The Skinny: Boston 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 43

Boston 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning goal 1:33 into overtime as the Boston Bruins defeated the Isles 3-2 before a crowd of 14,962 at Barclay's Center.

Scott Mayfield and Mathew Barzal scored for the Isles, with Barzal's goal at 9:33 of the third forcing overtime.  It was one of six shots in the third period for Barzal, who finished with a career-high nine shots on goal.

 

The Isles are 7-3 in games decided by an overtime goal and 27-12-4 overall.

 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Scott Mayfield (5) Mathew Barzal, Noah Dobson 04:36 BOS 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

Jake DeBrusk (14) Anders Bjork, Charlie McAvoy 08:33 BOS 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

John Moore (2) Danton Heinen, Charlie Coyle 05:48 BOS 2,NYI 1

Mathew Barzal (17) Josh Bailey 09:33 BOS 2,NYI 2

OT

Patrice Bergeron (19) Torey Krug, Tuukka Rask 01:33 BOS 3,NYI 2 PPG 

The Skinny      

The Isles earned a point against the Bruins for the first time in nine home games (0-8-1); they have not beaten the Bruins in New York since 2013… Scott Mayfield scored his fifth goal to establish a new career high; only Ryan Pulock (6) has more goals this season… The Isles have had two power play attempts or fewer in a club record nine straight games.  League records on attempts date to the late 70's, and the league record is 12 straight games, set by the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers… The Isles had only one power play; they have had only three power plays (total) in the last four games…The Isles had 37 shots on goal, giving them 78 in the last two games.  That matches the most that they have had in any two-game stretch this season …Barry Trotz coached his 125th Isles game, passing Steve Stirling for 9th place on the all-time list… The Isles are 15-3-4 in one-goal games while Boston in 10-3-11… Bothe the Isles and Bruins played their 14th overtime game, tying Columbus and Washington for the league lead… Mathew Barzal is the first Islander with 9 shots on goal this season; he is the first Islander forward to do so since John Tavares (3-16-17 vs. Winnipeg), and the youngest Islander forward with at least nine shots on goal in a game since Mike Bossy (1-28-1978)…Barzal's goal was his first since December 23rd and leaves him just one goal shy of last season's total and five goals shy of his career-high (22)…Tuukka Rask has the lowest goals against average (1.97) of any active goalie against the Isles…The Isles ended David Pastrnak's 12-game point streak and 4-game goal streak; Torrey Krug's assist on the game-winner extended his assist to five games.

Historical Advanced Stats Night for Devon Toews

Devon Toews, who had a +25 Corsi rating (5-on-5), was on-ice for 22 of the Isles' 37 shots on goal, and only three even-strength Bruin shots.  At 5-on-5, Toews was on-ice for 13 Isles high-danger chances, and only two for Boston.

Toews is the first Isles to go +25 since Travis Hamonic in 2016, and only the third since these stats were officially compiled by the NHL beginning in 2009-10.  Toews was +20 when the score was tied; that's the highest rating for any Isles since the statistic was computed.

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are 10-5-1 on Coliseum ice.  The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.   The Isles are 4-0-2 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12, 2019 (9-0-2); their next Brooklyn game is on February 1st vs Vancouver.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 13-7-1 on the road this season, including 6-2-0 in the last eight games.

58 in 43

The Isles have matched their season-high at 15 games over NHL-.500.  Their 58 points in 43 games trails only the 2014-15 squad (59) for the most points in the Post-Cup era.

Metro Men

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing 11 out of 12 games in the NY-Metro Area. The Isles are 2-0-1 in this stretch:

• 1/6 – Avs W 1-0

• 1/7 -  @ Devils W 4-3 (OT)

• 1/11 – Bruins L 2-3 (OT))

• 1/13 - @ NYRangers

• 1/14 – Red Wings (Coliseum)

• 1/16 – NYRangers (Coliseum)

• 1/18 – Washington (Coliseum)

• 1/19 - @ Hurricanes

• 1/21 - @ NYRangers

• 2/1 – Canucks (Barclays)

• 2/4 – Stars (Barclays)

• 2/6 - Kings (Barclays)

Following this stretch the Isles will play 17 of their next 27 (and 17 of their final 30) games on the road.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 837-607-60-145 in 1,649 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  913

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    837

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,680

3. Barry Trotz        1,649

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 16-5-3 when scoring first and are 11-7-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles    14-11-12-0=37

Boston 5-11-14-3=33

The Isles are 9-5-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 18-6-1 when they are outshot.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 27-12-4 overall; 14-5-3 at home (10-5-1 on Long Island and 4-0-2 in Brooklyn) and 13-7-1 on the road.  

Boston is 27-8-11 overall; 15-2-9 at home and 12-6-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 8-4-1 in Division games and 19-8-3 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 20-6-2 against the East and 7-6-2 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves; he is 15-5-4 on the season and 6-4-3 in his career against Boston. 

