The Skinny: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 64

Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

Alex Killorn broke a 1-1 tie midway through the second period and the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to defeat the Isles 4-1 before a sell-out crowd of 17,565 at UBS Arena. 

Brock Nelson scored for the third straight game to give the Isles a 1-0 lead in the first period, but that was the only goal that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy that counted; Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal reversed late in the second period on an offside challenge.  Ilya Sorokin left the game after two periods with an upper-body injury.

The loss ends the Islander six-game home winning streak as they fall to 28-27-9 on the season with their second straight loss.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Brock Nelson (31) Adam Pelech (20) 18:14 TBL 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

Victor Hedman (18) Brayden Point (25), Andrei Vasilevskiy (1) 01:10 TBL 1,NYI 1 PPG

Alex Killorn (20) Anthony Cirelli (21) 09:47 TBL 2,NYI 1

3rd Period

Ross Colton (12) Mikhail Sergachev (27) 09:10 TBL 3,NYI 1

Mikhail Sergachev (6) Steven Stamkos (41), Nikita Kucherov (24) 16:56 TBL 4,NYI 1 

The Skinny           

Brock Nelson is 12-6-18 in March (14 games); Nelson is tied with Kirill Kaprizov for the most goals this month.  Nelson, who now has 199 career goals, has scored  16 goals in 21 games since February 17th – tied with Auston Mathews for the most goals in the NHL in that span…The Isles scored the first goal for only the 15th time in the last 20 games after allowing the opening goal in 11 of the prior 12 games…The Isles alternated goalies for the 15th straight game .. Anders Lee is 11-7-18 in the last twelve games…Alex Killorn reached 20 goals for the second time in his career and now has a career-high 50 points; Steven Stamkos reached the 70-point mark…Adam Pelech reached 20 assists for the first time....This was the final game of a stretch where the Lightning played 10 out of 11 on the road.

Whoa, NEL – LEE!

Brock Nelson and Anders Lee are reaching goal totals this month rarely seen by an Islander in recent years:  

• Nelson scored his 12th goal today, becoming the first Islander since Zigmund Palffy (13 in March 1996) to score at least 12 goals in any month.

• They are the first Islander teammates since Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner (February 2011) to reach double figures in the same month.

• They are the first Islander teammates since Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier (January 1986) to each score at least 11 goals in a month.

• They are the first Islanders since Lee had eleven goals in December 2017 to score at least 10 goals in a month.

Home is Where The Sorokin Is

Ilya Sorokin falls to 12-4-3 at UBS Arena. His 1.86 GAA is the lowest of any goalie who has played at least ten home games.

Since February 1st, he has been even better, going 6-1-1 in eight home starts (1.55 GAA, .950 save percentage); both the goals against and save percentage are the best in the NHL among goalies who have played at least four home games in that stretch.

Great in the Nets

• Ilya Sorokin is 5-2-0 in his last seven games; he has allowed just eleven goals in those seven games (1.66, .951).  Both the goals against and save percentage are the best in the NHL among goalies who have played at least four games in that stretch.

• Semyon Varlamov had allowed only seven goals in his last four games (3-0-1, 1.72, .944) before allowing eight goals in four periods this weekend.

Special Special Teams

The Isles went 0-3 on the power play and are 11-33 (33.3%) in their last twelve games. Since March 5th, only Colorado (13) and Florida (12) have more power play goals than the Isles.

The Isles killed three of four penalties and have now killed 39 of 45 in the last 16 games (86.7%).  At home they are even better, having killed 30 of 32 since the beginning of February; their 93.8% home PK in that span is second in the NHL to Carolina's 94.4%.

Strong at Home

The loss ended the Islander six-game home winning streak; it is only the 20th home winning streak of at least six games in club history.  

All-Star Break Splits

The Islander offense has improved significantly since the All-Star break. The Isles scored 92 goals in 39 games before the break (2.4/gm) and have scored 82 in 25 games since the break (3.3/gm).  

Forwards:

Before: 80-106-186 in 39 games (4.8/gm)

After:   72-87-159 in 25 games  (6.4/gm)

Defense:

Before: 12-47-59 in 39 games (1.5/gm)

After:     9-56-65 in 25 games (2.6/gm)

Most Career Goals by an Islander Wearing #27

1. Derek King 211

2. Anders Lee 209

3. John Tonelli 206

Most Shutouts In a Season

• 7 Chico Resch 1975-76

• 7 Semyon Varlamov 2020-21 (56-game season)

• 6 Ilya Sorokin 2021-22

• 6 Robin Lehner 2018-19

• 6 Jaroslav Halak 2014-15

March Madness

The Isles are playing 17 games this month, most of any month in franchise history  The Isles are 8-6-1 this month.

Home and Road

The Isles are 28-27-9 overall; they are 17-13-4 at home and 11-14-5 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 41-18-6 overall; they are 19-6-4 at home and 22-12-2 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 34 home games and recorded 26 sellouts. 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 905-663-60-166 in 1,794 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    905

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,794

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 1,484  

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,354

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,259 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 23-8-5 when scoring first and are 5-19-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    11-7-6=24

Tampa Bay    9-11-14=34

The Isles are 11-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-1 when the shots are even and 17-20-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 82-56-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves over two periods but falls to 22-14-7 on the season and 0-1-0 vs Tampa Bay; Semyon Varlamov made 12 saves in the third period.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves; he is 33-14-4 on the season and 9-4-0 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:10); Tampa Bay was 1-4 on the power play (7:05).

