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