The Skinny: Isles 4, Boston 2

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 13

Isles 4, Boston 2 

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals, including a back-breaking shorthanded goal, as the Islanders handed the Bruins only their second regulation loss of the season with a 4-2 win over Boston at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

For the fourth straight game, the Isles had only one power play, but they made the most of it, as Mathew Barzal converted an Anders Lee pass for the lead (and eventual winning) goal at 5:30 of the third period.

The win is the 1,300th for General Manager Lou Lamoriello; David Poile (1421) and Glen Sather (1319) are the only other GMs to reach that mark.

The Scoring:

1st Period 

Brad Marchand (9) Patrice Bergeron (2), David Pastrnak (4) 08:41 BOS 1,NYI 0

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) Ryan Pulock (5), Leo Komarov (1) 11:36 BOS 1,NYI 1

Jordan Eberle (6) Brock Nelson (3), Scott Mayfield (1) 15:16 BOS 1,NYI 2

2nd Period

Patrice Bergeron (7) Brad Marchand (9), David Pastrnak (5) 16:51 BOS 2,NYI 2

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (6) Anders Lee (3), Jordan Eberle (3) 05:30 BOS 2,NYI 3 PPG

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4) Leo Komarov (2) 14:32 BOS 2,NYI 4 SHG

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in six straight (3-0-3); it is their longest point streak since last season's club-record 17-game streak.…Mathew Barzal has points on fourteen of the team's 32 goals this season, including 10 of 22 at even-strength; Barzal's game-winner extended his point streak to a career-high eight games.  It is the longest point streak for the Isles since Josh Bailey had a 10 game point streak in last 2017…Ten of Barzal's 65 career goals have been game-winners …The Isles have scored 15 goals in the first period, but only 17 goals in the second and third periods…The Isles were held to one power play for the fourth consecutive game (2-2 vs. Pittsburgh,0-1 vs the Rangers, 1-1 vs. Boston); after having 20 power plays in their first four games, the Isles have had only 22 power plays in the last nine games…The Isles are 5-11 on the power play at home (45.5%) through 5 games; it's the first time since 2014-15 (6-20, 30%) that they have scored at least 5 power play goals in the first five home games….JG Pageau has three goals in the last two games, and also three goals in two games vs. Boston; he has nine goals in 25 career games against Boston…It was Pageau's 14th career shorty, and his first as an Islander; since 2014-15 only Brad Marchand (15) has more shorthanded goals… The Bruins are 0-2-0 vs. the Isles and 10-0-2 against the rest of the East…The Isles finished with a season-high 42 shots; it was the first time this season Boston allowed more than 35 shots….This was the eighth time over the last three seasons that the Isles have faced Boston, yet they have yet to face former mate Jaroslav Halak…Barry Trotz coached his 163rd game for the Isles, tying Ted Nolan for 7th place (Nolan was not credited with the game that Al Arbour coached for his 1,500th game); he will pass Nolan and tie Peter Laviolette on Monday…Leo Komarov earned his first two assists of the season; it was only his second career multi-assist game (2 for TOR vs STL on 12/5/2015)…Brock Nelson became the 22nd player in Islander history to record 300 points…Patrice Bergeron's two points gave him 887 points, one behind Bobby Orr for 6th place on the Bruins' point list...The Isles are two games over .500 for the second time this season (also at 3-1-0) and are 3-0-1 in February.

The Injury

Jakub Zboril suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period, causing the Bruins to play the final 40 minutes with five defensemen.

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in their first five home games (4-0-1).  The nine 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 4-0-1 record in Brooklyn.

Home and Road

The Isles are 6-4-3 overall; they are 4-0-1 at home and 2-4-2 on the road.

Boston is 10-2-2 overall; they are 4-0-0 at home and 6-2-2 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 851-622-60-154 in 1,687 games, and he has passed Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  933

3. Barry Trotz    851

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,717

3. Barry Trotz        1,686

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello is the third-winningest general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,421

2. Glen Sather 1,319

3. Lou Lamoriello 1,300

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,151 wins between the two of 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 5-1-1 when scoring first and are 1-3-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    15-15-12=42

Boston        7-9-14=30

The Isles are 5-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-1 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 55-27-11 when outshot; the 55 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves to improve to 6-2-2 on the season and 8-5-3 against Boston.  

Tuukka Rask made 38 saves but falls to 6-2-1 on the season and 17-7-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-1 on the power play (1:21); Boston was 0-2 on the power play (4:00) and allowed the Isles' first shorthanded goal of the season. 

The Isles are 4-1-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-3-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-4-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-0-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 4-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-3-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 71-6-9 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 2-1-3 in games decided by a single goal including 2-1 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 0-0-1 in the front-half and 0-0-1 in the back-half.  The next back-to-back is scheduled for February 15th/16th in Buffalo.

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

Series

The schedule as currently comprised has the Isles playing the same opponent in consecutive games nineteen times this season (including a three-game stretch vs. the Sabres in early March).  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 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 5-4-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:12); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (25:49)

Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 18:22 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (2-0-0), Ryan Pulock (4-2-2), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1)

Face-offs

Isles 23, Boston 40 (37%)

JG Pageau split his 18 draws but his teammates won only 14 of 45; Patrice Bergeron won 19 of 24 and David Krejci won 8 of 9 for Boston.

The Isles are 4-3-1 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 1-1-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 36 (JG Pageau -5)

Boston 27 (Five with 3)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Ryan Pulock -4)

Boston 12 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 67, Boston 60

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 57, Boston 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Brock Nelson +18

Boston: Anders Bjork +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 18, Boston 10

5-on-5: Isles 14, Boston 5

Scratches

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

Games Lost: 13

245 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 245 games, and they are three of just 17 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 281, Brock Nelson 258, Mathew Barzal 245, Ryan Pulock 208, Josh Bailey 166.  All five players have appeared in 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 281

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 258

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

8. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 245

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 208

 (*) 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 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 878…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 573 *** 19. Brock Nelson 561 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter and Casey Cizikas 547 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 506 *** 32. Ed Westfall 493 *** 33. Cal Clutterbuck 491

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 176 *** 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 325 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 173

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 480…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 308  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 300

Games Coached 

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

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

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 89

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 0-3-0 on the season (0-1-0 vs. Hartford and 0-2-0 vs. Providence) after dropping a 5-3 decision to Providence in their home opener, despite shorthanded goals from Cole Bardreau and Kurtis McLean.   

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).

The Isles have won consecutive home games from Boston for the first time since 2007. 

The teams will play again at the Coliseum February 25 and March 9, before playing their four games in Boston.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15th  – ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO 7:00pm

[NBCSN (NHL Live pre-game at 6:00], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]

Thirteen days after they were supposed to begin their season series with a pair of Coliseum games, the Isles head to Buffalo for a scheduled back-to-back set with the Sabres.

The Sabres have not played a game since losing to New Jersey on January 31st, and as of Saturday night still had eight players on their Covid list.

The Isles have won three straight games from Buffalo, including both meetings last season.  This is the first game of a twelve-game stretch in which the Isles are scheduled to face the Sabres six times, including three times in eight days beginning Monday.

Brendan Burke and Anson Carter will have the call for NBCSN.

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