"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
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