The Skinny: Philadelphia 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 9

Philadelphia 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Let's Go Home! Kevin Hayes scored a power play goal 4:22 into overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Isles 4-3 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.  The Isles complete their road trip with an 0-3-2 record.

For the second night in a row, the Isles rallied from a 2-goal deficit only to lose in overtime. The Flyers defeated the Isles three times in overtime during the 2020 playoffs and have now add two wins in a row over the Isles to open the 2020-21 campaign.

All three Flyer goals in regulation were scored by Joel Farabee, as he became the first Flyer to record a hat trick against the Isles since Vincent Lecavalier (10-26-2013).

The Scoring:

1st Period

Joel Farabee (3) James van Riemsdyk (5) 18:42 NYI 0,PHI 1

2nd Period

Nick Leddy (1) Josh Bailey (1), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) 00:38  NYI 1,PHI 1 PPG

Joel Farabee (4) James van Riemsdyk (6), Travis Sanheim (2) 02:19 NYI 1,PHI 2

Joel Farabee (5) Philippe Myers (1), James van Riemsdyk (7) 15:52 NYI 1,PHI 3

3rd Period

Josh Bailey (1) Ryan Pulock (2), Mathew Barzal (6) 01:03 NYI 2,PHI 3

Mathew Barzal (4) Anders Lee (2) 06:27 NYI 3,PHI 3 

OT

Kevin Hayes (5) Claude Giroux (3), James van Riemsdyk (8) 04:22 NYI 3,PHI 4 PPG

The Skinny        

The Isles have lost six straight road games (0-4-2) since winning on Opening Night…Mathew Barzal has points on ten of the team's 19 goals this season and leads the Isles in assists (6); Barzal appeared in his 241st consecutive game, passing JP Parise for 8th on the all-time club list…Josh Bailey's assist was his 324th, breaking a tie with Brent Sutter for 8th place on the all-time club list...Isles scored twice in the third period after only scoring three third period goals in the first eight games….Mathew Barzal is 7-13-20 in 13 career games vs. Philadelphia… It was Joel Farabee's first career hat trick.... A post-game scoring change gave James van Riemsdyk a 4-assist game. It is the first 4-assist and second 4-point game of his career. The final assist, his 200th point as a Flyer, made him the first opponent with a 4-assist game since Ryan Getzlaf (12-21-17 vs Anaheim).

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-4-2 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-4-2 on the road.

Philadelphia is 7-2-1 overall; 5-1-0 at home and 2-1-1 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 848-622-60-153 in 1,683 games, and he is now two 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  930

3. Ken Hitchcock  849

4. Barry Trotz  848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,711

3. Barry Trotz        1,683

First Things First

The Isles are 3-1-0 when scoring first and are 0-3-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    13-9-10-4=36

Philadelphia       6-12-7-4=29

The Isles are 3-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-27-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves; he is 0-2-1 on the season and 0-0-1 against Philadelphia.

Brian Elliot made 33 saves to improve to 3-0-0 on the season and 9-2-7 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-6 on the power play (9:42); Philadelphia was 1-4 on the power play (4:54) and failed on a 1:17 of 5-on-3 time. 

The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-3-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-4-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-3-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-6-8 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 0-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front-half and 0-0-1 in the back-half.  The next back-to-back is February 15th/16th in Buffalo.

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-3 in back-ends.

Series

The Isles will play the same opponent in consecutive games twenty times this season.  The Isles are 2-1-1 in the first game and 0-3-1 in the second game:

NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot)

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 0-0-1 when both teams played the night before. 

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

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

• The Isles are 3-4-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (23:37); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (29:40)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 23:37 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-2-1), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1)

Face-offs

Isles 26, Philadelphia 27 (49%)

Mathew Barzal won 7 of 9 for the Isles; Conor Bunnaman won 6 of 9 for Philadelphia.

The Isles are 3-3-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 0-0-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck -3)

Philadelphia 15 (Robert Hagg -4)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Andy Greene -2)

Philadelphia 8 (Travis Sanheim -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Philadelphia 57

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 31, Philadelphia 40

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Jean-Gabriel Pageau +5

Philadelphia: Michael Raffl +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 4, Philadelphia 7

5-on-5: Isles 2, Philadelphia 4

Scratches

(Anthony Beauvillier-IR), Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Leo Komarov

Games Lost: 9

240 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 240 games, and they are three of just 18 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 277, Brock Nelson 254, Mathew Barzal 241, Ryan Pulock 204, Josh Bailey 162.  All five of them have played every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10; it is the first time in club history that three different Isles have had concurrent streaks of at least 240 games:

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 277

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 254

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

8. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 241

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

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 

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

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

3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 204

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

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

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored 0 goals and allowed 1 goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 0

Vs: 1  [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Josh Bailey 874…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 569 *** 19. Brock Nelson 557 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning and  Casey Cizikas 543 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 502 *** 32. Ed Westfall 493 *** 33. Cal Clutterbuck 487

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 175 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 155 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Josh Bailey 324 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 479…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 306  ***22.  Brock Nelson 298

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 159

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

Philadelphia leads the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2). It is the first time that the Flyers have beaten the Isles twice in overtime in a single season.

