The Skinny: Florida 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Qualifying Round Game 3

Florida 3, Isles 2

Isles lead best-of-5 series 2-1

Mike Hoffman and Brian Boyle scored in the first three minutes of the third period to break a 1-1 tie as the Florida Panthers defeated the Isles 3-2 in game 3 of their qualifying round series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brock Nelson (with a sixth attacker) scored the Isles goals as the Panthers cut the Isles' lead to 2 games to 1.

Game 4 of the series will be on Friday at 12:00, with a potential fifth-and-deciding game to be played on Sunday.

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period 

Erik Haula (1) Evgenii Dadonov (1), Mike Hoffman (1) 04:02 NYI 0,FLA 1 PPG

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) Anthony Beauvillier (2) 16:26 NYI 1,FLA 1

3rd Period

Mike Hoffman (2) Keith Yandle (1), Aleksander Barkov (1) 00:41 NYI 1,FLA 2 PPG

Brian Boyle (1) 02:48 NYI 1,FLA 3

Brock Nelson (1) Ryan Pulock (2), Devon Toews (3) 18:33 NYI 2,FLA 3

The Series (Isles lead 2-1)

Game 1: Isles 2, Florida 1

Game 2: Isles 4, Florida 2

Game 3: Florida 3, Isles 2

Game 4: Friday (12:00)

Game 5 If needed):  Sunday (TBD)

The Skinny

Florida scored twice on the power play after scoring once on the power play and once two seconds after a power play expired on Tuesday… The Isles did not score a power play goal, stopping a streak of five straight playoff games, dating back to last May; it was the first time the Isles have scored PP goals in five consecutive playoff games since 2002 (5 games vs. Toronto) and 2003 (1 game vs. Ottawa)… J-G Pageau scored his second goal of the series; he now has 14 goals in 38 career playoff games, including 10 in his last 22 post-season affairs…Devon Toews now has eight points (1-7-8) in his first eleven career playoff games; he has recorded an assist in five straight games, dating back to last season…Both Toews and Anthony Beauvillier have points in all three playoff games, with Toews earning an assist in each contest….Florida outshot the Isles 10-0 while on the power play; the Isles held Florida to only 11 shots at even strength…Semyon Varlamov started games on consecutive days for the first time as an Islander... This was the first time that the Isles have played playoff games on consecutive days since April 14-15, 2016, also vs. Florida.  The Isles won game 1 in Sunrise 5-4; the Panthers won game 2, 3-1…Three of the Isles' five penalties were either for delay-of-game or for too many men…Brian Boyle's goal was his first in the playoffs since 2016 (for Tampa, vs. Pittsburgh)…Brock Nelson's goal (his 8th in Stanley Cup Play as an Islander, matching Josh Bailey for the club lead among current players) was only his second career goal vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (regular season/playoffs); he previously scored on him on January 24, 2017 at Barclays Center…Mike Hoffman has recorded consecutive multiple point games for the first time in his playoff career…Erik Haula's goal was his first in 10 games (regular season/playoffs) with Florida.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 34-17 (.667) all-time in overtime, including 18-10 (.643) at home. The .667 overall percentage and .643 home percentages are both the best in NHL history. The Isles are 0-0 in overtime this season; nine of the 27 playoff games the Isles have played since 2015 have gone to overtime with the Isles holding a 5-4 record.  

Lead/Tie/Trail

In game 1, the Isles led for 48:00 and the game was tied for 12:00

In game 2, the Isles led for 23:33,  and trailed for 20:50.  The game was tied for 15:37.

In game 3, the Isles trailed for 40:13 and the game was tied for 19:57.

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles improve to 150-125 in 275 all-time playoff games.  They are 85-46 at home (including 2-5 at Barclays and 2-0 in Toronto) and 64-79 on the road.   In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 2-0 when they are the home team and 0-1 when they are the road team.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 845-618-60-151 in 1,674 games and will begin next season just 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  925

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,705

3. Barry Trotz        1,674

4. Al Arbour 1,607 

The matchup between the Isles and Panthers is led by two coaches who have combined for 1,770 wins and 3,379 games.  No other match-up in NHL history has featured two coaches with as much experience.

The previous mark was in the 1993 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals when Al Arbour bested Scotty Bowman's Penguins.  At the time, Arbour had coached 1,522 regular season games, winning 745, while Bowman had won 834 of his 1,440 games coached.  Trotz and Quenneville combine for 191 more wins and 417 more games.

