The Skinny: Isles 8, Washington 4

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Isles 8, Washington 4

Mathew Barzal scored three goals for his third career hat trick and added two assists for his fourth career 5-point game and four teammates had multi-point games as the Isles rebounded from a pair of losses in Pittsburgh for an 8-4 win over the Washington Capitals before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,400 at Nassau Coliseum. 

Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey each added three points for the Isles, who led by at least two goals for the final 41:07.  

With the win, the Isles tie Washington for the East Division point lead. The Capitals have one game in hand and will play it on Friday in New Jersey.  The Penguins beat Boston to create a three-way tie in points; the Isles hold the regulation win tie-breaker with Pittsburgh, who have played the same number of games as the Isles.

The Scoring:

1st Period

John Carlson (8) Tom Wilson (14), Conor Sheary (6) 01:01 WSH 1,NYI 0

Jordan Eberle (12) Leo Komarov (4), Mathew Barzal (19) 05:02 WSH 1,NYI 1

Mathew Barzal (11) 16:09 WSH 1,NYI 2

Brock Nelson (13) Josh Bailey (16) 17:32 WSH 1,NYI 3

Daniel Sprong (7) Lars Eller (8) 17:54 WSH 2,NYI 3

Mathew Barzal (12) Jordan Eberle (11), Scott Mayfield (9) 18:53 WSH 2,NYI 4

2nd Period

Casey Cizikas (7) Cal Clutterbuck (6) 03:03 WSH 2,NYI 5 

T.J. Oshie (10) Alex Ovechkin (13), Nicklas Backstrom (25) 06:47 WSH 3,NYI 5 PPG

Jordan Eberle (13) Mathew Barzal (20), Andy Greene (3) 08:08 WSH 3,NYI 6

John Carlson (9) Jakub Vrana (13), Daniel Sprong (5) 19:01 WSH 4,NYI 6

3rd Period

Josh Bailey (6) Brock Nelson (9), Anthony Beauvillier (6) 03:13 WSH 4,NYI 7

Mathew Barzal (13) Josh Bailey (17), Scott Mayfield (10) 18:54 WSH 4,NYI 8

The Skinny        

The Isles are 4-4-0 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles defense had three assists (two by Scott Mayfield and one by Andy Greene), giving them 69 – most in the East, and fourth in the NHL… The Isles improve to 3-7-2 against Pittsburgh and Washington (3-0-2 at home and 0-7-0 on the road); they are 20-3-2 vs. their other opponents…The Isles allowed the first goal for the fifth straight game…Nick Leddy played in his 499th game as an Islander; he will become the 7th current Islander to play at least 500 games for the team with his next appearance…The Isles have outscored their opponents 69-36 at home (not including shootout goals)…The Isles' team lead in goals changed several times tonight; Jordan Eberle tied Brock Nelson and Anders Lee for the team lead with 12, then Nelson scored to regain the lead.  Eberle's second period goal created another tie and Mathew Barzal's hat trick goal gave the Isles three players with 13 goals…The Caps have allowed 17 goals in their last three games, including a four-goal period in each of them...Barry Trotz coached his 187th Isles game, matching Terry Simpson for 4th place.

The Injury

Ilya Samsonov left the game after 31 seconds when he collided with TJ Oshie; he returned during the final TV timeout of the period and played the rest of the game.  Had he not returned he would have been the first NHL goaltender since 2001 (Jeff Hackett) to play that little in a start.

The Great 8

• The Isles scored eight goals against Washington for the fifth time in club history, tying the club record. 

• The Isles last scored eight goals on January 14, 2020 vs. Detroit; prior to 2020 they had scored at least eight only twice in the prior 16 years.

The Barzal Story

• Mathew Barzal went 3-2-5 and finished +5.  It is the second time in his career that he has had a five-point, +5 game.  Only two other players in Islander history have had multiple games in which they went +5 (or better) while recording at least five points: Bryan Trottier (7 times) and Mike Bossy (3 times).  Barzal is the only Isle to do it even once since Niklas Andersson did so in 1996.

• All five of his points were at even-strength; Barzal now leads the East with 27 points at even strength.

• Barzal is the fifth Islander in club history with at least four 5-point games, and the first to do so in the 21st century (Trottier and Bossy-15 each, Potvin-5, LaFontaine-4)

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles have scored at least four goals in consecutive home first periods (also March 20 vs Philly) for the first time since December 30, 1980 vs Colorado and January 3, 1981 vs. Hartford.

• The Isles scored eight goals against Washington for the first time since November 30, 2001.

• Mathew Barzal is the first Islander with a hat trick against the Caps since Bill Guerin did so in DC on October 18, 2007.

• It is the first time that the Isles have allowed at least two goals in four consecutive first periods since December 2017.

Hey, Josh Bailey

Josh Bailey improved his career totals to 160-339-499 with a goal and two assists. His goal tied Patrick for 16th place on the team list, the two assists tied and past John Tonelli for 6th place in team history, and his 499 points matches Derek King's 11th place total.  It was Bailey's 13th career game with at least three points and his first since January 21, 2020 against the Rangers.