The teams will next meet March 18th and 20th at the Coliseum.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd  – BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 6:00pm

[NBCSN (pre-game at 5:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]

After playing seven out of nine games on the road in January, the Isles will open February with a three-game homestand beginning on Tuesday at a special 6:00 start time.

The Isles will play Buffalo four times in February, including two games to open the month.  The Isles won both meetings last season, both by a single goal and are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games with Buffalo, including five straight home wins.

Semyon Varlamov has played in 499 NHL games; his next appearance will make him the 76th goalie in NHL history (and 14th active goalie) to appear in 500 NHL games. 

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: Philadelphia 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 8

Philadelphia 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Scott Laughton scored 3:16 into overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Isles 3-2 at  Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.  The Isles are 0-3-1 on their road trip, with one game to play in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The Flyers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Isles knotted the game with a pair of goals 4:15 apart in the second stanza.  The Isles out-shot Philadelphia 21-8 in the final 40 minutes of regulation but could not find a third goal.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Jakub Voracek (2) Claude Giroux (2), Scott Laughton (4) 03:38 NYI 0,PHI 1

Kevin Hayes (4) James van Riemsdyk (4), Ivan Provorov (4) 13:55 NYI 0,PHI 2

2nd Period

Jordan Eberle (3) Adam Pelech (2), Brock Nelson (1) 07:31 NYI 1,PHI 2

Scott Mayfield (1) Nick Leddy (4), Mathew Barzal (5) 11:46 NYI 2,PHI 2

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

Scott Laughton (1) Shayne Gostisbehere (1) 03:16 NYI 2,PHI 3

The Skinny        

The Isles have lost five straight road games (0-4-1)…Mathew Barzal has points on eight of the team's 16 goals this season and leads the Isles in assists (5); Barzal appeared in his 240th consecutive game, tying JP Parise for 8th on the all-time club list…Jakub Voracek extended his point streak to six games (1-7-8)… Scott Mayfield's goal was his first in the regular season since last January 11th; he also scored the winning goal in the game 7 win over the Flyers last summer.…The Isles scored twice in the second period, matching their second period scoring in the first seven games.…The Flyers were held to 17 shots, lowering their season average to 23.0…Shayne Gostisbehere recorded his 200th point on the winning goal… The Isles allowed 17 shots (matching the fewest under Barry Trotz); it was the first time they allowed only 17 shots on the road since October 31, 2015 in New Jersey.

Milestone Men

Matt Martin appeared in his 700th NHL game (568 for the Isles), while Josh Bailey played in his 873rd  game, passing Clark Gillies for 3rd place on the all-time club list.  Semyon Varlamov appeared in his 499th NHL game; his next appearance will make him the 76th goalie in NHL history (and 14th active goalie) to appear in 500 NHL games. 

Circle Stars

The Isles won 22 of 44 draws; they have won at least half of the draws in every game this season.

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-4-1 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-4-1 on the road.

Philadelphia is 6-2-1 overall; 4-1-0 at home and 2-1-1 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 848-623-60-151 in 1,682 games, and he is now two 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  929

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,710

3. Barry Trotz        1,682

4. Paul Maurice 1,608

5. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 3-1-0 when scoring first and are 0-3-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    6-10-11-1=28

Philadelphia       6-4-4-3=17

The Isles are 3-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-27-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 14 saves; he is 3-2-1 on the season and 7-2-2 against Philadelphia.

Carter Hart made 27 saves to improve to 4-2-1 on the season and 1-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (8:00); Philadelphia was 0-1 on the power play (2:00).

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-3-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-4-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-3-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-6-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half.  This back-to-back concludes Sunday in Philadelphia.

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Series

The Isles will play the same opponent in consecutive games twenty times this season.  The Isles are 2-1-1 in the first game and 0-3-0 in the second game:

NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/)

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 3-4-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:53); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (24:53)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 22:30 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-2-1), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 22, Philadelphia 22 (50%)

Anders Lee won 5 of 6 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 8 of 12 for Philadelphia.

The Isles are 3-3-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 0-0-0 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Matt Martin -8)

Philadelphia 24 (Justin Braun -4)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Two with 2)

Philadelphia 14 (Justin Braun -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 55, Philadelphia 38

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 44, Philadelphia 31 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +12

Philadelphia: James van Riemsdyk +4

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Philadelphia 5

5-on-5: Isles 6, Philadelphia 3

Scratches

(Anthony Beauvillier-IR), Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Michael Dal Colle

Games Lost: 8

240 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 240 games, and they are three of just 18 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 276, Brock Nelson 253, Mathew Barzal 240, Ryan Pulock 203, Josh Bailey 161.  All five of them have played every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10; it is the first time in club history that three different Isles have had concurrent streaks of at least 240 games:

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 276

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 253

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

8. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 240

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

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 

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

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

3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 203

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

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

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored 0 goals and allowed 1 goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 0

Vs: 1  [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Josh Bailey 873…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 568 *** 19. Brock Nelson 556 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 542 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 501 *** 32. Ed Westfall 493 *** 33. Cal Clutterbuck 486

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 175 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

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

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 477…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 305  ***22.  Brock Nelson 298

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 158

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

Philadelphia leads the season series 1 games to 0 (and 2 points to 1).

