The Skinny: Boston 4, Isles 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 64

Boston 4, Isles 0

Charlie McAvoy scored a goal and added two assists while Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for his 4th shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins spoiled Butch Goring's number retirement with a 4-0 victory over Isles before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  

Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to nine games, but the shutout ended 5-game point streaks for both Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle.

 

With the loss, the Isles remain two points behind the third place Penguins (pending the result of Saturday's game) and three points behind second place Philadelphia. Only seven points separate 2nd place and 7th place in the Metro.

The Scoring:

1st Period

David Pastrnak (47) Torey Krug (36), Brandon Carlo (15) 04:30 BOS 1,NYI 0 

Matt Grzelcyk (3) Brad Marchand (56), Charlie McAvoy (25) 13:10 BOS 2,NYI 0

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Brad Marchand (27) Patrice Bergeron (25), Charlie McAvoy (26) 11:06 BOS 3,NYI 0

Charlie McAvoy (4) Torey Krug (37), David Krejci (28) 16:26 BOS 4,NYI 0 PPG 

The Skinny        

The Isles went 6-6-3 in February; they scored 35 goals in the nine games that they earned points but only three goals in their six regulation losses….It was the Isles' first regulation loss at home since January 18th, ending a  7-game point streak on home ice (5-0-2)…The loss also ended a 4-game Isles point streak (2-0-2) but left the Isles winless in three (0-1-2)…Brock Nelson played his 241st consecutive game, passing JP Parise for 7th place on the all-time club list…Since taking a 2-0 lead in St. Louis on Thursday, the Isles have allowed seven consecutive goals and gone scoreless for 107:49…The Isles had six power plays for the first time since November 23 in San Jose; it's the first time since October 30, 2014 (Semyon Varlamov in Colorado) that the Isles have been shutout in a game that they had at least six power plays…Keeping with the theme of the day, David Pastrnak's league-leading 47th goal produced his 91st point…The Isles were shutout at home for the first time since Rask blanked them at the Coliseum last March 19th; the Isles have now been shutout five times this season (and three time this month)…Cal Clutterbuck returned after missing 30 games (12-12-6)…This was the Isles' first Leap Day game since 2004; the Isles are now 1-3-1 on February 29th...Mathew Barzal played at least 20 minutes for the 29th time this season (matching his total for his first two NHL seasons combined); he has played at least 20 minutes in 10 straight games.

Most February Goals by an Islanders (2000s)

• 10 – Matt Moulson & Michael Grabner (2011)

• 9 – John Tavares (2013)

• 8 – Jordan Eberle (2020)

• 8- Trent Hunter (2007)

• 8- Mariusz Czerkawski (2004)

Most February Assists by an Islander in the Post-Cup Era

• 14- Mathew Barzal (2018)

• 14- John Tonelli (1985)

• 13- Mathew Barzal (2020)

• 13- Pierre Turgeon & Steve Thomas (1993)

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 32 of the Isles' 38 goals this month. 

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 35-21-8 thru 64 games this season; they were 37-20-7 thru 64 games last season.  Their 78 points in 64 games is tied the 3rd-highest in the Post-Cup era (84 points in 2014-15, 81 points last season, 81 in 2015-16).

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are playing 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles are 13-8-2 on Coliseum ice where they have sold out six straight games (and ten games this season).  The Isles are 7-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost a regular season game in Brooklyn since January 12, 2019 (12-0-3); the remaining Brooklyn games are on March 3rd vs. Montreal, March 17th vs. Calgary, and March 22nd vs. Carolina.

Governor Cuomo announced before the February 29th game that all home playoff games this season and all home regular season and playoff games next season will be played at the Coliseum.

On the Road

The Isles are 15-13-3 on the road this season but are only 3-7-2 in the last 12 games.

Lots of Home Cooking 

The Isles are in a stretch in which they play six of eight games at home.  The Isles are 2-1-2 in this stretch.

• 2/21 Vs Red Wings (W 4-1)

• 2/23 Vs Sharks (W 4-1)

• 2/25 Vs Rangers (L 3-4 OT)

• 2/27 @ Blues (L 2-3 OT)

• 2/29 Vs Bruins (L 0-4)

• 3/3 Vs Canadiens (Barclays)

• 3/5 @ Senators

• 3/7 Vs Hurricanes (Coliseum)

Following these eight games, the Isles will play nine of the next twelve on the road before ending the season with three games 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 845-616-60-149 in 1,670 games, and he is now five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  923

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour        782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,701

3. Barry Trotz        1,670

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 23-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-14-4 when allowing the opening goal.

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

• .400 (12-14-4) 2019-20

The Shots

Isles    8-4-13=25

Boston 11-12-6=29

The Isles are 13-7-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 22-13-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-24-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-21-8 overall: 20-8-5 at home (13-8-2 on Long Island and 7-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-13-3 on the road.  

Boston is 41-13-12 overall: 22-3-9 at home and 19-10-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-7-3 in Division games and 24-14-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 25-11-4 against the East and 10-10-4 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves; he is 19-13-5 on the season and 6-5-3 in his career against Boston.  

Tuukka Rask made 25 saves; he is 24-7-6 on the season and 17-5-1 (including two shutouts) against the Isles.   

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-6 in 10:20 of power play time; Boston was 1-3 in 4:07 of power play time.

The Isles are 13-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-16-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 21-12-6 when they do not.

