The Skinny: Arizona 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 58

Arizona 2, Isles 1

Conor Garland scored his 20th goal of the season 3:53 into the third period and that turned out to be the winning goal as the Arizona Coyotes edged the Isles 2-1 before a crowd of 13,956 at Gila River Arena. 

About three minutes after Garland's goal, Anthony Beauvillier scored the Isles' first goal in three games, but they could not find the equalizer as they fell to 33-19-6 on the season.

The Isles have lost three straight games, all in regulation.  It's the first time since March 22-26, 2018 that the Isles have lost three straight regulation games.  That ended the Isles' longest streak without losing three straight in regulation in the Post-Cup era at 145 games.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Clayton Keller (13) Phil Kessel (22) 04:58 NYI 0,ARI 1

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Conor Garland (20) Christian Dvorak (19), Taylor Hall (33) 03:53 NYI 0,ARI 2

Anthony Beauvillier (18) Andy Greene (10), Ryan Pulock (23) 06:42 NYI 1,ARI 2 

The Skinny       

The Isles are 5-4-2 in their last eleven games… Anthony Beauvillier has scored four goals in Arizona (most of any Islander); his goal ended a scoreless streak of 166:46 in which the Isles were outscored 8-0….Mathew Barzal played in his 222nd consecutive game, passing Richard Park for 9th on the all-time club list; he played a team-leading, and career-high, 24:35…Jordan Eberle played 24:01; only 2nd time in his career he has played 24 minutes (26:35 on 10/10/2013 for EDM vs MTL) … Andy Greene earned an assist in his Islander debut (19:46) and 924th NHL game; he is the first Islander defenseman since Steve Staios (936 games prior to joining Isles) to debut with that much experience…The six Islander defenders had played 2,895 NHL games……Barry Trotz remains one win behind Terry Simpson for 3rd place on the all-time Isles win list… The Isles had three power plays for the first time in seven games (February 4th vs. Dallas)… The Isles are 4-4-1 since the All-Star Break; they have scored 22 goals in the five games that they earned points but only 2 goals in their four regulation losses…Arizona's Conor Garland is a 20-goal scorer in his first full NHL season; he scored 13 goals in 47 games last season.…The Isles were credited with a season-high 22 missed shots; they have not had more than 22 in any game since January 17, 2016, when they missed 28 (in a 2-1 shootout loss to Vancouver).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

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

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

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

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

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

23:11 - Mathew Barzal -1/2/20 vs. New Jersey

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

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 21 of the Isles' 24 goals this month. 

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 33-19-6 thru 58 games this season; they were 35-17-6 thru 58 games last season.  Their 72 points in 58 games is the 3rd-highest in the Post-Cup era (77 points in 2014-15, 76 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 11-7-1 on Coliseum ice, but only 2-5-1 in their last 8 games in Uniondale.  The Isles are 7-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12, 2019 (12-0-3); their next Brooklyn game is on March 3rd vs. Montreal.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 15-12-2 on the road this season but are only 3-6-1 in the last 10 games.

The Road Ahead

The Isles are in a stretch in which they will play six out of seven games (and 17 of their next 27 games) on the road. The Isles are 2-4-0 in this stretch:

• 2/8 - @ Lightning L 1-3

• 2/10 - @ Capitals W 5-3

• 2/11 – Vs. Flyers W 5-3

• 2/13 - @ Predators L 0-5

• 2/15 - @ Golden Knights L 0-1

• 2/17- @ Coyotes L 1-2

• 2/19 - @ Avalanche

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 843-614-60-147 in 1,664 games, and he is now seven 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  921

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    843

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,695

3. Barry Trotz        1,664

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 21-7-3 when scoring first and are 12-12-3 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

• .444 (12-12-3) 2019-20

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles       10-6-11=27

Arizona  14-12-6=32

The Isles are 12-7-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 21-11-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 52-22-8 when outshot; the 52 wins are the most in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 33-19-6 overall: 18-7-4 at home (11-7-1 on Long Island and 7-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-12-2 on the road.  

Arizona is 30-24-8 overall: 15-11-4 at home and 15-13-4 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 11-7-2 in Division games and 22-12-4 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 24-10-3 against the East and 9-9-3 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves but falls to 17-11-4 on the season and 9-8-2 in his career against Arizona.  

Antti Raanta made 26 saves; he is 14-12-3 on the season and 2-2-0 against the Isles.  

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 in 6:00 of power play time; Arizona was 0-2 in 4:00 of power play time.

The Isles are 12-5-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 21-14-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 20-11-4 when they do not.

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

First 2 / Last 2

The Isles have outscored their opponents 14-13 in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles have been outscored 17-11 (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-17-3 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 65-4-5 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 6-1-0 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 21-17-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (CAREER-HIGH 24:35); Arizona: Jakob Chychrun (23:59)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 24:35 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (12-6-3), Devon Toews (3-6-1), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (5-3-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 18, Arizona 30 (38%)  

Brock Nelson won 10 of 18 for the Isles but his teammates won only 8 of 30; Nick Schmaltz won 6 of 7 for Arizona.

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Ryan Pulock -6)

Arizona 23 (Two with 4)

 

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 16  (Johnny Boychuk -3)

Arizona 20 (Niklas Hjalmarsson -4)

The Isles lead the NHL with 1,001 blocked shots.

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Arizona 64

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 56, Arizona 57

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +10

Arizona: Phil Kessel +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Arizona 15  

5-on-5: Isles 10, Arizona 14

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 29-17-4 in night games and 4-2-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be on February 29th vs Boston; Sunday's 5:00 start vs. San Jose is considered a night game. 

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 258, Brock Nelson 235, Mathew Barzal 222, Ryan Pulock 185, Josh Bailey 143, Anthony Beauvillier 133, and Devon Toews 106. Derick Brassard has also appeared in 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 258

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 235

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/17- CURRENT 222

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 185

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Tom Kuhnhackl, Noah Dobson.

Total games lost: 127.

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 PIT – 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 855…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 551 *** *** Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Duane Sutter 547 *** 21. Lorne Henning 543 *** 22. Brock Nelson 538 *** 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 169 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 152 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski and Brock Nelson 145

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 318 …

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 470…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 22. Duane Sutter 292 *** 23. Anders Lee 291 *** 24. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 25. Ed Westfall and Brock Nelson 286

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 140

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Barry Trotz 80

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2)

The Isles had won the previous three meetings from Arizona; including today's loss the Isles are 5-1-2 in the last eight games and 8-2-2 in the last 12 games against the Coyotes.

The Isles have never won consecutive games in Arizona.

On the Farm   

Bridgeport erased a 2-0 deficit but dropped a 3-2 decision in Providence on Monday afternoon. Otto Koivula and Colin McDonald had the Sound Tiger goals.

Bridgeport hosts Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.

Up Next

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19th  -  ISLANDERS AT COLORADO –10:00 PM

[MSG+ (pre-game at 9:30), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

The Isles will look for their first win on the road trip on Wednesday in Denver, as they try to sweep the season series from the Avalanche.

The Isles blanked Colorado 1-0 at the Coliseum in early January; Anders Lee's third period goal was the only tally of the game and Semyon Varlamov earned the 32-save shutout.  The Isles are 5-1-0 in the last six games against the Avs; however, they have won only once in their last five trips to Denver (1-3-1). 

The Isles (3-0-0 vs Avs under Barry Trotz) will be looking to sweep the season series from Colorado for the second straight year.

Trotz will again be looking for his 81st win behind the Isles bench, which would tie Terry Simpson for 3rd place on the all-time club list.

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