The Skinny: Boston 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 56

Boston 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Taylor Hall scored a pair of goals, including the winner in overtime, as the Boston Bruins defeated the Islanders 3-2 before a socially-distanced crowd of 4,565 at TD Garden in the final regular season game of the season.

Oliver Wahlstrom and Mathew Barzal scored second period goals for the Islanders to erase a pair of one-goal deficits.  With the score tied late in regulation, the Isles pulled Ilya Sorokin (who had replaced Semyon Varlamov) but could not get the regulation win they needed to have a chance to finish 3rd in the standings.

 

Instead, the Isles remain in 4th place in the East Division and will face Pittsburgh beginning this weekend. Boston will face Washington.

 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Taylor Hall (9) David Krejci (34), Brad Marchand (40) 19:21 NYI 0,BOS 1 PPG

2nd Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (12) Mathew Barzal (28), Nick Leddy (29) 01:38 NYI 1,BOS 1 PPG

Brad Marchand (29) David Krejci (35), David Pastrnak (28) 06:15 NYI 1,BOS 2

Mathew Barzal (17) Ryan Pulock (15), Anthony Beauvillier (13) 08:31 NYI 2,BOS 2

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

Taylor Hall (10) David Krejci (36), Mike Reilly (27) 02:53 NYI 2,BOS 3

The Skinny        

The Isles went 13-11-3 in their final 27 games … The Isles killed 39 of the final 42 opponent power plays…The team that has scored first has won 18 of the last 19 Islander games... Anthony Beauvillier extended his point streak to seven games (5-3-8) …Brock Nelson played in his 301st consecutive game to tie Bobby Nystrom for 2nd place on the club's all-time list…Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal all were "even" and ended the season in a 4-way tie for the team lead at +15…Barzal has scored four times in his last six games; he ended the season with consecutive multi-point games (first time all season that he has done that)… Oliver Wahlstrom's goal gave him ten power play points to lead all Islander forwards in that category (Nick Leddy led team with 11 power play points)…Allowed capacity in Boston was increased for this game; as a result it was the highest-attended game of the season for either team…Taylor Hall now has 11 career overtime goals…David Krejci had three assists.

The Injuries:

• Semyon Varlamov did not play in the third period with "a little strain", according to Barry Trotz.

• Ondrej Kase did not play in the third period due to an upper body injury.

The Playoff (Positioning) Chase  (all have clinched berth)

X-Pittsburgh 77 points/ 29 regulation wins (0 to play)

X -Washington 75 points/ 28 regulation wins (1 to play)

X -Boston         73 points/ 25 regulation wins (1 to play)

X-ISLES         71 points/ 24 regulation wins (0 to play)

Remaining Schedule:

• Tuesday – BOS @ WAS

Race for the Jennings (includes shootout losers)

1. Vegas  124 goals allowed in 55 games  2.25 

2. Isles  128 goals allowed in 56 games  2.29

3. Boston  134 goals allowed in 55 games  2.44

4. Colorado 132 goals allowed in 54 games 2.44

Vegas plays in San Jose on Wednesday.

Most Shutouts in a Season

• 11 2018-19 (82-game schedule)

• 10 2020-21 (56-game schedule)

• 10 1975-76 (80-game schedule)

The Isles earned a shutout in 17.9% of their games this season, breaking the previous record (13.4% in 2018-19).

Longest Shutout Streaks in Isles History (Goalie)

1. Semyon Varlamov 2020-21 248:00

2. Glenn Resch 1975-76 178:29

3. Robin Lehner 2018-19 177:43

Longest Shutout Streaks in Isles History (Team)

1. 2020-21 212:35

2. 1997-78 199:14

3. 2014-15 193:48

Career Years (excluding rookies, and others with limited prior NHL experience)

Despite the shortened season, several Isles had career years in 2020-21:

• Josh Bailey was a career-best +12

• Mathew Barzal was a career-best +15

• Anthony Beauvillier was a career-best +15

• Noah Dobson established career highs with 3-11-14 totals

• Semyon Varlamov established career highs with a 2.05 GAA and a .929 save percentage

Leaders:

