The Skinny: Buffalo 3, Isles 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 47

Buffalo 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Dylan Cozens scored twelve seconds into overtime as the Buffalo Sabres rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits for a 3-2 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 19,070 on Ryan Miller Night at KeyBank Center. 

Brock Nelson and Matt Martin had given the Isles leads heading into each intermission but it did not hold up as the Sabres earned the extra point.

The Isles are 23-19-5 and are tied with Pittsburgh for the second wild card spot; however, the Isles have played three more games. The Isles are 2-5-3 since the calendar turned to 2023 and return home to face Carolina on Alumni Weekend on Saturday night. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Brock Nelson (16) Anthony Beauvillier (10), Josh Bailey (13) 07:19 NYI 1,BUF 0

2nd Period

Alex Tuch (22) Rasmus Dahlin (36), Jeff Skinner (26) 08:26 NYI 1,BUF 1

Matt Martin (5) Casey Cizikas (9) 18:30 NYI 2,BUF 1

3rd Period

Victor Olofsson (19) Casey Mittelstadt (20), Tyson Jost (10) 09:32 NYI 2,BUF 2

OT

Dylan Cozens (15) Rasmus Dahlin (37), Tage Thompson (28) 00:12 NYI 2,BUF 3

The Skinny   

The Isles did not reach 23 wins last season until March 11th (23-24-8)... The Isles went 0-1 on the power play; they are 3-27 in the last eleven games and 3-52 in the last nineteen games …The Isles did kill all three Sabre power plays; they have killed 17 of their last 18...The Isles scored first for the fifth straight game, but they are 1-2-2 in those games … The Isles have scored ten goals in the last six games (1-2-3); all but two have been scored in the first period…Buffalo's third period goal reduced the Isles' differential in that period to +4; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -12 over the last 24 games. Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield remained at 99 points. They are looking to become the 25th and 26th defenseman in club history to reach 100 points…Dylan Cozens scored the 2nd-earliest overtime goal by a Sabre (Jason Dawe- 10 seconds)…Ilya Sorokin is 7-2-3 in 12 career games that he has faced over 40 shots…Matt Martin was credited with 10 hits for the second time in three games; he out-hit the entire Sabre team, 10-9, as he played a season-high 14:02…Martin now has 13 points on the season; in his entire career he has had more than 14 points in a season only once (19 in 2015-16)…Tage Thompson assisted on the overtime winner; it was his 60th point of the season, making him the fastest Sabre in 30 years to reach that mark… The Sabres improve to 5-3 in games decided by an overtime goal; the Isles are 3-2...Brock Nelson's goal was his first in 15 games; he regained the team lead with 16 goals...Mathew Barzal was held without a point for the sixth straight game.  The Isles were held under 30 shots for the 13th time in the last 15 road games; they have had 35 or fewer in every road game this season.

The Injury

Cal Clutterbuck left the game with an upper-body injury late in the second period; he did not return.

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  23-19-5 for 51 points in 47 games

• 2021-22  19-20-8 for 46 points in 47 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-0-0

• Season: 27-68-95

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 27 goals (Florida leads with 28); they didn't score their 27th goal last season until April 19th.  

Sorokin's House

Ilya Sorokin is 22-13-5 all-time at UBS Arena.  His goals against average of 2.03 trails only Frederik Anderson (2.02) among goalies who have made multiple home starts over the last two seasons and his save percentage of .933 is the best in the NHL over that span.  Sorokin went 9-1-0 at the Coliseum; he is 31-14-5 in his career at home and his .930 career save percentage is the best on home ice in NHL history (minimum 40 home games).

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise has 421 career goals, good for 9th among actives, and tied with Stephane Richer, Vincent Lecavalier and Steve Thomas for 86th place all-time.  Owen Nolan is 85th with 422 goals and Steve Shutt is 84th with 424 goals.

Home and Road

The Isles are 23-19-5 overall; they are 13-8-2 at home and 10-11-3 on the road.

Buffalo is 22-19-3 overall; they are 10-12-2 at home and 12-7-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 13-9-3 against the East (9-4-1 vs. Metropolitan and 4-5-2 vs. Atlantic) and 10-10-2 against the West (4-7-2 vs. Central and 6-3-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 64 games at UBS Arena and recorded 43 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,512

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,386

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 15-6-2 when scoring first and are 8-13-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles     5-11-10-0=26

Buffalo 19-12-13-1=45

The Isles are 12-8-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 10-11-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 42 saves; he is 15-14-4 on the season and 3-2-2 vs Buffalo. 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves; he is 11-5-1 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Buffalo was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 11-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-11-4 when they do not. The Isles are 11-8-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-11-4 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-5-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-14-3 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 8-3-5 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 3-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-7 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 on January 27th vs Detroit and on January 28th vs. Vegas – that will be the only time this season that the Isles will play home games on consecutive days. Including tonight, the Isles are 4-5-0 in the front end and 5-3-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (23:25);  Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin (25:12)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:13 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-1-1), Noah Dobson (4-10-2), Adam Pelech (3-2-0), Ryan Pulock (5-3-0), Scott Mayfield (6-0-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Buffalo 26 (56%)

Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each won 10 of 18 for the Isles; Tage Thompson  won 7 of 12 for Buffalo. 

