The Skinny: Pittsburgh 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Pittsburgh 6, Isles 3

Bryan Rust completed a hat trick into an empty net as the Pittsburgh Penguins built a 5-0 lead before the game was half over and held off the Islanders for a 6-3 victory before a socially-distanced crowd of 2,800 at PPG Paints Arena. 

Mathew Barzal scored his first goal in 10 games and then set up Anthony Beauvillier to extend Beau's goal-scoring streak to four straight games.  Jordan Eberle scored on a late-game 4-on-4 (with the goalie pulled) to get the Isles closer.

With the loss, the Isles remain tied with Washington and hold onto a share of the East Division point lead with 48 points. The Capitals have two games in hand and will play one of them on Sunday afternoon as they host the Rangers.  The Penguins (even in games with the Isles) sit just two points behind. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Frederick Gaudreau (1) Sam Lafferty (4), Colton Sceviour (2) 05:48  NYI 0,PIT 1

Evan Rodrigues (4) Jared McCann (7), Cody Ceci (5) 10:07 NYI 0,PIT 2

2nd Period

Sidney Crosby (14) Jake Guentzel (19), Kris Letang (20) 04:26 NYI 0,PIT 3 PPG

Bryan Rust (12) Sidney Crosby (25), Jared McCann (8) 06:18 NYI 0,PIT 4 PPG

Bryan Rust (13) Kris Letang (21), Jake Guentzel (20) 08:21 NYI 0,PIT 5

Mathew Barzal (10) Scott Mayfield (8) 10:47 NYI 1,PIT 5

3rd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (6) Mathew Barzal (17), Nick Leddy (23) 05:23 NYI 2,PIT 5

Jordan Eberle (11) Brock Nelson (8), Josh Bailey (15) 17:33 NYI 3,PIT 5

Bryan Rust (14)EN 19:18 NYI 3,PIT 6

The Skinny        

The Isles have points in 23 of their last 28 games (19-5-4) and are 14-3-1 in their last 18 games.… The Isles have outscored their opponents 34-23 in the first period and 43-23 in the third period –their +20 differential in the third period is the best in the NHL; the Isles have been outscored 32-24 in the middle session… The Isles have 13 goals from rookies (Oliver Wahlstrom 9, Kieffer Bellows 3, Sebastian Aho 1); among East Division teams, only New Jersey (22) has more… The Isles defense had two assists (by Nick Leddy and Scott Mayfield), giving them 65 – most in the East… Anthony Beauvillier has a goal in four straight games…The Isles fall to 3-7-1 when trailing after two periods… Nick Leddy now has 23 assists; 16 has come at even-strength, tying Mackenzie Weegar for the most by an NHL defenseman...Josh Bailey played in his 900th  game, tying Bobby Nystrom for 3rd on the all-time Isles games played list…Mathew Barzal's goal was his first in 11 games, and gave the Isles five players (including the injured Anders Lee) with at least 10 goals…Bryan Rust recorded his 4th career hat trick and joins Philadelphia's Joel Farabee as players with hats against the Isles this season….With a goal and an assist tonight, Sidney Crosby is now 39-83-122 in 74 career games against the Isles…Frederick Gaudreau's goal was his first in the NHL since December 31, 2018.

Wahli's World

Since February 22nd, Oliver Wahlstrom leads the team in goals (8) and is 2nd on the team in points (8-6-14) to Nick Leddy's (0-15-15).  Wahlstrom saw his five-game point streak (4-2-6) end tonight.

March to Greatness

The Isles are 11-3-0 this month; matching the 1981-82 team  (11-1-2) for the most wins the Isles have ever had in March.

(Usually) Kings of 60

The Isles have won 18 games in regulation (out of 22 overall). Only Edmonton (20) and Tampa Bay (20) have more regulation wins.

Varly Streaking

Semyon Varlamov is 7-2-1 in his last ten decisions, allowing just 24 goals in that span.  Varly has won 14 games this season with a goals against average of 2.20 and save percentage of .922.  

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin suffered his first loss in nine games, ending his club rookie record winning streak at 8.   Sorokin is the first Russian-born rookie goaltender in NHL history to record eight straight wins.

Sorokin and Winning Streaks

Longest Islander Goalie Winning Streaks

11 - Jaroslav Halak 2014-15

10 - Billy Smith   1981-82

8 -   Mark Fitzpatrick 1989-90

8-    Robin Lehner 2018-19

8-    Thomas Greiss 2019-20

8-    ILYA SOROKIN 2020-21 

Sorokin has won five straight at home.  Only one NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won as many as eight straight at home - Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.

Towards the Top of the Table

The Isles have 48 points through 35 games, trailing only last year's team for most points in that span in the Post-Cup era.

Most Points through 35 games:

• 55 1978-79 (24-4-7)

• 50 1980-81 (22-7-6)

• 50 1983-84 (24-9-2)

• 49 2019-20 (23-8-3)

• 49 1976-77 (22-8-5)

• 48 2020-21 (22-9-4)

• 47 2014-15 (23-11-1)

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 15 of their first 16 home games (13-1-2), remaining tied with the 1978-79 team for the most in club history through 16 games:

Most Points at Home Through 16 Games

• 28 2020-21 (13-1-2)

• 28 1978-79 (12-0-4)

• 27 2019-20 (13-2-1)

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 82 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 35 games; it matches the fewest goals that they have allowed through 35 games in their history:

• 82 (2020-21)

• 82 (2015-16) 

• 84 (1977-78)

• 84 (1976-77)

• 86 (1975-76)

• 86 (2001-02)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 3  (0 home, 3 away)

• Buffalo W-W-W-W-W-W         Remaining games: 2  (0 home, 2 away)