The Isles are 7-7-5 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays are even, and 24-8-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

First 2 / Last 2     

The Isles have scored 15 goals and allowed 14 goals in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles have scored 13 goals and allowed 19 goals (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 31-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-19-4 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-4-6 when scoring three or more, with two of the four regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 5-6 in regulation. They are 8-6 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 7-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 22-19-7 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:06); Boston: Brandon Carlo (22:59)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:49 of ice-time. It's the 10th straight game he has played at least 20 minutes.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (13-7-3), Devon Toews (3-6-2), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (5-3-3), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-2-0).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

• 24:59 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/20/20 vs. DET

• 24:35 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 24:35 - Brock Nelson – 11/9/19 vs. FLA (Career High)

• 24:27 – Mathew Barzal – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

• 24:01 - Jordan Eberle – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 23:52 – Mathew Barzal – 12/15/18 vs. DET

• 23:23 - Mathew Barzal – 2/15/20 vs. VGK

• 23:15 - Anders Lee – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

Face-offs

Isles 26, Boston 27 (49%)  

J-G Pageau won 12 of 19 for the Isles; David Krejci won 5 of 7 for Boston.

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Matt Martin -5)

Boston 14 (Joakim Nordstrom - 3)

 

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:15 – Johnston-6 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS, vs VGK), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Lee-2 (vs FLA, vs VGK), Martin-2 (vs NYR, vs NAS), Mayfield (vs ANA), Pageau (vs NYR).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Ryan Pulock -5)

Boston 23 (Patrice Bergeron -4)

The Isles lead the NHL with 1,105 blocked shots.

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Boston 53 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 40, Boston 37

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Brock Nelson +8

Boston: Karson Kuhlman +5

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Boston 13 

5-on-5: Isles 10, Boston 9

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be March 12th in Calgary and March 13th in Edmonton. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 31-18-6 in night games and 4-3-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be on March 7th vs. Carolina. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  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 264, Brock Nelson 241, Mathew Barzal 228, Ryan Pulock 191, Josh Bailey 149, Anthony Beauvillier 139, and Devon Toews 112.  No other Islander has played every game this season.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has passed Denis Potvin for the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have 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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 264

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

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

7. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 241

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 228

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

 (*) 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 191

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andrew Ladd, Otto Koivula

Total games lost: 146.

Late Heroes 

The Isles have scored five times 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.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

2/11 vs PHI – Ryan Pulock scored the winning goal at 19:19.

2/26 vs NYR – Brock Nelson scored at 19:42, but the Isles lost in OT

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed five 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. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

2/11 vs. PHI – Sean Couturier scored at 18:28, but the Isles won in regulation.

2/27 vs. STL – Vince Dunn scored at 18:16, and the Blues won in OT.

Challenges

Isles: 4 successful, 2 failures (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL), (offside 1/21 vs NYR), (no goalie interference 2/25 vs NYR)

The Isles are 4-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-2 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 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),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-3-0 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 861…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 556 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Duane Sutter 547 *** 21. Brock Nelson 544 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 171 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 153 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon and Brock Nelson 147

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 320 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 168

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 473…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 297  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 23. Duane Sutter 292 *** 24. Brock Nelson 291

Games Played (Goalies)

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

5. Thomas Greiss 191

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

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 146

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Season Series Stats

Boston wins the season series 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 3).

 

The Isles are 0-9-1 in their last 10 home games against Boston.  

On the Farm   

The Sound Tigers beat Providence 6-3 on Friday but fell 3-1 to Hartford on Saturday;  Kieffer Bellows scored a pair of goals while Thomas Hickey had a 3-assist period on Friday. Bridgeport will host Hartford on Saturday and Binghamton on Sunday. 

Up Next

TUESDAY, MARCH 3rd  -  MONTREAL AT ISLANDERS AT BARCLAYS CENTER –7:00 PM

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

Following a pair of off days, the Isles host Montreal at Barclays Center.

It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Canadiens beat the Isles 4-2 at Bell Centre on December 3rd.

The Isles are 1-4-1 in their last six games with Montreal and have scored only 11 goals in the six games. 

The teams will conclude the season series in Montreal on March 28th.

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

The Skinny on Leap Day

Saturday is not only Butch's Day, it's Leap Day - only the 5th time the Isles have ever played on 2/29 and the first time in 16 years.

29-Feb-84 @ Winnipeg 4 3 W

29-Feb-92 Vs New Jersey 1 3 L

29-Feb-96 @ Detroit 1 5 L

29-Feb-04 Vs Pittsburgh 2 3 Lot

Of those, the 2/29/84 game is by far the most interesting (beyond the fact that the Isles won) -  LaFontaine and Flatley made their NHL debuts in that game.   Flatley had a goal and an assist in his debut; LaFontaine was held scoreless that night but would have a hat trick three days later in Toronto.  Check the video of Flats' goal here: https://youtu.be/bLPKPXXqgWM?t=619 which begins with Jiggs and Eddie explaining Leap Day.

The others:

1992 - Chris Terreri made 28 saves; David Volek's goal with 51 seconds to play got the Isles within one before an ENG sealed matters.

1996 - Ziggy had the only Isles goal as the reigning Champs completed a sweep of a home/home. Osgood in goal for Detroit.

2004 - Ryan Malone beat Garth Snow in overtime; Andy Chiodo (an Isles draft pick) recorded the 2nd of his three NHL wins.

(So each of the last three had an opposing goalie who had an Islander association, either before or after.  So does Boston's Jaroslav Halak.   Doug Soetaert played for Winnipeg in 1984; he also started the Double Chili game!)

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

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

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 63

St. Louis 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Vince Dunn scored the tying goal with 1:44 to play and Colton Parayko scored the winning goal at 3:23 of overtime as the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 win over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 18,096 at Enterprise Center.  