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Matt Martin -10)

Buffalo 9 (Ilya Lyubishin-2)

Fights 

None. Season total: 13 (Martin-5, Lee-2, Wahlstrom-2, Johnston-2, Cizikas, Romanov)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 28 (Sebastian Aho -5)

Buffalo 10 (Henri Jokiharju-2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Buffalo 89

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Buffalo 78

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +3

Buffalo:  Tage Thompson +19

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, Buffalo 21

5-on-5: Isles 13, Buffalo 18

Scratches

(Adam Pelech – upper body-IR), (Kyle Palmieri- upper body-IR), (Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Hudson Fasching- upper body), Parker Wotherspoon

Games Lost: 92

The Ironmen

Zach Parise played in his 129th consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. It is the 20th-longest active streak in the NHL.  

Noah Dobson played in his 112th consecutive Islander game.

Challenges

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

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failures – PIT offside 12/27

League reviews: 4 (Isles goal – Salo vs ANA 10/16 – stood; Isles no goal vs NSH 12/2-stood; Isles goal- Martin vs CHI 12/4-awarded; MIN goal (Gaudreau) 1/12 – awarded)

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute six times this season (five times at home and once on road):

• 0:17 10/29 vs. COL (Mayfield and Beauvillier)

• 0:59 11/7 vs. CGY (Lee and Palmieri)

• 0:22 11/26 vs PHI (Nelson and Beauvillier)

• 0:43 12/4 vs CHI (Parise and Nelson)

• 0:21 12/6 vs STL (Fasching and Pageau)

• 0:34 12/9 @ NJD (Cizikas and Wahlstrom)

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 two goal and allowed one goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime. 

For(2): Brock Nelson vs COL 10/29 (18:39;EN/GW)

Josh Bailey @ TOR 11/21 (17:02; Isles won in OT)

Vs (1): Kappo Kaako @NYR  12/22 (17:13: GW)

Overtime Winners

For (3): Noah Dobson vs CGY 11/7 (4:02)

Zach Parise vs CBJ 11/12 (0:39) 

Anthony Beauvillier @ TOR 11/21 (1:56)

Vs. (2): Dimitry Orlov Vs WAS 1/16 (4:27)

Dylan Cozens @ BUF 1/19 (0:12)

Shootout Winners

Vs (3):  David Pastrnak @ BOS 12/13

Evan Rodrigues @ COL 12/19

Jason Robertson Vs DAL 1/10

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,036…

7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 731 *** 9. Brock Nelson 723*** 10. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 11. Casey Cizikas 709… 

13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 643 *** 15. Derek King 638 *** 16. Billy Harris 623 *** 17. Stefan Persson 622 *** 18. Cal Clutterbuck 621

Goals    

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

9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Anders Lee 227 *** 11. Brock Nelson 221 *** 12. Derek King 211 *** 13. John Tonelli 206  *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 182

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 392…

15. Billy Harris 259*** 16. Mathew Barzal 250 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 206…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 27. Anders Lee 169

Points

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

6.  Brent Sutter 610 *** 7. Josh Bailey 574  …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 427 ***  16. Anders Lee 396 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 352

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +74 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Ryan Pulock +55 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…

6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik 43 **** 8. Mark Streit and  Ryan Pulock 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard 31***13. Vladimir Malakhov and Noah Dobson 27

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Roman Hamrlik 120 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 121…

18. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 20. Adam Pelech 92

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 161…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 19. Adam Pelech 114...

23. Scott Lachance and Ken Morrow 105 *** 25. Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield 99

Wins

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

10. Evgeni Nabokov 57 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 56 *** 12. Ilya Sorokin 54

Shutouts

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

4. Tommy Salo 14 ***5. Ilya Sorokin 13 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov and Jaroslav Halak 12 

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 16-15-6-1 on the season, heading into Friday's game in Rochester. 

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is tied-4th in the AHL) with 19 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (26) and points (37).   William Dufour, who made his NHL debut against Boston, now has 13 goals, and is tied-4th among AHL rookies; Dufour has points in 9 of his last 10 games.

Season Series Stats

Buffalo leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).  

The home team has dominated this series in recent years, winning the last ten games; overall the Isles are 1-4-1 in their last six games against Buffalo.

The Sabres will visit Long Island on both March 7th and March 25 to complete the season series. The Isles have won ten straight at home from Buffalo (three in Brooklyn, six at the Coliseum and one at UBS Arena).

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21st –CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles return home to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.   It is the third meeting of the season between the teams, with the road team winning each of the first two games. 

January 21st has historically been a very good day for the Isles; they have earned 37 points on this day, and have won ten consecutive games on this date.

Carolina has won four straight on Long Island, including one in overtime; the Isles are 2-5-2 in their last nine home games against the Canes.

The Isles will travel to Raleigh on April 3rd to conclude 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