• Games: 6 with 56 

• Goals: Brock Nelson -18

• Assists: Nick Leddy - 29

• Points: Mathew Barzal- 45 

• Plus/Minus: 4 with +15

• Pen Mins: Mathew Barzal -48

• PP Goals: Brock Nelson -18

• PP Points: Nick Leddy -11

• SH Goals: Jean-Gabriel Pageau -2

• SH Points: Jean-Gabriel Pageau  and Adam Pelech -2

• GW Goals: Anthony Beauvillier -5

• OT Goals: Anthony Beauvillier -2

• Shots: Mathew Barzal -134

• Shooting Percentage: Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 17.3%

• Average ice-time: Ryan Pulock - 22:26

• Face-off Percentages (minimum 250): Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 56.7%

The Goals (Season)

Isles           52-44-52-4=152 (2.7/game)

Opponents  37-48-36-4=125 (2.2/game)

The Shots (season)

Isles     558-521-513-31=1623 (29.0/game)

Opponents  501-579-483-27=1590 (28.4/game)

The Finales

The Isles are 6-1-1 in their last eight road finales and 25-16-7 all-time in road finales.  The Isles are 4-1-4 in their last nine season finales and are 25-14-9 all-time in their final game of the year.

Bruins vs. Legends

Patrice Bergeron has 375 goals, matching Butch Goring; Brad Marchand scored his 319th goal, matching Clark Gillies; Tuukka Rask won his 306th game, passing Billy Smith.

Varly Solid

Semyon Varlamov is 12-7-2 in his last 21 decisions, allowing just 42 goals in that span.  Varly won 19 games this season with a goals against average of 2.05 and save percentage of .929.  Both his GAA and save percentage are 2nd to Carolina's Alex Nedeljkovic (1.90, .932) among goalies who have played at least 15 games. Varlamov has 251 NHL wins (61st all-time) and 34 shutouts (tied-57th all-time), including an NHL-leading seven this season.

Most Shutouts by an Islander Goalie (one season):

1. Semyon Varlamov 7 (2020-21)

        Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)

Lowest Goals Against by an Islander Goalie (one season) (minimum 1000 minutes):

1. Semyon Varlamov 2.05 (2020-21)

2. Chico Resch 2.08 (1975-76)

3. Robin Lehner 2.13 (2018-19)

4. Ilya Sorokin 2.16 (2020-21)

Highest Save Percentage by an Islander Goalie (one season) (minimum 1000 minutes):

1. Robin Lehner .9297 (2018-19)

2. Semyon Varlamov .9294 (2020-21)

3. Chico Resch .928 (1975-76)

4. Thomas Greiss .927 (2018-191)

Sorokin's Shining

Ilya Sorokin is 13-4-1 in his last eighteen starts. He has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last nine 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 13 (2020-21)

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 turns 26 this summer so he will not have rookie status next season) 

Home Sweet Home

The Isles earned points in 24 of their 28 home games (21-4-3); it is their best home record through 28 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 28 Games

• 48 1980-81 (23-3-2)

• 47 1977-78 (21-2-5)

• 47 1978-79 (21-2-5)

• 45 2020-21 (21-4-3)

Historical D

The Isles allowed only 128 goals (including 3 shootout winners) in 56 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 56 games in their history by a wide margin:

• 128 (2020-21)

• 136 (2018-19)

• 137 (1975-76)

• 139 (1976-77)

• 140 (2003-04)

• 141 (1977-78)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent

• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L-L-Lot

• Buffalo W-W-W-W-W-W-L-Lot

• New Jersey W-L-W-W-W-Wso-L-W

• Rangers         W-L-W-L-Wot-W-W-W

• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso-Wot 

• Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L

• Washington L-L-L-W-W-Lso-L-L

Home and Road

The Isles finish 32-17-7 overall; they are 21-4-3 at home and 11-13-4 on the road.

Boston is 33-15-7 overall; they are 18-7-3 at home and 15-8-4 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 877-635-60-158 in 1,730 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville    962

3. Barry Trotz    877

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville  1,761

3. Barry Trotz          1,730

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile      1,448

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,326

3. Glen Sather     1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,203 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 23-2-2 when scoring first and are 9-15-5 when allowing the opening goal. 

• At home, Isles are 15-0-2 scoring first and 6-4-1 trailing first

• On road, Isles are 8-2-0 scoring first and 3-11-4 trailing first

The Isles have won 85.2% of the games that they have scored first, which is the 3rd-highest percentage in the NHL (just behind Edmonton - .885 and Vegas - .882). 

At 15-0-2 at home, they are one of three teams without a loss at home when scoring first (Boston 13-0-2 and Edmonton 11-0-0).

