The Skinny: Vancouver 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 51

Vancouver 4, Isles 3

Nils Hoglander and Vasily Podkolzin scored third period goals 45 seconds apart as the Vancouver Canucks rallied from a 3-2 third period deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Islanders before a crowd of 16,412 at USB Arena.

It was the second straight game that the Islanders lost despite having a lead in the third period and dropped the Isles three games below NHL-.500 (20-22-8) for the first time since February 15th. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Noah Dobson (10) Brock Nelson (10), Andy Greene (7) 03:37 VAN 0,NYI 1

Brad Hunt (1) 07:19 VAN 1,NYI 1

J.T. Miller (21) Brock Boeser (16), Quinn Hughes (38) 11:50 VAN 2,NYI 1

Kyle Palmieri (7) Adam Pelech (13), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (11) 18:20 VAN 2,NYI 2

3rd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (9) 01:49 VAN 2,NYI 3

Nils Hoglander (9) Conor Garland (17), Quinn Hughes (39) 09:34 VAN 3,NYI 3

Vasily Podkolzin (10) Bo Horvat (14) 10:19 VAN 4,NYI 3

The Skinny          

Kyle Palmieri scored for the second straight game and is 6-1-7 in the last nine games…Jean-Gabriel Pageau extended his point streak to four games… Noah Dobson scored the Isles' first goal; eight of his ten games have been scored at home; only Brock Nelson (9) has scored more goals at UBS Arena…The Isles have been out-shot 150-108 over the last four games…Nils Hoglander's tying goal was his first since New Year's Day……The Isles were held without a power play for the second time this season (December 2nd vs. San Jose)…JT Miller extended his point streak to eight games (1-11-12) with his goal…Andy Greene has a point in three straight games for the first time as an Islander; he had three five-game point streaks with New Jersey.

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. Dobson is the eighth defenseman in the league with at least ten goals.

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

• 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 0-2-0 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 20-23-8 overall; they are 10-11-4 at home and 10-12-4 on the road.

Vancouver is 27-23-6-10-4 overall; they are 13-10-3 at home and 14-13-3 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 25 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 897-659-60-165 in 1,781 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        1,781

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 15-5-5 when scoring first and are 5-18-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    8-9-10=27

Vancouver    13-16-9=38

The Isles are 8-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-16-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 77-52-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves; he is 3-11-1 on the season and 7-12-2 vs. Vancouver.   

Thatcher Demko made 24 saves; he is 24-16-2 on the season and 2-0-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles did not have a power play. Vancouver was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 9-6-5 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 15-15-4 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 2-16-5 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 106-15-14 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 2-6 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

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: Ryan Pulock (23:10); Vancouver: Quinn Hughes (25:37)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 20:37 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 25, Vancouver 36 (41%)

No Islander who took multiple draws won more than he lost; Bo Horvat won 15 of 19 for Vancouver. 

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Vancouver 19 (Luke Schenn-4)

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 16 (Noah Dobson and Sebastian Aho -3)

Vancouver 21 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 59, Vancouver 65 (including 38-13 in the third period

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 56, Vancouver 59

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Adam Pelech +6

Vancouver: Two with +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Vancouver 13

5-on-5: Isles 9, Vancouver 11

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal -INJ), (Zdeno Chara -INJ), Ross Johnston 

Games Lost: 119 (70 to injuries and 49 to COVID protocol)

Iron Man

Scott Mayfield played in his 140th 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 961…

10. John Tavares 669 *** 11. Matt Martin 655  *** 12. Brock Nelson 646 *** 13. Derek King 638 *** 14. Casey Cizikas 634 … 

20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 579 *** 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 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 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 169

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 357 *** 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 257

 

Coaching Wins

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

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 19-23-5-4 on the season. 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.

The Baby Isles are off until Friday when they begin a 3-in-3 weekend by hosting a pair of games against the Penguins. 

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). 

This was the Isles' first regulation loss to Vancouver in twelve meetings (7-1-4) and their first in six games vs. Vancouver at home (3-1-2). 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, MARCH 5th  – ST. LOUIS AT ISLANDERS  12:30 PM 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 12:00PM), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The homestand continues as the Isles host the St. Louis Blues in a Saturday matinee.

It is the first meeting of the teams since the teams traded home overtime victories in the 2019-20 season (10/14/19 – Devon Toews and 2/27/2020 – Colton Parayko). 

The Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six games against the Blues and have also gone 4-0-1 in their last five home games against St. Louis.

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

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