The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 2

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 17

Isles 4, Ottawa 2

Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves, including ten while the Isles were shorthanded, and four different players scored goals as the Islanders earned their second straight win with a 4-2 victory over the Senators before a crowd of 13,408 at Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata.

The Isles played most of this game from ahead, as Oliver Wahlstrom's power play goal was the only one in the first period.  After Ottawa tied the game on a 5-on-3, Noah Dobson's unassisted tally put the Isles back ahead at 13:15 of the second period and the Sens would never catch them.  In the third period, JG Pageau was credited with the game-winner and Brock Nelson added an empty-netter, sandwiching a Claude Giroux tally.

The Isles improve to 11-6-0 on the season with their ninth win in the last eleven games (9-2-0); they are one of four teams in the NHL with at least 22 points.  After a couple of days off, this four-game trip continues in Nashville on Thursday. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Oliver Wahlstrom (5) Anders Lee (8), Mathew Barzal (17) 11:53 NYI 1,OTT 0 PPG

2nd Period

Drake Batherson (5) Tim Stützle (9), Claude Giroux (9) 08:48 NYI 1,OTT 1  PPG

Noah Dobson (5) 13:15 NYI 2,OTT 1 

3rd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) Noah Dobson (7), Mathew Barzal (18) 08:21 NYI 3,OTT 1 PPG

Claude Giroux (8) Brady Tkachuk (14), Tim Stützle (10) 13:08 NYI 3,OTT 2

Brock Nelson (9)EN Casey Cizikas (3), Cal Clutterbuck (1) 18:50 NYI 4,OTT 2

The Skinny             

The Isles did not reach 11 wins last season until January 13th (11-12-6)... Among defensemen, only Erik Karlsson (10) and Rasmus Dahlin (7) have more goals than Noah Dobson, who is tied with Adam Fox (5) …Mathew Barzal has fourteen assists in the last twelve games (0-14-14); he is the first Islander in 38 years to have at least eighteen assists in the first seventeen games.  Only Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon (both 19) have more assists that Mathew Barzal (18)… The Isles have outscored their opponents 28-15 in the third period with six of those 28 goals being empty netters … The Isles lead the NHL with 28 third period goals; they have scored 29 goals in the 1st period, 2nd period, and overtime combined… The Isles have allowed nine power play goals in the last nine games after being perfect on the penalty kill in the first eight games this season; however tonight they held Ottawa to one goal in 11:26 of power play time (and that came on a 5-on-3)….The Isles have spent 4:16 playing 3-on-5 this season, most in the NHL…The Isles have earned ten points in the first eight road games for the fourth time in the last five year; prior to that it had happened only four times in the Post-Cup era…The Isles won 8 of 13 face-offs while shorthanded a season-high 11:26…Brock Nelson has scored six of his nine goals in the third period, which is tied for the NHL lead in that frame; he has scored twice into an empty-net…Claude Giroux extended his point streak to nine games; he is 24-46-70 in 65 games against the Isles…The Isles power play is now 8-25 (32%) on the road, but only 2-25 (8%) at home…Cal Clutterbuck (1-1-2) now has two points on the season; both on empty-net goals…The Isles are five games over NHL-.500, matching last season's high mark (done four separate times in April).

First Times in a Really Long Time

Mathew Barzal is the first Islander in 38 years to have at least eighteen assists in the first seventeen games.  Four players (Mike Bossy, Brent Sutter, Pat LaFontaine and John Tonelli) did so that year.

The 28 goals scored by the Isles in the first 17 third periods are also their most since the 1984-85 season.

The Isles have scored multiple power play goals in consecutive road games for the first time since October 28-November 2, 2017, vs. Nashville and Washington.  

Most Assists Without a Goal (First 17 team-games)

1. Gary Suter 19 (1991-92)

2. Mathew Barzal 18 (2022-23)

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2021-22  11-6-0 for 22 points in 17 games

• 2020-21  5-10-2 for 12 points in 17 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  1-1-2

• Season: 14-25-39

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored an NHL-leading fourteen goals they didn't score their 14th goal last season until February 12th.  The Islander defense has the most points in the Eastern Conference (and are tied-third in the NHL).

Home is Where The Sorokin Is

Ilya Sorokin went 13-5-4 at UBS Arena last season and is 4-3-0 this season,  despite allowing just 12 goals in the seven games (1.86 GAA, .945 save percentage). The Isles have scored only two goals in his three home losses this year and only ten goals in his eight career regulation losses at UBS.

Among goalies who have played at least twelve home games over the last two seasons, Sorokin has the second highest save percentage (.933) and the third-lowest goals against average (2.08). 

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise's has 413 career goals, good for 9th among actives.  Zach is now tied with Garry Unger and Islander Assistant Coach John MacLean for 92nd place.  Tony Amonte is 91st with 416 goals.

Most Goals and Points by an Islander Defenseman before 23rd Birthday

• Denis Potvin (72-168-240) 

• Bryan Berard (26-83-109)

• Noah Dobson (22-61-83)

• Tomas Jonsson (22-60-82)

• Paul Boutilier (20-69-89) 

Dobson is now tied 3rd in goals and 4th in points. The Isles will play 41 games this season before Dobson turns 23 on January 7, 2023.

