"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 18
Isles 3, Buffalo 2
Jean-Gabriel Pageau broke a 2-2 tie with a power play goal with 4:52 to play and Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for his 8th win of the season as the Isles earned a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Nassau Coliseum.
Matt Martin had given the Isles a 2-1 lead earlier in the frame, but Sam Reinhart tied the game with a goal for Buffalo's lethal power play.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Curtis Lazar (4) Henri Jokiharju (1), Casey Mittelstadt (2) 17:15 BUF 1,NYI 0
2nd Period
Anders Lee (8) Jordan Eberle (4), Ryan Pulock (7) 03:56 BUF 1,NYI 1
3rd Period
Matt Martin (2) Andy Greene (1), Casey Cizikas (2) 03:01 BUF 1,NYI 2
Sam Reinhart (6) Victor Olofsson (7), Rasmus Dahlin (5) 05:48 BUF 2,NYI 2 PPG
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) Oliver Wahlstrom (2), Nick Leddy (9) 15:08 BUF 2,NYI 3 PPG
The Skinny
The Isles have points in nine of their last 11 games (6-2-3)… The Isles improve to 6-2-1 in February… Austin Czarnik returned to the lineup, replacing Leo Komarov …The Isles have allowed five goals in the third period of the last three games, matching the total for the prior 15 games. …Anders Lee regained the club lead in goals (8)…Brock Nelson played his 263rd consecutive game, breaking a tie with Denis Potvin for the fifth-longest streak in Islander history…Mathew Barzal played his 250th consecutive game…JG Pageau now has an a 6-game goal streak against Buffalo (including 3 games with Ottawa), going 8-3-11 in those six games. With 96-99-195 career totals, he is closing in on 100-100-200…The Isles won a game in which they allowed a power play goal for only the second time this season…With officials only serving in one division, Furman South was a referee for the third straight Islander game… The Isles have scored a game-winning power play goal in the third period of each of their last three home wins…This was the 3,750th regular season game in franchise history; the Isles should play their 4,000th regular season game in early 2024…Nick Leddy's assist on the winning goal tied Mathew Barzal for the club lead in assists...Andy Greene recorded his 4th assist as an Islander and his first since last March 7th…The Isles had only 23 shots on goal, which was their fewest since the Home Opener...The Isles went nearly 19 1/2 minutes without a shot, including the final 15:48 of the first period.
The Injury
Tobias Rieder left the game in the first period after a clean check by Ryan Pulock. He did not return.
Home Sweet Home
The Isles have earned points in their first six home games (5-0-1). The 11 points match the most in the first five games since 1982-83, when they opened 7-0-0. The Isles opened 2017-18 with a 5-0-1 record in Brooklyn.
Home and Road
The Isles are 9-6-3 overall; they are 5-0-1 at home and 4-6-2 on the road.
Buffalo is 5-8-2 overall; they are 2-5-1 at home and 3-3-1 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 854-624-60-154 in 1,692 games.
Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman 1,244
2. Joel Quenneville 936
3. Barry Trotz 854
Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman 2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,721
3. Barry Trotz 1,692
Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello is the third-winningest general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,422
2. Glen Sather 1,319
3. Lou Lamoriello 1,303
It All Starts at the Top
Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,157 wins between them. They start each game with more than any other pair in NHL history (David Poile and Peter Laviolette had 2,036 after their last game together). Bill Torrey and Al Arbour had a then-record 1,462 at the end of the 1991-92 season, which was their last season together.
First Things First
The Isles are 7-1-1 when scoring first and are 2-5-2 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 3-8-12=23
Buffalo 12-7-17=36
The Isles are 7-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 2-3-1 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 56-28-11 when outshot; the 56 wins are the most in the NHL.
In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves to improve to 8-4-2 on the season and 11-2-1 against Buffalo.
Linus Ullmark made 20 saves but falls to 4-4-2 on the season and 3-3-1 in his career against the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (3:43); Buffalo was 1-3 on the power play (5:31).
