The Skinny: Isles 3, Rangers 0

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 67

Isles 3, Rangers 0

Semyon Varlamov did it to the Rangers again. Varlamov became the first NHL goaltender in NINETY-SIX years to post four consecutive road shutouts against the same opponent as he blanked the Blueshirts 3-0 before a crowd of 17,325 at Madison Square Garden. 

The Isles scored goals in the first five minutes and that was all the offense they needed for a 3-0 win.  Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist to reach the 300-point mark; it was his third consecutive multi-point game.  

The Isles sweep the back-to-back to improve to 31-27-9 on the season and move into sole possession of 9th place in the Eastern Conference.  It is the first time all season that the Isles have been four games over NHL-.500.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Casey Cizikas (9) Ryan Pulock (13) 02:40 NYI 1,NYR 0

2nd Period

Matt Martin (3) Mathew Barzal (34), Ross Johnston (5) 04:48 NYI 2,NYR 0

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (14) Oliver Wahlstrom (11) 02:47 NYI 3,NYR 0

The Skinny           

Mathew Barzal matched a career-high with his third consecutive multi-point game…Brock Nelson's point streak ended at 6….Cory Schneider served as the back-up for the 3rd straight game… The Isles have recorded eight shutouts this season (six by Ilya Sorokin and two by Semyon Varlamov)…It is the second time this season (Sorokin October 23-24) that an Islander goalie has recorded a shutout on the back-end of a personal back-to-back…The Rangers are 0-2-0 at home against the Isles and 22-5-3 against the rest of the NHL…Igor Shesterkin drops to 1-6-1 in his career against the Isles; he is 57-20-5 against the rest of the NHL…It was the first time Varlamov won games on consecutive days since February 11-12, 2016 when he did so for Colorado…It's the 4th time this season that the Rangers have been shut out; the Isles ended point streaks for seven different Rangers, including Chris Kreider (6-4-10 in prior 6 games)…All three members of the Isles' fourth line recorded point, including the first goal in 24 games for Matt Martin…The Isles have outscored their opponents 131-126 at 5-on-5; the Rangers have outscored theirs 130-127. ..The Isles improve to 25-0-0 in games that they have had a two-goal lead at any point…Casey Cizikas has only three goals vs. the Rangers but all three are game-winners in game played at MSG (4/7/2016 and 2/8/2021)

VARLY, VARLY

Henrik Lundqvist will always be the King of MSG, but for the last two seasons, Semyon Varlamov has owned the place, recording shutouts in all four games he has played there.

Varlamov is only the second goalie in NHL history to record four consecutive ROAD shutouts against the same opponent:  Alec Connell of the original Ottawa Senators turned the trick at the 3rd iteration of MSG against the New York Americans in 1926. 

Perspective: Connell's streak started before the Rangers were even an NHL team (they played their first game in late 1926).  Even the legendary Stan Fischler was not born when Connell had his streak.

Varlamov's current shutout streak at MSG is 240:00 – it is the longest for any goalie at The Garden (3rd or current 4th iteration) in 90 years.

Varlamov, who also blanked the Rangers at the Coliseum on May 1, 2021, now has recorded five of his 36 career shutouts against the Blueshirts.  Carey Price (7) is the only active goalie with more shutouts against the Rangers.

Casey, Casey

Most Career Game-Winners by an Islander at Madison Square Garden:

• Mike Bossy 3

• Casey Cizikas 3

Nine others have two.

Sidney Crosby is the only active player with four game-winners at The Garden. Five others, including Cizikas, Alex Ovechkin and Zdeno Chara have three.

300 Point Club

Mathew Barzal is the 23rd player in Islander history with 300 points.  He also is the 7th player selected in the 2015 draft to reach that mark:

1. Edmonton Connor McDavid         234-442-678

2. Toronto Mitchell Marner 131-306-437

3. Colorado Mikko Rantanen         163-233-396

4. Carolina Sebastian Aho 176-212-388

5. Buffalo Jack Eichel 148-223-371

6. Winnipeg Kyle Connor 172-161-333

7. Isles Mathew Barzal 90-210-300

Home is Where The Sorokin Is

Ilya Sorokin is 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); the save percentage is the best in the NHL among goalies who have played at least two home games in that stretch while Carolina's Frederic Andersen's GAA is 0.01 lower.

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 is 6-1-1 in his last eight decisions with a 2.38 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Since March 10th, no NHL goalie has more wins than Varlamov (6).

Special Special Teams

The Isles went 0-4 on the power play and are 12-42 (28.6%) in their last thirteen games.  

The Isles killed all three of their penalties and have now killed 48 of 54 in the last 19 games (88.9%).  At home they are even better, having killed 33 of 35 since the beginning of February; their 94.3% home PK in that span is second in the NHL to Carolina's 94.4%.

