The Skinny: Isles 4, Rangers 0

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 50

Isles 4, Rangers 0

Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for his third shutout of the season at Madison Square Garden (and sixth overall) and Leo Komarov's opening goal was the game-winner as the Isles broke a three-game winless streak with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Rangers before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,800. 

Oliver Wahlstrom's power play goal doubled the Islanders' advantage before the first period was over; Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal also scored (the latter recording his first career empty net goal).

The Isles remain in 3rd place in the East Division, four points behind both Pittsburgh and Washington. The Isles and Caps have six games to play while Pittsburgh has five. Boston is just one point behind the Isles withseven games to play, while the Rangers are now seven points behind the Isles (with just five games to play).  

The Isles' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to four; they would clinch a spot with a regulation win over the Rangers on Saturday.

 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Leo Komarov (1) Jordan Eberle (17), Nick Leddy (26) 06:27 NYI 1,NYR 0

Oliver Wahlstrom (10) Brock Nelson (11), Josh Bailey (21) 12:39 NYI 2,NYR 0 PPG

2nd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (11) Scott Mayfield (11), Brock Nelson (12) 01:03 NYI 3,NYR 0

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (14)EN Scott Mayfield (12) 14:26 NYI 4,NYR 0

The Skinny        

The Isles are 11-9-1 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles have killed 28 of the last 29 opponent power plays and have scored a shorthanded goal in that span as well… Leo Komarov, who scored his first goal since February 21, 2020, and Noah Dobson got back into the lineup, replacing Michael Dal Colle and Braydon Coburn in the line-up.… The team that scored first has won the last thirteen Islander games and has won all seven Islander-Ranger games this season ….The Isles have only four regulation wins in the last 18 games (two vs. the Rangers)…The Isles have not allowed a goal in 118:31…Komarov's goal was the first scored by the Isles at even-strength in 200:05… Anthony Beauvillier is 11-10-21 in 20 games vs. the Rangers; Mathew Barzal is 6-18-24 in 19 games against the Blueshirts…The Isles blanked the Rangers three times in The Garden; prior to this season the Isles had only two shutouts all-time against the Rangers at MSG…Barry Trotz coached his 200th game for the Isles (113-65-22); the Isles have allowed the fewest goals in the NHL over that span (493)…Nick Leddy tied Mathew Barzal for the club lead in assists…The Isles finished April with an 8-5-1 record...Brock Nelson tied Anders Lee for the 3rd-longest consecutive game streak in club history (295).

Three for the History Books

1. Semyon Varlamov is the first opponent to shut out the Rangers three times at MSG in a single season; he is only the second goalie in the expansion era with three shutouts in a season against the Rangers (joining Dominik Hasek 1997-98).

2. Varlamov's overall shutout streak is now a career-best 153:56; Chico Resch holds the club record at 178:29.   

3. Varlamov is the first goalie to have six shutouts in a season of 56 games or less since Johnny Mowers had six for Detroit in 1942-43.  

Longest Shutout Streaks in Isles History

1. Glenn Resch 1975-76 178:29

2. Robin Lehner 2018-19 177:43

3. Ron Hextall 1993-94  176:46

4. Wade Flaherty 1997-98 169:14

5. Rick DiPietro 2006-07  156:30

6. Jaroslav Halak 2014-15 156:04

7. Thomas Greiss 2016-17 154:10

8. Semyon Varlamov 2020-21 153:56

First Times in a Long Time 

The Isles have earned three shutouts against the same opponent for the first time since 1997-98 (vs. Tampa Bay) and only the third time in their history (1996-97 vs. Washington).  

All four Islander-Ranger games at MSG ended in shutouts; it is the first time one venue has hosted four consecutive shutouts between two teams since Buffalo and Los Angeles did so at Staples Center over a four season period (2013-14 to 2016-17).  

Magic Number Time

The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot fall to 4 over the Rangers; Philadelphia was eliminated today. New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)

X -Washington 69 points (6 to play)

Pittsburgh         69 points (5 to play)

ISLES 65 points (6 to play)

Boston 64 points (7 to play)

---------------------------------------------------

Rangers      58 points (5 to play)

This Week's Schedule:

• Friday – no games

• Saturday- NYR @ Isles, BUF @ BOS, NJD @ PHI, PIT @ WAS

• Sunday- no games

• Monday- Isles @ BUF, WAS @ NYR, BOS @ NJD, PIT @ PHI

• Tuesday- Isles @ BUF, BOS @ NJD, PIT @ PHI

• Wednesday- WAS @ NYR

• Thursday- NJD @ Isles, NYR @ BOS, BUF @ PIT

Race for the Jennings(excludes shootout)

1. Vegas  103 goals allowed in 48 games  2.15

2. Isles  112 goals allowed in 50 games    2.24

3. Carolina 118 goals allowed in 50 games 2.36

4. Boston  119 goals allowed in 49 games  2.43

5. Colorado 116 goals allowed in 47 games 2.47

Most Shutouts in a Season

• 11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

• 10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

• 9   2020-21 (56-game schedule)

• 8   1997-98 (82-game schedule)

The Isles will earn a shutout in at least 16.1% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 11-5-2 in his last eighteen decisions, allowing just 37 goals in that span.  Varly has won 18 games this season with a goals against average of 2.05 and save percentage of .928.  Varlamov has 250 NHL wins (tied for 61st with Johnny Bower) and 33 shutouts, including an NHL-leading six  this season.

Varlamov did not allow a goal in 180 minutes of play at MSG this season, becoming the first opponent to ever record three shutouts at MSG in a season.

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 12-4-0 in his last sixteen starts. He has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his last seven appearances and in twelve of his last sixteen starts.