The Isles are 15-8-5 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-19-4 when they do not. The Isles are 6-12-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-15-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 24-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-19-5 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 111-17-15 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 7-8-9 in games decided by a single goal including 5-8 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 1-6 in shootouts. The Isles are 1-6 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

Including today, the Isles are 7-5-1 in the front end and 4-8-1 in the back end. This back-to-back concludes Sunday vs. Tampa Bay. The next back-to-back will be March 31st vs. Columbus and April 1st at the Rangers.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 25-12-5 in back-ends. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 3-4-3 in matinees this season; the next matinee will be on April 3rd in New Jersey. The Isles will play thirteen matinees this season.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (20:58); Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (24:34)

Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 18:50 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Adam Pelech (11-5-4), Noah Dobson (7-9-3), Ryan Pulock (6-4-1), Anthony Beauvillier (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-0-1), Zdeno Chara (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Robin Salo (0-2-0), Scott Mayfield (0-3-0), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (0-2-0).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Tampa Bay 28 (49%)

Mathew Barzal won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Anthony Cirelli won 10 of 17 for Tampa Bay.

Hit Count

Isles 13 (Oliver Wahlstrom -3)

Tampa Bay 17 (Cal Foote -4)

Fights 

Ross Johnston fought Pat Maroon in the first period. Season total: 20 (Chara 5, Martin 5, Johnston 3, Pageau 2, Mayfield 2,  Bellows 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Three with 3)

Tampa Bay 15 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Tampa Bay 64

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 38, Tampa Bay 55

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Kyle Palmieri Johnston  +5

Tampa Bay: Corey Perry +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 17, Tampa Bay 18

5-on-5: Isles 11, Tampa Bay 16

Scratches

(Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), (Scott Mayfield-INJ), Kieffer Bellows, (Sebastian Aho-INJ)

Games Lost: 134 (85 to injuries and 49 to COVID protocol)

Zach Parise is the only Islander to have played in every game this season.

Challenges

Isles: 3 successful, 1 failure

The Isles are 2-0-1 in games that they are successful (offside 1/18 @PHI, no goalie interference 2/22 @SEA, offside 3/15 @ WSH) and 0-1-0 in games that they are unsuccessful (no goalie interference 10/14 @CAR).

Opponents: 5 successful, 1 failure

The Isles are 2-2-1 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, goalie interference 3/27 vs TB) and 0-0-1 in games where challenges go the Isles' way (goalie interference 3/15 vs WSH)

Last Minute Heroes:

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

For: 4  (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), (Anders Lee 18:01 – 3/15/22 @ WSH; Isles lost in SO), (Kyle Palmieri 17:16 – 3/17/22 vs. NYR -GWG)

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 975…

9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 667  *** 12. Brock Nelson 659 *** 13. Casey Cizikas 647 … 

18. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 19. Garry Howatt 596 *** 20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 587 *** 22. Anders Lee 578

Goals    

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

9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Derek King 211 *** 11. Anders Lee 209 *** 12. John Tonelli 206 *** 13. Brock Nelson 199 *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 169

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 373…

17. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 19. Mathew Barzal 206 ***20. Nick Leddy 198 *** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Ed Westfall 181 *** 23. Kenny Jonsson and Brock Nelson 175

Points

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

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

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 371 ***  16. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 18.  Anders Lee 358…

22. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 23. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 24. Mathew Barzal 294

+/-

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

19. JP Parise +67 *** 20. Adam Pelech +60 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 24. Gord Lane +48  

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 270

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 143

On the Farm

What a road trip it has been for the Isles. Bridgeport has won three straight and is 6-0-1-0 in their last seven games following wins in Toronto on Saturday and Rochester in overtime on Sunday.  Bridgeport is now 27-25-6-4 on the season and has moved into a playoff spot base on tie-breakers.

Chris Terry, who had the overtime winner on Sunday,  continues to lead the team with 22 goals and 48 points while Otto Koivula has a team-leading 31 helpers. Jakub Skurek is 16-11-4 in goal on the season while Cory Schneider, 6-1-1 in his last eight games, is 10-10-3.

The Isles are off until Saturday when they visit Wilkes-Barre Scranton; they will return home to face Lehigh Valley next Sunday afternoon.

Season Series Stats

Tampa Bay leads the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).   The Lightning will return to UBS Arena for the regular season finale on April 29th.

In regular season play, the Isles are 2-1-1 in the last four home games against Tampa Bay and are 3-3-1 in their last seven games overall against the Bolts.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, MARCH 29th  –ISLANDERS AT COLUMBUS 7:00 PM 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Islanders will close out March with a home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Each team has a home victory in the series this season, with the Jackets winning in overtime in October and the Isles responding for a 6-0 win earlier this month behind an Anders Lee hat trick.

The Isles are 6-2-1 in their last nine games with the Jackets, including 2-1-1 in Columbus.

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