The Skinny: Pittsburgh 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 73

Pittsburgh 6, Isles 3

Sidney Crosby scored a goal and added two assists and Jake Guentzel completed a four-point game with an empty net goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a split of the home-and home series with a 6-3 victory over the Islanders before a crowd of 18,236 at PPG Paints Arena.  The win clinches a playoff berth for the Penguins for the 16th straight season.

Zach Parise, Anders Lee  and Zdeno Chara scored for the Islanders, who fall to 34-30-9; they are 6-3-0 in their last nine games. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Kris Letang (8) Jake Guentzel (40), Sidney Crosby (50) 04:59 NYI 0,PIT 1

Danton Heinen (16) Brian Boyle (9), Teddy Blueger (14) 08:52 NYI 0,PIT 2

2nd Period

Zach Parise (14) Mathew Barzal (36) 05:51 NYI 1,PIT 2

Jake Guentzel (36) Sidney Crosby (51) 12:10 NYI 1,PIT 3

3rd Period

Sidney Crosby (29) Jake Guentzel (41), Mike Matheson (18) 10:44 NYI 1,PIT 4

Anders Lee (26) Brock Nelson (20) 17:23 NYI 2, PIT 4

Brock McGinn (12) Jeff Carter (23) Teddy Bueger (15) ENG 17:59  NYI 2, PIT 5

Zdeno Chara (1)  Brock Nelson (21) 18:52 NYI 3, PIT 5

Jake Guentzel (37) ENG 19:50 NYI 3, PIT 6

The Skinny            

The Isles are 13-6-1 in their last 20 games… The Isles have been outscored 15-12 in the final minutes of periods this season (excluding empty nets) … Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists for the second consecutive game and then added a goal to reach 1,405 points, including 128 against the Isles. Crosby now has 80 points after having only two points through Thanksgiving; it is his 11th career 80-point season (leads all active players)…Zach Parise now has three goals in his last two games and 13 goals in his last 40 games… Ryan Pulock had seven shots on goal – it is the most shots on goal he has had since March 27, 2021, also in Pittsburgh…Kris Letang's goal was his 13th against the Islanders, breaking a tie with Zdeno Chara for most goals against the Isles by any active NHL…Chara scored his first goal as an Islander since January 12, 2001 (also against Pittsburgh, but at Mellon Arena)…With the help of the empty nets, Jake Guentzel, Crosby and Letang were all +4 while Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal were -4.

Home is Where The Sorokin Is

Ilya Sorokin is 13-4-3 at UBS Arena, with a 1.96 GAA and a .934 save percentage. 

Since February 1st, he has been even better, going 7-1-1 in nine home starts (1.81 GAA, .944 save percentage); his goals against average is the best in the NHL among goalies who have played at least two home games in that stretch .

Great in the Nets

• Ilya Sorokin is 7-3-0 in his last ten games; he has allowed just 20 goals in those ten games.

• Semyon Varlamov is 6-3-1 in his last ten decisions.  

PK is More Than Okay

The Isles killed both of their penalties and have now killed 27 of 28  (96.4%) over their last nine games and 66 of 73 in the last 23 games (90.14).  At home they are even better, having killed 37 of 40 since the beginning of February; their 92.5% home PK in that span tied-second in the NHL (Carolina 94.1%).

And How About That Home PP?

Since the beginning of February, the Isles home PP has converted at a 32.4% rate (12-37).  Only Florida (17-45, 37.8%) has had a better home power play in that stretch.

Zach Attack

Zach Parise scored for the third time in two games to give him 407 career goals, tying him for 97th place all-time with Marian Gaborik, and passing both Rod Gilbert and John LeClair; he is one goal 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 109 in 34 games since the break (3.2/gm).  

Forwards:

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

After:    96-115-211 in 34 games  (6.2/gm)

Defense:

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

After:    13-66-79 in 34 games (2.3/gm)

Most Career Goals by an Islander Wearing #27

1. Derek King 211

2. Anders Lee 210 

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 34-30-9 overall; they are 19-13-4 at home and 15-17-5 on the road.

 Pittsburgh is 43-22-11 overall; they are 21-12-5 at home and 22-10-6 on the road.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 36 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 911-666-60-166 in 1,803 games.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  970

3. Barry Trotz    911

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman  2,141

2. Barry Trotz        1,803

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 1,488 (pending game with EDM)

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,360

3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top

Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,271 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 27-8-5 when scoring first and are 7-22-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-19-10=39

Pittsburgh 13-5-10=28

The Isles are 12-7-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-2-1 when the shots are even and 21-21-4 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 87-57-17 when outshot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 24-15-7 on the season and 2-3-0 vs  Pittsburgh.

