The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 36

Los Angeles 3, Isles 2

Quinton Byfield scored his first NHL goal and Andreas Athanasiou scored with under six seconds remaining in the second period as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Isles 3-2 before another sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Mathew Barzal and Casey Cizikas twice moved the Isles within one goal in the final 2:04 but Adrian Kempe's empty-netter, scored between the two Islander tallies, turned out to be the winner. The Isles are 7-3-0 in their last ten games and 10-5-1 in their last 16 games and once again fall to NHL-.500.   

Drew Doughty played in his 1,000th NHL game (all with Los Angeles).  He is the fifth player to appear in 1,000 King games.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Quinton Byfield (1) Andreas Athanasiou (4), Dustin Brown (13) 17:05 LAK 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Andreas Athanasiou (4) Dustin Brown (14), Drew Doughty (18) 19:54 LAK 2,NYI 0

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (9) Brock Nelson (7), Josh Bailey (17) 17:56 LAK 2,NYI 1

Adrian Kempe (18)EN Anze Kopitar (25), Trevor Moore (16) 19:24 LAK 3,NYI 1

Casey Cizikas (3) Matt Martin (2), Cal Clutterbuck (4) 19:40 LAK 3,NYI 2

The Skinny         

The Isles have allowed only 20 goals in their last ten games (2.00 per game); it is the lowest goals against average in the NHL in that span, dating back to December 30th… After starting the season with a 13-game road trip, the Isles have now played 19 of their 36 games this season on home ice…  Quinton Byfield is the 194th player to score his first NHL goal against the Isles and the second this season (Cole Sillinger).  By comparison, 183 players have scored their first NHL goal as an Islander…Mathew Barzal is 4-6-10 in the last ten games while Josh Bailey is 2-8-10 in the same span…The Isles have allowed eight goals in the last minute of a period (excluding empty-net goals), including five with Semyon Varlamov in goal…The Isles allowed a goal in the final :06 of a period for the second time in three games….The Kings went 2-0-1 in their three game stay in Metro New York; all three games ended by a 3-2 score.

First Times in a Long Time

This is only the 2nd time in Isles history that they allowed an EN goal that became the game-winner. The other one was by Toronto's Jonas Hoglund on December 29, 1999.

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 5-3-0 in that stretch, and have outscored opponents 23-16 (including SO winner):

• 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 W 4-3 (SO)

• 1/21 vs. Arizona W 4-0

• 1/22 vs. Toronto L 1-3

• 1/25 vs. Philadelphia W 4-3

• 1/27 vs. Los Angeles L 2-3

• 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 9-5-1 in that stretch, with three games remaining.

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara played in his 1,641st NHL game;  Chara is just 11 games behind Chris Chelios' record for NHL defensemen.

All -time Games:

7. Mark Recchi 1,652

8. Chris Chelios 1,651  

9. Zdeno Chara 1,641

To put Chara's total in perspective, he is still 641 games ahead of Drew Doughty.

Home and Road

The Isles are 15-15-6 overall; they are 8-8-3 at home and 7-7-3 on the road.

Los Angeles is 22-16-6 overall; they are 13-10-2 at home and 9-6-4 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played nineteen home games and sold out all of them. They are the nineteen largest indoor crowds to ever see the Islanders play at home.  

Leader of the Pack

Barry Trotz has coached more games and recorded more victories than any other active coach. Trotz' NHL record is 892-650-60-164 in 1,766 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    892

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,769

3. Barry Trotz        1,766

Trotz is scheduled to tie Quenneville on Tuesday vs. Ottawa and pass him the following Wednesday in Vancouver.

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,472 (pending Thursday result)

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,341

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,233 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 12-4-4 when scoring first and are 3-11-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    3-13-9=25

Los Angeles    9-11-10=30

The Isles are 5-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-10-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 75-46-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves; he is 3-8-1 on the season and 9-7-3 vs. Los Angeles. 

Carl Petersen made 23 saves; he is 10-6-1 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Los Angeles was 0-1 on the power play (2:00).

The Isles are 7-3-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-12-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-6-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-9-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-13-4 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 101-11-13 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-4-6 in games decided by a single goal including 2-4 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game (including one game the Isles scored after allowing an empty-netter).

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 4-2-1 in the front end and 2-4-1 in the back end. The next back-to-back is scheduled for January 29th vs. Seattle and January 30th vs. Minnesota.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 23-8-5 (.708) 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 (22:28); Los Angeles: Drew Doughty (24:29)

Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 18:36 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 (5-2-2), 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 (6-4-2).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Los Angeles 23 (55%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 11 of 17 for the Isles; Quinton Byfield won 4 of 6 for Los Angeles. 

The Isles are 8-9-4 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-0-1 when face-offs are even, and 5-8-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Los Angeles 17 (Mikey Anderson -5)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 14 (Chara 4, Martin 4, Bellows 1, Mayfield 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Pageau 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 8 (Noah Dobson and Zdeno Chara -2)

Los Angeles 15 (Sean Durzi -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, Los Angeles 50

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 39, Los Angeles 42

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee +6

Los Angeles: Phillip Danault +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Los Angeles 14

5-on-5: Isles 15, Los Angeles 9

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock -LTIR), (Austin Czarnik -IR), Kieffer Bellows, Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston  

Games Lost: 101 (56 to injuries and 45 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 125th consecutive game. Only two other Islanders (Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck) have played in every game this season.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 1 failure

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-1-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.(no goalie interference 10/14 @CAR, offside 1/18 @PHI)

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 950…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 642  *** 12. Derek King 638 *** 13. Brock Nelson 631 *** 14. Billy Harris 623*** 15. Stefan Persson 622 *** 16. Casey Cizikas 620 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 564 *** 22. Anders Lee 552

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 195 *** 13. Billy Harris 184 *** 14. Brock Nelson 181 *** 15. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 165

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 366…

17. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 19. Nick Leddy 198 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 194 *** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Ed Westfall 181 *** 23. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 24. Duane Sutter and Alexi Yashin 171 *** 26. Jean Potvin and Brock Nelson 167

Points

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

8. John Tonelli 544 *** 9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Josh Bailey 531 …

15. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 17. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 18. Brock Nelson 348 *** 19. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 20. Anders Lee 334…

24. Duane Sutter 292 *** 25. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 279

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

20. Jude Drouin +58 *** 21. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 22. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 23. Adam Pelech +52 *** 24. Gord Lane +48 *** 25. Adrian Aucoin +47

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 242

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 130

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 15-18-3-4 on the season. The Baby Isles have earned points in eight of ten games this month and are 5-2-1-2 in 2022. 

Bridgeport heads to Hershey on Saturday, before returning home to face Lehigh Valley for a School Day Matinee (10:30) against Lehigh Valley next Wednesday. 

Season Series Stats

Los Angeles leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series on February 26th at the newly-rechristened Crypto.com Arena.

This was the Kings' first road win against the Isles since March 26, 2015, ending a 5-game Isles home win streak against LA.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29th–SEATTLE AT ISLANDERS 2:00pm 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 1:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The homestand continues as the Isles face Jordan Eberle and the Seattle Kraken for the first time.

The Kraken head to town off the first overtime win in team history as Adam Larsson had the winner on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

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