the 5th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 154 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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 154

6. Nick Leddy 10/23/2016 – 3/26/2018 153

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Tom Kuhnhackl-LTIR), Noah Dobson, Otto Koivula, Michael Dal Colle.

Total games lost: 73

Late Heroes

The Isles have scored twice 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.

11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed one goal in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

11/21 vs. STL – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures (offside-11/19 vs PIT)

Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs SJ)

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.  Josh Bailey 824…

23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 520 *** 26. Dave Lewis 514 *** 27. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 508 *** 30. Brock Nelson 507

Goals

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

14. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 15. Anders Lee 159 *** 16. Pierre Turgeon and Josh Bailey 147

18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 20. Brock Nelson 133

Assists

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

9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 305 …

25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 27. Nick Leddy 160

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 452…

24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 271 *** 26. Brock Nelson 262

Games Played (Goalies)

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

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

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 95

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

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

9. Steve Stirling 124 *** 10. Doug Weight 122 *** 11. Barry Trotz 109

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Peter Laviolette 77 ***

5. Ted Nolan 74 *** 6. Barry Trotz 67

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).  The teams will meet in Vegas on February 15th.

The Isles are 3-2-0 all-time against Vegas; this was the first overtime game between the teams.

On the Farm   

Bridgeport has won four out of the last five to improve to 8-12-3-1 on the season.  They visit Utica Friday and Syracuse Saturday before returning home on Monday to face Utica. 

Up Next

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7th   —  ISLANDERS AT DALLAS – 9:00 PM

[MSG+2 -- Islanders pre-game at 8:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050] 

The Isles begin a three-game road trip with a late start in Dallas against the Stars.  

The teams split a pair of games last season with each team winning on the road.  The Isles' win in Dallas last December 23rd marked Devon Toews' NHL debut; the Isles are 50-20-5 since Toews debuted.

The Isles are 4-2-1 in their last seven trips to Dallas, dating back to a 5-4 win on December 3, 2011. Matt Moulson had four goals in that game, which with a "save" by Al Montoya (who played the final period) ended up being Rick DiPietro's final NHL win.

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