The teams will meet again on Sunday in Philadelphia and then on March 18th and 20th at the Coliseum.

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st   – ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 7:00pm,

[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 98.7FM]

The Isles have dropped the first four games of this road trip (0-3-1) and will look to get back in the win column with a victory in the back-end of a back-to-back in Philadelphia.

The Isles 17-2-2 in the back-end of back-to-backs under Barry Trotz.

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: Washington 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 7

Washington 6, Isles 3 

Conor Sheary scored a pair of goals 73 seconds apart to key a five-goal second period as the Washington Capitals extended their season-opening point streak to a club-record eight games (5-0-3) with a come-from behind 6-3 win over the Isles at Capital One Arena in Washington. 

Oliver Wahlstrom's first NHL goal was followed eighteen seconds later by Casey Cizikas' first goal in the regular season since last January 18th as the Isles grabbed a 2-0 lead.  Anders Lee scored his 2nd power play goal of the season (matching last season's total) to make it 3-0 before the Capitals took over the game.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (1) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) 09:50 NYI 1,WSH 0

Casey Cizikas (1) Cal Clutterbuck (2) 10:08 NYI 2,WSH 0

Anders Lee (3) Mathew Barzal (4), Noah Dobson (4) 17:39 NYI 3,WSH 0 PPG

2nd Period

Conor Sheary (1) John Carlson (5), Brenden Dillon (3) 09:07 NYI 3,WSH 1

Conor Sheary (2) Zdeno Chara (1), Richard Panik (2) 10:20 NYI 3,WSH 2

Garnet Hathaway (2) Carl Hagelin (1), Nic Dowd (1) 11:11 NYI 3,WSH 3

John Carlson (3) Justin Schultz (3), Nicklas Backstrom (4) 14:16 NYI 3,WSH 4 PPG

Zdeno Chara (1) Justin Schultz (4), Michael Sgarbossa (1) 18:30 NYI 3,WSH 5

3rd Period

Tom Wilson (4)EN T.J. Oshie (4), Nicklas Backstrom (5) 19:41 NYI 3,WSH 6 PPG

The Skinny        

The Isles have lost four straight road games, all in regulation…Mathew Barzal has points on seven of the team's 14 goals this season…John Carlson extended his point streak to five games… Vitek Vanacek is the second goalie in Caps history to earn points in his first six games…Oliver Wahlstrom is the 379th player in Isles history to score a goal; he and Dobson are the first pair of Islanders to be born in the 2000s to record points in the same period… This was the second time under Trotz that the Isles have allowed five goals in a period (also 3rd period by Washington on January 18, 2020)…Through seven games, the Isles have scored nine goals in the first period, but only five goals in the second and third periods combined…The Isles have been outscored 9-2 in the second period…John Carlson extended his assist streak to five games…Mathew Barzal was given a misconduct penalty late in the game; it is the first misconduct penalty he has been assessed in his NHL career…The Caps have scored 30 goals on only 221 shots this season (13.6%), despite missing Alex Ovechkin for four games…The Isles led for 21:21,nearly matching the 25:54 Washington had trailed in their first seven games…Noah Dobson has played over 20 minutes in four of the first seven games…JG Pageau earned an assist on Wahlstrom's goal; it was Pageau's first regular season point vs the Caps. 

Milestone Men

Anders Lee appeared in his 500th NHL game (all for the Isles), while Josh Bailey played in his 872nd game, matching Clark Gillies for 4th place on the all-time club list.

This marked the first time since April 6, 1986 that the Isles dressed five skaters with 500 games of Islander experience.  That game, which was the final game of Arbour's first tenure, was also the final Islander regular season game for both Clark Gillies and Bob Bourne.  Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy all dressed for the Isles that night (as did Billy Smith in goal).

Cal Clutterbuck (485 Isles games) and Nick Leddy (469 Isles games) could join this group later in the season.

Footnote to History

Semyon Varlamov, who saw his season GAA rise from 0.92 to 1.93 in the second period did not face a shot on goal in the third period .  Tom Wilson's empty-net goal prevented the Isles from going the entire session without allowing a shot for the first time in their 11,217 period history.  Rather they tied the club record of 1, done most recently on January 11, 2017.

Tough to Rally from This

This was the 39th time in club history that the Isles allowed five goals in a period (0-38-1).

Circle Stars

The Isles won 31 of 56 draws; they have won at least half of the draws in every game this season.

The Injuries

Justin Schultz left the game early in the third period after blocking Kieffer Bellows' shot; he did not return.

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-4-0 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-4-0 on the road.

