The Skinny: Isles 6, Montreal 2

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 8

Isles 6, Montreal 2

Brock Nelson scored four times and Ilya Sorokin made 36 saves to extend his point streak to six games as the Isles built a 5-0 lead and defeated the Montreal Canadiens before a crowd of 19,924 at Bell Centre.

Nelson scored the only goal of the first period as the Isles grabbed the lead for the sixth straight game; he then scored a pair of goal 2:58 apart in the middle period and hit the empty net in the third for the first four-goal game of his career. Anthony Beauvillier assisted on the first three tallies to match a career high in helpers.

The Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six games; their ten points match their highest total through eight games under Barry Trotz. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Brock Nelson (3) Kyle Palmieri (4), Anthony Beauvillier (2) 04:14 NYI 1,MTL 0

2nd Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (5) Casey Cizikas (1) 03:31 NYI 2,MTL 0

Brock Nelson (4) Anthony Beauvillier (3), Zdeno Chara (1) 12:25 NYI 3,MTL 0

Brock Nelson (5) Anthony Beauvillier (4) 15:23 NYI 4,MTL 0

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Zach Parise (1), Ryan Pulock (2) 18:08 NYI 5,MTL 0

3rd Period

Nick Suzuki (2) David Savard (3) 15:20 NYI 5,MTL 1 SHG

Tyler Toffoli (2)Christian Dvorak (4), Nick Suzuki (8) 17:04 NYI 5,MTL 2 PPG

Brock Nelson (6)EN Zach Parise (2), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) NYI 6,MTL 2

The Skinny         

The Isles have scored first in six straight games and in seven of their first eight games; last season the Isles scored first in 27 of their 56 games… The Isles are 4-2-2 in their first eight games, matching their best record through seven games under Barry Trotz (5-3-0 in 2019-2020)… Ilya Sorokin, the only goalie to play every game for his team, improved to 4-0-2 in the last six games, allowing only eight goals on 201 shots.  He is one game shy of matching Felix Potvin for the second-longest appearance streak to start an Isles season (9 in 1999-2000)…Lou Lamoriello became the 3rd person to serve as an NHL General Manger for 2,600 games…The Isles allowed a shorty for the first time in a regular season game since March 5, 2020, in Ottawa.

Brockvember

Brock Nelson now has four goals in November after scoring twice in October.  His six goals now lead the team.  

Last 4-goal games by an Islander:

• Overall – Kyle Okposo vs. Pittsburgh 1-16-2015

• On the Road – Matt Moulson in Dallas 12-3-2011

• Against the Canadiens – Mike Bossy 11-1-1984, also in Montreal

Nelson is only the 7th player in club history to score four times in a road game, joining Moulson, Viktor Kozlov, Alexi Yashin, Ray Ferraro, Patrick Flatley and Bossy.

Nelson also tied the record for most goals scored against the Canadiens in Montreal (last done by John LeClair for Philadelphia in 2002).

More Record Book Stuff

• Zdeno Chara is the oldest player in club history to record a point, erasing Ron Stewart's record that was set in the club's first season.

• The Isles have not allowed a first period goal in six straight games, and have allowed only three in their first eight first periods (breaking the club record set in 1974-75, and matched in 1977-78 and 1992-93)

First Times in a Long Time

• Oliver Wahlstrom became the first Islander since Anders Lee (2017-18) to score five times in the first eight games.

• Brock Nelson matched Wahlstrom and then became the first Isle since Lee in 2013-14 with six goals in the first eight games.

• Nelson and Wahlstrom are the first Islander teammates with at least five goals in the first eight games since Mark Parrish (9) and Alexei Yashin (6) in 2001-02.

• Zdeno Chara recorded a point for the Isles for the first time since April 2, 2001.

• A Parise (Zach) recorded a point for the Isles for the first time since December 31, 1977.

• The Isles scored four goals in a period as recently as April 1st vs Washington, but this was the first time they did so on the road since October 18, 2018, in Los Angeles (Trotz' 6th game as Islander coach).

• Christian Dvorak and Mike Hoffman each went -5.  No opponent had gone -5 in the Trotz era.  The last to do so was Sam Bennett for Buffalo on October 7, 2017; the last teammates were Matt Read and Sean Couturier for Philadelphia on January 16, 2015.  

• No opponent had gone -5 in an Islander road game since Bryan Marchment for Tampa Bay on January 14, 1998; no teammates had gone at least -5 in an Islander road game since Borje Salming (-6) and Gary Nylund (-7) did so for Toronto on March 3, 1984.

• The Isles recorded a 4-goal win in Montreal for the first time since December 23, 1992; it's only the third time in club history it has ever happened.

• Brock Nelson and Boston's Patrice Bergeron recorded 4-goal games tonight; it is the first time since November 2, 2005 (Daniel Alfredsson and Martin Havlat, both for Ottawa vs. Buffalo) that multiple players did that on the same night. Zdeno Chara had a pair of assists that night – one on Havlat's hat trick goal, and one on Alfredsson's second tally.

