The Skinny: Toronto 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 49

Toronto 5, Isles 2

William Nylander had a four point period as the Toronto Maple Leafs scored four times in the second period and defeated the Isles 5-2 before a crowd of 18,514 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. 

Anders Lee score twice to give the Isles leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the Maple Leafs erased those goals and more in the middle session, which also included Ilya Sorokin stopping Michael Bunting on a penalty shot.

The Isles fall to 23-21-5 and remain tied with Florida, three points behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card spot. The Isles are 0-3-2 in their last five games and 2-7-3 since the calendar turned to 2023 as they head to Ottawa to face the Senators on Wednesday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Anders Lee (16) Brock Nelson (25), Sebastian Aho (7) 19:37 NYI 1,TOR 0

2nd Period

William Nylander (25) John Tavares (26), Mark Giordano (14) 05:07 NYI 1,TOR 1

Anders Lee (17) Kyle Palmieri (4), Mathew Barzal (31) 06:18 NYI 2,TOR 1

John Tavares (21) William Nylander (29), Ilya Samsonov (1) 07:53 NYI 2,TOR 2 PPG

Calle Jarnkrok (11) William Nylander (30), Justin Holl (6) 09:33 NYI 2,TOR 3

William Nylander (26) 16:32 NYI 2,TOR 4

3rd Period

Auston Matthews (25) Justin Holl (7) 07:44 NYI 2,TOR 5

The Skinny   

The Isles went 0-2 on the power play; they are 3-31 in the last thirteen games and 3-56 in the last 21 games …The Isles killed 1 of 2 Leaf power plays; they have killed 21 of their last 23  ...The Isles scored the first goal for the sixth time in seven games … The Isles have scored fourteen goals in the last eight games (1-4-3); all but three have been scored in the first period…The Isles have not scored a third period goal in a franchise-record ten straight games (since scoring three in Vancouver) and have been outscored 12-0 in that stretch… The Isles' third period differential is now just +1; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -15 over the last 26 games…Noah Dobson (who did not play, ending his 114-game streak) 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 had his first point in eight games… Kyle Palmieri returned to the line-up with nine attempts and a career-high seven hits…Adam Pelech also returned to the lineup…The Isles allowed four goals in a period for the second time this season (December 6th vs. St Louis)…John Tavares had eight shots on goal in the second period, tying a record both for the Leafs and against the Isles; Tavares is scheduled to play his 1000th NHL game on Sunday….The Isles are two games over NHL-.500 for the first time since they were 7-5-0 in early November….Anders Lee now has 399 career points; he is looking to be the 16th player in club history with 400 points…Ilya Samsonov recorded his second career assist as he improved to 13-0-1 at home this season…Samuel Bolduc played 14:28 in his NHL debut; he had one shot, three attempts, three hits, and was not on-ice for a goal.

The Penalty Shot

Ilya Sorokin stopped Michael Bunting on a Penalty Shot in the second period.   It was the fifth penalty shot of the season for Toronto and they have failed on all of them. This was the first penalty shot against the Islanders in nearly five years (March 8, 2018 in Edmonton, when Christopher Gibson stopped Conor McDavid in overtime) and the first in any Islander game since November 5, 2019, when Cole Bardreau scored his first NHL goal in a game against Ottawa.

 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  23-21-5 for 51 points in 49 games

• 2021-22  20-21-8 for 48 points in 49 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-1-1

• Season: 27-69-96

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 27 goals (Carolina leads with 30); they didn't score their 27th goal last season until April 19th.  

Sorokin's House

Ilya Sorokin is 22-13-6 all-time at UBS Arena.  His goals against average of 2.08 trails only Frederik Andersen (2.02) among goalies who have made multiple home starts over the last two seasons and his save percentage of .931 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 .929 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 23-21-5 overall; they are 13-9-2 at home and 10-12-3 on the road.

Toronto is 29-11-8 overall; they are 18-3-4 at home and 11-8-4 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 13-11-3 against the East (9-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 4-6-2 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 65 games at UBS Arena and recorded 44 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,513

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,386

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 15-7-2 when scoring first and are 8-14-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      13-10-10=33

Toronto 6-22-10=38

The Isles are 12-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 10-12-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves; he is 15-16-4 on the season and 1-3-0 vs Toronto. 

Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves; he is 15-4-2 on the season and 6-3-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (2:37); Toronto was 1-2 on the power play (3:12).

The Isles are 11-8-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-13-4 when they do not. The Isles are 11-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-12-4 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 2-16-3 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. The Isles are 4-5-0 in the front end and 5-3-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (24:15);  Toronto: Mark Giordano (22:16)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:55 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 (5-4-0), 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 29, Toronto 24 (55%)

Brock Nelson won 9 of 15 for the Isles; no Leaf who took multiple draws won more than he lost.

Hit Count

Isles 49 (Matt Martin -10)

Toronto 30 (Justin Holl -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Toronto 25 (Auston Matthews -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 76, Toronto 66

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, Toronto 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee +27

Toronto:  Rasmus Sandin +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 27, Toronto 26

5-on-5: Isles 25, Toronto 20

Scratches

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

Games Lost: 101

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 131st 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 (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 1,038…

7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 733 *** 9. Brock Nelson 725*** 10. Patrick Flatley and Casey Cizikas 712… 

13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 645 *** 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 229 *** 11. Brock Nelson 222 *** 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 207…

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 429 ***  16. Anders Lee 399 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 353

+/-

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 +71 *** 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 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 17-16-1 on the season heading into Wednesday's game in Hartford. 

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is tied-6th in the AHL) with 19 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (26) and points (37).   William Dufour now has 14 goals, and is tied-4th among AHL rookies; Dufour has points in 10 of his last 12 games.

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (Toronto has earned 3 points to the Isles' 2). The teams will meet at UBS Arena on March 21st for Butch Goring Bobblehead Night.

The Isles are 2-3-0 in regular season play in Toronto since John Tavares joined the Leafs.  

UP NEXT

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25th  – ISLANDERS AT OTTAWA 7:00pm

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

The Isles will look to snap their five-game losing streak  (0-3-2) and complete the road trip as they head to Ottawa to face the Sens on Wednesday.  It is the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Isles beat Ottawa 4-2 back on November 22nd.

The Isles have won four straight against the Sens and are 10-1-0 in their last eleven meetings with Ottawa.  The Isles are also 6-1-0 in their last seven trips to Kanata, Ontario. 

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