Washington is 5-0-3 overall; 3-0-1 at home and 2-0-0 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 848-622-60-151 in 1,681 games, and he is now two 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  928

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,709

3. Barry Trotz        1,681

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 3-1-0 when scoring first and are 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-9-11=30

Washington       8-14-1=23

The Isles are 3-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-27-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 17 saves but falls to 3-2-0 on the season and 4-8-1 against Washington.

Vitek Vanacek made 27 saves to improve to 4-0-2 on the season and 2-0-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (4:13); Washington was 2-3 on the power play (4:13).

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-3-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-4-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-3-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-6-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 3-4-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:41); Washington: John Carlson (25:38)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:16 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-2-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 31, Washington 25 (55%)

Casey Cizikas won 8 of 11 for the Isles; Nic Dowd won 15 of 23 for Washington.

The Isles are 3-3-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-0 when they are tied, and 0-0-0 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Jordan Eberle -3)

Washington 14 (Four with 2)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Adam Pelech & Brock Nelson -3)

Washington 18 (Zdeno Chara -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Washington 50 (including 23-4 in the 3rd period)

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 52, Washington 38  (Including 21-1 in the 3rd period)

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +15

Washington: Justin Schultz +4

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, Washington 5

5-on-5: Isles 6, Washington 5

Scratches

(Anthony Beauvillier-IR), Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho

Games Lost: 7

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.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 275, Brock Nelson 252, Mathew Barzal 239, Ryan Pulock 202, Josh Bailey 160.  All five of them have played every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has 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 275

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 252

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

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 239

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 

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

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

3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 202

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

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

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored 0 goals and allowed 1 goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 0

Vs: 1  [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies and Josh Bailey 872…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 567 *** 19. Brock Nelson 555 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 541 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 500 *** 32. Ed Westfall 493 *** 33. Cal Clutterbuck 485

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 175 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

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

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 477…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 305  ***22.  Brock Nelson 297

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 157

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).

The teams will next meet on March 15th and 16th at the Coliseum.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 30th  – ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 7:00pm,

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

The Isles have dropped the first three games of this road trip (0-3-0) and will look to get back in the win column with a victory in the front-end of a back-to-back in Philadelphia.

It is the first meeting of the teams since the Isles eliminated the Flyers in a hard-fought seven-game playoff series in September.

In regular season play, the Isles have won four straight over the Flyers, including all three last 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: Washington 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 6

Washington 3, Isles 2 

Justin Schultz scored the winning goal with under 27 seconds to play as the Washington Capitals extended their season-opening point streak to seven games (4-0-3) with a 3-2 win over the Isles 2-0 at Capital One Arena in Washington. 

Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist for the Isles, who suffered their first loss at Capital One Arena under Barry Trotz.

The Scoring:

1st Period

John Carlson (2) Justin Schultz (2), Nicklas Backstrom (4) 11:06 NYI 0,WSH 1 PPG

Noah Dobson (1) Mathew Barzal (3), Jordan Eberle (2) 15:33 NYI 1,WSH 1

2nd Period

Mathew Barzal (3) 10:01 NYI 2,WSH 1

Daniel Sprong (1) Daniel Carr (1), John Carlson (5)  17:21 NYI 2,WSH 2

3rd Period

Justin Schultz (2) Garnet Hathaway (1), Brenden Dillon (2) 19:33 NYI 2,WSH 3

The Skinny        

The Isles have allowed only eight goals this season; it is the first time in 44 years they have allowed eight or fewer goals through five games…Leo Komarov replaced Anthony Beauvillier (IR) in the lineup; Beauvillier had played 148 consecutive games.…That was only the second time this season that both teams scored in an Islander game and the first time that each team scored multiple goals…The game also features the first two lead changes of the season….The Isles have lost three straight road games, all in regulation…Mathew Barzal has points on six of the team's 11 goals this season; his 2nd period goal was only the second scored by the Isles this season…Justin Schultz' winning goal was only the second allowed by the Isles in the third period this season…John Carlson extended his point streak to four games...The Capitals have matched their club record by earning points in the first seven games of the season (4-0-3 this season; 7-0-0 in 2011-12); Vitek Vanacek is the second goalie in Caps history to earn points in his first five games.

Isles History Lesson

The Isles have scored 11 goals and allowed 11 goals this season.  Through six games, the 11 goals scored is the fewest since 1998-99 (franchise-low of 10) while the 11 goals allowed are the second-fewest in club history (9 in 1976-77). The 22 combined goals is a club-record for fewest through six games.

Circle Stars

After winning a majority of face-offs in each of the first five games, the Isles won 24 draws and lost 24 draws.

Since face-offs were tracked in the NHL, the Islander club record for consecutive games winning the majority of face-offs is 8, set in October-November 2006.

The Injuries

Adam Pelech left the game in the first period after blocking a shot but returned shortly thereafter.

Lars Eller left the game in the third period after a check from Leo Komarov; Leo was assessed a major penalty.  Nick Backstrom also left the game in the third period with an injury and did not return.

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-3-0 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-3-0 on the road.

