The Skinny: Isles 4, Philadelphia 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 31

Isles 4, Philadelphia 1

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves and Brock Nelson scored a goal and added an assist as the Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 before another sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

The Isles have won four of their last five games and are 7-3-1 in their last games.  They have also earned at least a point eleven times in the last 14 games (7-3-4).   

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (11) Josh Bailey (13), Andy Greene (5) 11:44 PHI 0,NYI 1

Casey Cizikas (1) Robin Salo (2), Cal Clutterbuck (1) 14:28 PHI 0,NYI 2

Travis Konecny (6) Travis Sanheim (9), Scott Laughton (7) 17:12 PHI 1,NYI 2

3rd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (6) Oliver Wahlstrom (8), Brock Nelson (4) 04:44 PHI 1,NYI 3

Matt Martin (1)EN Cal Clutterbuck (2), Adam Pelech (6) 18:37 PHI 1,NYI 4

The Skinny         

In the eighteen games that the Isles have earned points, their power play is 12-45 (26.7%); the Islander power play is 3-38 (7.9%) in their 13 regulation losses…The Isles are 6-1-1 in their last eight games at home after going 0-5-2 to open UBS Arena… The Isles have won their last five games on MLK Day, including last season's home opener.  The last home loss on MLK Day was to Barry Trotz' Nashville Predators in 2012… Lou Lamoriello earned his 1,507th win (including playoffs) as a general manager, breaking a tie with Glen Sather for 2nd place (behind David Poile)…Travis Konecny was credited with his 100th NHL game when his centering pass deflected in off two Islander defensemen… Matt Martin was credited with his fifth career empty-net goal…The Isles have allowed only eight goals in their last five games…Brock Nelson's goal ended an Islander scoreless streak at 96:37; it was his first point since returning to the lineup…Josh Bailey has five points in the last five games (1-4-5)…Ilya Sorokin has won three straight and is 5-1-1 in his last seven games; he has allowed only fifteen goals in the seven games.

First Times in a Long Time – Identity Line Edition

Casey Cizikas scored for the first time since April 1st and Matt Martin scored for the first time since March 29th while Cal Clutterbuck recorded his first assist of the season.

The COVID List!

Ryan Pulock is the only Islander on the COVID list; fifteen Islanders have missed games due to COVID.  Pulock is still on LTIR while Kyle Palmieri remains on IR.

Lots of Home Cooking

Beginning with their return from their most recent pause, the Isles are playing ten games out of eleven games at home to get them to the All-Star  Break.   The Isles are 2-1-0 in that stretch:

• 1/13 vs. New Jersey W 3-2

• 1/15 vs. Washington L 0-2

• 1/17 vs. Philadelphia W 4-1

• 1/18 @ Philadelphia

• 1/21 vs. Arizona

• 1/22 vs. Toronto

• 1/25 vs. Philadelphia

• 1/27 vs. Los Angeles

• 1/29 vs. Seattle

• 1/30 vs. Minnesota 

• 2/1 vs. Ottawa

Including the seven games played between December 9th and January 1st, the Isles are playing 16 of 18 at home; they are 6-3-1 in that stretch, with eight games remaining.

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara played in his 1,636th NHL game, passing Scott Stevens for 2nd place among defensemen in NHL history.  He is now just 15 games behind Chris Chelios' record for NHL defensemen: 

• Chris Chelios 1,651  

• Zdeno Chara 1,636

• Scott Stevens 1,635

Chelios is 8th among all players in games played, Dave Andreychuk is 9th (1,639) and Chara is 10th.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-13-6 overall; they are 6-6-3 at home and 6-7-3 on the road.

Philadelphia is 13-18-7 overall; they are 6-8-3 at home and 7-10-4 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played fifteen home games and sold out all of them. They are the fifteen largest indoor crowds to ever see the Islanders play at home.  The Isles welcomed their 250,000th fan to UBS tonight.

Leader of the Pack

Barry Trotz has coached more games and recorded more victories than any other active coach. Trotz' NHL record is 889-648-60-164 in 1,761 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz   889

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,769

3. Barry Trotz        1,761

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,469

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,338

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,227 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 10-4-4 when scoring first and are 2-9-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    13-7-11=31

Philadelphia    8-13-6=27

The Isles are 3-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-9-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 74-45-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 10-7-5 on the season and 6-0-1 vs. Philadelphia. 