The Isles grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period on a J-G Pageau power play goal and a Jordan Eberle even-strength tally. Mathew Barzal assisted on both goals and now has three consecutive multi-assist games. 

With the point, the Isles are one point behind the third place Flyers and two points behind second place Pittsburgh. Only six points separate 2nd place and 7th place in the Metro.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (26) Mathew Barzal (37), Devon Toews (20) 08:20 NYI 1,STL 0 PPG

Jordan Eberle (15) Anders Lee (21), Mathew Barzal (38) 16:34 NYI 2,STL 0

Brayden Schenn (23) Ryan O'Reilly (45), Jaden Schwartz (32) 19:05 NYI 2,STL 1

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Vince Dunn (8) 18:16 NYI 2,STL 2

OT

Colton Parayko (8) 03:23 NYI 2,STL 3

The Skinny        

The Isles are 6-5-3 in February; they have scored 35 goals in the nine games that they earned points but only three goals in their five regulation losses…The Isles are 0-4-1 in the last five on the road; the Blues have won six straight overall.…Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal each extended their point streaks to five games; Anders Lee and Devon Toews each have four game streaks…The Isles have scored power play goals in consecutive games for the first time since December 9th (TB)- 12th (FLA)… Jordan Eberle scored for the 12th time in the last 22 games; Eberle has scored eight of his 15 goals in February…Brock Nelson now had 51 points; he is two points shy of his career highs, set in different seasons… It's the first time in the last eleven games that the team that scored first in an Islander game didn't win… J-G Pageau now has goals in each of his first two games with the team; Billy Harris and Scott Howson are the only players in Islander history with goals in each of their first three games…Colton Parayko scored his 2nd career overtime goal…The Isles have faced Jordan Binnington three times, and all three have gone to overtime (the Isles won the first two)…It's only the third time this season that the Isles failed to win when leading after two periods (23-1-2)…The Isles did not dress a member of their Identity Line for only the 2nd time under Trotz (11-21-18 at Rangers); Casey Cizikas celebrated his 29 birthday…Anders Lee played his 263rd consecutive game, passing Denis Potvin for 4th place on the all-time club list…The Isles have been outscored 19-13 in the final two minutes of regulation periods (not including empty-nets)…The Isles are 10-10-4 vs. the West, but only 2-8-2 on the road…The Isles had only one shot in the second period; it's only the second time (3/9/2004) that the Blues have held the Isles to a single shot in a period…The Isles have won only one of the last six games that have gone beyond regulation (1-0-5).

Most February Goals by an Islanders (2000s)

• 10 – Matt Moulson & Michael Grabner (2011)

• 9 – John Tavares (2013)

• 8 – Jordan Eberle (2020)

• 8- Trent Hunter (2007)

• 8- Mariusz Czerkawski (2004)

Most February Assists by an Islander in the Post-Cup Era

• 14- Mathew Barzal (2018)

• 14- John Tonelli (1985)

• 13- Mathew Barzal (2020)

• 13- Pierre Turgeon & Steve Thomas (1993)

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 32 of the Isles' 38 goals this month. 

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 35-20-8 thru 63 games this season; they were 37-19-7 thru 63 games last season.  Their 78 points in 63 games is tied for the 3rd-highest in the Post-Cup era (84 points in 2014-15, 81 points last season, 79 in 2015-16).

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are playing 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles are 13-7-2 on Coliseum ice where they have sold out five straight games (and nine games this season).  The Isles are 7-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost a regular season game in Brooklyn since January 12, 2019 (12-0-3); their next Brooklyn game is on March 3rd vs. Montreal.

On the Road

The Isles are 15-13-3 on the road this season but are only 3-7-2 in the last 12 games.

Lots of Home Cooking 

The Isles are in a stretch in which they play six of eight games at home.  The Isles are 2-0-2 in this stretch.

• 2/21 Vs Red Wings (W 4-1)

• 2/23 Vs Sharks (W 4-1)

• 2/25 Vs Rangers (L 3-4 OT)

• 2/27 @ Blues (L 2-3 OT)

• 2/29 Vs Bruins (Coliseum – Goring Day)

• 3/3 Vs Canadiens (Barclays)

• 3/5 @ Senators

• 3/7 Vs Hurricanes (Coliseum)

Following these eight games, the Isles will play nine of the next twelve on the road before ending the season with three games 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 845-615-60-149 in 1,669 games, and he is now five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  923

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,700

3. Barry Trotz        1,669

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 23-7-4 when scoring first and are 12-13-4 when allowing the opening goal.

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .414 (12-13-4) 2019-20

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles      12-1-3-1=17

St. Louis      9-10-11-2=32

The Isles are 13-7-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 22-12-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-23-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-20-8 overall: 20-7-5 at home (13-7-2 on Long Island and 7-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-13-3 on the road.  

St. Louis are 38-17-10 overall: 22-6-5 at home and 16-11-5 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-7-3 in Division games and 24-13-5 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 25-10-4 against the East and 10-10-4 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 29 saves; he is 16-8-3 on the season and 7-2-2 in his career against St. Louis.  

Jordan Binnington made 15 saves; he is 29-11-7 on the season and 1-0-2 against the Isles.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-2 in 2:50 of power play time; St. Louis was 0-1 in 2:00 of power play time.

The Isles are 13-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-15-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 21-12-6 when they do not.