• New Jersey W-L-W-W-W-Wso Remaining games: 2  (2 home, 0 away)

• Rangers     W-L-W Remaining games: 5  (4 home, 1 away)

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot     Remaining games: 3  (2 home, 1 away)

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 away)

• Washington L-L-L         Remaining games: 5  (4 home, 1 away)

Road Warriors

This was the eighth game in a stretch where the Isles are playing seven out of nine games on the road.  The Isles are 5-3-0 in this stretch:

• @ NJ W 3-2

• @ NJ Wso 3-2

• @WSH L 1-3

• PHI L 3-4

• PHI W 6-1

• @PHI Wot 2-1 

• @BOS Wot 4-3

• @PIT L 3-6

• @PIT 3/29

Following this stretch, 12 of the final 20 will be at home

Home and Road

The Isles are 22-9-4 overall; they are 13-1-2 at home and 9-8-2 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 22-11-2 overall; they are 15-3-1at home and 7-8-1 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 867-627-60-155 in 1,709 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  946

3. Barry Trotz    867

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,739

3. Barry Trotz        1,709

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,430

2. Glen Sather 1,319

3. Lou Lamoriello 1,316

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,183 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 14-1-2 when scoring first and are 8-8-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    9-13-10=32

Pittsburgh    4-14-3=21

The Isles are 14-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-4-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 60-29-12 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 5 saves and was replaced after Pittsburgh's fourth goal.  He is now 8-3-1 on the season and 1-1-0 in his career against Pittsburgh. Semyon Varlamov stopped 10 of 11 in relief.

Tristan Jarry made 29 saves to improve to 14-8-2 on the season and 6-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (7:25); Pittsburgh was 2-4 (4:30).

The Isles are 9-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-6-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 5-7-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-2-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-6-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 82-8-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 9-3-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 2-3 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 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 3-0-2 in the front-half and 4-0-1 in the back-half. The next back-to-back is scheduled for April 8th/9th, home games vs. Pittsburgh and the Rangers.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-2-3 (.865) in back-ends. This is by far the best record of any NHL team in back-ends during this stretch.  Tampa Bay has the next best record: 19-6-3 (.732).

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, Devils, Flyers, and Capitals).

  

In two-game series, the Isles are 3-3-2 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), PIT (L/-)

In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-0 in the first game, 3-0-0 in the second game, and 3-0-0 in the third:

BUF (W/W/W), NJ (W/W/W), PHI (L/W/Wot)

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 4-0-1 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 1-2-0 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 17-7-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (20:36); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (23:55)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:58 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (10-5-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (2-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 24, Pittsburgh 29 (45%)

Casey Cizikas won 9 of 14 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 15 of 24 for Pittsburgh.

The Isles are 12-6-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 9-2-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 37 (Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas-5)

Pittsburgh 22 (Two with 3)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 2 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Andy Greene and Ryan Pulock -3)

Pittsburgh 4 (Four with 1)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, Pittsburgh 42

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 34, Pittsburgh 34

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Adam Pelech +7

Pittsburgh: Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Pittsburgh 11

5-on-5: Isles 7, Pittsburgh 7

Scratches

Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR)

Games Lost: 26

COVID Games Lost -5

250-Game Club

The Isles have two players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 250 games, and they are two of just 15 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 280, Mathew Barzal 267, Ryan Pulock 230, Josh Bailey 188.  All four players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Brock Nelson now has the longest active streak (and 5th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 10th:

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 – 3/13/2021 295

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

5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 280

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 267

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

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

9. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

10. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 230

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Pulock's streak is the 2nd-longest by an Islander defenseman, trailing only Denis Potvin's 262-game streak.

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, 1 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR, no goalie interference 3/11 vs NJ)

The Isles are 1-0-0 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 one goal and allowed four 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:  4 [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; Oskar Lindblom, 3/18/21 vs PHI (17:38)-winning goal; Anders Bjork, 3/25/21 vs BOS (17:54) – tying goal/Isles won in OT]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom and Josh Bailey 900…

14. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 15. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 16. Garry Howatt 596 *** 17.  Matt Martin 595 *** 18. John Tonelli 594 ***19. Brock Nelson 583 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 569 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 520 *** 29. Dave Lewis 514 *** 30. Cal Clutterbuck 511 *** 31. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 33. Nick Leddy 497

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Billy Harris and Anders Lee 184 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Brock Nelson 162 *** 16. Patrick Flatley 160  *** 17. Josh Bailey 159

Assists

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

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Josh Bailey 337 …

19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 191

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 496…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 320  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 315

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 *** 4. Terry Simpson 187 *** 5. Barry Trotz 185

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 105

On the Farm

Cole Bardreau scored twice to take over the team lead in goals with five, but the Sound Tigers fell 5-2 to Hartford on Saturday afternoon.

Bridgeport falls to 3-8-0-0 on the season (2-2-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-6-0-0 vs. Providence).

Bridgeport returns to action on Wednesday when they host Providence to end the first-half of their 24-game schedule.

Season Series Stats

Pittsburgh leads the season series 5 games to 2 (and 10 points to 6). The teams will meet in Pittsburgh on Monday to wrap up their season series.

The Isles went 2-0-2 at home vs. the Penguins this season but have lost all three games in Pittsburgh in regulation time.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, MARCH 29th  – ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00pm

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

The Isles remain in Pittsburgh to close out the month of March with the final game of the regular season with the Penguins.

The Isles are 3-4-2 in their last nine games in Pittsburgh and need a win to set a club record for wins in the month of March (currently tied with 1981-82 at 11) and match the club record for any month (12 in November 1980 and February 1982).  

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