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)

2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)

3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)

4. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

2. Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year) 

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 22 of their first 25 home games (19-3-3); it is their best home record through 25 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 25 Games

• 42 1978-79 (19-2-4)

• 42 1977-78 (19-2-4)

• 42 1980-81 (20-3-2)

• 41 2020-21 (19-3-3)

Top of the Chart

The Isles now have 65 points in 50 games; it matches their highest point total through 50 games in the Post-Cup era:

• 65 2014-15

• 65 2020-21

• 64 2018-19

• 64 2019-20

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 114 goals (including 2 shootout winners) in 50 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 50 games in their history:

• 114 (2020-21)

• 119 (1975-76)

• 122 (1977-78)

• 123 (2018-19)

• 124 (1976-77)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 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-L-Wot-W-W         Remaining games: 1  (1 home, 0 away)

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 0

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L Remaining games: 0

• Washington L-L-L-W-W-Lso-L-L Remaining games: 0

Home and Road

The Isles are 30-15-5 overall; they are 19-3-3 at home and 11-12-2 on the road.

The Rangers are 26-19-6 overall; they are 14-9-3 at home and 12-10-3 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 875-633-60-156 in 1,724 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  958

3. Barry Trotz    875

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,757

3. Barry Trotz        1,724

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,442 

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,324

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,199 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 21-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-14-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

• At home, Isles are 13-0-2 scoring first and 6-3-1 trailing first

• On road, Isles are 8-1-0 scoring first and 3-11-2 trailing first

The Isles have won 87.5% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton - .870 and Vegas - .867).  The Isles are the only team with just one regulation loss when scoring first.

The Shots

Isles    10-9-8=27

Rangers    7-10-8=25

The Isles are 19-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-9-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-34-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves to improve to 18-9-4 on the season and 10-6-2 in his career against the Rangers. All three of his career shutouts against the Rangers have come this season.

Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves but falls to 15-12-3 on the season and 0-4-1 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (3:43); the Rangers were 0-2 on the power play (4:00). 

The Isles are 13-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-10-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 24-6-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 22-4-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-11-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 88-9-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-5 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-2 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.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

• 2020-21 -- .583

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-8-3 (.683).

Series

The Isles are playing the same opponent in consecutive games sixteen times this season (including three-game stretches vs. the Sabres, Devils, Flyers, and Capitals).

  

In two-game series, the Isles are 4-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L), NYR (W/-)

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

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

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 5-2-1 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 24-11-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (22:57); Rangers: Adam Fox (27:31)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 17:32 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-5-1), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (4-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Rangers 19 (62%)

JG Pageau won 14 of 19 for the Isles; no Ranger won more than he lost.

The Isles are 19-8-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-5-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Rangers 26 (Three with 3)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 5 (Martin -2, Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Johnston-1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Rangers 12 (Brett Howden -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Rangers 57

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 43, Rangers 52

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +6

Rangers: Brendan Smith +20

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Rangers 9

5-on-5: Isles 5, Rangers 8

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Braydon Coburn, Michael Dal Colle, Brian Bellows

Games Lost: 55

COVID Games Lost -6

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 295, Mathew Barzal 282, Ryan Pulock 245.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and is now tied with Anders Lee for the 3rd -longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 9th:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 295

    Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – 3/13/2021 295

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

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 282

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

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

9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 245

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

 (*) 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. Josh Bailey 913…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 610 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Brock Nelson 598 *** 17. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 18. Garry Howatt 596 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 584 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Cal Clutterbuck 523 *** 29.  Anders Lee 520 *** 30. Dave Lewis 514 *** 31.  Nick Leddy 512

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 166 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 343 …

17.  Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen 230 *** 19.Nick Leddy 195

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 505…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 323 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 200

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 113

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 7-13-2-0 on the season (4-6-1-0 vs. Hartford and 3-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 2-1 shootout win over the Bruins on Thursday; Felix Bibeau scored the only goal of the actual game and then the Sound Tigers won an 8-round shootout by a 4-3 score. Bridgeport's point streak is now five games (4-0-1).  

Bridgeport returns to action on Monday afternoon when they host the Bruins in the home finale; they will play the season finale the following afternoon in Hartford.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 5 games to 2 (and 10 points to 5). 

The Isles are 5-2-0 while the Rangers are 2-4-1.

The Isles are 2-1-0 at the Coliseum vs. the Caps and 3-1-0 at the Garden.   .

Over the last six seasons, the Isles are 19-7-1 against the Rangers, including 10-4-0 at the Garden.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, MAY 1st  – RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles play only the 2nd regular season May game in their history as they Rangers make their final visit to Nassau Coliseum.  The only other May regular season game in club history was on May 2, 1995 at the Coliseum against the Flyers (2-0 loss).

The Isles will face the Rangers in May for the first time since sweeping the Blueshirts in the 1981 Semi-Finals, winning the final game on May 5th.

The Isles would clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win over the Rangers.

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

The Skinny: Washington 1, Isles 0

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 49

Washington 1, Isles 0

Daniel Sprong scored on the Capitals' first shot and that turned out to be enough as Washington blanked the Isles 1-0 before a socially-distanced crowd of 2,133 at Capital One Arena 

Vitek Vanacek made 18 saves as the Caps completed a sweep of the three game series, including two 1-0 wins.

The Isles remain in 3rd place in the East Division, four points behind Pittsburgh and five points behind Washington. The Isles and Caps have seven games to play while Pittsburgh has six. Boston is just one point behind the Isles; the Bruins have eight games to play, while the Rangers are only five points behind the Isles (with six games to play).

 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Daniel Sprong (10) Dmitry Orlov (9) 01:29 NYI 0,WSH 1

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

No Goals

The Skinny        

The Isles are 10-9-1 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles have killed 26 of the last 27 opponent power plays and have scored a shorthanded goal in that span as well… Oliver Wahlstrom and Braydon Coburn replaced Michael Dal Colle and Noah Dobson in the line-up.…Semyon Varlamov did not dress so Cory Schneider served as the backup… The team that scored first has won the last twelve Islander games ….The Isles have only three regulation wins in the last 17 games…The Isles have scored only 15 goals (two in overtime) in their last nine games, and that includes 6 vs. the Rangers on April 20th… The Caps improve to 5-0-1 this season and 19-14-3 all-time when Alex Ovechkin does not play; the Caps have beaten the Isles four times this season without Ovechkin in the lineup… Daniel Sprong, who scored the game-winner for the second straight game, led the Caps with five goals against the Isles this season; it is half of his goal total on the season…The Isles have dropped two of their last three games by a 1-0 score; it is the first time in club history that this has happened.  Prior to this season the Isles had not been blanked 1-0 twice in a season since the 2013-14 season…The Isles have been shut out three times in the last six games; in March 2019 they were actually shutout three times in a five-game span; they swept the Penguins less than a month later…The Isles were outscored 7-3 in the three games (not including the shootout winner); all seven Washington goals were at even strength while all three Isles goals were scored on special teams.