Varly Streaking

Semyon Varlamov is 8-3-1 in his last twelve decisions, allowing just 30 goals in that span.  Varly has won 15 games this season with a goals against average of 2.26 and save percentage of .919.  Varlamov now has 247 NHL wins.

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 8-1-0 in his last nine starts. 

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.

Home Sweet Home

The Isles have earned points in 16 of their first 17 home games (14-1-2), remaining tied with the 1978-79 team for the most in club history through 17 games:

Most Points at Home Through 17 Games

• 30 2020-21 (14-1-2)

• 30 1978-79 (13-0-4)

• 28 Three times

Solid D

The Isles have allowed only 88 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 37 games; it is tied for the fewest goals that they have allowed through 37 games in their history:

• 88 (2020-21)

• 88 (2015-16) 

• 89 (1975-76)

• 91 (1977-78)

• 92 (1976-77)

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-L Remaining games: 0

• Washington L-L-L-W         Remaining games: 4  (3 home, 1 away)

Home Cooking

This was the first game in a stretch where the Isles will play six straight games at home.  The Isles are 1-0-0 in this stretch:

• WAS W 8-4

• PHI  Saturday

• WSH Tuesday

• PHI  Thursday 4/8

• NYR Friday 4/9

• NYR Sunday 4/11

Following this stretch, 8 of the final 14 will be on the road.

Home and Road

The Isles are 23-10-4 overall; they are 14-1-2 at home and 9-9-2 on the road.

Washington is 23-9-4 overall; they are 13-4-2 at home and 10-5-2 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 868-628-60-155 in 1,711 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  949

3. Barry Trotz  868

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville  1,742

3. Barry Trotz         1,711

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile      1,432

2. Glen Sather     1,319

3. Lou Lamoriello 1,317

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,185 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 9-9-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    13-9-11=33

Washington    7-7-8=22

The Isles are 15-5-2 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

Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves to improve to 15-7-3 on the season and 5-9-1 in his career against Washington.

Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves but falls to 8-2-1 on the season and 3-2-0 in his career against the Isles.  Vitek Vanacek made seven saves on nine shots in 16:26 of play in the first period.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Washington was 1-1 (0:48).

The Isles are 9-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-6-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-8-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-2-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 17-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-7-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 83-8-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 9-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 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. the Flyers 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 2-5-1 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)

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 18-8-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:24); Washington: Justin Schultz (22:23)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 17:42 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (8-3-0), Ryan Pulock (11-5-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (2-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 30 Washington 29 (51%)

Casey Cizikas won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Nic Dowd won 7 of 11 for Washington.

The Isles are 13-6-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 9-3-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -4)

Washington 26 (Zdeno Chara -6)

Fights 

Matt Martin fought Zdeno Chara late in the third period.  Season total: 3 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Andy Greene and Ryan Pulock -4)

Washington 8 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Washington 47

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 45, Washington 43

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Leo Komarov and Scott Mayfield +12

Washington: Brenden Dillon +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 17, Washington 6

5-on-5: Isles 17, Washington 3

Scratches

Austin Czarnik, Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), (Michael DalColle -IR)

Games Lost: 31

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 282, Mathew Barzal 269, Ryan Pulock 232, Josh Bailey 190.  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 282

6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 269

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 232

 (*) 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 902…

14. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 15. Kenny Jonsson and Matt Martin 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt 596 *** 18. John Tonelli 594 ***19. Brock Nelson 585 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 571 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 520 *** 29. Dave Lewis 514 *** 30. Cal Clutterbuck 513 *** 31. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 33. Nick Leddy 499

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 163 *** 16. Patrick Flatley and Josh Bailey 160

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 339 …

19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 192

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. Derek King and Josh Bailey 499…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 320  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 317

Games Coached 

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

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 106

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 3-8-1-0 on the season (2-2-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-6-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins on Wednesday.  Tom Kuhnhackl and AJ Greer had the goals for Bridgeport, who held Providence without a shot on goal in the opening period.

Bridgeport returns to action on Friday when they host Hartford to begin the second half of their 24-game schedule.

Season Series Stats

Washington leads the season series 3 games to 1 (and 6 points to 2). 

The Isles are 1-3-0 and Washington is 3-1-0. 

This was the Isles' first home win vs. Washington under Barry Trotz.  The road team won all eight games in the previous two seasons; the home team has won all four meetings this season.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, APRIL 3rd  – PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles look to keep the home mojo going as they entertain the Flyers on Saturday.  Philadelphia is the only team to beat the Isles at the Coliseum in regulation time, earning a 4-3 win on March 18th.

Overall, the Isles are 2-2-1 against the Flyers this season; Philly will also be at the Coliseum on Thursday. The final meeting will be on April 18th in Philadelphia.

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