Washington is 4-0-3 overall; 2-0-1 at home and 2-0-0 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 848-621-60-151 in 1,680 games, and he is now two 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  928

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,708

3. Barry Trotz        1,680

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 3-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    11-14-9=34

Washington     17-9-10=36

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-27-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves but falls to 3-1-0 on the season and 4-7-1 against Washington (in regular season play).

Vitek Vanacek made 32 saves to improve to 3-0-2 on the season and 1-0-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (4:00); Washington was 1-2 on the power play (5:54).

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-3-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-3-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 3-3-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (25:28); Washington: John Carlson (24:02)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 21:30 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-1-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 24, Washington 24 (50%)

Casey Cizikas won 4 of 5 for the Isles; TJ Oshie won 3 of 4 for Washington.

The Isles are 3-2-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-0 when they are tied, and 0-0-0 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Matt Martin & Ross Johnston -4)

Washington 14 (TJ Oshie -3)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 21 (Adam Pelech -5)

Washington 16 (Four with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 59, Washington 72

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 47, Washington 65

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal +8

Washington: Conor Sheary and Richard Panik +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 5, Washington 10

5-on-5: Isles 5, Washington 9

Scratches

(Anthony Beauvillier-IR), Sebastian Aho, Corey Schneider

Games Lost: 6

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.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 274, Brock Nelson 251, Mathew Barzal 238, Ryan Pulock 201, Josh Bailey 159.  All five of them have played every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has 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 274

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 251

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

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 238

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 

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

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

3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 201

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

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

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored 0 goals and allowed 1 goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 0

Vs: 1  [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)]

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 871…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 566 *** 19. Brock Nelson 554 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 540 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 499

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 174 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

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

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 477…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 304  ***22.  Brock Nelson 297

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 156

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).

The teams will meet again on Thursday in Washington.

This was the first loss for the Isles in DC under Barry Trotz (now 4-1-0).

 

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26th – ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00pm,

[MSG+2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]

The Isles will look to earn a split of the two games in DC and stop a 2-game losing streak as they again meet the Caps on Thursday.  

The Capitals are not expected to have any of the players who missed tonight's game due to COVID protocols return for this game.

Anders Lee will appear in his 500th NHL game (all for the Isles) , while Josh Bailey will play in his 872nd game, matching Clark Gillies for 4th 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

The Skinny: New Jersey 2, Isles 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 5

New Jersey 2, Isles 0

Jack Hughes and Pavel Zacha scored goals two minutes apart late in the first period and Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves for his first NHL shutout since 2017 as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Isles 2-0 at Prudential Center in Newark.

Ilya Sorokin was in goal for the Isles and for the second straight game the Isles were held without a goal.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Jack Hughes (3) Ty Smith (4), Kyle Palmieri (3) 17:00 NYI 0,NJD 1 PPG

Pavel Zacha (1) Nikita Gusev (1), Ty Smith (5) 19:00 NYI 0,NJD 2

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

None

The Skinny        

The Isles have allowed only eight goals this season; it is the first time in 44 years they have allowed eight or fewer goals through five games…Michael Dal Colle replaced Kieffer Bellows in the lineup. The Isles had dressed the same 18 skaters in the first four games, matching a club record to start the season (last done in 2015-16)…New Jersey rookie Ty Smith assisted on both Devil goal to extend his career-starting point streak to five games; he is the 6th defenseman in NHL history to do so… It was the first time since 2013 that the Devils had shutout the Isles.

Isles History Lesson

• Brock Nelson became the sixth Islander to dress for 250 consecutive games while Ryan Pulock became the third Islander defenseman to play 200 consecutive games. 

• Ilya Sorokin is the first Islander goalie to lose his first two starts without the Isles scoring a single goal.

Lots of Blanks

This is only the 3rd time in Islander history that there have been four shutouts in a stretch of five games or fewer:

• December 23-29, 2007 - Isles went 2-2-0, all by shutout.

• March 19-26, 2019- Isles went 2-3-0, losing three of the four shutouts.

• January 14-24, 2021 – Isles went 3-2-0, winning two of the four shutouts.

Doing the Lindy

Lindy Ruff earned his 739th win as an NHL head coach.  If that total of wins sounds familiar it is because that was the total wins Al Arbour earned for the Isles in his first 1,499 games. He then earned his 740th Islander win in the famed "Arbour 1500" game in 2007.

Circle Stars

The Isles have won a majority of face-offs in each of the first five games.  It is the first time since face-offs have been officially tracked (1997-98) that the Isles have done this.  

The Islanders have won 58.0% of the draws through the five games.  They have not won more than 50.1% of the draws since 2007-08.

Since face-offs were tracked in the NHL, the Islander club record for consecutive games winning the majority of face-offs is 8, set in October-November 2006.

The Injury

Anthony Beauvillier left the game with an apparent injury in the second period; he did not return. 

What a Way to Start

Semyon Varlamov now has the longest shutout streak to start a season by an Islander goalie:

• 142:10 Semyon Varlamov (2020-21)

• 115:35 Rick DiPietro (2003-04)

• 107:20 Chico Resch (1975-76)

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-2-0 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-2-0 on the road.

