The Skinny: Rangers 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 16

Rangers 4, Isles 1

Kevin Rooney and Chris Kreider each scored two goals as the New York Rangers defeated the Islanders 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Andy Andreoff had the only goal for the Islanders – it was his first NHL goal since February 19, 2018, to cut the lead to 2-1 in the third period but Rooney scored his second goal 20 seconds later to restore the two-goal difference.

The Isles have lost seven straight, all in regulation, to fall four games under NHL-.500 for the first time since April 3, 2018 (33-37-10).  

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Chris Kreider (14) Ryan Strome (10), Adam Fox (15) 00:29 NYR 1,NYI 0 PPG

Kevin Rooney (4) Barclay Goodrow (6), Ryan Reaves (2) 14:28 NYR 2,NYI 0

3rd Period

Andy Andreoff (1) Otto Koivula (1), Sebastian Aho (1) 03:52 NYR 2,NYI 1

Kevin Rooney (5) Ryan Reaves (3), Patrik Nemeth (1) 04:12 NYR 3,NYI 1

Chris Kreider (15) Mika Zibanejad (12), Kaapo Kakko (3) 11:02 NYR 4,NYI 1

The Skinny         

The Isles have been outscored 31-7 in their seven-game losing streak. It's the first time since 2010-11 that the Isles have lost seven straight in regulation; the Isles did have a seven-game winless streak before COVID interrupted the season in March 2020 …The Islanders have been outscored 3 to 1 on their own power play in November (in 27 opportunities)…The Isles are 0-3-0 to open a home season for the first time in their history…Otto Koivula earned his first career assist in his season debut; Koivula, who leads Bridgeport in both assists and points, played 12 NHL games without a point in the 2019-2020 season…Kevin Rooney recorded his first career multi-goal game…Chris Kreider's first goal stopped an Islander shutout streak of 169:26 against the Rangers and tied him with Leon Draisaitl for the NHL lead in power play goals… The Isles have not led at any point in the last 296:44.

The COVID List

The Isles were without seven players due to Covid protocol: Adam Pelech, Andy Greene, Josh Bailey, Kieffer Bellows, Anders Lee, Zdeno Chara and Ross Johnston. Ryan Pulock, Noah Dobson, and Brock Nelson missed the game with injuries.

First Times in a Long Time

• It is the first time since October 23 – November 10, 2010 (eight games) that the Isles have lost seven straight games, all in regulation. 

• It is the first time since December 1972 that the Isles have lost by at least three goals in seven straight games; it had happened twice in the club's first 25 games played, but not since. 

Staying Close to Home

The Isles will not leave the Eastern Time Zone until January 4th in Seattle. The Islanders will not spend consecutive nights on the road at any point (playing consecutive road games only once – November 28th at The Garden and November 30th in Philadelphia). By the time the Isles hit the Olympic/All-Star Break, they will have played 25 of their 49 games at home.

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara did not play. Chara is 3rd among defensemen in games played:

• Chris Chelios 1,651  

• Scott Stevens 1,635

• Zdeno Chara 1,623

Chelios is 8th among all players in games played, Stevens is 10th and Chara is 11th.

Home and Road

The Isles are 5-9-2 overall; they are 0-3-0 at home and 5-6-2 on the road.

The Rangers are 12-4-3 overall; they are 5-1-1 at home and 7-3-2 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 882-644-60-160 in 1,746 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  969

3. Barry Trotz    882

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,768

3. Barry Trotz        1,746

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,456

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,331

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,213 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 5-3-2 when scoring first and are 0-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    8-8-5=21

Rangers    8-7-6=21

The Isles are 1-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 4-5-0 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-41-13 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 17 saves but falls to 0-4-0 on the season and 11-7-2 vs. the Rangers.  

Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves and improves to 10-3-2 on the season and 1-4-1 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-6 on the power play (11:07); the Rangers were 1-5 on the power play (5:44).

The Isles are 1-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-7-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-4-1 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 2-8-2 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 0-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 2-2-0 in the front end and 1-3-0 in the back end. The next back-to-back will be December 4th in Detroit and December 5th vs. Chicago.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 22-7-4 (.727) in back-ends. This is the best record of any NHL team in back-ends during this stretch. Tampa has the next best record: 22-9-3 (.691).

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: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (21:12); Rangers: Adam Fox (22:43)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 21:12 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 (2-2-0), Zdeno Chara (1-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Robin Salo (0-1-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 35, Rangers 25 (58%)

Mathew Barzal won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Ryan Strome won 6 of 11 for the Rangers. 

The Isles are 2-7-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-0-1 when face-offs are even, and 3-2-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Cal Clutterbuck -8)

Rangers 23 (Ryan Reaves-5)

Fights 

Jean-Gabriel Pageau fought Alexis Lafreniere in the third period. Season total: 7 (Martin-2, Mayfield 1, Chara 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Pageau 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 9 (Casey Cizikas-3)

The Rangers 16 (Jacob Trouba -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 42, Rangers 40

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 27, Rangers 26

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Grant Hutton +5

Rangers: Patrik Nemeth +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Rangers 11

5-on-5: Isles 5, Rangers 8

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock -LTIR, Brock Nelson -INJ, Noah Dobson-INJ), (Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Andy Greene, Adam Pelech, Zdeno Chara- COVID Protocol), Anatolii Golyshev

Games Lost: 37   (17 to injuries and 20 to COVID protocol)

Farewell to the Iron Man List (for now)

Brock Nelson's streak, the longest by an Islander in over 40 years, came to an end. It was the first game he had missed since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach:

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

2. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – 11/24/2021 316

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. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – 11/16/2021 263

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

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

Scott Mayfield is the only other Islander to play in least 100 consecutive games; he played his 105th consecutive game tonight.

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 931…

11. Derek King 638 *** 12. Matt Martin 628 *** 13. Billy Harris 623 *** 14. Stefan Persson 622 *** 15. Brock Nelson 619 *** 16. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 17. Casey Cizikas 605 … 

21. Ken Morrow 550 *** 22. Duane Sutter 547 *** 23. Cal Clutterbuck 544  *** 24. Lorne Henning 543 *** 25. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 26. Kenny Jonsson and Anders Lee 532

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 188 *** 13. Billy Harris 184 *** 14. Brock Nelson 177 *** 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 354…

20. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 21. Ed Westfall 181 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 180…

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 517 …

17. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 18. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 19 Brock Nelson 339 *** 20. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 21. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 22. Anders Lee 324…

26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 260

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 222

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 120

On the Farm

Bridgeport fell to 5-10-1-2 with a 4-1 loss to Springfield on Wednesday. Cory Schneider made 44 saves for the Baby Isles. 

Bridgeport hosts Providence on Friday before visiting Lehigh Valley on Saturday. 

Season Series Stats

The Rangers lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet at the Garden on Sunday and then not play again until April. 

The loss ended a four-game Islander win streak over the Rangers.

UP NEXT

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26th–PITTSBURGH AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm 

[MSG+2 (pre-game begins at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The four game homestand concludes Friday with the first meeting of the season between the Islanders and the Penguins.

This will be the first meeting of the teams since the Isles eliminated the Penguins from the 2021 playoffs. 

The Isles went only 2-4-2 in the 2020-21 regular season against Pittsburgh but were 2-0-2 on home-ice.

The Isles are 5-0-4 in their last nine home games vs. Pittsburgh in the regular season and have won four of five home playoff games in that span.

AND FINALLY…

Happy Thanksgiving!

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