The Skinny: Isles 5, Buffalo 2

"The Skinny"         

By Eric Hornick

Game 23

Isles 5, Buffalo 2

Matt Martin scored a pair of goals for his first two-goal game since 2014 and Ilya Sokokin made 18 saves for his third straight win as the Islanders extended their winning streak to three and their point streak to six with a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the first of three consecutive games between the teams at Nassau Coliseum.

Taylor Hall scored 3:08 into the second period to end Sorokin's shutout streak at 143:08; it is the third-largest rookie streak in Islander history.

The Isles are 10-2-4 in their last 16 games and have once again moved into a first place tie (in points) with Washington. The Isles have won eight straight games against everyone but Pittsburgh during that stretch.  

The Scoring:

1st Period

Noah Dobson (2) Jordan Eberle (5), Mathew Barzal (12) 10:25 BUF 0,NYI 1

Matt Martin (3) Casey Cizikas (4), Cal Clutterbuck (5) 16:21 BUF 0,NYI 2

2nd Period

Taylor Hall (2) Cody Eakin (2) 03:08 BUF 1,NYI 2 

Anthony Beauvillier (2) Brock Nelson (5), Josh Bailey (11) 14:58 BUF 1,NYI 3

3rd Period

Jordan Eberle (9) Anders Lee (6) 03:14 BUF 1,NYI 4

Rasmus Ristolainen (3) Jack Eichel (14), Sam Reinhart (8) 07:23 BUF 2,NYI 4

Matt Martin (4) Casey Cizikas (5) 14:28 BUF 2,NYI 5 

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in 14 of their last 16 games (10-2-4); they are 8-0-2 against everyone but Pittsburgh in that stretch… The Isles are 5-0-1 in their last six games… Josh Bailey assisted on the winning goal; it was his 489th point, breaking a tie with Patrick Flatley for 11th place on the Isles all-time list…Nick Leddy's assist streak and Oliver Wahlstrom's point streak both ended at five straight games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 26-13 in the third period; the +13 differential is the best in the NHL… Anthony Beauvillier became the 75th Islander skater to appear in 300 games and was credited with the game-winning goal…Cal Clutterbuck had five hits and an assist in his 499th game as an Islander…Casey Cizikas matched a career high with two assists…Rasmus Dahlin started the game an NHL-worst -17 and was -4 tonight…Andy Greene was +4 and now leads Isles defensemen with a +7 rating…The Isles have dressed the same six defensemen in every game this season…Mathew Barzal is 2-3-5 in the last five games while Josh Bailey is 1-3-4 in the last four games; Bailey has five assists in four games against Buffalo this season and has 24 points (4-20-24) in 42 career games against the Sabres.

First Times in a Long Time

• Matt Martin's other two-goal games were on March 25, 2014 in Carolina and on February 25, 2011 in Philadelphia.

• Andy Greene went +4 for the first time in over eight years: February 15, 2013 (for New Jersey) vs. Philadelphia.

Respect Your Elders

• Andy Greene (38 years, 4 months) is the oldest player in Islander history to go +4 or better, breaking a record set by Ed Westfall, who was 36 years, 2 months when he had four points and went +5 on December 11, 1976 vs. Pittsburgh.

The Great 8-8-8

Josh Bailey appeared in his 888th Islander game and recorded his 333rd career assist.

Kings of 60

The Isles recorded their 13th regulation win (all of their wins have been in regulation).  No other team in the East has won more than 10 games in regulation.

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

Ilya Sorokin 2/16/2021 3/4/2021         143:08

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

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

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

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin allowed only two goals tonight and has allowed only two goals in his last three games. Sorokin has allowed 13 goals in 361 minutes this season (2.16), and since January 24th he has allowed only eight goals in his five appearances (1.59).  Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy is the only goalie in the entire NHL with a lower goals against average (1.50) in that span.  

Just Give Us a Chance!

The Isles had had just 26 power play attempts in the last 14 games.  The power play is 9-26 (34.6%) in that stretch, including 0-3 (with 10 shots) in this game.

The Isles have had just 24 power play attempts in ten home games this season. They are 9-24 on the power play at home (37.5%), including 8-16 (50.0%) in the seven home games against opponents other than Boston.

