The Skinny: Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 17

Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2

Kris Letang scored his first two goals of the season and the second one, with 6:26 to play, turned out to be the game-winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins completed a sweep of the two game series with a 3-2 win over the Isles at PPG Paints Arena. 

Sidney Crosby added a pair of assists in his 1,000th NHL game, and Tristan Jarry made 33 saves for Pittsburgh while Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson had the goals for the Isles.

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Kris Letang (1) Evgeni Malkin (7), Sidney Crosby (8) 12:35 NYI 0,PIT 1 PPG

Jordan Eberle (7) Anthony Beauvillier (2) 15:28 NYI 1,PIT 1

3rd Period

Brock Nelson (5) Scott Mayfield (3) 00:53 NYI 2,PIT 1

Mike Matheson (1) Teddy Blueger (7), Sam Lafferty (1) 07:35 NYI 2,PIT 2

Kris Letang (2) Sidney Crosby (3), Jake Guentzel (8) 13:34 NYI 2,PIT 3

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in eight of their last ten games (5-2-3)… The Isles fell to 5-2-1 in February… Leo Komarov returned to the lineup, replacing Kieffer Bellows …The Isles allowed two goals in the third period, raising the season total for goals allowed in the third period to a still NHL-low nine. However, the Isles were outscored 4-2 in the third period in the two games in Pittsburgh…Anders Lee played his 285th consecutive game, breaking a tie with Matt Moulson for the third longest streak in Islander history.  Lee is still not quite halfway to Billy Harris' 576 game streak…Kris Letang is the 5th active defenseman with at least 12 multi-goal games; it was Letang's second two-goal effort against the Isles (12/4/2018)…Brock Nelson's goal, his first at even-strength this season gives him goals in two straight games and three goals in the last four games; Nelson's goal was only the second that the Isles have scored in the opening minute of a period…Jordan Eberle's goal tied him with Anders Lee for the club lead (7)…Mathew Barzal has seven shots on goal and won his last six face-offs but has now gone three games without a point since his nine-game point streak ended…Pittsburgh scored the tying and winning goals on their final two shots of the game…The Isles finished with 53 hits; it was the 2nd-highest total in the NHL this season (Washington on 1/19/21, also in Pittsburgh – 54)….Brock Nelson recorded his 155th goal, matching Josh Bailey's total for 16th place in Isles history. Bailey has only one goal this season.

First Time in a Long Time

All three Penguin goals were scored by defensemen.  It was the first time the Isles allowed three goals to defenders since Columbus did it on December 14, 2017 (Jake Werenski, Markus Nutivaara and Seth Jones).

Let's Go Home

After opening the season with a record-tying 12 of 17 on the road, the Isles are heading home for 9 of their next 10 and 23 of their final 39 games. Other than San Jose, no team has played fewer home games than the Isles.  Each of the Isles' next 12 games is in the Metropolitan area (nine at home and three at New Jersey).

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 8-6-3 overall; they are 4-0-1 at home and 4-6-2 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 9-6-1 overall; they are 7-1-0 at home and 2-5-1 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 853-624-60-154 in 1,691 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  935

3. Barry Trotz    853

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,720

3. Barry Trotz        1,691

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 1,302

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,155 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 7-1-1 when scoring first and are 1-5-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    16-10-9=35

Pittsburgh        4-8-6=18

The Isles are 7-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-3-1 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 55-28-11 when outshot; the 55 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 15 saves but falls to 7-4-2 on the season and 6-4-3 against Pittsburgh.

Tristan Jarry made 33 saves to improve to 5-5-1 on the season and 5-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Pittsburgh was 1-1 on the power play (0:12).

The Isles are 5-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 1-5-1 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 6-1-2 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 73-6-9 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 2-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 2-2 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 6-6-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:58); Pittsburgh: John Marino (24:55)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:33 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (3-1-0), Ryan Pulock (4-3-2), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1), Adam Pelech (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 32, Pittsburgh 21 (60%)

Anders Lee won 5 of 6 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 13 of 19 for Pittsburgh (but his teammates won only 8 of 34).

The Isles are 6-4-1 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 53 (Cal Clutterbuck -8)

Pittsburgh 30 (Brandon Tanev -6)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 1 (Cizikas – 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Two with 3)

Pittsburgh 18 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Pittsburgh 41

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 52, Pittsburgh 38

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Nick Leddy +13

Pittsburgh: Jake Guentzel +2 

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Pittsburgh 6

5-on-5: Isles 13, Pittsburgh 6

Scratches

Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, (Michael Dal Colle – INJ)

Games Lost: 15

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 285, Brock Nelson 262, Mathew Barzal 249, Ryan Pulock 212, Josh Bailey 170.  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 285

4.  Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 262

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

7. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 249

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 212

 (*) 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 882…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 577 *** 19. Brock Nelson 565 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 551 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Anders Lee 510 *** 30. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509*** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 495

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 179 *** 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 176

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 311  *** 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 167

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 91

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. Jakub Skarek made an AHL career-high 36 saves.  Bridgeport plays Providence again on Thursday.

Season Series Stats

Pittsburgh leads the season series 3 games to 1 (and 6 points to 3).

This was the first time that the Isles had lost consecutive games in regulation to Pittsburgh since 2016.  The Isles are 0-2-1 in the last three vs. the Pens.

The teams will conclude their six games against each other this month next Saturday/Sunday (5pm) at the Coliseum.  

UP NEXT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd  – BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]

The Isles begin a stretch of 9 out of 10 at home as they welcome Buffalo to the Coliseum for the first time this season.

The Isles swept a pair of games in Buffalo last week, and have won five straight against the Sabres overall, as well as five straight at home.  

This game was originally scheduled for February 2nd, but was postponed due to the Sabre season being paused.

All four of the Sabre visits to New York will occur in a two-week period, beginning Monday.

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