 

Tuukka Rask made 34 saves to improve to 17-4-6 on the season and 16-5-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-1 in 2:00 of power play time; Boston was 1-2 on the power play in 2:53 of power play time.

The Isles are 10-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-10-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 10-7-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-6-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 4-3-1 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-3-0 when the power plays are even, and 19-6-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-11-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 60-3-4 when scoring three or more, with two of the three regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 15-3-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 7-3 in games decided in overtime and are 3-1 in shootouts.  The Isles are 3-1 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 5-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 2-1-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 18-10-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (26:29); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (28:43)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:06 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (11-3-3), Devon Toews (3-4-0), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Nick Leddy (1-2-1), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Boston 23 (54%)  

Mathew Barzal won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 13 of 23 for Boston.

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Leo Komarov -6)

Boston 29 (Two with 5)

   

Fights

There were no fights.  Season total: 7 – Johnston-3 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB), Cizikas-2 (vs. OTT, vs SJ), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Leo Komarov and Casey Cizikas -3)

Boston 18 (Charlie McAvoy -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 70, Boston 64

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 65, Boston 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Devon Toews +25

Boston: David Pastrnak +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 17, Boston 15

5-on-5: Isles 17, Boston 12

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-0 in the front-half and 4-1-0 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be January 13th at the Rangers and January 14th vs. Detroit. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 15-2-1 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 23-12-3 in night games and 4-0-1 in matinees. The next matinee will be January 18th, also against Washington.

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games.  It's the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 243, Brock Nelson 220, Mathew Barzal 207, Ryan Pulock 170, Josh Bailey 128, Anthony Beauvillier 118, and Devon Toews 91. 

Iron Man

Anders Lee now holds the sixth-longest consecutive game streak in Isles history, while Brock Nelson has also moved into the top 10:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

5. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

6. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 243

7. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

8. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

9. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995 - 2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

        Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 220

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 170

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho.

Total games lost: 104

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 two goals in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

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

12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

Challenges

Isles: 3 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL)

The Isles are 3-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-1 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 2 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), (Komarov--goalie interference 1/2 vs. NJ)

The Isles are 1-0-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 0-2-0 in games that go the opponent's way.

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 840…

20. Lorne Henning 543 *** 21. Matt Martin 536 *** Claude Lapointe 535  *** 23. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 24. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 25. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 26. Casey Cizikas 524 *** 27. Brock Nelson 523

Goals

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

13. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 14. Anders Lee 165 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 148 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 19. Kyle Okposo and Brock Nelson 139

Assists

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

7.    Pat Flatley 328 *** 8.   Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Stefan Persson 317 *** 10. Josh Bailey 309 …

22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Jean Potvin 167 *** 25. Jeff Norton 166 *** 26. Nick Leddy 165

Points

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

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 457…

23. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 24. Ed Westfall 286 *** 25. Anders Lee 283 *** 26. Brock Nelson 272

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***

5. Tommy Salo 187 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 182

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 97

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 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 125

 

Coaching Wins

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

5.  Barry Trotz 75

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied 1 game to 1 (and 3 points to 3s).  The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on February 29th as Butch Goring's #91 is raised to the ratters. 

The Isles remain winless in their last nine home games with Boston (0-8-1) but the point earned tonight guarantees that this will be only the second time in the last six years that the Isles finish with at least a 500 record in the season series against Boston.

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is the midst of a 3-in-3 weekend, dropping a 4-0 decision in Springfield and 5-2 at home to Charlotte.  They'll finish the busy weekend on Sunday when they host Laval. 

The Sound Tigers have lost six straight games in regulation (and seven straight overall); they have been held to 2 goals or fewer in each game.

Up Next

MONDAY, JANUARY 13th   —  ISLANDERS AT RANGERS–7:00 PM

[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, WNYM 970] 

For the first time in 366 days, the two New York teams will face each other as the Isles meet the Rangers for the first of three meetings in nine days.

The Rangers are actually the last visitor to win a regular season game in regulation at Barclays, defeating the Isles last January 12th by a 2-1 score.  That game allowed the Rangers to earn a split of last year's season series, with each team winning once at home and once on the road.

The Isles have shined on Broadway in recent years, going 11-3 in their last 14 trips to Manhattan, including two shootout wins.  

Mathew Barzal has gone 4-10-14 in eight career games against the Rangers, including a five-point game at the Garden as a rookie.

Igor Shesterkin has won each of his first two games for the Blueshirts, stopping 75 of 81 shots.  

It will be the Isles' first game against the Rangers since they signed Artemi Panarin as a free agent.  Panarin has gone 1-2-3 in each of the Rangers' last three home games and has a point in six straight at the Garden (3-9-12).  He has 41 points in the 21 Ranger wins this season.

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