The Skinny: Edmonton 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 41

Edmonton 3, Isles 1      

Cody Ceci scored the opening goal with 56.6 seconds to play in the opening period, but it was Zach Hyman's 100th NHL goal, scored midway through the second period that turned out to be the winner as they defeated the Islanders 3-1, before a COVID-limited crowd of 9,150 at Rogers Place.

Anthony Beauvillier scored a power play goal for the Isles and Oliver Wahlstrom hit the post on a third period play that would have tied the game, but 37 saves from Mike Smith pushed the Isles once again below NHL-.500 (17-18-6) at the halfway point of their season.

Jay Woodcroft, who replaced Dave Tippett earlier this week, earned the victory in his NHL coaching debut.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Cody Ceci (2) Connor McDavid (39), Leon Draisaitl (32) 19:03 NYI 0,EDM 1

2nd Period

Zach Hyman (14) Connor McDavid (40) 10:17 NYI 0,EDM 2

Anthony Beauvillier (8) Ryan Pulock (4), Josh Bailey (18) 15:04 NYI 1,EDM 2 PPG

3rd Period

Jesse Puljujarvi (11) 09:14 NYI 1,EDM 3 PPG

The Skinny         

The Isles have allowed only 34 goals in their last fifteen games; their 2.27 goals against average is the 2nd-lowest in the NHL in that span (Colorado - 2.17), dating back to December 30th…This was the first time since the opening 13-gme road trip that the Isles had played consecutive road games.…  The Isles allowed the first goal for the seventh time in eight games; they have trailed 2-0 in six of them... Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves but falls to 7-2 in his last nine games…Mike Smith had gone 2-0 to open the season but this was his first win since October 16th…Edmonton is 13-0-0 when they score first and are also 13-0-0 when they lead after one period…Casey Cizikas played in his 624th game for the Isles, passing Billy Harris for 14th place on the team's all-time list…Connor McDavid assisted on the first two games to become the fourth player in the league to reach 40; he was originally credited with a third assist as well, but that was later removed... McDavid leads the NHL with 21 multi-point games …Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech were on-ice for all three Edmonton goals…Anthony Beauvillier is now 2nd on the team with a career-best four power play goals (Oliver Wahlstrom has five); Beauvillier had three power plays in three other seasons…Josh Bailey assisted on the Islander goal, tying him with Mathew Barzal for the team lead in assists.

No Canada!

The Isles had won the previous four games that they have played in Canada this season, winning the games by a combined score of 19-8.

Road Warriors

Beginning with the All-Star Break, the Isles are playing 9 of 11 on the road. The Isles are 1-1-0 in that stretch and have outscored opponents 7-6.

• 2/9 @ Vancouver 6-3 W

• 2/11 @ Edmonton 1-3 L

• 2/12 @ Calgary

• 2/15 @ Buffalo

• 2/17 Vs. Boston

• 2/20 Vs. Montreal

• 2/22 @ Seattle

• 2/24 @ San Jose

• 2/26 @ Los Angeles

• 2/27 @ Anaheim

• 3/1 @ Colorado 

Histor-Z

Zdeno Chara played in his 1,646th NHL game;  Chara is just five games behind Chris Chelios' record for NHL defensemen.

All-time Games:

7. Mark Recchi 1,652

8. Chris Chelios 1,651  

9. Zdeno Chara 1,646

Home and Road

The Isles are 17-18-6 overall; they are 9-10-3 at home and 8-8-3 on the road.

Edmonton is 24-18-3 overall; they are 13-10-0 at home and 11-8-3 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 22 home games and sold out 20 of them. They are the twenty 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 894-653-60-164 in 1,771 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    894

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,771

3. Joel Quenneville 1,768

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,474

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,343

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,237 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 13-4-4 when scoring first and are 4-14-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    18-10-10=38

Edmonton    11-13-12=36

The Isles are 6-6-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-11-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 76-47-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves; he is 14-9-5 on the season and 0-1-0 vs. Edmonton. 

Mike Smith made 37 saves; he is 3-4-1 on the season and 8-4-0 vs. the Isles.    

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (5:32); Edmonton was 1-2 on the power play (2:03).

The Isles are 8-5-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-13-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-7-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-11-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 15-3-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-14-4 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 103-12-13 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-5-6 in games decided by a single goal including 2-5 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

Including tonight, the Isles are 5-3-1 in the front end and 2-5-1 in the back end. This back-to-back concludes Saturday in Calgary. The next back-to-back is scheduled for February 26th  in Los Angeles and February 27th in Anaheim.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 23-9-5 in back-ends. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-1-2 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on February 20th against Montreal. The Isles are scheduled to play thirteen matinees this season.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (22:57); Edmonton: Cody Ceci (26:24)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:29 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 (6-4-2), 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 (6-6-2).

Face-offs

Isles 23, Edmonton 23 (50%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 16 for the Isles; Leon Draisaitl won 9 of 15 for Edmonton. 

The Isles are 9-10-4 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when face-offs are even, and 5-9-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 29 (Matt Martin-6)

Edmonton 28 (Markus Niemelainen -7)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 15 (Chara 4, Martin 4, Bellows 1, Mayfield 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Pageau 1, Wahlstrom 1, Johnston 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Andy Greene -4)

Edmonton 6 (Ryan McLeod -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Edmonton 59

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Edmonton 53

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Adam Pelech +5

Edmonton: Darnell Nurse +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Edmonton 14

5-on-5: Isles 10, Edmonton 9

Scratches

Kieffer Bellows, Sebastian Aho, Kyle Palmieri

Games Lost: 106 (61 to injuries and 45 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 130th 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 955…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 647  *** 12. Derek King 638 *** 13. Brock Nelson 636 *** 14. Casey Cizikas 624 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 569 *** 22. Anders Lee 557

Goals

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 196 *** 13. Billy Harris 184 *** 14. Brock Nelson 183 *** 15. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 165

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 367…

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. 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 532 …

15. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 17. Brock Nelson 351 *** 18. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 19. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 20. Anders Lee 336…

24. Duane Sutter 292 *** 25. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 26. Ed Westfall 286 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 281

+/-

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 247

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 132

On the Farm

Chris Terry and Arnaud Durandeau scored ten seconds apart in the third period as Bridgeport improved to 17-19-4-4 on the season with a 4-3 win in Charlotte on Friday.  The Islanders face Charlotte again at 6pm Saturday before returning home to face Rochester on Tuesday. 

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (Edmonton earned 3 points to the Isles' 2)  

The Isles are 3-2-4 in the last nine games with Edmonton.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12th–ISLANDERS AT CALGARY 10:00 PM 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 9:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles head to Calgary to conclude the Western Canada portion of the road trip as they face the Flames for the 2nd time this season.

Calgary has the distinction of earning the first victory at UBS Arena, defeating a COVID-infected Islander squad 5-2 on November 20th; Brock Nelson had the two Islander tallies in that game. 

The Flames have gone out of the break red hot – defeating Vegas and Toronto by a combined score of 11-2.

This will be the first game between the teams in Calgary since February 20, 2019; the Isles were in Calgary when the rest of the regular season was cancelled in March 2020.  Mike Smith was the winning goalie and Austin Czarnik had the winning goal in that 2019 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