The Isles are 7-6-5 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays are even, and 24-8-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

First 2 / Last 2     

The Isles have scored 15 goals and allowed 14 goals in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles have scored 13 goals and allowed 19 goals (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 31-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-18-4 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-4-6 when scoring three or more, with two of the four regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 5-6 in regulation. They are 8-6 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 7-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 22-18-7 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:49); St. Louis: Colton Parayko (24:55)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:38 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (13-6-3), Devon Toews (3-6-2), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (5-3-3), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-2-0).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

• 24:59 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/20/20 vs. DET

• 24:35 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 24:35 - Brock Nelson – 11/9/19 vs. FLA (Career High)

• 24:27 – Mathew Barzal – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

• 24:01 - Jordan Eberle – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 23:52 – Mathew Barzal – 12/15/18 vs. DET

• 23:23 - Mathew Barzal – 2/15/20 vs. VGK

• 23:15 - Anders Lee – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

Face-offs

Isles 22, St. Louis 31 (42%)  

J-G Pageau won 12 of 24 for the Isles (but his teammates won only 10 of 29); Ryan O'Reilly won 13 of 20 for St. Louis.

Hit Count

Isles 17 (Three with 3)

St. Louis 19 (Two with 3)

 

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:15 – Johnston-6 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS, vs VGK), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Lee-2 (vs FLA, vs VGK), Martin-2 (vs NYR, vs NAS), Mayfield (vs ANA), Pageau (vs NYR).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock -4)

St. Louis 6 (Vince Dunn -2)

The Isles lead the NHL with 1,088 blocked shots.

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 33, St. Louis 58 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 25, St. Louis 53

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  No Isle was a "+"

St. Louis: Colton Parayko +18

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, St. Louis 10 

5-on-5: Isles 7, St. Louis 8

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be March 12th in Calgary and March 13th in Edmonton. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 32-18-6 in night games and 4-2-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be on February 29th vs Boston. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  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 263, Brock Nelson 240, Mathew Barzal 227, Ryan Pulock 190, Josh Bailey 148, Anthony Beauvillier 138, and Devon Toews 111.  No other Islander has played every game this season.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has passed Denis Potvin for the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have 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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 263

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

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

7. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 240

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/17- CURRENT 227

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

 (*) 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 190

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-LTIR/Conditioning), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Matt Martin, (Andy Greene-INJ).

Total games lost: 145.

Late Heroes 

The Isles have scored five times 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.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

2/11 vs PHI – Ryan Pulock scored the winning goal at 19:19.

2/26 vs NYR – Brock Nelson scored at 19:42, but the Isles lost in OT

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed five 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. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

2/11 vs. PHI – Sean Couturier scored at 18:28, but the Isles won in regulation.

2/27 vs. STL – Vince Dunn scored at 18:16, and the Blues won in OT.

Challenges

Isles: 4 successful, 2 failures (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL), (offside 1/21 vs NYR), (no goalie interference 2/25 vs NYR)

The Isles are 4-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-2 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 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),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-3-0 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 860…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 555 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Duane Sutter 547 *** 21. Lorne Henning and Brock Nelson 543 *** 23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 171 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 153 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon and Brock Nelson 147

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 320 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 168

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 473…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 297  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 23. Duane Sutter 292 *** 24. Brock Nelson 291

Games Played (Goalies)

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

5. Thomas Greiss 191

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

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 145

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Season Series Stats

The team split the season series 1 game to 1 (and 3 points to 3).

Each team scored a late goal to tie and an overtime goal to win on home-ice.

The Isles are 4-0-1 in the last five games with St. Louis (four of the five have been decided by a single goal, with three requiring overtime) 

On the Farm   

The Sound Tigers begin a 3-in-3 weekend Friday in Providence.  Bridgeport will host Hartford on Saturday and Binghamton on Sunday. 

Up Next

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29th  -  BOSTON AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM –1:00 PM

[MSG/MSG+ (Goring ceremony at 11:30AM, pre-game at 12:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

The Isles return home for a 2-game in 2-building homestand as they entertain the Bruins at the Coliseum as Butch Goring's #91 heads to its rightful place in the Coliseum rafters.

It will be the rubber game of the season series with the Bruins; the Isles won a shootout in Boston in December and then lost in overtime at Barclays Center in January.

The Isles will look to earn points from the Bruins in three straight games in the same season for the first time since 2009.

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

The Skinny: Rangers 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 62

Rangers 4, Isles 3 (OT)

The Isles scored twice in the final 5:37 to force overtime, but Mika Zibanejad scored his 100th goal as a Ranger just 28 seconds into the extra session as the Blueshirts beat the Isles 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at Nassau Coliseum.  

J-G Pageau scored a goal and recorded 17 penalty minutes in his Islander debut; Jordan Eberle (14:23) and Brock Nelson (19:42) scored late in the third to force overtime. Mathew Barzal assisted on both third period goals and now has 201 career points. 

With the point, the Isles fall two points behind the third place Flyers; the Isles do hold a game-in-hand. The Isles are three points behind second place Pittsburgh. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Artemi Panarin (32) Ryan Lindgren (10), Tony DeAngelo (33) 17:02 NYR 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Greg McKegg (4) Brendan Lemieux (10), Adam Fox (26) 07:48 NYR 2,NYI 0

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (25) Ryan Pulock (25), Josh Bailey (27) 17:04 NYR 2,NYI 1

