The Skinny: Isles 2, New Jersey 1

"The Skinny"         

By Eric Hornick

Game 22

Isles 2, New Jersey 1

Oliver Wahlstrom and Anders Lee scored third period goals and Semyon Varlamov came within 14 seconds of his fourth shutout of the season as the Isles defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 before a crowd of 1,800 at Prudential Center.  It was the first game the Isles have played in front of fans since last March in Vancouver.

Miles Wood's late goal ended the Isles' team shutout streak at 119:46. 

The Isles are 9-2-4 in their last 15 games and have moved into a first place tie (in points) with Washington. The Isles have won seven straight games against everyone but Pittsburgh during that stretch.  

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (4) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5), Nick Leddy (14) 01:10 NYI 1,NJD 0

Anders Lee (10) Andy Greene (2), Mathew Barzal (11) 07:51 NYI 2,NJD 0

Miles Wood (7) Yegor Sharangovich (2), Nikita Gusev (3) 19:46 NYI 2,NJD 1

 

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in 13 of their last 15 games (9-2-4); they are 7-0-2 against everyone but Pittsburgh in that stretch… The Isles are 4-0-1 in their last five games… Nick Leddy's assist is his 9th in the last nine games; he leads the team with 14 assists.  Leddy has an assist in five straight games – the longest active streak in the entire NHL… Oliver Wahlstrom has a point in five straight games; he would have had consecutive game-winners if not for the Devils' late goal.  Wahlstrom's 5-game point streak matches the longest by an NHL rookie this season.…Jean-Gabriel Pageau earned his 100th career assist (to go along with 98 goals) …Anders Lee regained the team goal-scoring lead with 10…This is the fourth time this season that the Isles have scored 2 goals or fewer and won in regulation – most in the NHL.  The other 30 NHL teams have 29 such wins – combined...The Isles ended Pavel Zacha's point streak at 10 games…The Isles killed all four Devil power plays and have killed 14 of their last 16…The Isles have outscored their opponents 24-12 in the third period; the +12 differential is the best in the NHL…Semyon Varlamov was penalized for the first time as an Islander (and 12th time in his NHL career).

First Time in a Long Time

• Nick Leddy is the first Islander defenseman with at least 14 assists in the first 22 games since 2005-06, when Alexi Zhitnik had 15.

King of the 27's

Most Game Winning Goals by an Islander wearing #27:

• Anders Lee 31

• Derek King 30

• John Tonelli 29

Lee, who is the active team-leader in game-winners, moved into sole possession of 10th place in that category, breaking a tie with Derek King.

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie

• 10  Chico Resch (3 in 1974-75 and 7 in 1975-76)

•   2  Kelly Hrudey (1984-85)

•   2  Ilya Sorokin (2020-21)

Longest Shutout Streak by an Islander Rookie

PLAYER          START DATE END DATE SHUTOUT STREAK 

Glenn Resch 12/2/1975 12/12/1975 178:29

Al Montoya 2/17/2011 2/21/2011         143:17

Glenn Resch 10/18/197510/25/1975 138:51

Anders Nilsson 11/21/2011 3/10/2012 136:15

Glenn Resch 2/8/1975 3/1/1975         120:41

Ilya Sorokin 2/16/2021 CURRENT         120:00

*Note that Chico Resch played only 25 NHL games in 1974-75, qualifying him for rookie status in 1975-76

Just Give Us a Chance!

The Isles had had just 23 power play attempts in the last 13 games.  The power play is 9-23 (39.1%) in that stretch, including 0-1 in this game.

The Isles have had just 21 power play attempts in nine home games this season. They are 9-21 on the power play at home (42.9%), including 8-13 (61.5%) in the six home games against opponents other than Boston (with at least one power play goal in all six games).

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in their first nine home games (7-0-2).  The 16 points match the most in the first nine home games in club history.  The Isles are the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss at home.

Most Points at Home Through 9 Games

• 16 1978-79 (7-0-2)

• 16 2020-21 (7-0-2)

• 16 2017-18 (7-0-2)

• 16 1984-85 (8-1-0)

Longest Home Point Streak to Open a Season

• 23 1978-79 (19-0-4)

• 10 2017-18 (8-0-2)

• 9 2020-21 (7-0-2)

Lots of Home Cooking

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing nine out of 10 at home.  The Isles are 4-0-1 in this stretch:

• W BUF 3-2

• W BOS 7-2

• Lot PIT 3-4

• W PIT 2-0

• W @ NJ 2-1

19 in 33

This Isles are in a stretch in which they are scheduled to play 19 games in 33 days for the first time in franchise history.  The Isles are 3-0-1 in this stretch.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-6-4 overall; they are 7-0-2 at home and 5-6-2 on the road.