Zach Attack

Zach Parise, the 100th-leading goal scorer in NHL history, has 404 goals, leaving him two behind Rod Gilbert and John LeClair, three behind Marian Gaborik and four behind Patrik Elias and Ray Ferraro.

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 94 in 28 games since the break (3.4/gm).  

Forwards:

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

After:    82-100-182 in 28 games  (6.5/gm)

Defense:

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

After:    11-59-70 in 28 games (2.5/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

Home and Road

The Isles are 31-27-9 overall; they are 17-13-4 at home and 13-14-5 on the road.

The Rangers are 44-20-5 overall; they are 22-7-3 at home and 22-13-2 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 35 home games and recorded 27 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 908-663-60-166 in 1,797 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    908

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,797

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 1,485

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,357

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,265 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 25-8-5 when scoring first and are 6-19-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    5-7-6=18

Rangers    7-12-8=27

The Isles are 12-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-1 when the shots are even and 19-20-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 85-56-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves; he is 9-13-2 on the season and 12-7-2 vs Rangers.

Igor Shesterkin made 15 saves; he is 32-10-3 on the season and 1-6-1 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (8:00); Rangers was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 16-8-5 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-19-4 when they do not. The Isles are 6-12-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 25-15-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-8-4 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 114-17-15 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 8-8-9 in games decided by a single goal including 6-8 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 tonight, the Isles are 8-5-1 in the front end and 5-8-1 in the back end. The next back-to-back will be April 8th in Carolina and April 9th in St. Louis.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 26-12-5 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: Ryan Pulock (24:34); Rangers: Adam Fox (23:30)

Anthony Beauvillier led Isles forwards with 19:01 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Adam Pelech (12-5-4), Noah Dobson (7-9-3), Ryan Pulock (7-4-1), 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 23, Rangers 25 (48%)

Casey Cizikas won 8 of 14 for the Isles; Greg McKegg won 6 of 8 for the Rangers.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Ross Johnston -4)

Rangers 19 (Two with 4)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 20 (Chara 5, Martin 5, Johnston 3, Pageau 2, Mayfield 2,  Bellows 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1, Wahlstrom 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Ryan Pulock -4)

Rangers 12 (Adam Fox -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 38, Rangers 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 26, Rangers 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Sebastian Aho +2

Rangers: Artemi Panarin +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Rangers 11

5-on-5: Isles 6, Rangers 10

Scratches

(Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), (Scott Mayfield-INJ), Kieffer Bellows, (Andy Greene-INJ), (Ilya Sorokin-INJ)

Games Lost: 147 (98 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

 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 978…

9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. Matt Martin 670 *** 11. John Tavares 669  *** 12. Brock Nelson 662 *** 13. Casey Cizikas 6509 … 

18. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 19. Garry Howatt 596 *** 20. John Tonelli 594 *** 21. Cal Clutterbuck 587 *** 22. Anders Lee 581

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 200 *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 170

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 374…

17. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 19. Mathew Barzal 210 ***20. Nick Leddy 198 *** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Ed Westfall 181 *** 23. Brock Nelson 177

Points

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

7. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 8. Josh Bailey and John Tonelli 544 *** 10. Bob Bourne 542 …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 377 ***  16. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 18.  Anders Lee 360…

22. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 23. Mathew Barzal 300

+/-

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

19. JP Parise +67 *** 20. Adam Pelech +61 *** 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 273

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 146

On the Farm

Bridgeport has won three straight games and is 6-0-1-0 in their last seven games heading into Saturday's showdown in Wilkes-Barre-Scranton.  Bridgeport is now 27-25-6-4 on the season and now lead Wilkes-Barre Scranton by .0005 in win percentage in the battle for the final playoff spot,

One intricacy in the AHL this season is the teams play different number of games. The Isles have 64 points in 62 games (.5161) while Penguins have 66 points in 64 games (.5156), Bridgeport has only 10 games left, and the Pens have 12.  (Winning percentage will determine the final standings)

Chris Terry 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.

Bridgeport's next home game is against Lehigh Valley on Sunday.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2).   The teams will meet at UBS Arena on April 21st to conclude the season series.

The Isles are 17-5-0 in their last 22 games at MSG.

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd  – ISLANDERS AT NEW JERSEY 4:00 PM 

[TNT, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The road trip continues as the Isles head to Newark to face the Devils for the final time this season.

The home team has won the first three games with the Devils blanking the Isles 4-0 on Veterans Day and the Isles earning 4-2 and 3-2 wins at UBS. 

The Isles are 13-4-0 in their last 17 games with the Devils, including 6-2-0 in New Jersey; four of those six wins in Newark have come in OT/SO.

Brendan Burke and Darren Pang will have the call on TNT.

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