3rd Period

Brett Howden (8) Brendan Smith (4), Ryan Lindgren (11) 09:34 NYR 3,NYI 1

Jordan Eberle (14) Mathew Barzal (35), Anders Lee (20) 14:23 NYR 3,NYI 2 PPG

Brock Nelson (23) Devon Toews (19), Mathew Barzal (36) 19:42 NYR 3,NYI 3

OT

Mika Zibanejad (29) Artemi Panarin (53) 00:28 NYR 4,NYI 3 

The Skinny        

The Isles are 6-5-2 in February; they have scored 33 goals in the eight games that they earned points but only three goals in their five regulation losses…The Isles are  5-0-2 in the last seven games at home; the Rangers set a franchise record with their eighth straight road win.…Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal each extended their point streaks to four games…Artemi Panarin now has a career-high 32 goals and a 10-game point streak…The Isles had 84 attempts in the game; it was their most since January 17, 2016 vs. Vancouver (94)… Brock Nelson scored his second last-minute tying goal this month (2/1 vs Vancouver); it was his 147th goal and 291st point as an Islander, breaking ties with Pierre Turgeon in goals and Alexei Yashin in points…The Isles failed to overturn a goalie interference call that would have produced a goal with 7:44 remaining in the third period; while 22 of 50 goalie interference calls have been successfully challenged in the NHL this season, only two have resulted in a goal being awarded…J-G Pageau set a career-high with 17 penalty minutes in his fight with Jacob Trouba; he had only 153 penalty minutes as a Senator (428 games)…The Isles scored four power play goals against the Rangers in 13 attempts this season…Jordan Eberle scored for the 11th time in the last 21 games…Brock Nelson's goal was his 50th point of the season; it's the second straight year he has reached that mark.  He is now three goals and three points shy of his career highs, set in different seasons…The Isles finished with a season-high 45 shots (most since they had 50 on January 3, 2019 vs. Chicago); the Isles outshot the Rangers 85-56 in the two meetings at the Coliseum but lost once on a last-minute goal and once in overtime…This was the first Islander -Ranger game to be decided by an overtime goal since April 13, 2013, when Dan Girardi scored the only goal of the game in the extra session; the Isles have never won a (regular season) overtime game against the Rangers at home…The team that scored first has won the last ten Islander games; the team that allowed the first goal has not led in any of those games.

The Injuries

Andy Greene suffered an upper-body injury in the first period after a collision with Brendan Lemieux; Michael Dal Colle suffered an upper-body injury with 14:08 to play in a hit from Jacob Trouba.  Neither player returned to the game.

Rewriting the History Books

Alexandar Georgiev made 42 saves on 45 shots;  it's the most saves a Ranger goalie has ever made against the Isles. John Vanbiesbrouck had held the record since November 9, 1984, when he stopped 41 of 45.  Those games 35 years apart are the only games in which the Isles had at least 45 shots against the Rangers. 

Time to Get Even

Brock Nelson's goal at 19:42 of the third period was the latest tying goal for the Isles since Anders Lee scored in Dallas at 19:58 of the 3rd period on March 3, 2015.   It was the latest for the Isles in any home game since PA Parenteau scored against Toronto at 19:47 of the third period on January 24, 2012.

It's the first time that the Isles have EVER scored a last-minute tying goal against the Rangers; the previous latest was at 18:58, as Ray Ferraro beat Mike Richter at the Garden on February 2, 1994.

Nelson also scored a last-minute tying goal against Vancouver on February 1st; It's the first time that the Isles (as a team) have tied two games in the last minute in the same calendar month since March 1987 when Mikko Makela did it twice (3-3-1987 vs. BOS, 3-14-1987 vs. NJD).

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 30 of the Isles' 36 goals this month. 

Barzy Hits 200

Mathew Barzal now has 201 points in 228 games; he is the fastest Isle to 200 points since Ziggy Palffy, who did it in his 205th game and the second-fastest in the post-Cup era.  

Youngest Islanders to Record 200 Points

YR DAY

21 125 Bryan Trottier

21 260 John Tavares

22  55 Mike Bossy

22 112 Denis Potvin

22 217 Brent Sutter

22 235 Pat LaFontaine

22-275 Mathew Barzal

There are only sixteen active NHL players with more points in their first 228 games than Barzal.

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 35-20-7 thru 62 games this season; they were 36-19-7 thru 62 games last season.  Their 77 points in 62 games is tied for the 3rd-highest in the Post-Cup era (82 points in 2014-15, 79 points last season, 77 in 2015-16).

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles are playing 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles are 13-7-2 on Coliseum ice where they have sold out five straight games (and nine games this season).  The Isles are 7-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost a regular season game in Brooklyn since January 12, 2019 (12-0-3); their next Brooklyn game is on March 3rd vs. Montreal.

On the Road

The Isles are 15-13-2 on the road this season but are only 3-7-1 in the last 11 games.

Lots of Home Cooking 

The Isles are in a stretch in which they play six of eight games at home.  The Isles are 2-0-1 in this stretch.

• 2/21 Vs Red Wings (W 4-1)

• 2/23 Vs Sharks (W 4-1)

• 2/25 Vs Rangers (L 3-4 OT)

• 2/27 @ Blues

• 2/29 Vs Bruins (Coliseum – Goring Day)

• 3/3 Vs Canadiens (Barclays)

• 3/5 @ Senators

• 3/7 Vs Hurricanes (Coliseum)

Following these eight games, the Isles will play nine of the following twelve 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 845-615-60-148 in 1,668 games, and he is now five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  923

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,699

3. Barry Trotz        1,668

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 23-7-3 when scoring first and are 12-13-4 when allowing the opening goal.

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .414 (12-13-4) 2019-20

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles      15-16-14-0=45

Rangers 7-13-7-1=28

The Isles are 13-7-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 22-12-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-23-8 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-20-7 overall: 20-7-5 at home (13-7-2 on Long Island and 7-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-13-2 on the road.  

The Rangers are 35-24-4 overall: 17-13-2 at home and 18-11-2 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-7-3 in Division games and 24-13-4 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 25-10-4 against the East and 10-10-3 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves; he is 19-12-5 on the season and 6-5-2 in his career against the Rangers.  

Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves to improve to 15-12-1 on the season and 5-2-0 against the Isles.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 in 4:07 of power play time; the Rangers were 0-2 in 2:14 of power play time.

The Isles are 13-5-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-15-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 21-12-5 when they do not.

The Isles are 7-6-4 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays are even, and 24-8-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

First 2 / Last 2     

The Isles have scored 15 goals and allowed 14 goals in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles have scored 13 goals and allowed 17 goals (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 31-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-18-3 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-4-6 when scoring three or more, with two of the four regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 5-6 in regulation. They are 8-5 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 7-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 22-18-6 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Devon Toews (26:28); Rangers: Ryan Lindgren (21:40)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 24:27 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (13-6-3), Devon Toews (3-6-2), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (5-3-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-2-0).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

• 24:59 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/20/20 vs. DET

• 24:35 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 24:35 - Brock Nelson – 11/9/19 vs. FLA (Career High)

• 24:27 – Mathew Barzal – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

• 24:01 - Jordan Eberle – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 23:52 – Mathew Barzal – 12/15/18 vs. DET

• 23:23 - Mathew Barzal – 2/15/20 vs. VGK

• 23:15 - Anders Lee – 2/25/20 vs. NYR (Career High)

Face-offs

Isles 29, Rangers 18 (62%))  

J-G Pageau won 10 of 14 for the Isles; no Ranger won more than he lost.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Matt Martin -4)

Rangers 17 (Jacob Trouba -4)

 

Fights 

J-G Pageau fought Jacob Trouba in the third period.  Season total:15 – Johnston-6 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS, vs VGK), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Lee-2 (vs FLA, vs VGK), Martin-2 (vs NYR, vs NAS), Mayfield (vs ANA), Pageau (vs NYR).

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 13  (Ryan Pulock -4)

Rangers 23 (Two with 3)

The Isles lead the NHL with 1,068 blocked shots.

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 84, Rangers 48 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 66, Rangers 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Josh Bailey +19

Rangers: Tony DeAngelo +2

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 27, Rangers 9 

5-on-5: Isles 21, Rangers 9

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be March 12th in Calgary and March 13th in Edmonton. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 32-18-4 in night games and 4-2-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be on February 29th vs Boston. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  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 262, Brock Nelson 239, Mathew Barzal 226, Ryan Pulock 189, Josh Bailey 147, Anthony Beauvillier 137, and Devon Toews 110.  No other Islander has played every game this season.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has tied Denis Potvin for the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have 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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 262

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

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

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

8. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 239

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/17- CURRENT 226

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

 (*) 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 189

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-LTIR/Conditioning), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson.

Total games lost: 141.

Late Heroes 

The Isles have scored five times 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.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

2/11 vs PHI – Ryan Pulock scored the winning goal at 19:19.

2/26 vs NYR – Brock Nelson scored at 19:42, but the Isles lost in OT

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed four 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. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

2/11 vs. PHI – Sean Couturier scored at 18:28, but the Isles won in regulation.

Challenges

Isles: 4 successful, 2 failures (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL), (offside 1/21 vs NYR), (no goalie interference 2/25 vs NYR)

The Isles are 4-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-2 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 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),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-3-0 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 859…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 555 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Duane Sutter 547 *** 21. Lorne Henning 543 *** 22. Brock Nelson 542 *** 23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 171 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 153 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon and Brock Nelson 147

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 320 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 168

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 473…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 296  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 23. Duane Sutter 292 *** 24. Brock Nelson 291

Games Played (Goalies)

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

5. Thomas Greiss 190

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

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 144

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Season Series Stats

The Rangers win the season series 3 games to 1 (and 6 points to 3).

The Rangers have won their last three games as visitors against the Isles; all three gave been decided in overtime with the Isles going 0-2-1. Prior to that, the Isles had won seven straight against the Rangers at home.

On the Farm   

The Sound Tigers are off until Friday, when they begin a 3-in-3 weekend in Providence.  Bridgeport will host Hartford on Saturday and Binghamton on Sunday. 

Up Next

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27th  -  ISLANDERS AT ST. LOUIS –8:00 PM

[MSG+ (pre-game at 7:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

The Isles will look to reverse their recent road troubles as they visit the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues.

The Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit with six minutes to play to defeat St. Louis 3-2 in overtime on Columbus Day; that was the second win in what became a 17-game point streak.

The Isles have won four straight from St. Louis (three by a single goal, with two in overtime) and will be looking for their third straight win at Enterprise Center.

It will be the Isles' first road game since their recent four-game trip in which they were outscored 11-2.  The Isles are 2-8-1 in Western Conference road games 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

The Skinny on JG Pageau

It's not often that a team acquires a player who has more goals than anyone else on their roster and could also be their best face-off man, but the numbers say that's exactly what Lou Lamoriello did when he acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau from Ottawa in exchange for draft picks.

Pageau has 24 goals and 16 assists this season; his 24 goals (including four on the power play and three while shorthanded) are more than any of his new teammates, but Pageau should also be a big help in the face-off circle.

The Isles currently sit at 49.6% on the season (20th in the NHL); they have fallen several slots in the two weeks since Casey Cizikas was injured. 

This season, J.G. (or is it JG?) has won 53.2% of his draws, and he has won at least 51.2% in each of the last five seasons. (Derick Brassard has won over 55% of his draws this season, but he has taken about 1/3 of the draws that Pageau, his former and now current teammate has taken)

Face-offs have been an official NHL stat since 1997-98.  In that period of time, their best face-off man in a single season (minimum 300 draws) was Mike Sillinger (58.8% in 2006-07).  While Pageau has not gotten that high, he has been as high as 54.8% in a season.