A Bit of History

Daniel Sprong is credited with the earliest goal in a 1-0 Islander game (in either direction).  The earliest goal previously allowed by the Isles was on November 7, 2013 when Radek Dvorak of Carolina scored at 6:39 of the first period.  The earliest Isles goal in a 1-0 game was scored by Casey Cizikas in New Jersey on February 19, 2016.

Magic Number Time

The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot remains 8 over the Rangers and falls to 3 over Philadelphia. Due to tie-breakers, the Isles would assure themselves of finishing ahead of the Flyers with either an Islander regulation win or a Flyer regulation loss.

New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)

Washington 68 points (7 to play)

Pittsburgh         67 points (6 to play)

ISLES 63 points (7 to play)

Boston 62 points (8 to play)

---------------------------------------------------

Rangers         58 points (6 to play)

Philadelphia 51 points (7 to play)

This Week's Schedule:

• Wednesday – no games

• Thursday – Isles @ NYR, PHI @ NJD, PIT @ WAS, BUF @ BOS 

• Friday – no games

• Saturday- NYR @ Isles, BUF @ BOS, NJD @ PHI, PIT @ WAS

• Sunday- no games

• Monday- Isles @ BUF, WAS @ NYR, BOS @ NJD, PIT @ PHI

• Tuesday- Isles @ BUF, BOS @ NJD, PIT @ PHI

Most Shutouts in a Season

• 11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

• 10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

• 8   2020-21 (56-game schedule)

• 8   1997-98 (82-game schedule)

The Isles will earn a shutout in at least 14.3% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 10-5-2 in his last seventeen decisions, allowing just 37 goals in that span.  Varly has won 17 games this season with a goals against average of 212 and save percentage of .926.  Varlamov has 249 NHL wins and 32 shutouts, including five this season (which shares the NHL lead with Grubauer and Fleury).   He is now one win behind Johnny Bower for 61st on the all-time win list.

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 12-4-0 in his last sixteen starts. He has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his last seven appearances and in twelve of his last sixteen starts.

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)

2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)

3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)

4. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

2. Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 22 of their first 25 home games (19-3-3); it is their best home record through 25 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 25 Games

• 42 1978-79 (19-2-4)

• 42 1977-78 (19-2-4)

• 42 1980-81 (20-3-2)

• 41 2020-21 (19-3-3)

Towards the Top of the Chart

The Isles now have 63 points in 49 games; it is tied for their second-highest point total through 49 games in the Post-Cup era:

• 65 2014-15

• 63 2020-21

• 63 2018-19

• 63 2019-20

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 113 goals (including 2 shootout winners) in 49 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 49 games in their history:

• 113 (2020-21)

• 114 (1975-76)

• 120 (1977-78)

• 122 (1976-77)

• 122 (2018-19)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 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-L-Wot-W         Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 0

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L Remaining games: 0

• Washington L-L-L-W-W-Lso-L-L Remaining games: 0

Home and Road

The Isles are 29-15-5 overall; they are 19-3-3 at home and 10-12-2 on the road.

Washington is 32-13-4 overall; they are 15-6-2 at home and 17-7-2 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 874-633-60-156 in 1,723 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville    957

3. Barry Trotz    874

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville  1,755

3. Barry Trotz          1,723

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,442 

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,323

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,197 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 20-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-14-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

• At home, Isles are 13-0-2 scoring first and 6-3-1 trailing first

• On road, Isles are 7-1-0 scoring first and 3-11-2 trailing first

The Isles have won 87.0% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton - .864 and Vegas - .862).  The Isles are the only team with just one regulation loss when scoring first.

The Shots

Isles    7-5-6=18

Washington    10-13-10=33

The Isles are 18-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-9-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-34-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves but falls to 12-6-1 on the season and 0-2-0 in his career against Washington. 

Vitek Vanacek made 18 saves to improve to 18-9-3 on the season and 3-1-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Washington was 0-2 on the power play (2:44), including a 1:16 5-on-3.

The Isles are 12-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-10-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-6-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-4-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-11-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 87-9-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-5 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-2 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.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

• 2020-21 -- .583

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-8-3 (.683).

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 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L)

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

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

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 5-2-1 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 23-11-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:14); Washington: John Carlson (22:45)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 18:47 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-5-1), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (3-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 19, Washington 29 (40%)

No Islander won more than he lost; Nicklas Backstrom won 7 of 8 for Washington.

The Isles are 18-8-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-5-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 32 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Washington 36 (Brendan Dillon -8)

Fights 

Matt Martin fought Zdeno Chara in the 2nd period; it was their second fight of the season (and 4th all-time).  

Season total: 5 (Martin -2, Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Johnston-1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Three with 3)

Washington 12 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 45, Washington 66

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 30, Washington 60

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +4

Washington: John Carlson +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Washington 20

5-on-5: Isles 4, Washington 20

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Semyon Varlamov, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, Leo Komarov, Brian Bellows

Games Lost: 54

COVID Games Lost -6

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 294, Mathew Barzal 281, Ryan Pulock 244.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 9th:

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. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 294

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

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 281

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

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

9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 244

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

 (*) 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. Josh Bailey 912…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 609 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson and Brock Nelson 597 *** 18. Garry Howatt 596 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 583 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Cal Clutterbuck 522 *** 29.  Anders Lee 520 *** 30. Dave Lewis 514 *** 31.  Nick Leddy 511

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 166 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 342 …

19. Pierre Turgeon and Nick Leddy 193

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 504…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 321 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 199

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 112

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 6-13-2-0 on the season (4-6-1-0 vs. Hartford and 2-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 3-2 overtime loss to Hartford on Tuesday; Dmytro Timashov and Cole Bardreau scored 28 seconds apart in the third period to extend Bridgeport's point streak to four games (3-0-1).  