Tristan Jarry made 36 saves; he is 34-18-6 on the season and 10-1-0 vs. the Isles.   

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-5 on the power play (10:00);  Pittsburgh was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 18-8-5 when they score at least one power play goal and 16-22-4 when they do not. The Isles are 7-12-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 27-18-5 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-9-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-21-5 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 116-18-15 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-9-9 in games decided by a single goal including 8-9 in regulation. They are 1-3 in games decided in overtime and are 2-6 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 9-6-1 in the front end and 5-9-1 in the back end. This back-to-back will conclude on Friday in Montreal The next back-to-back will be April 23rd in Buffalo and April 24th at home vs. Carolina.

 

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 26-13-5 in back-ends. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 4-4-3 in matinees this season; the final matinees will be on April 23rd in Buffalo and April 24th at home vs. Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:47);  Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (28:11)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with a career-high 22:03 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Adam Pelech (12-5-4), Noah Dobson (9-10-3), Ryan Pulock (7-5-1), 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 29, Pittsburgh 26 (53%)

Casey Cizikas won 8 of 11 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 12 of 20 for Pittsburgh.

Hit Count

Isles 33 (Ryan Pulock, Kieffer Bellows and Jean-Gabriel Pageau -6)

Pittsburgh 24 (Two with 3)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 21 (Chara 5, Martin 5, Johnston 3, Pageau 2, Mayfield 2, Wahlstrom 2, Bellows 1, Nelson 1, Palmieri 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Noah Dobson -3)

Pittsburgh 19 (Jeff Carter -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Pittsburgh 49

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 46, Pittsburgh 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Kieffer Bellows +14 

Pittsburgh: Kris Letang +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Pittsburgh 14

5-on-5: Isles 9, Pittsburgh 12

Scratches

(Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), (Scott Mayfield-INJ), Oliver Wahlstrom, Sebastian Aho

Games Lost: 160 (111 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, 2 failures

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 0-2-0 in games that they are unsuccessful (no goalie interference 10/14 @CAR, no goalie interference 4/5 @DAL)

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 five goals and allowed two goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:

For: 5  (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), (Kyle Palmieri 19:45 – 4/8/22 @ CAR – 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)

The Isles allowed a tying goal to CAR on 4/8/22 but scored the winner in the final seconds.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 984…

9. Brent Sutter 694 *** 10. Matt Martin 676 *** 11. John Tavares 669  *** 12. Brock Nelson 668 *** 13. Casey Cizikas 654 … 

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

Goals    

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

9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Derek King 211 *** 11. Anders Lee 210 *** 12. John Tonelli 206 *** 13. Brock Nelson 201 *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 172

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 375…

17. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 19. Mathew Barzal 212 ***20. Nick Leddy 198 *** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Ed Westfall and Brock Nelson 181

Points

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

7. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 8. Josh Bailey 547 *** 9. John Tonelli 544 *** 10. Bob Bourne 542 …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 382 ***  16. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369 *** 18.  Anders Lee 362…

22. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 23. Mathew Barzal 302

+/-

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

19. JP Parise +67 *** 20. Adam Pelech +62 *** 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 279

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 149

On the Farm

Bridgeport is to 8-3-2-0 in their last thirteen games and 29-28-7-4 on the season heading into Friday's game at Lehigh Valley. 

Chris Terry continues to lead the team with 28 goals and 55 points while Otto Koivula has a team-leading 32 helpers. Jakub Skurek is 16-14-4 in goal on the season while Cory Schneider, 8-1-2 in his last eleven games, is 12-10-3.

Bridgeport is now just .0001 out of a playoff spot.  (AHL teams play different number of games, so percentage will determine the final standings)

Season Series Stats

Pittsburgh wins the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 2).

The Isles are 2-6-2 in their last ten (regular season) games against the Pens.

UP NEXT

FRIDAY, APRIL 15th  –ISLANDERS AT MONTREAL 7:00 PM 

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

The Isles conclude the back-to-back and play the middle game of their three-game road trip as they face the Montreal Canadiens for the final time this season.

The road team has won the first two games of the season series with the Isles using four Brock Nelson goal to win in Le Belle Province in early November and Andrew Hammond emerging as the winning netminder in a shootout at UBS Arena on February 20th.

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