Claude Lapointe won over 50% in five straight seasons, but was under 51% twice; Dave Scatchard was real strong over 4 1/2 season with the Isles (never falling under 52%) while John Tavares was over 50% six times (and over 51% five times) in his final eight seasons with the club.

However, no Islander (since the stat has been kept) has been above 51% in five consecutive full seasons and it is that consistency that the Isles will get in the circle from Pageau. Considering that the Isles  (other than Brock Nelson, who is having a career year in the circle) are under 32% in the last four games, this makes Pageau a welcome addition for a team that has won over 50% of their draws only seven times in the 21 seasons that the statistic has been officially kept.

One note I find interesting about Pageau is that he has scored his 24 goals despite starting only 40% of his shifts (that start off face-offs) in the offensive zone; by comparison Mathew Barzal has started over 60% of his shifts this season in the offensive zone.

Some of Pageau's other numbers also stick out: he has had only one regular season hat trick, but has had two in the playoffs (including a 4-goal game topped by an overtime goal against the Rangers); he has also had only one shootout attempt in his career, yet has scored on two penalty shots.  

Pageau has a birthday that will fit nicely with the Isles' long-time home. Pageau will turn 28 this fall, on the 11th day of the 11th month.  No better place to do that than The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where he will hopefully make his debut on Tuesday against the Rangers.  Pageau is 6-7-13 in 17 regular season games against the Rangers (2-3-5 in three games this season); six of his twelve career playoff goals have also come against the Blueshirts.

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, San Jose 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 61

Isles 4, San Jose 1

Friday night belonged to John Tonelli; tonight belonged to the active player wearing 27, Anders Lee.  Lee scored two goals and passed up a shot at an empty net to add an assist as the Islanders defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 13,917 at Nassau Coliseum.  

Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves as he improved to 4-4-0 since the All-Star break (.934, 2.07). He has allowed two goals or fewer in four of his last five starts.

It was the 24th 2-goal game for Lee (most of any NHL players without a hat trick; Mathew Barzal had two assists and now has 199 career points. 

The win pushes the Isles within one point of the third place Flyers; the Isles also hold a game-in-hand. The Isles remain just six points off the Metro lead which is once again held by Washington.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Anders Lee (18) Mathew Barzal (33), Jordan Eberle (22) 06:49 SJS 0,NYI 1

Dylan Gambrell (5) Radim Simek (7), Timo Meier (21) 10:36 SJS 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Anders Lee (19) Mathew Barzal (34), Devon Toews (18) 01:10 SJS 1,NYI 2

Devon Toews (6) Brock Nelson (26) 17:38 SJS 1,NYI 3

3rd Period

Josh Bailey (13)EN Anders Lee (19), Brock Nelson (27) 17:41 SJS 1,NYI 4

The Skinny        

Barry Trotz recorded his 82 win as Isles coach, passing Terry Simpson for 3rd place on the all-time Isles win list; the Isles are 13-1-1 under Trotz when they didn't play the previous day but their opponents did …The Isles are 6-5-1 in February; they have scored 30 goals in the seven games that they earned points but only three goals in their five regulation losses…The Isles have scored an empty-net goal in each of the last three home games … Kieffer Bellows returned to the lineup and had two shots on goal; he also hit a post…The Isles have won five straight home games (and are 5-0-1 in the last six at home); it is the third time this season that the Isles have won at least five straight at home….The Isles improved to 10-10-3 against the West, including 8-2-2 at home…Anders Lee's 24 multi-goal games leave him two behind John Tonelli's 26; however, Derek King has the most multi-goal games from a #27, with 29…Both Anders Lee and Josh Bailey had only one goal since the All-Star break, before combining for three goals tonight…Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal each extended their point streaks to three games.

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 27 of the Isles' 33 goals this month. 

Barzal's Looking For 200

Barzal has 199 points in 227 games; his next point will make him the fastest Isle to 200 points since Ziggy Palffy, who did it in his 205th game.  

Pat LaFontaine did it in game 230 (but that was before Palffy). The only one who is anywhere close (since Palffy) is John Tavares, who reached 200 points in game 241.  As long as he beats Tavares, Barzal will be the 2nd-fastest Islander to 200 points in the last 30+ years.

Youngest Islanders to Record 200 Points

YR DAY

21 125 Bryan Trottier

21 260 John Tavares

22  55 Mike Bossy

22 112 Denis Potvin

22 217 Brent Sutter

22 235 Pat LaFontaine

(Barzal  will be 22-275 on Tuesday; he will be the 7th-youngest on this list once he gets there)

There are only sixteen active NHL players with more points in their first 227 games than Barzal.

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 35-20-6 thru 61 games this season; they were 36-18-7 thru 61 games last season.  Their 76 points in 61 games is the 3rd-highest in the Post-Cup era (80 points in 2014-15, 79 points last season).

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles are 13-7-1 on Coliseum ice where they have sold out four straight games (and eight games on the season).  The Isles are 7-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost a regular season game in Brooklyn since January 12, 2019 (12-0-3); their next Brooklyn game is on March 3rd vs. Montreal.

On the Road

The Isles are 15-13-2 on the road this season but are only 3-7-1 in the last 11 games.

Lots of Home Cooking 

The Isles are in a stretch in which they play six of eight games at home.  The Isles are 2-0-0 in this stretch.

