The Skinny: Isles 2, Vegas 1 (OT)

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 52

Isles 2, Vegas 1

Mathew Barzal beat Logan Thompson with 31.5 seconds left in overtime to send the Islanders into the Bye Week and All-Star Game with a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Anders Lee and William Carrier traded second period goals. Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves to earn his first victory since he was injured on December 17th in Vegas.

The Isles improve to 25-22-5 and find themselves two points out of the 2nd Wild Card spot. Following the Bye Week and the All-Star Game, the Isles will return to action on Monday, February 6th, when they begin a back-to-back set In Philadelphia.

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period 

Anders Lee (19) Kyle Palmieri (8), Brock Nelson (27) 03:52 VGK 0,NYI 1

William Carrier (12) Chandler Stephenson (33), Phil Kessel (12) 16:08 VGK 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

Mathew Barzal (12) Anthony Beauvillier (11), Adam Pelech (9)  04:28 VGK 1,NYI 2

The Skinny   

Anders Lee opened the scoring for the 7th time this season and the 50th time in his career as he tied Brock Nelson for the club goal lead; it was Lee's fourth goal in the last four games… Nelson extended his point streak to five games with an assist on the Lee goal; it was his 27th assist of the season, just one shy of his career high…The Isles went 0-1 on the power play; they are 0-25 in the last ten games and 3-64 in the last 23 games …The Isles killed both Golden Knight power plays; they have killed 29 of their last 32 and their NHL-leading home penalty-killers are now 62/68 (91.2%)...The Isles scored the first goal for the eighth time in the last ten games … The Isles have scored nineteen goals in the last eleven games (3-5-3); 11 of the 19 have been scored in the first period…The Isles have been outscored 12-1 in their last thirteen third periods… The Isles' third period differential is now +2; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -14 over the last 27 games…Noah Dobson (who did not play for the third straight game) and Scott Mayfield remained at 99 points. They are looking to become the 25th and 26th defenseman in club history to reach 100 points…Mathew Barzal scored his first goal in 11 games…Kyle Palmieri had an assist, giving him five assists in four games since returning from his injury; it was Palmieri's 200th career assist and the first time in his career he has recorded an assist in four consecutive games… Matt Martin had six hits, increasing his team-leading total to 198; he is closing in on his eleventh 200 hit season…The Isles have won consecutive games for the first time since December 27th-29th and sweep a back-to-back set for the fourth time this season… The win snapped a five-game losing streak in games decided in overtime/shootouts…The Isles finish January with a 4-8-3 record as they earn the 1,750th regular season win in their history.

The Penalty Shot

For the second time this week, the Isles faced a penalty shot.  Seymon Varlamov stopped William Carrier :26 into overtime.  Varlamov has now stopped seven of eight penalty shots in his career; his .875 save percentage leads all active NHL goalies who have faced at least seven penalty shots.

First Time in a Really Long Time

The Isles swept a back-to-back set in which they scored two goals or fewer in each game for the first time since December 30-31, 2002, vs. Florida and in Buffalo. Roman Hamrlik and Jason Blake had overtime goals as Chris Osgood earned a pair of 2-1 wins.

Passing Potvin

Anders Lee's goal was his 50th opening goal, passing Denis Potvin for 3rd place in club history:

• Bryan Trottier 81

• Mike Bossy 64

• Anders Lee 50

• Denis Potvin 49

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  25-22-5 for 55 points in 52 games

• 2021-22  21-23-8 for 50 points in 52 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-0-0

• Season: 27-71-98

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 27 goals; they didn't score their 27th goal last season until April 19th.  

Sorokin's House

Ilya Sorokin is 23-13-6 all-time at UBS Arena. His goals against average of 2.03 trails only Frederik Andersen (2.02) among goalies who have made more than two home starts over the last two seasons and his save percentage of .932 is the best in the NHL over that span.  Sorokin went 9-1-0 at the Coliseum; he is 31-14-6 in his career at home and his .930 career save percentage is the best on home ice in NHL history (minimum 50 home games).

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 14 shutouts in 109 career starts.  He has recorded a shutout in 12.8% of his starts, which is the best in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 12.8%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

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 25-22-5 overall; they are 15-9-2 at home and 10-13-3 on the road.

Vegas is 29-18-4 overall; they are 14-13-0 at home and 15-5-4 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 14-12-3 against the East (9-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 5-7-2 vs. Atlantic) and 11-10-2 against the West (4-7-2 vs. Central and 7-3-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 67 games at UBS Arena and recorded 46 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,515

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,388

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 17-7-2 when scoring first and are 8-15-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    15-15-6-1=37

Vegas 8-16-17-4=45

The Isles are 13-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 11-13-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made a season-high 44 saves; he is 9-6-1 on the season and 5-3-0 vs Vegas. 

Logan Thompson made 35 saves; he is 19-13-3 on the season and 0-1-1 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Vegas was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 11-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-14-4 when they do not. The Isles are 11-10-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-12-4 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-5-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-17-3 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 9-4-5 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 4-2 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 February 6th in Philadelphia and on February 7th vs Seattle. Including tonight, the Isles are 5-5-0 in the front end and 6-3-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (season-high 26:41);  Vegas: Shea Theodore (25:55)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:59 of ice-time. 

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

Face-offs

Isles 33, Vegas 26 (55%)

Brock Nelson won 10 of16 for the Isles; Brett Howden won 6 of 8 for Vegas.

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Matt Martin -6)

Vegas 23 (Brayden McNabb -5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 14 (Martin-6, Lee-2, Wahlstrom-2, Johnston-2, Cizikas, Romanov)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Scott Mayfield and Alexander Romanov -3)

Vegas 22 (Two with 5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Vegas 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 58, Vegas 54

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +12

Vegas:  Three with Even

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Vegas 16

5-on-5: Isles 7, Vegas 10

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Hudson Fasching- IR), (Cal Clutterbuck – IR), (Noah Dobson -INJ), Ross Johnston, Parker Wotherspoon

Games Lost: 113

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 134th 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. 

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

Zach Parise vs CBJ 11/12 (0:39) 

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

Mathew Barzal vs VEG 1/28 (4:28)

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 1,041…

7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 736 *** 9. Brock Nelson 728 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 715… 

13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 648 *** 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 231 *** 11. Brock Nelson 224 *** 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 251 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 209…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 27. Anders Lee 170

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 433 ***  16. Anders Lee 401 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 354

+/-

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 +72 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. 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 93

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 115...

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 57 *** 12. Ilya Sorokin 55

Shutouts

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

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

On the Farm

Bridgeport fell to 18-17-6-1 with 3-1 loss in Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday. Cole Bardreau had the goal for Bridgeport; Jakub Skarek made 18 saves.

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is tied-5th in the AHL) with 20 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (27) and points (39).   William Dufour has 14 goals and is tied-4th among AHL rookies; Dufour has points in 10 of his last 13 games.

The Baby Islanders travel to Hershey on Sunday.

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1).  

The Isles are 3-0-1 in their last four games vs. the Golden Knights and are 6-3-1 in nine overall meetings with Vegas.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6th  –ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA 7:00pm

[MSGSN2 (Pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

Following the bye and all-star break, the Isles resume play next Monday in Philadelphia against the Flyers. The teams split a home-and-home series back in November, with each team winning on home ice: the Isles won 5-2 at UBS Arena but then fell 3-1 at Wells Fargo Center.

Overall, the Isles are 9-2-0 in their last 11 meetings with Philadelphia. 

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