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has now coached 124 playoff games (61-63).  His 61 wins are tied-18th all-time with Jacques Lemaire and two behind Fred Shero and Claude Julien.  Trotz won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 123

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Barry Trotz 6

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 209

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Barry Trotz 11

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 1

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0 when scoring first and are 1-1 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles     8-4-10=22

Florida  6-11-5=22

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Florida 28

• Game 2: Isles 34, Florida 28

• Game 3: Isles 22, Florida 22

• Series: Isles 84, Florida 78

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

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves but falls to 2-1 this season and 15-14 all-time in the playoffs.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves and improves to 1-2 this season and 12-20 all-time in the playoffs. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 4:44 of PP time; Florida was 2-5 on the power play in 6:27 of PP time.

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 1-3 (4:55; 3 shots), Florida 0-1 (2:00, 3 shots)

• Game 2: Isles 2-7 (10:02: 5 shots); Florida 1-3 (2:12, 3 shots)

• Game 3: Isles 0-3 (4:44, 0 shots), Florida 2-5 (6:27, 10 shots)

• Series: Isles 3-10 (19:41; 8 shots), Florida 3-9 (10:39, 16 shots)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 1-0 in the playoffs when they score at least three goals and 1-1 when they do not.  Last season the Isles scored at least three goals in each of their four wins and two or fewer in each of their four losses.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1 in the playoffs in one-goal games (1-1 in regulation and 0-0 in overtime). The Isles are 0-0  in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (21:12);  Florida: Mackenzie Weegar (26:04)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:14 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Scott Mayfield (1-0), Adam Pelech (1-0), Nick Leddy (0-1)

Face-offs

Isles 22, Florida 26 (46%).

Derick Brassard won 3 of 4 for the Isles; Noel Acciari won 5 of 6 for Florida.

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Florida 24 (54%).  

• Game 2: Isles 25, Florida 39 (39%).

• Game 3: Isles 22, Florida 26 (46%)

• Series:   Isles 75, Florida 89 (46%)

Hit Count

Isles 28 (Adam Pelech-4)

Florida 31 (Riley Stillman -5)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 30, Florida 32

• Game 2: Isles 30, Florida 43 

• Game 3: Isles 28, Florida 31

• Series:   Isles 88, Florida 106

Fights

There were no fights. Playoff total -0.   

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Scott Mayfield -5)

Florida 14 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 51, Florida 47

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 41, Florida 26

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Nick Leddy +18

Florida: Two with +3

Corsi Game by Game:

• Game 1 (All) Isles 58, Florida 51;  (5-on-5) Isles 48, Florida 48

• Game 2 (All) Isles 57, Florida 56;  (5-on-5) Isles 39, Florida 40

• Game 3 (All) Isles 51, Florida 47;  (5-on-5) Isles 41, Florida 26

• Game 2 (All) Isles 166, Florida 154;  (5-on-5) Isles 128, Florida 114

Scratches

(Johnny Boychuk), Noah Dobson, Andrew Ladd, Otto Koivula, Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Thomas Hickey, Sebastian Aho, Leo Komarov, Christopher Gibson

Playoff games lost: 2. 

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)

None

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed

None

Playoff Challenges

None

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Casey Cizikas 35

Matt Martin 35

Josh Bailey 33

Goals:

Josh Bailey 8 

Brock Nelson 8 

Jordan Eberle 6

Cal Clutterbuck 4

Assists:

Josh Bailey 10

Nick Leddy 8 

Devon Toews 7

Mathew Barzal 6

Casey Cizikas 5

Jordan Eberle 5

Thomas Hickey 5

Points:

Josh Bailey 18

Brock Nelson 12 

Nick Leddy 10

Penalty Minutes:

Cal Clutterbuck 42

Matt Martin 38 

Casey Cizikas 34

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 2

Josh Bailey 2 

Brock Nelson 1 

Ryan Pulock 1

Devon Toews 1

Anthony Beauvillier 1

Jordan Eberle 1

SH Goals

No current Islander has a playoff SH goal with Isles. (Last to do so was Kyle Okposo on May 5, 2013 vs. Pittsburgh)

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 2

Jordan Eberle 2

Josh Bailey 1 

Thomas Hickey 1

Anthony Beauvillier 1

Goaltending

Thomas Greiss  5-6  2.49 GAA, .920 save percentage

Semyon Varlamov 2-1 2.03 GAA, .923 save percentage

Up Next

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7th  -  ISLANDERS VS FLORIDA (AT TORONTO) –12:00 PM 

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

The Isles will once again look to close out the series as they face Florida. It will be the fourth straight afternoon game in this series, including three straight at 12 noon.

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