New Jersey is 3-1-1 overall; 2-0-1 at home and 1-1-0 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 848-620-60-151 in 1,679 games, and he is now two 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  927

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,707

3. Barry Trotz         1,679

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 3-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-6-12=28

New Jersey       12-8-4=24

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-1-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-26-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves but falls to 0-2-0 on the season and 0-1-0 against New Jersey.

Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves and improves to 1-1-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against the Isles.  It was his first NHL shutout since December 2, 2017.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); New Jersey was 1-2 on the power play (2:37).

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-2-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-2-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 3-2-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Mathew Barzal (23:32); New Jersey: Dmitry Kulikov (24:06)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 23:32 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-0-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 36, New Jersey 23 (61%)

Anders Lee won 10 of 12 for the Isles; no Devil who took multiple face-offs won more than they lost.

The Isles are 3-2-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-0-0 when they are tied, and 0-0-0 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 16 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)

New Jersey 12 (Travis Zajac -3)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 9 (Andy Greene-3)

New Jersey 6 (Ryan Murray- 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, New Jersey 46

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 35, New Jersey 39

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Nick Leddy +6

New Jersey: Dmitry Kulikov +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, New Jersey 10

5-on-5: Isles 9, New Jersey 6

Scratches

Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho, Corey Schneider

Games Lost: 5

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.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 273, Brock Nelson 250, Mathew Barzal 237, Ryan Pulock 200, Josh Bailey 158, Anthony Beauvillier 148.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has 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 273

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 250

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

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 237

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 

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

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

3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 200

4. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-0-0 in games that go the opponents' 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 870…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 565 *** 19. Brock Nelson 553 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 539

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 174 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

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

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 477…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 304  ***22.  Brock Nelson 297

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 155

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).

The teams will next meet again on February 23rd in New Jersey.

This was only the second regulation for the Isles in their last eight games against New Jersey (2-3-3 vs Isles).

 

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26th – ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00pm,

[NBCSN (NHL Live pre-game at 6:00], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, WMCA 570]

The Isles head to the nation's capital for the first time since eliminating the Capitals in The Bubble last summer.

It is the first of a pair of games in DC as the teams will also meet on Thursday.  

This will be the fifth game in Washington for Barry Trotz since he joined the Islanders; the Isles have won all four previous games, matching the club record for consecutive road wins against the Caps.    

The Caps are now coached by former Islander coach Peter Laviolette.  Like Trotz, Laviolette also had a long run as coach in Nashville.  Laviolette will be missing several players including Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov due to COVID protocols.

Brendan Burke and AJ Mleczko will have the call of the game, which will air nationally except in the Washington-area.

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

Re: The Skinny: Isles 4, New Jersey 1

Correction from the Skinny: (fixes Dobson's age, and thus the most recent changes): 

Youth Club

Noah Dobson is the youngest Islander defenseman with a multi-point game (and a multi-assist game) since  Travis Hamonic.

Hamonic had four multi-point games as a 20-year-old (the last on 4-8-2011) and three multi-assist games as a 20-year-old (the last on 2-21-2011). Dobson turned 21 just two weeks ago.

I apologize for the error.  Good catch Maddi Harris!

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, New Jersey 1

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 4

Isles 4, New Jersey 1 

Jordan Eberle scored his first two goals of the season and Matthew Barzal added three points as the Isles beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at Nassau Coliseum.

Semyon Varlamov allowed only a second period goal to Nathan Bastian, stopping the other 30 Devil shots. The Bastian goal ended a season-opening shutout streak of 142:10 for Varlamov; it was the 8th longest scoreless streak to start an NHL season.  Varly had previously broken Rick DiPietro's club record scoreless streak to start the season (115:35 in 2003-04). 

It was the 16th time in his still young career that Barzal has had at least three points. His two assists were both on Eberle goals; Jordan did not score in his first 15 games last season. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Mathew Barzal (2) Josh Bailey (1), Noah Dobson (2) 04:43 NJD 0,NYI 1

Jordan Eberle (1) Anders Lee (1), Mathew Barzal (1) 19:39 NJD 0,NYI 2

2nd Period

Nathan Bastian (1) Ty Smith (3) 02:10 NJD 1,NYI 2

3rd Period

Jordan Eberle (2) Noah Dobson (3), Mathew Barzal (2) 01:56 NJD 1,NYI 3 PPG 

Brock Nelson (2) Nick Leddy (2), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) 05:16 NJD 1,NYI 4 PPG

The Skinny        

The Isles are 3-1-0 (or better) through four games for the first time since 2014-15, when they were 4-0-0…(FIX)The Isles have allowed only six goals this season; it matches their fewest allowed through four games since 1981-82, when they also allowed five…The Isles have dressed the same 18 skaters in all four games, matching a club record to start the season (last done in 2015-16)…New Jersey rookie Ty Smith assisted on the only Devil goal to extend his career-starting point streak to four games; he is the 11th defenseman in NHL history to do so…The Isles scored two power play goals in a period for the first time in exactly one year, when Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier did so against the Rangers…Noah Dobson played 20:24, tying a career high and adding two assists for his first career multi-point game.  Dobson also recorded seven blocks – matching the most by an Islander since Calvin deHaan had 8 on December 20, 2016 vs. Boston…The Isles have had 20 power plays through four games; last season their 20th power play came during their 12th game of the season… Semyon Varlamov joins Chris Osgood (2001-02) and Jaroslav Halak (2014-15) as the only Isles to go 3-0-0 over the first four games of the season.

