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