The Skinny: Isles 2, Winnipeg 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 61

Isles 2, Winnipeg 1

Simon Holmstrom's goal broke a 1-1 tie midway through the third period and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves as the  Isles defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.  

Sebastian Aho's first goal since January 16th had given the Isles a 1-0 lead after one period, but Nikolaj Ehlers, playing his 500th NHL game, tied the contest with a second period power play goal. 

The Isles improve to 30-24-7 and will host Los Angeles (the only team that they have not played) on Friday With the win, the Isles extend their lead for the 1st Wild Card spot; they are three points ahead of Florida; four ahead of Pittsburgh and five ahead of Washington.  

The Scoring:

1st Period

Sebastian Aho (5) Brock Nelson (32) 17:35 WPG 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

Nikolaj Ehlers (5) Josh Morrissey (48), Kyle Connor (40) 04:30 WPG 1,NYI 1 PPG

3rd Period

Simon Holmstrom (4) Bo Horvat (26), Matt Martin (11) 09:57 WPG 1,NYI 2 

The Skinny    

The Isles are 7-2-2 in their last 11 games; the 16 points in 11 games match their best 11-game stretch of the season…Their 16 points since January 27 match Carolina for the NHL lead; the Hurricanes have played two fewer games…The Isles are also 5-1-1 in their last seven home games…Brock Nelson now has points in 14 of his last 15 games; his 58 points are one shy of his career high. ..On Holmstrom's winning goal, Bo Horvat matched his career high in points (61) while Matt Martin recorded his career-best 11th assist…` Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves for his 59th career win, passing his net-mate, Semyon Varlamov for 10th in club history; he has allowed only one goal on 50 shots in two career appearances against Winnipeg….It was the 38th time in his career that Sorokin played at least a full period and allowed one goal or fewer…After scoring six power play goals in six games, the Isles are 0-9 on the power play in their last three games.… The Isles have scored 48 goals in the last twenty games (8-7-5); 19 of those goals have been scored in the first period…The Isles have won four straight third periods, outscoring the opposition 7-0… The Isles' third period differential improves to +6; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -10 over the last 38 games … Midway through the second period, the Isles hit the ¾ mark of their season…Mark Scheifele played his 700th NHL game…Josh Morrissey recorded his 48th assist and 59th point, extending his franchise records in both categories.

First Time in a Long Time

Arnaud Durandeau is the ninth player in club history to record at least seven shots in his first two NHL games, but the first forward to do so since Patrick Flatley had a club record nine on February 29-March 3, 1984. 

Brock-Even

Brock Nelson has four seasons with at least 20-plus even-strength goals in the last five years.  Five other familiar names are the only other players to do so: Connor McDavid (5x), Auston Matthews/Brad Marchand/Alex Ovechkin/David Pastrnak (4x each).

Brock Star

Since winning the Most Accurate Shot at the Skills Competition, Brock Nelson has gone 7-5-12 in nine games.  Only five players in the NHL have more points since the All-Star Game.

20-20

Ilya Sorokin now has twenty wins in consecutive seasons.  The club record for consecutive 20-win series is five, held by Chico Resch.  Thomas Greiss was the last Islander with consecutive 20-win campaigns.

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,692

2. Matt Martin 3,640

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  30-24-7 for 67 points in 61 games

• 2021-22  27-25-9 for 63 points in 61 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  1-0-1

• Season: 31-92-123

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 31 goals; they didn't score their 31st goal last season until game 80 on April 26th.   Zdeno Chara scored the final goal of the season and the final goal of his career in game 82.

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 15 shutouts in 114 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 13.3% of his starts, which is the best in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 13.2%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise has 423 career goals, good for 9th among actives and 85th all-time. Steve Shutt is 84th with 424 goals.

Home and Road

The Isles are 30-24-7 overall; they are 18-10-3 at home and 12-14-4 on the road.

Winnipeg is 35-22-1 overall; they are 20-8-0 at home and 15-14-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 17-13-5 against the East (12-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 5-8-5 vs. Atlantic) and 13-11-2 against the West (5-7-2 vs. Central and 8-4-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 72 games at UBS Arena and recorded 50 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,519

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,393

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 20-8-3 when scoring first and are 10-16-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles         11-4-7=22

Winnipeg 9-12-5=26

The Isles are 14-10-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 16-14-5 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves; he is 20-17-5 on the season and 2-0-0 vs Winnipeg. 

Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves; he is 26-17-1 on the season and 3-5-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (8:00); Winnipeg was 1-4 on the power play (7:06).