• Nelson and Bergeron are the first duo to score four times in different games since March 26, 1996 (Winnipeg's Keith Tkachuk and Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux)

The Long Road (to the New) Home

The Isles are 4-2-2 on their franchise-record 13-game road trip:

• Thu Oct 14 at Carolina L 3-6

• Sat Oct 16 at Florida         L 1-5

• Tue Oct 19 at Chicago         W 4-1

• Thu Oct 21 at Columbus L 3-2 (ot)

• Sat Oct 23 at Arizona         W 3-0

• Sun Oct 24 at Vegas         W 2-0

• Sat Oct 30 at Nashville L 3-2 (so)

• Thu Nov 04 at Montréal W 6-2

• Sat Nov 06 at Winnipeg 7:00 PM

• Sun Nov 07 at Minnesota 8:00 PM

• Thu Nov 11 at New Jersey 7:00 PM

• Mon Nov 15 at Tampa Bay 7:00 PM

• Tue Nov 16 at Florida         7:00 PM

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara played in his 1,616th game, passing Larry Murphy for 11th all-time,  Chara is now 3rd among defensemen in games played:

• Chris Chelios 1,651

• Scott Stevens 1,635

• Zdeno Chara 1,616

• Larry Murphy 1,615

• Ray Bourque 1,612

Home and Road

The Isles are 4-2-2 overall; they are 0-0-0 at home and 4-2-2 on the road.

Montreal is 3-9-0 overall; they are 2-4-0 at home and 1-5-0 on the road.

Leader of the Pack

Barry Trotz has coached more games and recorded more victories than any other active coach. Trotz' NHL record is 881-637-60-160 in 1,738 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville    969

3. Barry Trotz    881

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,768

3. Barry Trotz        1,738

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,451

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,330

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Today was Lamoriello's 2,600th game as an NHL General Manager, trailing only Sather and Poile.

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,211 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 4-1-2 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    12-13-11=36

Montreal    10-13-15=38

The Isles are 0-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 4-1-0 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-37-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 36 saves to improve to 4-2-2 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. Montreal.  

Jake Allen made 20 saves over the first two periods to fall to 3-7-0 on the season and 2-4-0 vs. the Isles.  Sam Montembeault made 10 saves in the third period.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Montreal was 1-3 on the power play (4:34), scoring 48 seconds into a 5-on-3. 

The Isles are 1-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-1-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 1-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-1-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 3-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-1-2 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 92-10-11 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-2 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-1 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 1-0-0 in the front end and 1-0-0 in the back end. The next back-to-back will be November 6th in Winnipeg and November 7th in Minnesota. 

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 22-4-4 (.800) 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: 21-9-3 (.682).

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-1 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on December 19th against Vegas. The Isles will play a total of fourteen matinees this season, after playing only two in the shortened campaign last year.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:08); Montreal: Jeff Petry (23:36)

Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 18:37 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-1-1), Anthony Beauvillier (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-0-1), Adam Pelech (1-0-0), Zdeno Chara (1-0-0)

Face-offs

Isles 29, Montreal 34 (46%)

Brock Nelson won 9 of 14 for the Isles; Christian Dvorak won 13 of 19 for Montreal. 

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

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Matt Martin -6)

Montreal 22 (Two with 3)

Fights 

There were no fights Season total: 2 (Martin-2)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 27 (Three with 4)

Montreal 9 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Montreal 74

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 37, Montreal 62

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Adam Pelech +4

Montreal: Arturi Lehkonen +19

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 20, Montreal 14

5-on-5: Isles 13, Montreal 12

Scratches

Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston, Kieffer Bellows

Games Lost: 10

Iron Man Club

Brock Nelson has played in 309 consecutive games and Ryan Pulock in 259; both have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach. 

Iron Man

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

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

2. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 309

3. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 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 259

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: 0 successful, 1 failure

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-1-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.(no goalie interference 10/14 @CAR)

Opponents: 2 successful, 0 failures  

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 0-0-0 in games where challenges go the Isles' way. (goalie interference 10/16 @FLA and 10/23 @ARI)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored no goals and allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 0  

Vs:  0  

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 927…

13. Stefan Persson 622 *** 14. Matt Martin 620 *** 15. Brock Nelson 612 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 17. Casey Cizikas 598 … 

23. Lorne Henning 543 *** 24. Cal Clutterbuck  536 ***Claude Lapointe 535 *** 26. Kenny Jonsson 532 *** 27. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 28. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 29. Anders Lee 527

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 185 *** 13. Billy Harris 184 *** 14. Brock Nelson 174 *** 15. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 163

Assists

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

4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. Josh Bailey 353…

20. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 21. Ed Westfall 181 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 177…

26. Jean Potvin 167 *** 27. Jeff Norton 166 *** 28. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 29. Brock Nelson 162

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Josh Bailey 516 …

18. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 19 Brock Nelson 336 *** 20. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 21. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 22. Anders Lee 321…

26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ** 29. Mathew Barzal 256

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 214

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 119

On the Farm

Bridgeport is now 3-3-0-2 on the season after splitting games with Providence and Hartford last weekend.  The Islanders are in Hartford on Friday before hosting Springfield on Saturday night and Hartford on Sunday afternoon.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet on December 20th at UBS and on April 15th in Montreal to complete their season series. 

This was the Isles' first win in Montreal since January 15, 2018 (52 saves for Thomas Greiss); the Isles had been outscored 11-3 in their three trips to Bell Centre since then.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6th –ISLANDERS AT WINNIPEG 7:00pm

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

The Isles will look to extend their point streak to seven games (all on the road of course) as they visit Barry Trotz' home province for the only time this season.

It will be the Isles' first match-up with the Jets since they swept a pair of games early in the 2019-20 season.

Overall, the Isles have won three straight games vs. the Jets and are 9-1-1 in Manitoba since the Jets returned to the NHL for the 2011-12 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