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in their first ten home games (8-0-2).  The 18 points match the most in the first ten 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 10 Games

• 18 1978-79 (8-0-2)

• 18 2020-21 (8-0-2)

• 18 2017-18 (8-0-2)

• 18 1984-85 (9-1-0)

Longest Home Point Streak to Open a Season

• 23 1978-79 (19-0-4)

• 10 2017-18 (8-0-2)

• 10 2020-21 (8-0-2)

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 52 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 23 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 23 games in their history:

• 52 (2020-21)

• 54 (1976-77)

• 54 (1977-78)

• 55 (2001-02)

They Can Score Too!

The Isles are one of five NHL teams that have three players with at least nine goals (Lee 10, Pageau 9, Eberle 9).  The other four teams (EDM, TOR, VAN, WPG) all play in the North Division.

Lots of Home Cooking

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing nine out of 10 at home.  The Isles are 5-0-1 in this stretch:

• W BUF 3-2

• W BOS 7-2

• Lot PIT 3-4

• W PIT 2-0

• W @ NJ 2-1

• W BUF 5-2

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 4-0-1 in this stretch.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-6-4 overall; they are 8-0-2 at home and 5-6-2 on the road.

Buffalo is 6-12-3 overall; they are 2-7-2 at home and 4-5-1 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 858-624-60-155 in 1,697 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  939

3. Barry Trotz    858

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,727

3. Barry Trotz        1,697

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 1,307

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,165 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 10-1-2 when scoring first and are 3-5-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    18-14-13=45

Buffalo     6-5-7=18

The Isles are 10-2-2 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

Ilya Sorokin made 16 saves to improve to 3-2-1 on the season; he is 2-0-0 in his career against Buffalo.

Jonas Johansson made 40 saves but falls to 0-2-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Buffalo did not have a power play, although they did score on a delayed penalty that would have been assessed to Casey Cizikas. 

The Isles are 7-2-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-4-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 2-5-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-1-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 9-1-3 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 76-6-10 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).

  

In two-game series, 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)

In three-game series, the Isles 1-0-0 in the first game, 0-0-0 in the second game, and 0-0-0 in the third:

BUF (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 10-6-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:58); Buffalo: Jacob Bryson (24:10)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 18:45 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (5-1-0), Ryan Pulock (6-3-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1), Adam Pelech (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Buffalo 21 (56%)

Casey Cizikas won 6 of 8 for the Isles; Curtis Lazar won 4 of 7 for Buffalo.

The Isles are 9-4-2 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 13 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Buffalo 26 (Colin Miller -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Nick Leddy -3)

Buffalo 8 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 62, Buffalo 39

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 49, Buffalo 35

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Matt Martin and Jordan Eberle +10

Buffalo: Taylor Hall +5 

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 18, Buffalo 5

5-on-5: Isles 13, Buffalo 3

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 291, Brock Nelson 268, Mathew Barzal 255, Ryan Pulock 218, Josh Bailey 176.  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 291

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

5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 268

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

7. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 255

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 218

 (*) 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 888…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 583 *** 19. Brock Nelson 571 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 557 …

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 516 *** 29. Dave Lewis 514 *** 30. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509*** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 499 *** 33. Ed Westfall 493 *** 34. Nick Leddy 485

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 333 …

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. Josh Bailey 489…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 317  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 306

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 173

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 96

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 2-5-0-0 on the season (1-1-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-4-0-0 vs. Providence) following a 4-1 loss to Providence on Thursday afternoon. Dmytro Timashov's power goal was the Sound Tigers' only tally. Bridgeport next plays on Saturday when they host Hartford. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 4 games to 0 (and 8 points to 0). The teams will meet again at the Coliseum on both Saturday and Sunday, before finishing the season series in Buffalo on May 3rd and May 4th. 

The Isles have won the four games by a combined score of 14-5.  The Isles have won the last seven games with Buffalo and have also won their last seven home games against the Sabres.  

It is the second time the Isles have defeated Buffalo four times in a season, going 4-0-0-0 in 2003-04.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, MARCH 6th  – BUFFALO AT ISLANDERS 1:00pm

[MSG+2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]

The Isles play the second game of their five-game home stand, and the middle game of their three-game series with the Sabres, as they entertain Buffalo in the first matinee of the season on Saturday at 1pm.

This 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 teams will also play 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