Bridgeport returns to action on Thursday afternoon when they play Providence in Marlborough, Massachusetts, before hosting the Bruins Monday and visiting Hartford Tuesday to end the season.

Season Series Stats

Washington wins the season series 6 games to 2 (and 12 points to 5). 

The Isles went 2-5-1 while Washington was 6-2-0.

The Isles were 2-1-1 at the Coliseum vs. the Caps but went 0-4-0 in Washington.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, APRIL 29th  –ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles end their April schedule and begin a traditional home-and-home series with the Rangers with their final visit of the season to Madison Square Garden. 

The Isles have taken two games out of three from the Rangers at both the Garden and the Coliseum, with their sole loss at MSG coming in Ilya Sorokin's NHL debut.

The Isles can clinch a playoff berth with a regulation sweep of the home and home, but the Rangers could close within a single point of the Isles if they could manage a regulation sweep.

Barry Trotz will coach his 200th game for the Islanders.

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

The Skinny: Washington 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 48

Washington 6, Isles 3

Daniel Sprong scored twice and Evgeny Kuznetsov added three points as the Washington Capitals earned a 6-3 win over the Isles before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,400 at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Isles got unassisted goals from Anthony Beauvillier (power play) and Adam Pelech (shorthanded) to erase a 2-0 lead and later got a power play tally from JG Pageau but fell to the Caps for the fifth time this season.

The Isles have fallen to 3rd place in the East Division, two points behind Pittsburgh and three points behind Washington. All three teams have eight games to play.  Boston is three behind the Isles; the Bruins have 10 games to play.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Garnet Hathaway (5) Nick Jensen (11) 02:33 WSH 1,NYI 0

T.J. Oshie (17) Nicklas Backstrom (34), Anthony Mantha (12) 10:55 WSH 2,NYI 0

Anthony Beauvillier (10) 14:28  WSH 2,NYI 1 PPG

2nd Period

Adam Pelech (3) 07:37 WSH 2,NYI 2 SHG

Nic Dowd (9) Brenden Dillon (14), Trevor van Riemsdyk (1) 12:21 WSH 3,NYI 2

Daniel Sprong (8) Evgeny Kuznetsov (18), Brenden Dillon (15) 14:46 WSH 4,NYI 2

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (14) Noah Dobson (11), Mathew Barzal (26) 17:12 WSH 4,NYI 3 PPG

3rd Period 

Evgeny Kuznetsov (9) 07:35 WSH 5,NYI 3

Daniel Sprong (9) Tom Wilson (18), Evgeny Kuznetsov (19) 14:43 WSH 6,NYI 3

The Skinny        

The Isles are 10-8-1 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles have killed 24 of the last 25 opponent power plays and have scored a shorthanded goal as well… Travis Zajac replaced Leo Komarov in the line-up.… The team that scored first has won the last eleven Islander games ….The Isles have only three regulation wins in the last 16 games…The Isles have scored only 15 goals (two in overtime) in their last eight games, and that includes 6 vs. the Rangers on April 20th… It is the first time since February 28th vs Pittsburgh that the Isles have scored twice on the power play…Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals for the first time in his career; he had allowed no more than three in any previous home start…The Caps improve to 4-0-1 this season and 18-14-3 all-time when Alex Ovechkin does not play; the Caps have beaten the Isles three times this season without Ovechkin in the lineup…The Isles matched season highs in power play goals for (2) and in goals allowed (6); it is only the 4th time under Trotz that the Isles have allowed six even-strength goals…Brendan Dillon went +4 for the Caps; four Isles went -3…Zdeno Chara became the fifth defenseman in NHL history to play 1,600 games.

First Time in a Long Time

• The Isles scored three goals without scoring at even-strength for the first time since March 16, 2018, also a 6-3 loss to Washington.

• The Isles scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded for the first time since a 4-1 win in Minnesota on February 23, 2016.

• Adam Pelech is the first Islander defenseman since Scott Mayfield (11-3-18 vs New Jersey- empty net) to score shorthanded.  No Islander defenseman had scored shorthanded against a goalie since Johnny Boychuk scored the winning goal vs. Arizona's Louie Domingue on 10-21-16 at Barclays Center.

Magic Number Time

The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot remains 8 over the Rangers and 5 over Philadelphia.  New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)

Washington 66 points (8 to play)

Pittsburgh         65 points (8 to play)

ISLES 63 points (8 to play)

Boston 60 points (10 to play)

---------------------------------------------------

Rangers      54 points (8 to play)

Philadelphia 49 points (9 to play)

This Week's Schedule:

• Sunday – BUF @ NYR, NJ @ PHI, BOS @ PIT

• Monday – no games

• Tuesday – Isles @ WAS, BUF @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, BOS @ PIT

• Wednesday – no games

• Thursday – Isles @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, PIT @ WAS, BUF @ BOS 

• Friday – no games

• Saturday- NYR @ Isles, BUF @ BOS, NJD @ PHI, PIT @ WAS

Most Shutouts in a Season

• 11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

• 10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

• 8   2020-21 (56-game schedule)

• 8   1997-98 (82-game schedule)

The Isles will earn a shutout in at least 14.3% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 10-5-2 in his last seventeen decisions, allowing just 37 goals in that span.  Varly has won 17 games this season with a goals against average of 212 and save percentage of .926.  Varlamov has 249 NHL wins and 32 shutouts, including five this season (which shares the NHL lead with Grubauer and Fleury).   He is now one win behind Johnny Bower for 61st on the all-time win list.

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 12-3-0 in his last fifteen starts; this was his first home loss after becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season   Two others have won at least eight straight over multiple seasons: Gord Mc Rae for Toronto in 1972-73 and 1974-75 (10); Michel Plasse for St. Louis and Montreal in 1970-71 and 1972-73 (8).