Home and Road

The Isles are 11-6-0 overall; they are 6-3-0 at home and 5-3-0 on the road.

Ottawa is 5-9-1 overall; they are 4-5-0 at home and 1-4-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 5-5-0 against the East and 6-1-0 against the West.

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 50 games at UBS Arena and recorded 34 sellouts. The sellout crowds of 17,255 are the largest indoor crowds to ever see the Islanders play at home. 

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,497

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,374

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 6-0-0 when scoring first and are 5-6-0 when allowing the opening goal.  

The Shots

Isles      12-12-11=35

Ottawa  10-16-12=38

The Isles are 5-2-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 6-3-0 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 7-4-0 on the season and 2-0-1 vs Ottawa.

Joonas Korpisalo made 42 saves; he is 1-1-1 on the season and 3-2-3 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 on the power play (4:07); Ottawa was 1-6 on the power play (11:26, scoring :11 into a 5-on-3). 

The Isles are 5-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-4-0 when they do not. The Isles are 6-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-4-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 11-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-5-0 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 2-1 in regulation. They are 2-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The next set of back-to-backs will be in Columbus on November 25th and against Philadelphia on November 26th.  The Isles are 2-1-0 in the front end and 2-1-0 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (23:22);  Ottawa: Jake Sanderson (career-high 25:13)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 20:01 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-1-0), Noah Dobson (2-3-0), Adam Pelech (2-1-0), Ryan Pulock (2-1-0), Scott Mayfield (1-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0)

Face-offs

Isles 30, Ottawa 29 (51%)

Casey Cizikas won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 6 of 7 for Ottawa. 

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Anders Lee-4)

Ottawa 15 (Mathieu Joseph-3)

Fights 

Ross Johnston fought Austin Watson in the first period.  Season total: 3 (Johnston, Lee, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Scott Mayfield and Zach Parise -3)

Ottawa 10 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 50, Ottawa 80  

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 38, Ottawa 59

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ross Johnston (EVEN)

Ottawa: Two with +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Ottawa 17

5-on-5: Isles 4, Ottawa 10

Scratches

Robin Salo, Josh Bailey, Nikita Soshnikov

Games Lost: 7

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures – STL goalie interference 11/3

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures

League reviews:  1 (Isles goal – Salo vs ANA 10/16 – stood)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win three times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.

For: Trailed 3-1, Won 5-3 vs. COL 10/29; 

Trailed 3-1, Won 4-3 (OT) vs CGY 11/7; 

Trailed 3-1, Won 4-3 at NYR 11/8

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored one goal and allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime. 

For: Brock Nelson vs COL 10/29 (18:39;EN/GW), 

Overtime Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson vs CGY 11/7 (4:02)

Zach Parise vs CBJ 11/12 (0:39) 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,008…

8. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 9. Matt Martin 701 *** 10. Brent Sutter 694 *** 11. Brock Nelson 693 *** 12. Casey Cizikas 679… 

15. Billy Harris 623 *** 16. Stefan Persson 622 *** 17. Anders Lee 612 *** 18. Frans Nielsen 605 *** 19. Cal Clutterbuck 602

Goals    

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

9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Anders Lee 220 *** 11. Brock Nelson 214 *** 12. Derek King 211 *** 13. John Tonelli 206  *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 178

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 381…

15. Billy Harris 259*** 16. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 238 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Nick Leddy 198 *** 21. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 22. Brock Nelson 191

Points

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

6.  Brent Sutter 610 *** 7. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 8. Josh Bailey 560  …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 405 ***  16. Anders Lee 383…

19. Fran Nielsen 349 *** 20. Pierre Turgeon 340 *** 21. Tomas Jonsson 333 *** 22. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 23. Mathew Barzal 329

+/-

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

16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +72 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54   

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

10. Evgeni Nabokov 57 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 52 *** 12. Mark Fitzpatrick 51 *** 13. Chris Osgood 49 *** 14. Ilya Sorokin 46

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 …

4. Tommy Salo 14 *** 5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov 11

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 7-2-3-0 on the season heading into this weekend's 3-in-3 series.  Bridgeport will host Charlotte on Friday and Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday before playing Sunday afternoon in Providence.  

Rookie Ruslan Ishakov leads the team in points (14) and is tied for the club assist lead with Samuel Bolduc (10). Andy Andreoff leads the team in goals (6).  Cory Schneider is 5-1-1 on the season for the Baby Isles.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will next meet on January 25th in Ottawa. 

The Isles have won four straight from Ottawa, outscoring the Sens 16-6.  They are 12-2-0 in the last 14 meetings with Ottawa, including 6-1-0 in the last seven games in Kanata.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17th  —ISLANDERS AT NASHVILLE 8:00pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:30pm), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The road trip continues as the Isles face the Preds for the first time this season. 

The Isles are 0-5-2 in their last seven games with Nashville, including 0-2-1 in Music City.  The last Isles win was on October 28, 2017 (a 6-2 win at Bridgestone Arena).  Last season the Isles lost in an October shootout in Nashville and then allowed a goal to Eeli Tolvanen at 19:48 of the third period on December 9th to deprive them of their first win at UBS Arena.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 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