The Isles are 13-9-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-15-4 when they do not. The Isles are 13-12-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-12-5 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 24-6-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-18-4 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 13-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 9-5 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 0-4 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 March 14th in Los Angeles and on March 15th in Anaheim. The Isles are 7-5-0 in the front end and 7-4-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (21:56);  Winnipeg: Josh Morrissey (27:29)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 21:17 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-2-1), Noah Dobson (4-11-2), Adam Pelech (5-2-0), Ryan Pulock (6-5-1), Scott Mayfield (7-1-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Bo Horvat (2-0-1), Tied (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 22, Winnipeg 32 (41%)

Bo Horvat won 12 of 23 for the Isles; Pierre-Luc Dubois won 15 of 18 for Winnipeg. 

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Alexander Romanov -6)

Winnipeg 13 (Three with 2)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Winnipeg 10 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 38, Winnipeg 57

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 29, Winnipeg 36

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Hudson Fasching +8

Winnipeg:  Two with +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Winnipeg 13

5-on-5: Isles 6, Winnipeg 9

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Cal Clutterbuck – IR), (Jean-Gabriel Pageau-IR), (Josh Bailey- INJ), (Mathew Barzal-INJ), Parker Wotherspoon

Games Lost: 142

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 143nd  consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. Overall, his streak is 144 games, making it the 19th-longest active streak in the NHL. 

Challenges

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

Opponents: 2 successful, 0 failures – PIT offside 12/27, VAN goalie interference 2/9

League reviews: 5 (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), MTL goal (Matheson) 2/11-stood.

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 allowed the opposition to do so once.

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

Vs  Led 4-2, Lost 6-5 vs VAN 2/9

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)

Zach Parise Vs PIT 2/17 (17:17; GW)

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

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

Mike Matheson @ MTL 2/11 (4:38)

Shootout Winners

Vs (4):  David Pastrnak @ BOS 12/13

Evan Rodrigues @ COL 12/19

Jason Robertson Vs DAL 1/10

Tim Stutzle Vs OTT 2/14

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,047…

6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 745 *** 9. Brock Nelson 737 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 724… 

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 657 *** 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 …

8. Bob Bourne 238 *** 9. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 10. Anders Lee 234 *** 11. Brock Nelson 231 *** 12. Derek King 211 *** 13. John Tonelli 206  *** 14 Billy Harris 184 *** 15. Josh Bailey 182…

28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal, Benoit Hogue, and Ed Westfall 105

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 *** 4. Josh Bailey 394…

13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Billy Harris 259 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 257 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 214…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Anders Lee 173

Points

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

6.  Brent Sutter 610 *** 7. Josh Bailey 576  …

13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 445 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 407 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 362

+/-

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. Ryan Pulock 41 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard 31***13. Noah Dobson 28

Defense Assists

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

8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 124…

15. Bryan Berard 100 *** 16. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 17. Johnny Boychuk 96 *** 18. Adam Pelech,  Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95…

24. Adrian Aucoin 80 ***25. Scott Lachance and Noah Dobson 79 *** 27. Scott Mayfield 78

Defense Points

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

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 165…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Thomas Hickey and Adam Pelech 117...20. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 21. Radek Martinek 109 *** 22. Dave Langevin 109 ***23. Noah Dobson 107 *** 24. Scott Lachance and Ken Morrow 105 *** 26. Scott Mayfield 102

Wins

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

8. Glenn Healy 66 *** 9. Tommy Salo 62 *** 10. Ilya Sorokin 59 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 58

Shutouts

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

4. Ilya Sorokin 15 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov and Jaroslav Halak 12 

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 22-19-7-1 on the season and hold the final playoff spot in the Northeast Division.

Andy Andreoff leads the team with 20 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (33) and points (49). William Dufour has 16 goals and is tied-7th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov is 2nd among AHL rookies with 27 assists and is 6th among rookies with 38 points.

Bridgeport begins a six-game homestand on Thursday against Belleville.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The Isles will face the Jets on Sunday to complete the season series.

The Isles have won six straight against Winnipeg for the first time ever and are 11-3-0 in their last fourteen games against the Jets..

UP NEXT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24th –LOS ANGELES AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

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

The Isles finally get their first look at the Kings when they host Los Angeles on Friday night.

Los Angeles is the final opponent that the Isles have not faced; it will be the first meeting of the squads in 363 days.  Last season, the Kings won both games, with their UBS win ending an Islander five-game home winning streak against Los Angeles.

The teams will meet again in SoCal on March 14th to close out their season series.

And Finally…

You are reading the 900th consecutive edition of #TheSkinny.  It has appeared after every Islanders regular season and playoff game since February 2012.  Thank you to all the readers and those who comment on The Skinny and thanks to my VERY understanding family.  Here's to 1,000 – coming next season!

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