The Shots

Isles    4-9-5-0=18

Boston    18-9-9-2=38

The Isles are 20-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-11-3 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 64-36-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves before leaving after two periods; Ilya Sorokin made 10 saves to end his rookie season with a record of 13-6-3.  He is 0-1-1 in his career against Boston. 

Tuukka Rask made 16 saves to improve to 15-5-2 on the season and 19-7-1 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-1 on the power play (0:42); Boston was 1-4 on the power play (4:14). 

The Isles were 27-144 on the power play (18.8%) and 22-135 (83.7%) on the PK this season.  The Isles scored four shorthanded goals and were the only team in the NHL to not allow a shorthanded goal.  They killed 48 of 52 at home this season, recording the 2nd-best percentage in NHL history (92.3%; record kept since 1977-78).

The Isles are 14-5-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 18-12-3 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-10-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 26-7-4 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 24-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-13-3 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 89-9-11 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-6-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-6 in regulation. They are 4-4 in games decided in overtime and are 4-3 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles played eight back-to-backs this season, going 4-2-2 in the front-half and 4-2-2 in the back-half. 

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-4 (.793) 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: 20-9-3 (.672).

Series

The Isles played 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 4-7-2 in the first game and 5-6-2 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/W), BUF (L/Lot), NJ (L/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)

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:51); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (24:06)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:18 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-6-2), Ryan Pulock (17-8-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (4-1-1).

Face-offs

Isles 16, Boston 33 (33%)

No Islander won more than he lost; Patrice Bergeron won 15 of 17 for Boston.

The Isles are 20-10-3 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 12-5-3 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 41 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Boston 25 (Charlie McAvoy -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Noah Dobson -3)

Boston 9 (Charlie McAvoy -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 33, Boston 67
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 28, Boston 51

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Jordan Eberle and Mathew Barzal +11

Boston: Damon Severson +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 5, Boston 11

5-on-5: Isles 3, Boston 7

Scratches

(Anders Lee-LTIR), Cory Schneider, Sebastian Aho, Braydon Coburn, Kieffer Bellows, Matt Martin, Travis Zajac, Michael Dal Colle

Games Lost: 62

COVID Games Lost -6

Iron Man Club

Brock Nelson has played in 301 consecutive games and Ryan Pulock in 251; both have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.  

Iron Man

Brock Nelson has tied Bobby Nystrom for the 2nd-longest streak while Ryan Pulock is 8th:

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

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

    Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 301

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

5. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- 5/3/2021 284

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

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

8. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 251

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

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: 2 successful, 1 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR, no goalie interference 3/11 vs NJ, goalie interference 5/3 @ BUF)

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-1-0 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 919…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 614 *** 15. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 16. Brock Nelson 604 *** 17. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 18. Garry Howatt 596 *** 19. John Tonelli 594 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 590 … 

27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Cal Clutterbuck 528 *** 29.  Anders Lee 520 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518

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 and Brock Nelson 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 162

Assists

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

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

17.  Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen 230 *** 19.Nick Leddy 198

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 511…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Brock Nelson 327 ***  22. Anders Lee 320

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 206

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 115

On the Farm

Bridgeport went 5-1-1-0 in their last seven games to finish their season with a record of 8-14-2-0 (4-7-1-0 vs. Hartford and 4-7-1-0 vs. Providence).  Earlier today, the team changed their logo and announced that they will now be known as the Bridgeport Islanders.

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series 5 games to 3 (and 11 points to 5). 

The Isles were 5-2-1 while Boston was 2-5-1.

The Isles were 4-0-0 at the Coliseum vs. the Bruins and 1-2-1 on the road.  

UP NEXT

THE PLAYOFFS

The Isles will open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Games 1 and 2 will be at PPG Paints Arena before the series moves to the Coliseum for Games 3 and 4.

This will be the 6th all-time playoff meeting between the teams.

• 1975- Quarter-Finals.  Isles won series 4 games to 3.

• 1982- Preliminary Series. Isles won series 3 games to 2.

• 1993- Division Final.  Isles won series 4 games to 3.

• 2013- Conference Quarter-Finals.  Pittsburgh won series 4 games to 2.

• 2019- Conference First Round.  Isles won series 4 games to 0.

• 2021 -Division Semi-Finals (First Round)

And Finally…

Another regular season is in the books. See you in the playoffs for the third straight season!

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