Martin Jones made 27 saves; he is 6-6-2 on the season and 3-3-0 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Philadelphia was 0-4 on the power play (8:00)

The Isles are 6-3-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-10-2 when they do not. The Isles are 4-6-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 8-7-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 10-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-11-4 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 98-11-13 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 2-3-6 in games decided by a single goal including 1-3 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 0-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-3 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 3-2-1 in the front end and 1-3-1 in the back end. This back-to-back concludes Tuesday in Philadelphia.  The next back-to-back is scheduled for January 21st  vs. Arizona and January 22nd vs. Toronto.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 22-7-5 (.727) in back-ends. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-1-2 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on January 29th against Seattle. The Isles are scheduled to play fourteen matinees this season.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (21:14); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (25:14)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 16:38 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 (4-2-2), Zdeno Chara (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Robin Salo (0-2-0), Scott Mayfield (0-2-0), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (0-1-0), Noah Dobson (4-2-2).

Face-offs

Isles 23, Philadelphia 21 (52%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 13 for the Isles; Scott Laughton won 9 of 13 for Philadelphia. 

The Isles are 7-8-4 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-0-1 when face-offs are even, and 5-5-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Anders Lee -5)

Philadelphia 16 (Rasmus Ristolainen -5)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 12 (Chara 3, Martin 3, Bellows 1, Mayfield 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Pageau 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Three with 2)

Philadelphia 9 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Philadelphia 53

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 45, Philadelphia 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Zach Parise +8

Philadelphia: Travis Konecny +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Philadelphia 7

5-on-5: Isles 10, Philadelphia 4

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock -LTIR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), Grant Hutton, Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston (suspended) 

Games Lost: 90 (46 to injuries and 44 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 120th consecutive game.  Only two other Islanders (Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck) have played in every game this season.

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: 3 successful, 0 failures  

The Isles are 1-1-1 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; offside 12/19 vs VGK)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored one goal and allowed two goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 1  (Noah Dobson 19:56 – 12/5/21 vs CHI; Isles lost in SO)

Vs:  2 (Eeli Tolvanen 19:48 – 12/9/21 vs NSH; GWG, Shea Theodore 19:12 – 12/19/21 vs VGK; Isles lost in SO)

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 945…

11. Derek King 638 *** 12. Matt Martin 637 *** 13. Brock Nelson 626 *** 14. Billy Harris 623*** 15. Stefan Persson 622 *** 16. Casey Cizikas 615 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 559 *** 22. Ken Morrow  550 ***  23. Duane Sutter and Anders Lee 547

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 194 *** 13. Billy Harris 184 *** 14. Brock Nelson 179 *** 15. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 164

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 362…

20. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 191…

26. Jean Potvin 167 *** 27. Jeff Norton 166 *** 28. Brock Nelson 164

Points

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

9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Josh Bailey 526 …

17. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 18. Brock Nelson 343 *** 19. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 20. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 21. Anders Lee 332…

26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 274

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 237

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 127

On the Farm

Bridgeport suffered their first regulation loss of 2022 on Sunday and fell to 13-17-3-4 on the season with a 6-3 loss on Sunday in Providence. It was the first of three consecutive games between the teams (Friday in Providence, Saturday in Bridgeport). 

The Baby Islanders have points in six of seven games they have played in 2022 (3-1-1-2).

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will meet again on Tuesday in Philadelphia as well as the following Tuesday back at UBS Arena.

The Isles have won six straight games against the Flyers (all with Ilya Sorokin in goal) and are 10-1-2 in their last 13 games against the Flyers.

 

It is the first time in the 50-year rivalry that the Islanders have won six straight games over the Flyers.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 18th–ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 7:00pm 

[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles will look to extend the winning streak over the Flyers to seven games and sweep the home-and-home series when they face the Flyers again on Tuesday.

It is the first Islander road game since December 14th and the only road game that the Isles are playing in 15-game stretch (with seven home games on either side).  

The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN+/Hulu; John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes will have the call of the game.

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