Isles History Lesson

Josh Bailey recorded his 323rd assist, matching Brent Sutter on the all-time list….Ryan Pulock played in his 199th consecutive game, breaking a tie with Gerry Hart for 3rd place on the all-time defense list.

Youth Club (revised)

Noah Dobson is the youngest Islander defenseman with a multi-point game (and a multi-assist game) since  Travis Hamonic.

Hamonic had four multi-point games as a 20-year-old (the last on 4-8-2011) and three multi-assist games as a 20-year-old (the last on 2-21-2011). Dobson turned 21 just two weeks ago.

Circle Stars

The Isles have won a majority of face-offs in each of the first four games.  It is the first time since face-offs have been officially tracked (1997-98) that the Isles have done this.  

The Islanders have won 57.2% of the draws through the four games.  They have not won more than 50.1% of the draws since 2007-08.

The Injury

Brock Nelson suffered a cut during a collision with PK Subban late in the second period; he returned for the third period and scored a power play goal.

What a Way to Start

Semyon Varlamov now has the longest shutout streak to start a season by an Islander goalie:

• 142:10 Semyon Varlamov (2020-21)

• 115:35 Rick DiPietro (2003-04)

• 107:20 Chico Resch (1975-76)

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-1-0 overall; 2-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

New Jersey is 2-1-1 overall; 1-0-1 at home and 1-1-0 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 848-619-60-151 in 1,678 games, and he is now two 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  927

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    848

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,707

3. Barry Trotz         1,678

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 3-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    15-9-11=35

New Jersey       6-13-12=31

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-1-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-26-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to improve to 3-0-0 on the season and 5-3--0 against New Jersey.

Scott Wedgewood made 31 saves but falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in his career against the Isles.  It was his first NHL game since February 13, 2018.

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 on the power play (3:54); New Jersey was 0-1 on the power play (2:00)

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 011-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 69-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 3-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:17); New Jersey: PK Subban (22:40)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:43 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (2-0-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 38, New Jersey 22 (63%)

Brock Nelson won 9 of 11 for the Isles; no Devil who took multiple face-offs won more than they lost.

The Isles are 4-0-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-0-0 when they are tied, and 0-0-0 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Matt Martin -6)

New Jersey 24 (Michael McLeod -6)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 22 (Noah Dobson -7)

New Jersey 14 (4 with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, New Jersey 59

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 53, New Jersey 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Three with +7

New Jersey: Dmitry Kulikov +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, New Jersey 2

5-on-5: Isles 13, New Jersey 2

Scratches

(Michael Dal Colle-INJ), Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho, Corey Schneider

Games Lost: 5

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 is 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 272, Brock Nelson 249, Mathew Barzal 236, Ryan Pulock 199, Josh Bailey 157, Anthony Beauvillier 147.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has 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 272

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 249

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

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 236

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has passed Gerry Hart for the third-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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 199

4. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-0-0 in games that go the opponents' 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 869…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 564 *** 19. Brock Nelson 552 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 538

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 174 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists

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

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

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 477…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 304  ***22.  Brock Nelson 297

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 154

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 85

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).

The Isles are 6-1-0 in their last seven games against New Jersey (1-3-3 vs Isles).

 

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 24th – ISLANDERS AT NEW JERSEY 7:00pm,

[MSG+2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, WNYM 970]

The Isles conclude their first traditional home-and-home series of the season and begin a five-game road trip in New Jersey. 

The Isles have won three straight games in New Jersey (twice in overtime and once in a shootout).

This is the first game of a five games in eight days trip (Tuesday/Thursday in Washington; Saturday/Sunday in Philadelphia).

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: Isles 1, Boston 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 3

Isles 1, Boston 0 

Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves for his second consecutive shutout and JG Pageau scored the only goal with just 4:09 to play as the Isles blanked the Boston Bruins 1-0 in the home opener at Nassau Coliseum.

Varlamov became the first goalie in Islander history to start a season with consecutive shutouts, breaking Rick DiPietro's club record scoreless streak to start the season (115:35 in 2003-04). 

Pageau, who led the Islander forwards in ice-time, scored his first winning goal as an Islander in regular season play.  It was his 90th NHL goal, including seven against Boston.

