The Skinny: Toronto 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Toronto 3, Isles 1

Pierre Engvall scored the go-ahead goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in the first period and the Isles could never get even, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs before another sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Mitch Marner and Zach Parise had traded goals earlier in the session, but it was Engvall's goal, confirmed by video review to have beaten the buzzer, which proved to be decisive as the Leafs snapped the Isles' three-game winning streak and dropped the Islanders to 6-2-0 in their last eight and 9-4-1 in their last 14 games.  The loss dropped the Isles back to NHL-.500.

Detroit also lost so the Isles are now tied with the Red Wings for 9th place (by points percentage) in the conference.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Mitchell Marner (9) Morgan Rielly (28) 13:25 TOR 1,NYI 0 SHG

Zach Parise (2) Scott Mayfield (8) 19:00 TOR 1,NYI 1

Pierre Engvall (5) 19:59 TOR 2,NYI 1

2nd Period

Morgan Rielly (5) William Nylander (22), Alexander Kerfoot (21) 09:42 TOR 3,NYI 1

3rd Period

No Goals

The Skinny         

Mitch Marner has three career shorthanded, two of which have come at UBS Arena…The Isles have allowed only 14 goals in their last eight games…Scott Mayfield extended his assist streak to three games; an Islander defenseman has a point on eight of the team's last nine goals…The Isles have now allowed five shorthanded goals after allowing none all last season….Zach Parise scored his 395th goal, tying Cam Neely, Markus Naslund and Pierre Larouche for 107th place all-time…After starting the season with a 13-game road trip, the Isles have now played 17 of their 34 games this season on home ice…Semyon Varlamov has allowed three goals or fewer in five straight games, allowing only nine goals in that stretch…The Isles power play is now 0-11 in the last five games, and falls to 3-41 (7.3%) in their regulation losses this season…The Isles have been outscored 28-22 in first periods, and are 1-10-2 when they trail after 20 minutes.

First Time in a Long Time

Mitch Marner is the 15th opponent in club history to score two shorthanded goals in a season; the last opponent to score two shorties in one season was Evander Kane, who did so twice in the 2nd period of the home opener in 2017-18. Tomas Plekanec (2008 for Montreal) is the last opponent to score shorthanded in two games in one season against the Isles. 

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 4-2-0 in that stretch, and have outscored opponents 16-11 (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

• 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 8-4-1 in that stretch, with five games remaining.

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara played in his 1,639th NHL game, tying him with Dave Andreychuk (1,639) for 9th place on the all-time NHL list. Chara is just 12 games behind Chris Chelios' record for NHL defensemen: 

• Chris Chelios 1,651  

• Zdeno Chara 1,639

• Dave Andreychuk 1,639

Home and Road

The Isles are 14-14-6 overall; they are 7-7-3 at home and 7-7-3 on the road.

Toronto is 25-10-3 overall; they are 14-4-1 at home and 11-6-2 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played seventeen home games and sold out all of them. They are the sixteen largest indoor crowds to ever see the Islanders play at home. The Isles will welcome their 300,000th fan to UBS on Tuesday.

Leader of the Pack

Barry Trotz has coached more games and recorded more victories than any other active coach. Trotz' NHL record is 891-649-60-164 in 1,764 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz   891

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,769

3. Barry Trotz        1,764

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,471

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,340

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,231 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 2-10-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    7-6-15=28

Toronto    9-10-4=23

The Isles are 4-4-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-9-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 75-45-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves; he is 3-7-1 on the season and 6-6-2 vs. Toronto. 

Petr Mrazek made 27 saves; he is 3-2-0 on the season and 8-5-2 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Toronto was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 6-3-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-11-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-6-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-8-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-12-4 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 100-11-13 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 3-3-6 in games decided by a single goal including 1-3 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 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 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 (24:37); Toronto: TJ Brodie (25:41)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:08 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 (6-3-2).

Face-offs

Isles 23, Toronto 24 (49%), including 10-3 Leafs in the 3rd period

Casey Cizikas won 5 of 8 for the Isles; Jason Spezza won 6 of 8 for Toronto. 

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

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Matt Martin -6)

Toronto 16 (Two with 3)

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 14 (Noah Dobson -4)

Toronto 9 (Alexander Kerfoot -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Toronto 42

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 33, Toronto 37

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Adam Pelech +6

Toronto: Pierre Engvall +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Toronto 11

5-on-5: Isles 6, Toronto 9

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock -LTIR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), Oliver Wahlstrom Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston  

Games Lost: 94 (50 to injuries and 44 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 123rd 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 948…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 640  *** 12. Derek King 638 *** 13. Brock Nelson 629 *** 14. Billy Harris 623*** 15. Stefan Persson 622 *** 16. Casey Cizikas 618 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 562 *** 22. Ken Morrow and Anders Lee 550

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 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 364…

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

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 529 …

17. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 18. Brock Nelson 345 *** 19. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 20. Tomas Jonsson and Anders Lee 333…

26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 276

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 240

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 129

On the Farm

Bridgeport fell to 14-18-3-4 on the season following a 5-3 loss to Providence on Saturday. The Baby Isles are 4-2-1-2 in 2022. 

Bridgeport will be home again on Sunday afternoon, hosting Springfield at 3pm. 

Season Series Stats

Toronto leads the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series in T-O on April 17th.

The Leafs have won three straight against the Isles, with Zach Parise's goal tonight being the only one scored by the Isles in the three games.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25th–PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm 

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

The Isles will look to extend their winning streak over the Flyers to eight games as they face Philadelphia for the third time in nine days.

The Isles swept a home-and-home series last week, including a 9-round shootout in Philly; it is one of only three points that the Flyers have gained in their last eleven games (0-8-3). 

The Flyers will host Dallas on Monday before coming to UBS. A Star victory would saddle the Flyers with a franchise record-matching 12 game winless streak. Keith Yandle would tie Doug Jarvis' NHL record for consecutive games played (964) if he appears in Monday night's game, leaving him position to set the record at UBS on Tuesday.

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