The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

First Round Game 4

Isles 4 Pittsburgh 1

Best-of-7 series tied, 2-2

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his second win of the series and the Islanders got goals from four different players as they evened their First Round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 4-1 victory before a socially-distant crowd of 6,800 at the Nassau Coliseum. 

After taking a 2-0 lead in the second period, the Isles blew the game open with a pair of power play goals 24 seconds apart in the third period as they scored four goals against Tristan Jarry for the third time in the series.  It's the first time in Islander playoff history that they have scored two power play goals in such a short span.

The series returns to Pittsburgh for game 5 on Monday; game 6 will be played on Coliseum ice on Wednesday.

 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Josh Bailey (2) Brock Nelson (2), Anthony Beauvillier (1) 08:07 PIT 0,NYI 1

Ryan Pulock (1) Oliver Wahlstrom (2), Nick Leddy (1) 14:51 PIT 0,NYI 2

3rd Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (1)OWN 06:04 PIT 0,NYI 3 PPG

Jordan Eberle (1) Mathew Barzal (3), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) 06:28 PIT 0,NYI 4 PPG

Zach Aston-Reese (1) Brian Dumoulin (2), Frederick Gaudreau (2) 17:25 PIT 1,NYI 4 SHG

The Series (Series tied, 2-2)

Game 1: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT)

Game 2: Pittsburgh 2, Isles 1

Game 3: Pittsburgh 5, Isles 4

Game 4: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 1

Game 5: Monday, May 24 at Pittsburgh (7:00)

Game 6: Wednesday, May 26 at Isles (TBD)

Game 7: Friday, May 28 at Pittsburgh (if needed)

The Skinny 

The Isles are 4-3 in game 4's under Barry Trotz… The Isles were credited with 31 hits, giving them 195 hits in the series … The Isles scored led for the final 31:53 after leading for only 3:43 in the first three games of this series…Oliver Wahlstrom had a power play goal and added an assist; the assists on his goal were reversed after the game when the goal was ruled an "OWN" goal by the official scorer…The Isles have scored four goals in a game three times in this series on Tristan Jarry, who is 8-1-0 with a 2.12 GAA against the Isles in regular season play…The Isles allowed a shorthanded goal after not allowing a shorty in the regular season…For the third consecutive season, an Isles goalie has won his first two playoff appearances (Robin Lehner in 2019 and Semyon Varlamov in 2020).  This had never happened in club history prior to 2019; it also makes Ilya Sorokin the first rookie goalie in club history to do so…All three of Mathew Barzal's assists in this series have been primary assists.

First Time in a Long Time

• Oliver Wahlstrom is the first Islander rookie to have a goal and an assist in the same playoff game since Ryan Pulock (4-17-2016 vs. Florida); he is the first Islander rookie forward since Patrick Flatley (4-18-1984 vs. Washington) to have a power play goal and an assist in a game.

• The Isles scored twice in 24 seconds; it was their fastest two goals in a playoff game since Shawn Bates and Dave Scatchard scored 14 seconds apart on April 23, 2002 vs. Toronto.

• Both of those goals were scored on the power play, marking the first time they have scored two power play goals in a period since April 17, 2016 vs. Florida (game 3).

• Mathew Barzal is the first Islander since Butch Goring to record at least 20 assists in his first 34 playoff games with the team; Butch did it in 31 games.  Barzal joins Denis Potvin (27 games) and Bryan Trottier (34 games) as the only Isles to do so within their first 34 career playoff games.

• The Isles allowed a shorthanded goal in a playoff game for the first time in 64 playoff games: April 14, 2004 (game 4) vs. Tampa Bay.  Martin St. Louis broke a scoreless tie midway through the 2nd period with the shorty. 

Fastest 2 Goals in a Playoff Game (Isles history)

• 0:13 – 4/28/2014 vs. Washington  (Tomas Jonsson, Greg Gilbert)

• 0:14 -  5/1/1975 vs. Philadelphia (JP Parise, Denis Potvin)

• 0:14 – 4/23/2002 vs. Toronto (Shawn Bates, Dave Scatchard)

• 0:20 – 4/14/1987 vs. Washington (Brad Lauer, Pat LaFontaine)

• 0:24 – 5/22/2021 vs. Pittsburgh (Oliver Wahlstrom, Jordan Eberle)

Brock Best

Brock Nelson has 17 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 17

• Josh Bailey 12

• Anthony Beauvillier 11

• John Tavares 11

Nelson's 17 goals are tied for 13th in Islander history with Jude Drouin and Billy Harris.  Nelson has scored more playoffs goals for the Isles than any other US-born player.

