The Skinny: Isles 2, St. Louis 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 52

Isles 2, St. Louis 1

Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves as the Islanders held off the St. Louis Blues for a 2-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at USB Arena.

Oliver Wahlstrom and Brock Nelson scored for the Isles, who climbed within two games of NHL-.500 (21-23-8). 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (11) Adam Pelech (14), Ryan Pulock (6) 06:36 STL 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (20) Noah Dobson (18) 01:04 STL 0,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

Robert Thomas (8) Jordan Kyrou (30) 17:08 STL 1,NYI 2

The Skinny          

Kyle Palmieri put the puck in the net twice, but both goals were reversed (once on goaltender interference and once on a high stick… Brock Nelson reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth time; he also has a team-leading ten goals at UBS Arena …Nelson's goal, which turned out to be the game-winner was the first power play tally for the Isles in seven games…The Isles have been out-shot 178-128 over the last five games… Scott Mayfield was involved in his second fight of the season, and first ever against his hometown team…The Isles blocked 24 shots, tied for the 2nd-highest of the season….Ilya Sorokin is 9-3-3 at home and 10-4-4 against the West this season; he narrowly missed his sixth shutout – each of the first five were against the West…All three assists were from defensemen; 34.4% of Isles assists have come from defenseman, which ranks 8th in the NHL…The Isles scored the only goal of the second period; St. Louis is still a league-best +28 in the middle period….The Isles ended Jordan Kyrou's point streak at five games…Since going 0-2-1 in his first three starts at UBS Arena (with a COVID-depleted roster), Ilya Sorokin is 9-1-2 at home, with a 1.81 GAA and a .929 save percentage (highest in NHL among goalies with at least 10 home starts in that span).  He has allowed three goals or fewer in 14 out of 15 home starts.

20-Goal Club

Brock Nelson is only the second Islander in the 21st century to score 20 goals at least six times.  John Tavares did it nine times.  Nelson, whose career high is 26 goals, has scored at least 18 goals in all eight of his NHL seasons.

First Time in a Really Long Time

Noah Dobson is the first Isles defenseman aged 22 or younger to score at least ten goals in a season since Bryan Berard had 14 in the 1997-98 season.

Leader of the Pack

All ten of Noah Dobson's goals have been scored since December 5th.  Dobson leads all NHL defensemen over that span; Cale Makar and Devon Toews are tied for second with eight goals in that span.  

Busy Home Stand

This was the first game of a six-game homestand, all of which will be played in a span of eleven days.

• 3/3 vs Vancouver L 3-4

• 3/5 vs St. Louis W 2-1

• 3/7 vs. Colorado

• 3/10 vs. Winnipeg

• 3/11 vs. Columbus

• 3/13 vs. Anaheim

March Madness

The Isles are playing 17 games this month.  It is the first time in franchise history that they have played 17 games.  The Isles are 1-2-0 this month.

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 21-23-8 overall; they are 11-11-4 at home and 10-12-4 on the road.

Vancouver is 32-16-6 overall; they are 19-6-2 at home and 13-10-4 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 26 home games and sold out 22 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 898-659-60-165 in 1,782 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    898

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,782

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 (pending night game)

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,347

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,245 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 16-5-5 when scoring first and are 5-18-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    6-6-8=20

St. Louis    8-5-15=28

The Isles are 8-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-16-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 78-52-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves; he is 18-12-7 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. St. Louis.   

Jordan Binnington made 18 saves; he is 13-11-3 on the season and 1-1-2 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (5:09. St. Louis was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 10-6-5 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-17-3 when they do not. The Isles are 5-8-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-15-4 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 18-6-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-16-5 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 106-15-14 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 5-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 3-6 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-6 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 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

Including today, the Isles are 2-1-3 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on March 19th against Dallas. The Isles are scheduled to play thirteen matinees this season.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (23:18); St. Louis: Justin Faulk (26:19)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 20:59 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-4-1), 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 (0-3-0), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (0-1-0), Noah Dobson (7-7-2).

Face-offs

Isles 24, St. Louis 23 (51%)

Brock Nelson won 8 of 10 for the Isles; Ryan O'Reilly won 11 of 20 for St. Louis. 

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Matt Martin -6)

St. Louis 25 (Three with 4)

Fights 

Scott Mayfield fought Kim Kostin in the second period. Season total: 19 (Chara 5, Martin 4, Johnston 2, Pageau 2, Mayfield 2,  Bellows 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 24 (Ryan Pulock -4)

St. Louis 18 (Niko Mikkola -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, St. Louis 60

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, St. Louis 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Jean-Gabriel Pageu +6

St. Louis: Jake Walman +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, St. Louis 8

5-on-5: Isles 4, St. Louis 3

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal -INJ), (Zdeno Chara -IR), Ross Johnston, Anders Lee (personal)

Games Lost: 121 (72 to injuries and 49 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 141st 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: 4 successful, 0 failures  

The Isles are 2-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way (goalie interference 10/16 @FLA and 10/23 @ARI; offside 12/19 vs VGK, goalie interference 3/5 vs STL) 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 962…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 656  *** 12. Brock Nelson 647 *** 13. Derek King 638 *** 14. Casey Cizikas 635 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 580 *** 22. Anders Lee 567

Goals    

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

11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Anders Lee 198 *** 13. Brock Nelson 188 *** 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 369…

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 170

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 534 …

15. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 17. Brock Nelson 358 *** 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 +56 *** 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 258

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 136

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 20-23-5-4 on the season following a 5-4 win on Friday over Scranton-Wilkes-Barre.   Chris Terry had a pair of goals; he leads the team with 19 goals and 42 points.  Andy Andreoff added three assists. 

Same two teams play Saturday night in Bridgeport. 

Season Series Stats

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

The Isles are 5-0-2 in their last seven games against the Blues and have also gone 5-0-1 in their last six home games against St. Louis.

The teams will meet in St. Louis on April 9th to complete the season series.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, MARCH 7th  –ISLANDERS AT COLORADO  7:30 PM 

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

The homestand continues as the Isles host the Colorado Avalanche in a rematch of their game on Tuesday in Denver.

On Tuesday the Avs rallied from a 3-2 deficit for a 5-3 win at Ball Arena.

However, the Isles have dominated the meetings in New York for over 20 years, winning six straight and twelve out of the last thirteen games.

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