Only one other NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won eight straight at home at any point  in a single season- Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)

2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)

3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)

4. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

2. Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 22 of their first 25 home games (19-3-3); it is their best home record through 24 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 25 Games

• 42 1978-79 (19-2-4)

• 42 1977-78 (19-2-4)

• 42 1980-81 (20-3-2)

• 41 2020-21 (19-3-3)

Towards the Top of the Chart

The Isles now have 63 points in 48 games; it is their second-highest point total through 48 games in the Post-Cup era:

• 65 2014-15

• 63 2020-21

• 62 2018-19

• 61 2019-20

The Isles have allowed only 112 goals (including 2 shootout winners) in 48 games; it matches the fewest goals that they have allowed through 48 games in their history:

• 112 (2020-21)

• 112 (1975-76)

• 114 (1977-78)

• 118 (1976-77)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 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-L-Wot-W          Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 0

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L Remaining games: 0

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

Home and Road

The Isles are 29-14-5 overall; they are 19-3-3 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.

Washington is 31-13-4 overall; they are 14-6-2 at home and 17-7-2 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 874-632-60-156 in 1,722 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  956

3. Barry Trotz    874

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,753

3. Barry Trotz        1,722

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,441

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,323

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,197 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 20-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-13-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

• At home, Isles are 13-0-2 scoring first and 6-3-1 trailing first

• On road, Isles are 7-1-0 scoring first and 3-10-2 trailing first

The Isles have won 87.0% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton and Vegas, both .857).  The Isles are the only team with just one regulation loss when scoring first.

The Shots

Isles    11-8-5=24

Washington    13-7-10=30

The Isles are 18-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-8-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-33-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves but falls to 12-5-1 on the season and 0-1-0 in his career against Washington. 

Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves to improve to 13-3-1 on the season and 5-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-2 on the power play (1:03); Washington was 0-1 on the power play (2:00).

The Isles are 12-5-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-9-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-5-3 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-4-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-10-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 87-9-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-2 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.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2020-21 -- .609

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-8-3 (.683).

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 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L))

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

BUF (W/W/W), NJ (W/W/W), PHI (L/W/Wot), WAS (Lso/L/-)

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 5-2-1 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 23-10-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (21:20); Washington: Dmitry Orlov (21:32)

JG Pageau led Isles forwards with 19:01 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-4-1), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (3-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Washington 25 (53%)

Travis Zajac won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Nic Dowd won 7 of 11 for the Washington.

The Isles are 18-8-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-4-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 36 (Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Washington 28 (Brendan Dillon -4)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 4 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1, Johnston-1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (JG Pageau and Noah Dobson -2)

Washington 12 (Four with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, Washington 55

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 40, Washington 54

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Brendan Dillon +1

Washington: John Carlson and Brendan Dillon +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Washington 11

5-on-5: Isles 11, Washington 11

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, Leo Komarov, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost: 53

COVID Games Lost -6

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 293, Mathew Barzal 280, Ryan Pulock 243.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man

Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 9th:

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. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 293

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

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 280

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

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

9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 243

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

 (*) 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. Josh Bailey 911…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 608 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt and Brock Nelson 596 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 582 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Cal Clutterbuck 521 *** 29.  Anders Lee 520 *** 30. Dave Lewis 514 *** 31.  Nick Leddy 510

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 166 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 342 …

19. Pierre Turgeon and Nick Leddy 193

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 504…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 321 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 198

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 112

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 6-13-1-0 on the season (4-6-0-0 vs. Hartford and 2-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 4-3 win over Hartford on Saturday; Blade Jenkins and Bobo Carpenter each scored a goal and added an assist as the Sound Tigers won their third straight game.  

Bridgeport returns to action on Tuesday afternoon when they host Hartford.

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 5 games to 2 (and 10 points to 5). 

The Isles are 2-4-1 while Washington is 5-2-0.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, APRIL 27th  –ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON 7:00pm

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

The Isles will look to salvage the final game of the season series as the teams meet again on Tuesday in DC.

It will be the first game that the Caps have played before their home fans in more than a year.

Alexander Ovechkin still has 730 goals, leaving him just one behind Marcel Dionne for 5th place on the all-time list.  

Brendan Burke and AJ Mleczko will have the call on NBCSN.

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

The Skinny: Washington 1, Isles 0 (SO)

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 47

Washington 1, Isles 0 (SO)

Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Samsonov battled through 65 scoreless minutes and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the Washington Capitals defeated the Isles 1-0 before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,400 at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Isles drop into a tie for 2nd place in the East Division with Pittsburgh; both teams are one point behind Washington. All three teams have nine games to play.  Boston is four points behind Washington and three behind the Isles; the Bruins have 11 games to play.

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

No Goals

The Skinny        

The Isles are 10-7-1 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles have killed 23 of the last 24 opponent power plays… The Isles got Cal Clutterbuck back in the line-up, replacing Travis Zajac.… Washington is credited with scoring the first goal. The Isles are 20-1-2 this season when scoring the first goal; the team that scored first has won the last ten Islander games …Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, tying Phillipe Grubauer and Marc-Andre Fleury for the NHL lead.  Varlamov and the Isles have blanked the Caps over the last 145:09; he is 2-2-1 in his last five games, despite allowing only seven goals (1.40, .957)… Ilya Samsonov recorded his second shutout of the season...The Isles remain 16 games over NHL-.500, matching a season best…The Isles have only three regulation wins in the last 15 games…Excluding their six goal outburst against the Rangers, the Isles have scored only six goals (two in overtime) in their last six games…This was the first game in the season series won by the road team…The Isles have shutout the Caps four times under Barry Trotz (2 in both 2018-19 and 2020-21); the Isles also had multiple shutouts vs. Washington in 1974-75 (2), 1977-78 (2), and 1996-97 (3).

The Shootout

• Jordan Eberle (NG) / TJ Oshie (NG)

• Anthony Beauvillier (G) / Nicklas Backstrom (G)

• Brock Nelson (NG)/ Evgeny Kuznetsov (G/GDG)

Evgeny Kuznetsov improves to 19 of 45 in the shootout, including six game deciding goals...Anthony Beauvillier was the only Islander to score in the shootout, improving to 5 of 11...The Isles had won eight straight OT/SO games after starting the season 0-4 (and going 0-8 back to last season)… Semyon Varlamov still has the best save percentage of any goalie who has faced 150 career shootout attempts  (.737)…His 33 shootout wins tie him with Jaroslav Halak for 13th, although Jaro has lost 17 more games.  Varlamov is 33-19 in shootouts; his .635 winning percentage is the best of any goalie who has participated in at least 50 shootouts.