A Familiar Playoff Foe

This is the sixth 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- First Round. Isles won series 4 games to 0. 

Barry and Al

Barry Trotz is only the 2nd coach to lead the Isles to multiple series wins, joining Al Arbour.  Terry Simpson and Jack Capuano are the only other coaches to lead the Isles to a playoff series victory.

Lou and Bill

Lou Lamoriello has won 29 playoff series as a General Manager, which allowed him to pass Bill Torrey for second place on the all-time list in the 2020 Bubble. Glen Sather has 41 series wins.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 37-21 (.638) all-time in overtime, including 18-9 (.667) on the road. Both percentages are 2nd-best (to Tampa Bay) in NHL history. The Isles are 1-0 in overtime this season; they have gone 8-8 in sixteen overtime games since 2015.

Overtime vs. Pittsburgh

The Isles are 4-3 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Pittsburgh. The 1982, 1993 and 2013 series all ended on overtime goals.

• 04/10/82 @ Rick Kehoe L Pit 4:14 

• 04/13/82 Vs John Tonelli W Pit 6:19  

• 05/14/93 @ David Volek W Pit 5:16 

• 05/05/13 Vs Chris Kunitz L Pit 8:44

• 05/11/13 Vs Brooks Orpik L Pit 7:49

• 04/10/19 Vs Josh Bailey W Pit 4:39

• 05/16/21 @ Kyle Palmieri W Pit 16:30

Lead/Tie/Trailed

Game 1: Led: 3:43, Tied: 53:01, Trailed: 19:46 

Game 2: Led  0:00, Tied:   3:22, Trailed: 56:38

Game 3: Led  0:00, Tied:   7:44, Trailed: 52:16

Game 4: Led  31:53, Tied: 28:07, Trailed: 0:00

Series:    Led: 35:36, Tied: 92:14, Trailed: 128:40

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles improve to 163-135 in 298 all-time playoff games.  They are 91-51 at home (including 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 72-84 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 1-1 at home and 1-1 on the road.  The Isles will play their 300th playoff game on Wednesday (Game 6).

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

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has now coached 147 playoff games (74-73).  His 147 games are tied for 12th with Peter Laviolette while his 74 wins are 15th all time (2 behind Laviolette).  Trotz won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 119

• Barry Trotz 19

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 198

• Barry Trotz 34

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Barry Trotz 4 (4-5)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most game 7 wins/game seven record)

• Al Arbour 4 (2-2)

• Terry Simpson 2 (1-1)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-0)

• Jack Capuano 1 (0-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 4

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

First Things First

The Isles are 2-0 when scoring first and are 0-2 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles          8-9-10=27    

Pittsburgh     8-12-10=30

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 41, Pittsburgh 42

• Game 2: Isles 38, Pittsburgh 45

• Game 3: Isles 30, Pittsburgh 27

• Game 4: Isles 27, Pittsburgh 30

• Series:  Isles 136, Pittsburgh 144

The Isles are 0-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0 when the shots are even and 2-1 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves to improve to 2-0 in the 2021 playoffs and in his playoff career. 

 

Tristan Jarry made 23 saves but falls to 2-2 in this year's playoffs and 2-3 in his career.

Power Plays

The Isles were 2-5 on the power play in 7:13 of PP time, allowing a late shorthanded goal; Pittsburgh was 0-1 on the power play in 0:30 of PP time.

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 0-2 (4:00, 2 shots), Pittsburgh 0-3 (6:00, 3 shots)

• Game 2: Isles 0-1 (1:28, 1 shot), Pittsburgh 0-2 (4:00, 1 shot)

• Game 3: Isles 1-4 (6:19, 4 shots), Pittsburgh 1-2 (2:37, 3 shots)

• Game 4: Isles 2-5 (7:13, 4 shots), Pittsburgh 0-1 (0:30, 0 shots)

• Series: Isles 1-7 (19:00, 11 shots), Pittsburgh 1-8 (13:07, 7 shots)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-1 in the playoffs (1-1 in regulation and 1-0 in overtime) when they score at least three goals and 0-1 when they do not. 

Shutting the Door

The Isles are 1-1 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-2 in the playoffs in one-goal games (0-2 in regulation and 1-0 in overtime). The Isles are 0-0 in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:54);  Pittsburgh Brian Dumoulin (22:49)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:53 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (1-0), Nick Leddy (0-1), Ryan Pulock (1-1)

Face-offs

Isles 33, Pittsburgh 17 (66%)  

Casey Cizikas won 12 of 17 for the Isles; no Penguin won more than he lost.  