• 2/21 Vs Red Wings (W 4-1)

• 2/23 Vs Sharks (W 4-1)

• 2/25 Vs Rangers (Coliseum)

• 2/27 @ Blues

• 2/29 Vs Bruins (Coliseum – Goring Day)

• 3/3 Vs Canadiens (Barclays)

• 3/5 @ Senators

• 3/7 Vs Hurricanes (Coliseum)

Following these eight games, the Isles will play nine of the following twelve 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 845-615-60-147 in 1,667 games, and he is now five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  922

3. Ken Hitchcock  849

4. Barry Trotz 845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,698

3. Barry Trotz        1,667

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 23-7-3 when scoring first and are 12-13-3 when allowing the opening goal.

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .429 (12-13-3) 2019-20

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles    8-6-12=26

San Jose 10-10-10=30

The Isles are 13-7-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 22-12-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-23-8 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 35-20-6 overall: 20-7-4 at home (13-7-1 on Long Island and 7-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-13-2 on the road.  

San Jose is 26-32-4 overall: 14-15-1 at home and 12-17-3 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-7-2 in Division games and 24-13-4 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 25-10-3 against the East and 10-10-3 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves and improves to 19-12-4 on the season and 6-6-4 in his career against San Jose.  

Martin Jones made 22 saves but falls to 14-19-2 on the season and 3-2-0 against the Isles.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 in 6:00 of power play time; San Jose was 0-1 in 0:34 of power play time.

The Isles are 13-5-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 22-15-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 14-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 21-12-4 when they do not.

The Isles are 7-6-3 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays are even, and 24-8-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

First 2 / Last 2     

The Isles have scored 15 goals and allowed 14 goals in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles have scored 12 goals and allowed 17 goals (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 31-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-18-3 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-4-5 when scoring three or more, with two of the four regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-6-6 in games decided by a single goal including 5-6 in regulation. They are 8-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 7-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 22-18-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (20:55); San Jose: Brent Burns (23:57)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:55 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (13-6-3), Devon Toews (3-6-1), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (5-3-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-2-0).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

• 24:59 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/20/20 vs. DET

• 24:35 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 24:35 - Brock Nelson – 11/9/19 vs. FLA

• 24:01 - Jordan Eberle – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 23:52 – Mathew Barzal – 12/15/18 vs. DET

• 23:23 - Mathew Barzal – 2/15/20 vs. VGK

• 23:11 - Mathew Barzal -1/2/20 vs. NJD

• 23:11 - Mathew Barzal – 12/3/19 vs. MON

Face-offs

Isles 29, San Jose 26 (53%)  

Brock Nelson won 16 of 18 for the Isles; Joel Kellman won 5 of 6 for San Jose.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Matt Martin -4)

San Jose 30 (Barclay Goodrow-5)

 

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:14 – Johnston-6 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS, vs VGK), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Lee-2 (vs FLA, vs VGK), Martin-2 (vs NYR, vs NAS), Mayfield (vs ANA).

Blocked Shots

Isles 18  (Ryan Pulock  -4)

San Jose 15 (Four with 2)

The Isles lead the NHL with 1,056 blocked shots.

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, San Jose 63

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 36, San Jose 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Devon Toews EVEN

San Jose: Evander Kane and Stefan Noesen +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, San Jose 12  

5-on-5: Isles 8, San Jose 12

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back will be March 12th in Calgary and March 13th in Edmonton. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 31-18-4 in night games and 4-2-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be on February 29th vs Boston. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  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 261, Brock Nelson 238, Mathew Barzal 225, Ryan Pulock 188, Josh Bailey 146, Anthony Beauvillier 136, and Devon Toews 109.  No other Islander has played every game this season.

Iron Man

Anders Lee now has the fifth longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have 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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 261

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

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

8. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 238

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/17- CURRENT 225

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

 (*) 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 188

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-LTIR/Conditioning), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), (Derick Brassard-INJ), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson.

Total games lost: 138.

Late Heroes 

The Isles have scored four times 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.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

2/11 vs PHI – Ryan Pulock scored the winning goal at 19:19.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed four 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. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

2/11 vs. PHI – Sean Couturier scored at 18:28, but the Isles won in regulation.

Challenges

Isles: 4 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), (offside 1/21 vs NYR)

The Isles are 4-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-1 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 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),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-3-0 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 858…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 554 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Duane Sutter 547 *** 21. Lorne Henning 543 *** 22. Brock Nelson 541 *** 23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 171 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 153 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Brock Nelson 146

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 319 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 168

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 472…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 296  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 23. Duane Sutter 292 *** 24. Alexei Yashin and. Brock Nelson 290

Games Played (Goalies)

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

5. Thomas Greiss 190

Wins (Goalie)

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

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

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 143

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (the Isles earned 3 points to San Jose's 2).

The Isles are 5-1-0 in their last six home games against the Sharks.

On the Farm   

Bridgeport lost to Hershey on Saturday (5-4 in a shootout) and Hartford on Sunday (4-1). Cal Clutterbuck played in both games as he has been assigned to the Sound Tigers to continue his injury rehab.  

The Sound Tigers are off until Friday, when they begin a 3-in-3 weekend in Providence.  Bridgeport will host Hartford on Saturday and Binghamton on Sunday. 

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25th  -  RANGERS AT ISLANDERS AT NASSAU COLISEUM –7:00 PM

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

The Isles look to complete a 3-0-0 homestand as they host the Rangers in the final meeting of the regular season between the teams.

The other three meetings were all in a 9-day span in January; the Rangers won the first two before the Isles defeated the Blueshirts 4-2 at the Garden in the final game before the All-Star Break. 

The Isles have won 7 of the last 9 at home against the Rangers, although the Rangers have earned one-goal victories in the last two Islander home games.

Alexandar Georgiev has been in goal for all three meetings with the Isles this season but Igor Shesterkin has won seven straight to match the Ranger rookie record.

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