The Injury

Alex Ovechkin did not play in the final 2 ½ minutes or overtime and was described as "unavailable".

First Time in a Long Time

This is only the second time the Isles have lost a 1-0 game to Washington.  The other time was on November 24, 2000 when Olaf Kolzig recovered the shutout.

Double Shutouts

This was the tenth double shutout in Isles history.

• 18-Oct-77 Vs Los Angeles

• 12-Feb-80 Vs Winnipeg

• 2-Mar-80 @ Pittsburgh

• 9-Dec-89 Vs New York

• 1-Dec-00 @ New Jersey

• 24-Feb-04 Vs Boston

• 7-Feb-12 @ Philadelphia

        24-Nov-14 Vs.    Philadelphia

• 1-Feb-19 Vs Tampa Bay

• 22-Apr-21 Vs Washington

The first six games all ended in scoreless ties; the Isles won the next two games in a shootout but have lost the last two games in a shootout.

D-Fense

In the 226:36 the Isles have played since allowing a second period goal to Taylor Hall on Friday, the Isles have allowed just two goals (an empty netter in Boston and a second period goal to the Rangers' Kevin Rooney).

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

The Isles have not allowed a goal in 93:56 but they have not scored in 73:38.

Magic Number Time

The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot falls to 8 over the Rangers and 7 over Philadelphia).  New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)

Washington 64 points (9 to play)

Pittsburgh         63 points (9 to play)

ISLES 63 points (9 to play)

Boston 60 points (11 to play)

---------------------------------------------------

Rangers         52 points (9 to play)

Philadelphia 49 points (10 to play)

This Week's Schedule:

• Friday – PHI @ NYR, BOS @ BUF

• Saturday- WAS @ Isles, NJ @ PIT

• Sunday – BUF @ NYR, NJ @ PHI, BOS @ PIT

• Monday – no games

• Tuesday – Isles @ WAS, BUF @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, BOS @ PIT

• Wednesday – no games

• Thursday – Isles @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, PIT @ WAS 

Most Shutouts in a Season

• 11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

• 10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

• 8   2020-21 (56-game schedule)

• 8   1997-98 (82-game schedule)

The Isles will earn a shutout in at least 14.3% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 10-5-2 in his last seventeen decisions, allowing just 37 goals in that span.  Varly has won 17 games this season with a goals against average of 212 and save percentage of .926.  Varlamov has 249 NHL wins and 32 shutouts, including five this season (which shares the NHL lead with Grubauer and Fleury).   He is now one win behind Johnny Bower for 61st on the all-time win list.

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 12-2-0 in his last fourteen starts (1.67, .934).  Among goalies who have played at least 10 games in that span, only Juuse Soros (1.61) has a lower goals against average in that span and only Soros (.949) and Alex Nedeljkovic (.937) have a higher save percentage.

Sorokin is 8-0-0 at home.  He is the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season (Harry Lumley for Detroit in 1944-45 and Jaroslav Halak for Montreal in 2006-07 had each started 7-0-0).  Two others have won at least eight straight over multiple seasons. Gord Mc Rae for Toronto in 1972-73 and 1974-75 (10); Michel Plasse for St. Louis and Montreal in 1970-71 and 1972-73 (8).

Only one other NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won eight straight at home in a single season- Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)

2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)

3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)

4. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1. Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

2. Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 22 of their first 24 home games (19-2-3); it is their best home record through 24 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 24 Games

• 42 1978-79 (19-1-4)

• 41 2020-21 (19-2-3)

• 40 1977-78 (18-2-4)

• 40 1980-81 (19-3-2)

Towards the Top of the Chart

The Isles now have 63 points in 47 games; it is their second-highest point total through 47 games in the Post-Cup era:

• 65 2014-15

• 63 2020-21

• 60 2019-20

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 106 goals (including 2 shootout winners) in 47 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 47 games in their history:

• 106 (2020-21)

• 110 (1975-76)

• 111 (1977-78)

• 116 (1976-77)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 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-L-Wot-W         Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 0

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L Remaining games: 0

• Washington L-L-L-W-W-Lso Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

Home and Road

The Isles are 29-13-5 overall; they are 19-2-3 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.

Washington is 30-13-4 overall; they are 14-6-2 at home and 16-7-2 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 874-631-60-156 in 1,721 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  955

3. Barry Trotz  874

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,752

3. Barry Trotz        1,721

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,440

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,323

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,197 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 20-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-12-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Isles have won 87.0% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton and Vegas, both .857).  The Isles are the only team with just one regulation loss when scoring first.

The Shots

Isles    15-7-3-1=26

Washington    4-14-9-1=28

The Isles are 18-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-32-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for his 5th shutout of the season; he is 17-9-4 on the season and 6-9-2 in his career against the Washington. Varlamov falls to 33-19 all-time in shootouts.

Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for his 2nd shutout of the season to improve to 12-3-1 on the season and 4-2-0 in his career against the Isles. Samsonov is now 2-2 all-time in shootouts.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Washington was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 12-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-9-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-4-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-10-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 87-8-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-2 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.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2020-21 -- .609

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-8-3 (.683).

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 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L))

In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-1 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), WAS (Lso/-/-)

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 5-2-1 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 23-9-4 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:09); Washington: John Carlson (27:41)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 18:44 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-4-1), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (3-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 21, Washington 22 (49%)

Mathew Barzal won 3 of 4 for the Isles; Nicklas Backstrom won 11 of 18 for the Washington.