The Isles are 6-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-1 when they do not. The Isles are 2-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-1-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 7-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-1 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 74-6-9 when scoring three or more.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 3-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 3-2 in regulation. They are 0-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-1 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 1-0-1 in the front-half and 1-0-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back is scheduled for February 27th/28th, both home games with Pittsburgh.
Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 18-2-3 in back-ends.
Series
The schedule as currently comprised has the Isles playing the same opponent in consecutive games seventeen times this season (including three-game stretches vs. the Sabres and Devils in early March, vs the Flyers in late March and vs. the Caps in late April). The Isles are 3-2-1 in the first game and 1-4-1 in the second game:
NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot), BUF(W/W), PIT (L/L)
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 1-0-1 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 1-0-0 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 7-6-2 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (25:11); Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin (23:40)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:16 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (3-1-0), Ryan Pulock (5-3-2), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1), Adam Pelech (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 26, Buffalo 22 (54%)
Brock Nelson won 12 of 14 for the Isles; Eric Staal won 7 of 10 for Buffalo .
The Isles are 7-4-1 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 1-2-1 when they win fewer.
Hit Count
Isles 21 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)
Buffalo 14 (Curtis Lazar-4)
Fights
There were no fights. Season total: 1 (Cizikas – 1)
Blocked Shots
Isles 11 (Three with 2)
Buffalo 9 (Two with 2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 48, Buffalo 58
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 43, Buffalo 38
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Josh Bailey +13
Buffalo: Three with +6
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 13, Buffalo 7
5-on-5: Isles 12, Buffalo 4
Scratches
Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, (Michael Dal Colle – INJ)
Games Lost: 16
250-Game Club
The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 250 games, and they are three of just 16 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.
Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 286, Brock Nelson 263, Mathew Barzal 250, Ryan Pulock 213, Josh Bailey 171. All five players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.
Iron Man
Anders Lee has passed Matt Moulson for the third-longest consecutive game streak in club history while Brock Nelson has tied Denis Potvin for 5th place. Mathew Barzal has also moved into the top seven; 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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 286
4. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284
5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 263
6. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
7. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 250
8. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
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 210 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 213
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Challenges
Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures
The Isles are 1-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.(offsides 2/16 @BUF)
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 1 goal and allowed 2 goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:
For: 1 [Anders Lee, 2/6/21 vs PIT (17:14) -winning goal]
Vs: 2 [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)-winning goal; Evgeni Malkin, 2/11/21 vs PIT (19:42) – tying goal/PIT won in OT]
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 883…
17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 578 *** 19. Brock Nelson 566 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 552 …
28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Anders Lee 511 *** 30. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509*** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 496
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 180 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson 155
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
6. John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Josh Bailey 330 …
20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Nick Leddy 177
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 485…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Anders Lee 312 *** 22. Brock Nelson 303
Games Coached
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 *** 4. Terry Simpson 187 *** 5. Scott Gordon 181 *** 6. Barry Trotz 168
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 92
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 1-4-0-0 on the season (1-1-0-0 vs. Hartford and 0-3-0-0 vs. Providence) following a 1-0 loss to Providence on Friday. Isles defense prospect Samuel Bolduc is off to a big start with five points. Bridgeport plays Providence again on Thursday.
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 3 games to 0 (and 6 points to 0). The Isles' three wins are (in order) by scores of 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2.
The Isles swept have now won six straight against the Sabres overall (first time since a 7-game streak from 2002 to 2004), as have beaten Buffalo six straight times at home (for the first time ever).
UP NEXT
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25th – BOSTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm
[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]
The division-leading Bruins have lost only three games in regulation all season – two of those losses have come at the Coliseum (1-0 on 1/18 and 4-2 on 2/13) in the first two match-ups of the teams this season.
The Isles will be looking for their first three-game win streak over the Bruins since 2013 and could move within one point of the B's with a regulation victory.
The two days off between now and then are the last consecutive off days for the Isles until March 30-31 and Thursday's game begins a stretch of 19 games in 33 days for the Isles. It is the first time in franchise history that the Isles will play 19 games in 33 days.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment