"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 26
Montreal 4, Isles 2
Phillip Danault scored the game's first goal with 0.1 seconds to play in the first period and the Isles never got even as the Montreal Canadiens snapped an 8-game winless streak with a 4-2 win over the Isles before a crowd of 20,440 at the Bell Centre.
The Isles trailed 3-0 early in the third before a goal by a Scott Mayfield and a 6th-attacker tally by Mathew Barzal closed the gap to 3-2.
It's only the second time under Barry Trotz that the Isles have suffered a regulation loss on the back end of back-to-backs (March 1 vs. Washington was the other).
The Scoring:
1st Period
Phillip Danault (7) Brendan Gallagher 19:59 NYI 0,MTL 1
2nd Period
Brendan Gallagher (11) Shea Weber, Phillip Danault 13:30 NYI 0,MTL 2
3rd Period
Jeff Petry (3) Nick Suzuki 02:12 NYI 0,MTL 3
Scott Mayfield (4) Jordan Eberle, Ryan Pulock 02:53 NYI 1,MTL 3
Mathew Barzal (11) Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey 17:31 NYI 2,MTL 3
Shea Weber (9)EN Nate Thompson 19:32 NYI 2,MTL 4
The Skinny
The loss ends the Isles' season-opening eight game winning streak against the Atlantic (8-1-0) and is their first in the last 16 conference games (14-1-1)… Mathew Barzal has a point in three straight games (2-1-3) as does Josh Bailey (0-4-4). …Semyon Varlamov played 39 seconds in the third period while Thomas Greiss needed an equipment repair but he did not face a shot; it was by far and away the shortest appearance of Varlamov's 463 game NHL career…Phillip Danault's goal was the first allowed by the Isles at 19:59 of either the first or second period since Henrik Zetterberg scored on 2/21/17 at Joe Louis Arena…The Isles fall to 5-1 in games decided by two goals while Montreal improves to1-5… The Isles are 2-3-1 in their last six games.
The Injury
Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the first period after being hit with an undetected high stick. He did not return.
It's Good to be Home(s)
The Isles are 7-2-0 on Coliseum ice, where they have won six 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 828-601-60-143 in 1,632 games.
Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman 1,244
2. Joel Quenneville 903
3. Ken Hitchcock 849
4. Barry Trotz 828
5. Al Arbour 782
Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman 2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,662
3. Barry Trotz 1,632
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 26 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:
• 26 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 9-2-1 when scoring first and are 9-4-1 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 7-6-10=23
Montreal 12-13-15=40
The Isles are 6-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-4-1 when they are outshot.
Home and Road
The Islanders are 18-6-2 overall; 11-2-1 at home (7-2-0 on Long Island and 4-0-1 in Brooklyn) and 7-4-1 on the road.
Montreal is 12-10-6 overall; 7-6-3 at home and 5-4-3 on the road.
By Division & Conference
The Isles are 6-2-1 in Division games and 12-4-1 in games versus other divisions. The Isles are 14-3-1 against the East and 4-3-1 against the West.
In the Nets
Thomas Greiss made 36 saves but falls to 10-3-0 this season and 4-5-1 against Montreal. Semyon Varlamov did not face a shot in a 39-second stint.
Carey Price made 21 saves and improves to 11-9-3 on the season and 13-6-4 in his career against the Isles. It was his 332nd career win.
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of power play time; Montreal was 0-0 on the power play in 0:00 of PP time.
The Isles are 7-1-0 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 11-3-2 when they do not.
The Isles are 2-2-1 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 15-0-1 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 53-2-3 when scoring three or more.
One Goal Games
The Isles are 9-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 4-2 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 10-5-2 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Devon Toews (23:23); Montreal: Ben Chiarot (30:47)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 23:11 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (7-1-0), Ryan Pulock (8-1-2), Nick Leddy (0-1-0), Devon Toews (1-2-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 39, Montreal 24 (62%).
Casey Cizikas won 14 of 20 for the Isles; no Canadien won as many as he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 33 (Matt Martin -8).
Montreal 20 (Jesperi Kotkaniemi -6)
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 (Two with 3)
Montreal 23 (Two with 5)
For the Corsi Crowd
All situations: Isles 54, Montreal 67
5-on-5 Isles 39, Montreal 62
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Cal Clutterbuck +2
Montreal: Ben Chiarot +20
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, 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 16-6-2 in night games and 2-0-0 in matinees. The next matinee will be on December 14th vs. Buffalo.
Ironmen
Anders Lee 226, Brock Nelson 202, Mathew Barzal 190, Ryan Pulock 153 and Josh Bailey 111.
Iron D
Ryan Pulock is only the 6th defenseman in Islander history to play at least 153 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
Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 153
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Scratches
(Tom Kuhnhackl-INJ), Noah Dobson, Otto Koivula, Ross Johnston.
Total games lost: 72.
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 823…
23.*** Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 24. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 25. Matt Martin 519 *** 26. Dave Lewis 514 *** 27. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 507 *** 30. Brock Nelson 506
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 132
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Bob Bourne and Josh Bailey 304 …
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 451…
24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 270 *** 26. Brock Nelson 261
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 108
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 66
Season Series Stats
Montreal leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will next meet in Brooklyn on March 3rd.
The Isles are 1-4-1 in the last six games vs the Canadiens and have lost three straight in Montreal.
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 8-12-3-1 on the season. They are off until Friday, when they visit Utica.
Up Next
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5th — VEGAS AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM – 7:00 PM
[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 6:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]
The Isles return home for a single game as the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Coliseum for the first time.
This is the 3rd season of the Golden Knights; the Isles swept the season series in Vegas' inaugural season but were swept by Vegas last season.
The Golden Knights will be looking to sweep New York, having beaten the Rangers on Monday and the Devils on Tuesday.
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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