The Isles are 18-7-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-4-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Matt Martin and Leo Komarov -4)

Washington 25 (Garnet Hathaway -5)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total: 4 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1, Johnston-1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson -4)

Washington 7 (Seven with 1)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 39, Washington 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 34, Washington 47

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +8

Washington: Lars Eller +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 3, Washington 5

5-on-5: Isles 2, Washington 4

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, Travis Zajac, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost: 52

COVID Games Lost -6

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 292, Mathew Barzal 279, Ryan Pulock 242.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 9th:

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. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 292

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

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 279

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

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

9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 242

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

 (*) 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. Josh Bailey 910…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 607 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt 596 *** 18. Brock Nelson 595 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 581 … 

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

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 166 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 342 …

19. Pierre Turgeon and Nick Leddy 193

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 504…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 321 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 197

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 112

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 5-13-1-0 on the season (3-6-0-0 vs. Hartford and 2-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 4-1 win over Providence on Tuesday; Samuel Bolduc scored twice while Jakub Skarek made 23 saves as the Sound Tigers won their second straight game.  

Bridgeport returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Hartford.

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 4 games to 2 (and 8 points to 5). 

The Isles are 2-3-1 while Washington is 4-2-0.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, APRIL 24th  – WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles will look to move ahead of the Caps as the team meet again on Saturday.

This will be the seventh game of the season series; the teams will complete the season series in DC on Saturday.

Alexander Ovechkin still has 730 goals, leaving him just one behind Marcel Dionne for 5th place on the all-time list.  Former Islander Zdeno Chara is scheduled to appear in his 1,6000th NHL game. 

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

"The Skinny"     

 

By Eric Hornick

 

Game 47

Washington 1, Isles 0 (SO)

Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Samsonov battled through 65 scoreless minutes and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the Washington Capitals defeated the Isles 1-0 before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,400 at the Nassau Coliseum.

 

The Isles drop into a tie for 2nd place in the East Division with Pittsburgh; both teams are one point behind Washington. All three teams have nine games to play.  Boston is four points behind Washington and three behind the Isles; the Bruins have 11 games to play.

 

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

 

2nd Period

No Goals

 

3rd Period

No Goals

 

OT

No Goals

 

The Skinny        

The Isles are 10-7-1 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles have killed 23 of the last 24 opponent power plays… The Isles got Cal Clutterbuck back in the line-up, replacing Travis Zajac.… Washington is credited with scoring the first goal. The Isles are 20-1-2 this season when scoring the first goal; the team that scored first has won the last ten Islander games …Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, tying Phillipe Grubauer and Marc-Andre Fleury for the NHL lead.  Varlamov and the Isles have blanked the Caps over the last 145:09; he is 2-2-1 in his last five games, despite allowing only seven goals (1.40, .957)… Ilya Samsonov recorded his second shutout of the season...The Isles remain 16 games over NHL-.500, matching a season best…The Isles have won three regulation wins in the last 15 games…Excluding their six goal outburst against the Rangers, the Isles have scored only six goals (two in overtime) in their last six games…This was the first game in the season series won by the road team…The Isles have shutout the Caps four times under Barry Trotz (2 in both 2018-19 and 2020-21); the Isles also had multiple shutouts vs. Washington in 1974-75 (2), 1977-78 (2), and 1996-97 (3).

 

The Shootout

•   Jordan Eberle (NG) / TJ Oshie (NG)

•   Anthony Beauvillier (G) / Nicklas Backstrom (G)

•   Brock Nelson (NG)/ Evgeny Kuznetsov (G/GDG)

 

Evgeny Kuznetsov improves to 19 of 45 in the shootout, including six game deciding goals...Anthony Beauvillier was the only Islander to score in the shootout, improving to 5 of 11...The Isles had won eight straight OT/SO games after starting the season 0-4 (and going 0-8 back to last season)… Semyon Varlamov still has the best save percentage of any goalie who has faced 150 career shootout attempts  (.737)…His 33 shootout wins tie him with Jaroslav Halak for 13th, although Jaro has lost 17 more games.  Varlamov is 33-19 in shootouts; his .635 winning percentage is the best of any goalie who has participated in at least 50 shootouts.

 

The Injury

Alex Ovechkin did not play in the final 2 ½ minutes or overtime and was described as "unavailable".

 

First Time in a Long Time

This is only the second time the Isles have lost a 1-0 game to Washington.  The other time was on November 24, 2000 when Olaf Kolzig recovered the shutout.

 

Double Shutouts

This was the ninth double shutout in Isles history.

 

·        18-Oct-77         Vs        Los Angeles

·        12-Feb-80         Vs        Winnipeg

·        2-Mar-80          @         Pittsburgh

·        9-Dec-89          Vs        New York

·        1-Dec-00          @         New Jersey

·        24-Feb-04         Vs        Boston

·        7-Feb-12           @         Philadelphia

·        1-Feb-19           Vs        Tampa Bay

·        22-Apr-21         Vs        Washington

 

The first six games all ended in scoreless ties; the Isles won the 2012 game in a shootout but have lost the last two games in a shootout.

 

D-Fense

In the 226:36 the Isles have played since allowing a second period goal to Taylor Hall on Friday, the Isles have allowed just two goals (an empty netter in Boston and a second period goal to the Rangers' Kevin Rooney).

 

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

The Isles have not allowed a goal in 93:56 but they have not scored in 73:38

 

 

Magic Number Time

The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot falls to 8 over the Rangers and 7 over Philadelphia).  New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

 

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)

Washington      64 points (9 to play)

Pittsburgh         63 points (9 to play)

ISLES              63 points (9 to play)

Boston              60 points (11 to play)

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Rangers           52 points (9 to play)

Philadelphia      49 points (10 to play)

 

This Week's Schedule:

·        Friday – PHI @ NYR, BOS @ BUF

·        Saturday- WAS @ Isles, NJ @ PIT

·        Sunday – BUF @ NYR, NJ @ PHI, BOS @ PIT

·        Monday – no games

·        Tuesday – Isles @ WAS, BUF @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, BOS @ PIT

·        Wednesday – no games

·        Thursday – Isles @ NYR, PHI @ NJ, PIT @ WAS

 

Most Shutouts in a Season

·        11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

·        10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

·        8   2020-21 (56-game schedule)

·        8   1997-98 (82-game schedule)

 

The Isles will earn a shutout in at least 14.3% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

 

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 10-5-2 in his last seventeen decisions, allowing just 37 goals in that span.  Varly has won 17 games this season with a goals against average of 212 and save percentage of .926.  Varlamov has 249 NHL wins and 32 shutouts, including five this season (which shares the NHL lead with Grubauer and Fleury).   He is now one win behind Johnny Bower for 61^st on the all-time win list.

