The Skinny: Pittsburgh 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 16

Pittsburgh 4, Isles 1

Sidney Crosby converted an Islander giveaway for an early goal in his 999th NHL game, and Tristan Jarry made 31 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped the Isles' eight-game points streak (5-0-3) with a 4-1 win over the Isles at PPG Paints Arena. 

The only Islander offense came from a Brock Nelson power play goal just 12 seconds after Mike Matheson was assessed a boarding penalty. However, that was not enough as Pittsburgh snapped the Isles' three game win streaks (both on the road and overall).

The Scoring:

1st Period

Sidney Crosby (6) Kasperi Kapanen (5) 04:15 NYI 0,PIT 1

2nd Period

Teddy Blueger (3) Mike Matheson (2), Zach Aston-Reese (1) 18:01 NYI 0,PIT 2

3rd Period

Brock Nelson (4) Josh Bailey (8), Nick Leddy (8) 15:39 NYI 1,PIT 3 PPG

Bryan Rust (6)EN Jason Zucker (3), Evgeni Malkin (6) 16:54 NYI 1,PIT 4

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in eight of their last 9 (5-1-3)… The Isles have scored 19 goals in the first period (most in the East), but only 20 goals in the second and third periods; they had scored twice in each of the four prior second periods… Josh Bailey had an assist, giving him five helpers in the last three games… The Isles fell to 5-1-1 in February…Kieffer Bellows returned to the lineup, replacing Michael Dal Colle…The Isles allowed two goals in the third period (including an empty-netter), raising the season total for goals allowed in the third to seven.  Every other team in the NHL has allowed at least ten goals in the 3rd…Mike Matheson and John Marino both went +4…Casey Cizikas was involved in the Isles' first fight of the season, leaving only San Jose without a bout…Mathew Barzal played his 250th NHL game.

Most 1st Period Goals

The Isles are 3rd in the NHL in first period goals this season:

1. Edmonton 22

2. Columbus 21 

3. ISLES 19 

The 250 Club

Most assists in first 250 games (active players)

Rk Player

1 Sidney Crosby 230

2 Connor McDavid     207

3 Evgeni Malkin 196

4 Nicklas Backstrom 190

5 Jason Spezza 178

6 Mitch Marner 165

7 Paul Stastny 160

8 Patrick Kane 158

9 Mathew Barzal 157

10 Artemi Panarin 151

Most points thru 250 games (Isles)

PLAYER GP G A P

Mike Bossy 250 196 149 345

Bryan Trottier 250 119 195 314

Denis Potvin 250 78 171 249

Ziggy Palffy 250 124 115 239

Pat LaFontaine 250 117 109 226

Mathew Barzal 250 65 157 222

Brent Sutter 250 112 107 219

John Tavares 250 88 125 213

(Only Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin had more assists in their first 250 games than Barzal)

Pageau, Pageau, Pageau … JG Pageau

JG Pageau's streak of scoring a goal in the first period ended at a club record-tying four straight games; he is the 8th player in club history to do so:

• Jean-Gabriel Pageau  2/11/2021 – 2/16/2021

• Matt Moulson 11/26/2011 -12/3/2011

• Bryan Smolinski 3/27/1997 -4/3/1997

• Todd Bertuzzi 3/4/1997- 3/11/1997

• Ziggy Palffy 2/29/1996 - 3/5/1996

• Pat LaFontaine 12/28/1989 - 1/2/1990

• Bryan Trottier 1/13/1983 -1/20/1983

• John Tonelli 1/8/1983 - 1/15/1983

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 8-5-3 overall; they are 4-0-1 at home and 4-5-2 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 8-6-1 overall; they are 6-1-0 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 853-623-60-154 in 1,690 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  935

3. Barry Trotz    853

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,719

3. Barry Trotz        1,690

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 1,302

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 1-4-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    14-11-7=32

Pittsburgh        11-15-11=37

The Isles are 7-1-2 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 33 saves but falls to 7-3-2 on the season and 6-3-3 against Pittsburgh.

Tristan Jarry made 31 saves to improve to 4-5-1 on the season and 4-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (4:12); Pittsburgh was 0-4 on the power play (6:47), including a 1:13 of 5-on-3.

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

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 2-1-3 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

Including tonight, 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 3-1-1 in the first game and 1-3-1 in the second game:

NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot), BUF(W/W), PIT (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 6-5-2 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:06); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (24:28)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:13 of ice-time. 

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

Face-offs

Isles 26, Pittsburgh 28 (48%)

Casey Cizkas won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Teddy Blueger won 7 of 13 for Pittsburgh.

The Isles are 6-3-1 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 34 (Matt Martin -36)

Pittsburgh 24 (Three with 3)

Fights 

Casey Cizikas fought Brandon Tanev in the first period.  Season total: 1 (Cizikas – 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Two with 3)

Pittsburgh 15 (Jake Guentzel -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Pittsburgh 61

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 43, Pittsburgh 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Jordan Eberle +10

Pittsburgh: Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese +10 

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Pittsburgh 13

5-on-5: Isles 7, Pittsburgh 7

Scratches

Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Michael Dal Colle

Games Lost: 14

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 284, Brock Nelson 261, Mathew Barzal 248, Ryan Pulock 211, Josh Bailey 169.  All five players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has tied Matt Moulson for the third-longest consecutive game streak in club history while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have 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 284

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

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

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 261

7. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 248

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 211

 (*) 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 881…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 576 *** 19. Brock Nelson 564 *** 20. Ken Morrow and  Casey Cizikas 550 …

28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon, Mick Vukota and Anders Lee 509 *** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 494

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 155 *** 17. Brock Nelson 154

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 302

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 166

 

Coaching Wins

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

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 1-3-0-0 on the season (1-1-0-0 vs. Hartford and 0-2-0-0 vs. Providence) following their 5-3 win over Hartford on Wednesday.  Samuel Bolduc had a goal and two assists for the Sound Tigers while Jakub Skarek made 29 saves.  Bridgeport hosts Providence on Friday.

Season Series Stats

Pittsburgh leads the season series 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 2).

This was the Isles' first regulation loss to Pittsburgh in the last seven games (3-1-3).

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20th  – ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00pm

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

The Isles stay in Pittsburgh to battle the Penguins again on Saturday.  

It will be game 17 of the season, and a record-tying 12th of the first 17 on the road.  Scott Gordon coached those first 17 games in 2010-11, but was replaced for game 18 by Jack Capuano. 

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