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 33, Pittsburgh 37 (47%)

• Game 2: Isles 24, Pittsburgh 26 (48%)

• Game 3: Isles 30, Pittsburgh 27 (53%)

• Game 4; Isles 33, Pittsburgh 17 (66%)

• Series: Isles 120, Pittsburgh 107 (53%)

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Ryan Pulock -8)

Pittsburgh 34 (Brandon Tanev and Jason Zucker-6)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 72, Pittsburgh 47 

• Game 2: Isles 46, Pittsburgh 37

• Game 3: Isles 46, Pittsburgh 29

• Game 4: Isles 31, Pittsburgh 34

• Series: Isles 197, Pittsburgh 147

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Ryan Pulock -3)

Pittsburgh 11 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Pittsburgh 60  

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 34, Pittsburgh 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +1

Pittsburgh: Kris Letang and Bryan Rust +15

High Danger Chances:

All situations: Isles 16, Pittsburgh 7  

5-on-5 Isles 11, Pittsburgh 7

Corsi Game by Game:

• Game 1 (All) Isles 60, Pittsburgh 67;  (5-on-5) Isles 55, Pittsburgh 58

• Game 2 (All) Isles 51, Pittsburgh 68;  (5-on-5) Isles 44, Pittsburgh 64

• Game 3 (All) Isles 57, Pittsburgh 52;  (5-on-5) Isles 42, Pittsburgh 41

• Game 4 (All) Isles 44, Pittsburgh 60;  (5-on-5) Isles 34, Pittsburgh 55 

• Series: (All)  Isles 212, Pittsburgh 247;  (5-on-5) Isles 175, Pittsburgh 218

High-Danger Game by Game:

• Game 1 (All) Isles 8, Pittsburgh 11;  (5-on-5) Isles 6, Pittsburgh 10

• Game 2 (All) Isles 14, Pittsburgh 8;  (5-on-5) Isles 14, Pittsburgh 8

• Game 3 (All) Isles 17, Pittsburgh 11; (5-on-5) Isles 12, Pittsburgh 8

• Game 4 (All) Isles 16, Pittsburgh 7;  (5-on-5) Isles 11, Pittsburgh 7 

• Series: (All)  Isles 55, Pittsburgh 37; (5-on-5) Isles 43, Pittsburgh 33

Scratches

(Anders Lee), Cory Schneider, Sebastian Aho, Braydon Coburn, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Travis Zajac, Michael Dal Colle

Playoff games lost: 5

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)

• Kyle Palmieri (16:30 of OT on 5/16 vs. Pittsburgh – Game 1)

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed

• None

Playoff Challenges

• None

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Matt Martin 58

Josh Bailey 56

Casey Cizikas 54

Nick Leddy 52

Brock Nelson 52

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 58

Nick Leddy 52

Brock Nelson 47

Goals:

Brock Nelson 17

Josh Bailey 12

Anthony Beauvillier 11

Jordan Eberle 10

JG Pageau 9

Cal Clutterbuck 8

Anders Lee 8

Mathew Barzal 7

Matt Martin 6

Nick Leddy 5

Assists:

Josh Bailey 27

Mathew Barzal 20

Jordan Eberle 15

Brock Nelson 15

Nick Leddy 13

Ryan Pulock 12

Points:

Josh Bailey 39

Brock Nelson 32

Mathew Barzal 27

Jordan Eberle 25

Anthony Beauvillier 18

Nick Leddy 18

Anders Lee 16

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 70

Cal Clutterbuck 64

Casey Cizikas 42

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 3

Anthony Beauvillier 3

Anders Lee 3

Jordan Eberle 3

Ryan Pulock 3

Josh Bailey 2

Brock Nelson 2 

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

Nick Leddy 1

SH Goals

Josh Bailey 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 5

Anthony Beauvillier 3

Jordan Eberle 3

Josh Bailey 2

Thomas Hickey 1

Mathew Barzal 1

Leo Komarov 1

Andy Greene 1

Scott Mayfield 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Ryan Pulock 1

OT Goals 

Josh Bailey 1

Mathew Barzal 1

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Goaltending

Semyon Varlamov 11-9  2.27 GAA, .919 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 2-0 1.76 GAA, .944 save percentage

UP NEXT

MONDAY, MAY 24th  – ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH 7:00pm

[MSG/MSG+ (Pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 98.7]

The Isles look to retake the series lead when the teams meet in Game 5 of the series on Monday night.

The Isles are 5-6 all-time in series tied 2-2 (but are 4-3 when the series, like this one, opened on the road), while Pittsburgh is 15-9. 

The Isles are 6-2 in playoff games against Pittsburgh under Barry Trotz, including 3-1 at PPG Paints Arena.

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