The Skinny: Minnesota 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 43

Minnesota 3, Isles 1

Frederick Gaudreau scored the tying goal on a shorthanded rush midway through the 3rd period and Sam Steel scored the winning goal 93 seconds later as the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Scott Mayfield scored a first period goal for the Isles and it stood up for nearly 34 minutes before the Gaudreau shorty turned the game around.  Kirill Kaprizov added his 25th goal into an empty net to finish the scoring.

The Isles fell to 22-18-3 and are 1-4-1 since the calendar turned to 2023.  The middle game of this five-game home stand is on Saturday against Montreal.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Scott Mayfield (5) Matt Martin (8), Alexander Romanov (13) 16:49 MIN 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Frederick Gaudreau (10) Joel Eriksson Ek (19) 10:55 MIN 1,NYI 1 SHG

Sam Steel (8) Mats Zuccarello (25), Kirill Kaprizov (26) 12:28 MIN 2,NYI 1

Kirill Kaprizov (25)EN Mats Zuccarello (26), Jon Merrill (8) 18:48 MIN 3,NYI 1

The Skinny   

The Isles did not reach 22 wins last season until March 10th (22-24-8)... The Isles went 0-3 on the power play; they are 3-17 in the last seven games; the Gaudreau goal was the fifth allowed by the Isles this season and the first at home …The Isles did kill all five Wild power play and are now over 90% on the home PK – which is the best in the NHL; they are 12-12 in the last five home games ..The Isles scored first for the first time in six games…Ilya Sorokin has allowed six goals in the last five home games (3-1-1, 1.18, .952) .. Sebastian Aho played his 100th NHL game…Kirill Kaprizov now has 99 goals in 177 career games; if he scores on Saturday vs. Arizona, he will be the second-fastest to 100 goals among active players (behind Alexander Ovechkin (167 games) and just ahead of Patrik Laine (179 games)…Scott Mayfield matched a career high with five goals while Alexander Romanov set a career high with 14 points...Minnesota improves to 4-12-2 when trailing after two periods while the Isles fall to 15-2-0 when leading through 40 minutes.

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  22-18-3 for 47 points in 43 games

• 2021-22  17-20-6 for 40 points in 43 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  1-1-2

• Season: 26-62-88

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 26 goals (regaining the NHL lead); they didn't score their 26th goal last season until April 15th.  

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise has 420 career goals, good for 9th among actives.  He is tied with Bill Barber for 89th all-time; Stephane Richer, Vincent Lecavalier and Steve Thomas are tied-86th with 421.

Home and Road

The Isles are 22-18-3 overall; they are 12-7-1 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.

Minnesota is 23-14-4 overall; they are 12-8-1 at home and 11-6-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 12-8-1 against the East (9-4-0 vs. Metropolitan and 3-4-1 vs. Atlantic) and 10-11-1 against the West (4-8-1 vs. Central and 6-3-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 61 games at UBS Arena and recorded 41 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 1,510

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,385

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 14-5-0 when scoring first and are 8-13-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    4-10-6=20

Minnesota 7-17-12=36

The Isles are 11-7-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 10-11-2 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves; he is 14-14-2 on the season and 0-2-0 vs Minnesota. 

Filip Gustavsson made 19 saves; he is 10-6-1 on the season and 1-1-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:37), and allowed a shorthanded goal; Minnesota was 0-5 on the power play (9:37).

The Isles are 11-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-10-2 when they do not. The Isles are 11-7-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-11-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 21-5-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-13-2 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 7-3-3 in games decided by a single goal including 4-3 in regulation. They are 3-0 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 18th vs Boston and on January 19th in Buffalo. The Isles are 4-4-0 in the front end and 5-3-0 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson/Brock Nelson (21:38);  Minnesota: Jared Spurgeon (21:41)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 21:38 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-1-1), Noah Dobson (4-9-2), Adam Pelech (3-2-0), Ryan Pulock (5-3-0), Scott Mayfield (5-0-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, Minnesota 32 (41%)

No Islander won more than he lost;  Sam Steel won 8 of 11 for Minnesota. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)

Minnesota 19 (Brandon Duhaime -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Minnesota 18 (Matt Dumba -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 51, Minnesota 64

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 37, Minnesota 45

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Sebastian Aho and Anthony Beauvillier +4

Minnesota:  Mats Zuccarello +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Minnesota 21  (8-0 Minnesota in the 3rd period)

5-on-5: Isles 5, Minnesota 14

Scratches

(Adam Pelech – upper body-IR), (Kyle Palmieri- upper body-IR), (Oliver Wahlstrom-INJ), Ross Johnston

Games Lost: 79

The Ironmen

Zach Parise played in his 125th 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 108th 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)

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 1,032…

7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 727 *** 9. Brock Nelson 719*** 10. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 11. Casey Cizikas 705… 

13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 639 *** 15. Derek King 638 *** 16. Billy Harris 623 *** 17. Stefan Persson 622 *** 18. Cal Clutterbuck 617

Goals    

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

9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Anders Lee 227 *** 11. Brock Nelson 220 *** 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 390…

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 572  …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 426 ***  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

Wins

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

10. Evgeni Nabokov 57 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 56 *** 12. Ilya Sorokin 53

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 dropped their eleventh straight game (0-8-2-1) with a 3-1 defeat to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. The Islanders have fallen to 14-14-6-1 on the season.

Andy Andreoff scored his team-leading 18th goal, while Chis Terry padded his team lead in assists (23) and points (34).   

Bridgeport visit Lehigh Valley Friday in the back-end of the home-and-home.

Season Series Stats

Minnesota leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet in St. Paul on February 28th to complete the season series; it will be the Isles' final game before the trade deadline.

   

The Isles have lost three straight games to Minnesota and are 3-6-0 in their last nine meetings with the Wild. 

UP NEXT

SATURSDAY, JANUARY 14th –MONTREAL AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

Montreal makes the first of their two visits this season to UBS Arena on Saturday night in the middle game of this five game homestand.

The Canadiens won their only previous visit to UBS, defeating the Isles in a shootout last February.  The Isles have only two wins over Les Habitants in their last 12 New York games (2-7-3) but the Isles did sweep a pair of games in Montreal last season. 

Note that this game is a 7:00 start.

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