 

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 12-2-0 in his last fourteen starts (1.67, .934).  Among goalies who have played at least 10 games in that span, only Juuse Soros (1.61) has a lower goals against average in that span and only Soros (.949) and Alex Nedeljkovic (.937) have a higher save percentage.

 

Sorokin is 8-0-0 at home.  He is the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season (Harry Lumley for Detroit in 1944-45 and Jaroslav Halak for Montreal in 2006-07 had each started 7-0-0).  Two others have won at least eight straight over multiple seasons. Gord Mc Rae for Toronto in 1972-73 and 1974-75 (10); Michel Plasse for St. Louis and Montreal in 1970-71 and 1972-73 (8).

 

Only one other NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won eight straight at home in a single season- Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.

 

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1.      Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)

2.      Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)

3.      Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)

4.      Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)

Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

 

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):

1.      Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

2.      Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)

Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

 

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)

 

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 22 of their first 24 home games (19-2-3); it is their best home record through 24 games in the Post-Cup Era:

 

Most Points at Home Through 24 Games

·        42 1978-79 (19-1-4)

·        41 2020-21 (19-2-3)

·        40 1977-78 (18-2-4)

·        40 1980-81 (19-3-2)

 

Towards the Top of the Chart

The Isles now have 63 points in 47 games; it is their second-highest point total through 47 games in the Post-Cup era:

·        65 2014-15

·        63 2020-21

·        60 2019-20

 

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 106 goals (including 2 shootout winners) in 47 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 47 games in their history:

·        106 (2020-21)

·        110 (1975-76)

·        111 (1977-78)

·        116 (1976-77)

 

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

·        Boston              W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L               Remaining games: 1  (0 home, 1 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-L-Wot-W                       Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

·        Philadelphia      Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot Remaining games: 0

·        Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L                Remaining games: 0

·        Washington      L-L-L-W-W-Lso                         Remaining games: 2  (1 home, 1 away)

 

The Isles are 29-13-5 overall; they are 19-2-3 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.

Washington is 30-13-4 overall; they are 14-6-2 at home and 16-7-2 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 874-631-60-156 in 1,721 games.

 

Most Coaching Wins

1.         Scotty Bowman  1,244

2.         Joel Quenneville  955

3.         Barry Trotz         874

 

Most Games Coached

1.         Scotty Bowman   2,141

2.         Joel Quenneville 1,752

3.         Barry Trotz        1,721

 

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1.      David Poile 1,440

2.      Lou Lamoriello 1,323

3.      Glen Sather 1,319

 

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,197 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 20-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-12-3 when allowing the opening goal.

 

The Isles have won 87.0% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton and Vegas, both .857).  The Isles are the only team with just one regulation loss when scoring first.

 

The Shots

Isles                 15-7-3-1=26

Washington       4-14-9-1=28

The Isles are 18-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-32-13 when outshot.

 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for his 5^th shutout of the season; he is 17-9-4 on the season and 6-9-2 in his career against the Washington. Varlamov falls to 33-19 all-time in shootouts.

Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for his 2^nd shutout of the season to improve to 12-3-1 on the season and 4-2-0 in his career against the Isles. Samsonov is now 2-2 all-time in shootouts.

 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Washington was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

 

The Isles are 12-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-9-2 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 23-4-3 when they do not.

 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-10-2 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 87-8-10 when scoring three or more.

 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-2 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.

 

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won

·        1981-82 -- .800

·        1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

·        1991-92 -- .619

·        2020-21 -- .609

·        2014-15 -- .605

·        2018-19 -- .594

 

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3^rd/4^th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-8-3 (.683).

 

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 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L))

 

In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-1 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), WAS (Lso/-/-)

 

Tired vs. Rested

·        The Isles are 5-2-1 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 23-9-4 when both teams are rested.

 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (24:09); Washington: John Carlson (27:41)

Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 18:44 of ice-time.

 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-4-1), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (3-0-0).

 

Face-offs

Isles 21, Washington 22 (49%)

Mathew Barzal won 3 of 4 for the Isles; Nicklas Backstrom won 11 of 18 for the Washington.

 

The Isles are 18-7-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-4-1 when they win fewer.

 

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Matt Martin and Leo Komarov -4)

Washington 25 (Garnet Hathaway -5)

           

Fights

There were no fights.  Season total: 4 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1, Johnston-1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson -4)

Washington 7 (Seven with 1)

 

For the Analytics Crowd

Corsi: All situations: Isles 39, Washington 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 34, Washington 47

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +8

Washington: Lars Eller +10

 

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 3, Washington 5

5-on-5: Isles 2, Washington 4

 

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, Travis Zajac, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost: 52

COVID Games Lost -6

 

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

 

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 292, Mathew Barzal 279, Ryan Pulock 242.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

 

Iron Man

Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4^th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6^th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 9th:

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. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 292

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

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 279

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

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

9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 242

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

 (*) 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. Josh Bailey 910…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 607 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt 596 *** 18. Brock Nelson 595 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 581 …

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

 

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 166 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

 

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 342 …

19. Pierre Turgeon and Nick Leddy 193

 

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 504…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 321 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

 

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 197

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 112

 

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 5-13-1-0 on the season (3-6-0-0 vs. Hartford and 2-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 4-1 win over Providence on Tuesday; Samuel Bolduc scored twice while Jakub Skarek made 23 saves as the Sound Tigers won their second straight game.  

 

Bridgeport returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Hartford.

 

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 4 games to 2 (and 8 points to 5).

The Isles are 2-3-1 while Washington is 4-2-0.

 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, APRIL 24^th  – WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles will look to move ahead of the Caps as the team meet again on Saturday.

 

This will be the seventh game of the season series; the teams will complete the season series in DC on Saturday.

 

Alexander Ovechkin still has 730 goals, leaving him just one behind Marcel Dionne for 5^th place on the all-time list.  Former Islander Zdeno Chara is scheduled to appear in his 1,6000^th NHL game.

 

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.