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Scoring

2nd Period

No Scoring

3rd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Adam Pelech (1) Ryan Pulock (1) 15:51 BOS 0, NYI 1 

The Skinny        

Each of the Isles' first three games has ended in shutouts, with the Isles winning two.  It is the first time since 1976 that the Isles have had two shutouts in their first three games and only the 2nd time since 1943 (the NHL's "modern era")  that an NHL team has been involved in three consecutive shutouts to open a season (1999-2000 Anaheim, who lost the first two before winning the third) …Matt Martin had 3 hits, raising his career total to 3,000.  Only four other active players have at least 3,000 hits (one of whom is Cal Clutterbuck)…The Isles improve to 4-0 when opening the home season with Boston, also winning in 1977, 1980 and 2006; the Isles are 28-14-6 all-time in home openers.… Semyon Varlamov, who had consecutive shutouts in the bubble during last year's playoffs, is the first Islander goalie with consecutive regular season shutouts since Thomas Greiss in 2017.  He is only the 14th goalie in NHL history to open a season with consecutive shutouts…The Isles scored four goals in the season's first 34:54 and then went 140:57 before Pageau scored tonight's winner.

The Injuries

Matt Grzelyck suffered an injury in a collision with Jordan Eberle in the third period; he did not return.

What a Way to Start

Semyon Varlamov now has the longest shutout streak to start a season by an Islander goalie:

• 120:00 Semyon Varlamov (CURRENT)

• 115:35 Rick DiPietro (2003-04)

• 107:20 Chico Resch (1975-76)

It is only the second time that the Isles have had two shutouts in their first three team games; it also happened in October 1976.

The One and Only

This is only the third time in Islander history that they have scored the only goal of a 1-0 win in the final five minutes of regulation:

• 15:40 Derek King @ Buffalo (2/4/1990) -  Glenn Healy had the shutout.

• 17:29 Frans Nielsen Vs Arizona (11/8/2014) – Jaroslav Halak had the shutout.

• 15:51 Jean-Gabriel Pageau vs. Boston (1/18/2021)- Semyon Varlamov had the shutout.

Only Need 17 Shots When You Don't Allow A Goal

This is the sixth time that the Isles won a game by shutout and had 17 (or fewer) shots themselves.  However, the last time it happened was on January 22, 2000 – a 2-0 win for Kevin Weekes.  Gino Odjick had the winning goal for Coach Butch Goring.

King of the 1-0 Win

This was the 4th shutout for Semyon Varlamov; three have been by 1-0 scores (also 11/2/19 @ Buffalo and 1/6/20 vs. Colorado).  Jaroslav Halak also won three 1-0 games for the Isles.  The club record is 4, set by Tommy Salo.

Home and Road

The Isles are 2-1-0 overall; 1-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

Boston is 1-1-1 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 1-1-1 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 847-619-60-151 in 1,677 games, and he is now three 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  926

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    847

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,706

3. Barry Trotz         1,677

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 2-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    3-7-7=17

Boston 11-6-10=27

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-1-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-26-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves for his 29th shutout (and third against Boston). He improves to 2-0-0 on the season and 7-5-3 against Boston.

Tuukka Rask made 16 saves but falls to 1-1-0 on the season and 17-6-1 in his career against the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-5 on the power play (8:50); Boston was 0-3 on the power play (4:50)

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-1-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 1-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

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

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

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

• The Isles are 2-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:28); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (25:18)

JG Pageau led Isles forwards with 20:20 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Ryan Pulock (1-0-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Boston 27 (51%)

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Sean Kuraly won 5 of 7 for Boston.

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Boston 26 (Jeremy Lauzon -7)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Andy Greene -5)

Boston 12 (3 with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 39, Boston 61

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 25, Boston 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +4

Boston: Brandon Carlo +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 4, Boston 12

5-on-5: Isles 0, Boston 6

Scratches

(Michael Dal Colle-INJ), Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho, Corey Schneider

Games Lost: 4

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 is 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 271, Brock Nelson 248, Mathew Barzal 235, Ryan Pulock 198, Josh Bailey 156, Anthony Beauvillier 146.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has 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 271

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 248

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

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

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 235

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

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has tied Gerry Hart for the third-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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 198

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

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

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failure (no goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 0-0-0 in games that go the opponents' 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 868…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 563 *** 19. Brock Nelson 551 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 537

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 174 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 151

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 322 …

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

Points

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

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 476…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 303  ***22.  Brock Nelson 296

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 153

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 84

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).

This was the Isles' first home win over Boston since November 2, 2013 and ends an 0-9-1 stretch.  Only five current Islanders (all forwards) played in that game.

 

Boston is the only opponent that will make four separate trips to the Coliseum; the next meeting is on February 13th. The team will play all four of their Coliseum meetings before playing at all in Boston.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21st – NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm,

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

The Isles conclude their first homestand of the season as they begin a traditional home-and-home series with New Jersey. 

It is the first two of the eight games that the teams will play this season.

The teams met only twice in the shortened 2019-20 season with each team picking up a road win five days apart.   While the Isles are 5-1-0 over the past two seasons against New Jersey, the Devils have earned points in four of the six games (1-2-3).

It will be a milestone game in different directions for the Isles' telecast team as Brendan Burke is scheduled to call his 250th consecutive Islander regular season game while Butch Goring will be caught on the all-time Isles games coached list by Barry Trotz.

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