The Skinny: Isles 4, Anaheim 0

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 49

Isles 4, Anaheim 0

Casey Cizikas celebrated his 31st birthday with a goal and an assist and Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves for his fifth shutout of the season as the Islanders blanked the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 before a crowd of 14,173 at Honda Center.  Ross Johnston added a pair of assists to celebrate his 100th NHL game with his first multi-point game. 

Noah Dobson, Andy Greene and Kieffer Bellows also scored for the Isles, who are 3-1-2 in their last six games. The Isles once again climb within one game of NHL-.500 (20-21-8).

The Scoring:

1st Period

Noah Dobson (9) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (9), Kyle Palmieri (7) 13:41 NYI 1,ANA 0

2nd Period

Casey Cizikas (6) Ross Johnston (3), Cal Clutterbuck (7) 01:33 NYI 2,ANA 0

3rd Period

Andy Greene (2) Ross Johnston (4), Casey Cizikas (3) 11:43 NYI 3,ANA 0

Kieffer Bellows (4) Oliver Wahlstrom (10), Sebastian Aho (8) 15:06 NYI 4,ANA 0

The Skinny         

The Isles scored the first goal for the third time in the last four games…Noah Dobson is now 3-5-8 in his last eight games; Dobson has more goals since December 5th than any other NHL defenseman… Sebastian Aho has an assist in five straight games (matching Mathew Barzal for the longest streak by an Islander) and six assists in the last seven games… Kieffer Bellows scored a goal for the first time since December 30th; he has four points in the last five games… Ilya Sorokin is now 2nd in the NHL in shutouts (5) as he recorded his first clean sheet since January 21st; Sorokin has allowed only eight goals in his last five games (3-0-2, 1.55, .943)…The Isles finish February with a 5-5-2 record; they will play a club-record seventeen times in March. 

Leader of the Pack

All nine of Noah Dobson's goals have been scored since December 5th.  Dobson leads all NHL defensemen over that span; Cale Makar has eight and Roman Josi has seven during that span.

Happy Birthday!

Casey Cizikas is the first Islander to score a goal on his birthday since Cal Clutterbuck did so on November 18, 2014. He is the first Islander to have a goal and an assist on his birthday since Roman Hamrlik did so on April 12, 2012.

(N)one for the History Books

Ilya Sorokin is the 24th goalie in NHL history to have at least eight shutouts in his first 57 games; he is the first goalie to do so since Martin Jones (2014-2016) and the first Islander to do so since Chico Resch had nine shutouts in his first 57 games.

Road Warriors

The Isles are playing 9 of 11 on the road. The Isles are 4-4-2 in that stretch; they have scored 32 goals and allowed 32 (including shootout winners).

• 2/9 @ Vancouver 6-3 W

• 2/11 @ Edmonton 1-3 L

• 2/12 @ Calgary 2-5 L

• 2/15 @ Buffalo 3-6 L

• 2/17 Vs. Boston 4-1 W

• 2/20 Vs. Montreal 2-3 L (SO)

• 2/22 @ Seattle 5-2 W

• 2/24 @ San Jose 3-4 L (SO)

• 2/26 @ Los Angeles 2-5 L

• 2/27 @ Anaheim 4-0 W

• 3/1 @ Colorado 

Last Second Disappointments

The Isles have allowed a (non-empty net) goal in the last minute of a period five times since January 22nd; three of those goals have come in the last six seconds of a period:

• Pierre Engvall (TOR)   1/22 19:59 (1st pd)

• Andreas Athanasiou (LA) 1/27 19:54 (2nd pd)

• Cody Ceci (EDM)   2/11 19:03 (1st pd)

• Alex Tuch  (BUF)   2/15 19:59 (2nd pd)

• Brendan Lemieux (LAK)  2/26 19:31 (2nd pd)

This season, the Isles have allowed eleven (non-empty net) goals in the final minute of the period.

Home and Road

The Isles are 20-21-8 overall; they are 10-10-4 at home and 10-11-4 on the road.

Anaheim is 25-21-9 overall; they are 14-10-4 at home and 11-11-5 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 24 home games and sold out 21 of them. The sellout crowds of 17,255 are the 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 897-657-60-165 in 1,779 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    897

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,779

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 1,476

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,346

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,243 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 15-4-5 when scoring first and are 5-17-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    7-7-8=22

Anaheim    12-9-13=34

The Isles are 8-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-14-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 77-50-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves; he is 17-11-7 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. Anaheim.   

Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves; he is 8-6-1 on the season and 0-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (3:06); Anaheim was 0-2 on the power play (3:06).

The Isles are 9-6-5 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-15-3 when they do not. The Isles are 5-8-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-13-4 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 18-4-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-16-5 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 106-13-14 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-5-8 in games decided by a single goal including 2-5 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-5 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 5-4-1 in the front end and 3-6-1 in the back end.  The next back-to-back will be March 10th vs. Columbus and March 11th vs. Winnipeg.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 24-10-5 in back-ends. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-1-3 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on March 5th against St. Louis. The Isles are scheduled to play thirteen matinees this season.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (21:36); Anaheim: Cam Fowler (25:59)

Anthony Beauvillier led Isles forwards with 18:05 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-3-1), Anthony Beauvillier (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-0-1), Adam Pelech (8-4-4), 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 (7-7-2).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Anaheim 25 (53%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Isac Lundestrom won 9 of 14 for Anaheim. 

The Isles are 11-12-6 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when face-offs are even, and 6-10-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Four with 3)

Anaheim 21 (Max Comtois- 6)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 18 (Chara 5, Martin 4, Johnston 2, Pageau 2, Bellows 1, Mayfield 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Ryan Pulock -7)

Anaheim 6 (Kevin Shattenkirk -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Anaheim 63

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 33, Anaheim 49

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Four with +4

Anaheim: Cam Fowler +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Anaheim 5

5-on-5: Isles 5, Anaheim 5

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal -INJ), (Zdeno Chara -INJ), Matt Martin 

Games Lost: 115 (66 to injuries and 49 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 138th consecutive game. Only two other Islanders (Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck) have played in every game this season.

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 1 failure

The Isles are 2-0-0 in games that they are successful (offside 1/18 @PHI, no goalie interference 2/22 @SEA) 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 (goalie interference 10/16 @FLA and 10/23 @ARI; offside 12/19 vs VGK) and 0-0-0 in games where challenges go the Isles' way.

Last Minute Heroes:

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

For: 2  (Noah Dobson 19:56 – 12/5/21 vs CHI; Isles lost in SO) (Brock Nelson 17:03 – 2/20/22 vs OTT; 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 959…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 654  *** 12. Brock Nelson 644 *** 13. Derek King 638 *** 14. Casey Cizikas 632 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 577 *** 22. Anders Lee 565

Goals    

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 198 *** 13. Brock Nelson 187 *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 16. Josh Bailey 165

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 368…

17. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 19. Mathew Barzal 201 ***20. Nick Leddy 298*** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Ed Westfall 181 *** 23. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 24. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171 *** 26. Brock Nelson 168

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 533 …

15. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 17. Brock Nelson 356 *** 18. Frans Nielsen 349 *** 19. Pierre Turgeon and Anders Lee 340…

24. Duane Sutter 292 *** 25. Alexei Yashin 290 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 289

+/-

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

20. Jude Drouin +58 *** 21. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 22. Adam Pelech +55 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 24. Gord Lane +48 *** 25. Adrian Aucoin +47

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 255

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 135

On the Farm

Andy Andreoff scored the tying and go-ahead goal as Bridgeport improved to 19-23-5-4 on the season with a 5-3 win over Charlotte on Sunday afternoon. 

Chris Terry leads the team with 17 goals and 40 points; Otto Koivula has a club-leading 26 assists and is four points behind Terry for the club lead.

Bridgeport is off until next weekend when they begin a 3-in-3 weekend by hosting a pair of games against the Penguins. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). 

This was the first Islander win in Anaheim since a 14-round shootout victory on November 22, 2016.

The teams will also meet at UBS Arena on March 13th.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, MARCH 1st- ISLANDERS AT COLORADO  9:000 PM 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 8:30PM), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles end the five-game road trip and begin the busiest month in franchise history when they face the Avs in Denver.

It is the first meeting of the teams in over two years; the Isles have beaten the Avalanche six straight times in New York but are 1-4-1 in their last six games in Denver.

The entire season series will be played in less than a week as the Isles will host Colorado on March 7th.

 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