New Jersey is 7-9-2 overall; they are 2-7-1 at home and 5-2-1 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 857-624-60-155 in 1,696 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  938

3. Barry Trotz    857

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,726

3. Barry Trotz        1,696

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,425

2. Glen Sather 1,319

3. Lou Lamoriello 1,306

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,163 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 9-1-2 when scoring first and are 3-5-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      8-5-7=20

New Jersey 4-16-9=29

The Isles are 9-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 3-3-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 57-28-12 when outshot; the 57 wins match Tampa Bay for the most in games that they are outshot in that span. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves to improve to 10-4-3 on the season; he is 6-3-0 in his career against New Jersey.

Aaron Dell made 18 saves but falls to 0-2-0 on the season and 2-3-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); New Jersey was 0-4 on the power play (7:36), including a 24 second 5-on-3.   

The Isles are 7-2-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-4-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 2-5-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-1-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 8-1-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-5-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 75-6-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-2-4 in games decided by a single goal including 4-2 in regulation. They are 0-3 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 1-0-2 in the front-half and 2-0-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back is scheduled for March 6th/7th, both home games with Buffalo.

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 19-2-3 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 3-2-2 in the first game and 2-4-1 in the second game:

NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot), BUF(W/W), PIT (L/L), PIT (Lot/W)

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 2-0-1 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 9-6-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (22:07); New Jersey: PK Subban (23:17)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:24 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (4-1-0), Ryan Pulock (6-3-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1), Adam Pelech (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 29, New Jersey 36 (45%)

Brock Nelson won 6 of 11 for the Isles; Travis Zajac won 10 of 17 for New Jersey.

The Isles are 8-4-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 4-1-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 10 (Two with 2)

New Jersey 16 (Nathan Bastian -3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (JG Pageau -4)

New Jersey 7 (Sami Vatanen -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 42, New Jersey 56

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 37, New Jersey 38

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +11

New Jersey: Will Butcher +8 

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, New Jersey 1

5-on-5: Isles 6, New Jersey 1

Scratches

Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Leo Komarov

Games Lost: 19

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 290, Brock Nelson 267, Mathew Barzal 254, Ryan Pulock 217, Josh Bailey 175.  All five players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the third-longest consecutive game streak in club history while Brock Nelson has the fifth-longest and Mathew Barzal has the seventh-longest. 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 290

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

5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 267

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

7. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 254

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 215 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 217

 (*) 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 887…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 582 *** 19. Brock Nelson 570 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 556 …

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 515 *** 29. Dave Lewis 514 *** 30. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509*** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 498 *** 33. Ed Westfall 493 *** 34. Nick Leddy 484

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 182 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson 156

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Josh Bailey 332 …

19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 182

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley and Josh Bailey 488…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 316  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 305

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 172

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 95

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 2-4-0-0 on the season (1-1-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-3-0-0 vs. Providence). Bridgeport next plays on Thursday when they again play Providence in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). The teams will meet three times in four days next weekend (March 11th on Long Island and March 13th-14th in Newark).

The Isles have won 7 out of the last 9 vs New Jersey (with three of the wins coming past regulation) and have won four out of five in Newark, although this was the Isles' first regulation win at Prudential since April 8, 2017.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, MARCH 4th  – BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

[MSG+2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, WNYM 970]

The Isles begin a five-game home stand, and a three-game series with the Sabres, as they welcome Buffalo to the Coliseum for three games in less than 72 hours.

It is only the second time in club history that they will face the same opponent in three consecutive games (also March 4th-8th-10th, 2012 vs. New Jersey) but the first of four times that they are scheduled to do so under the current NHL schedule.

The Isles are 3-0-0 against the Sabres, having won the three games by a combined score of 9-3.  The Isles have won the last six games with Buffalo and have also won their last six home games against the Sabres.

The teams will also play on Saturday at 1pm and on Sunday at Noon.

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