The Skinny: Isles 5, Pittsburgh 4

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 58

Isles 5, Pittsburgh 4

Zach Parise, playing his 1,200th NHL game, deflected home a Brock Nelson pass for the game-winning goal with 2:43 to play as the Isles rallied from 1-0, 3-1 and 4-2 deficits for a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. The win allowed the Islanders to skate off the ice in a playoff spot for the first time since the morning of January 16th.  

Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each scored twice and added an assist for the Islanders, who were out-shot 28-9 in the first 25:35.  The game featured three sets of goals within a two-minute span, with the latter two sets started by Rickard Rakell in his first multi-goal game of the season. 

The Isles improve to 28-23-7 and head to Boston and Pittsburgh for games on Saturday at 5pm and Monday at 7pm. The Isles currently hold the 2nd Wild Card spot and are one point ahead of Washington and Florida; they are tied with Pittsburgh (the first WC), but the Penguins have played four fewer games. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Sidney Crosby (25) Pierre-Olivier Joseph (12), Chad Ruhwedel (3) 12:00 PIT 1,NYI 0

Anders Lee (20) Mathew Barzal (36) 13:56 PIT 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Rickard Rakell (20) Jake Guentzel (27), Kris Letang (17) 03:53 PIT 2,NYI 1

Jason Zucker (14) Pierre-Olivier Joseph (13), Chad Ruhwedel (4) 05:35 PIT 3,NYI 1

Brock Nelson (23) Scott Mayfield (10), Alexander Romanov (16) 14:25 PIT 3,NYI 2

Rickard Rakell (21) Sidney Crosby (42), Marcus Pettersson (14) 18:57 PIT 4,NYI 2

Anders Lee (21) Mathew Barzal (37), Sebastian Aho (12) 19:32 PIT 4,NYI 3

3rd Period

Brock Nelson (24) Noah Dobson (23), Anders Lee (18) 05:01 PIT 4,NYI 4 PPG

Zach Parise (15) Brock Nelson (31), Kyle Palmieri (9) 17:17 PIT 4,NYI 5

The Skinny    

Brock Nelson extended his point streak to a career-high twelve games; it matches John Tavares (2012) and Mark Parrish (2001) for the longest Islander point streak in the 21st Century; Mariusz Czerkawski had a 13-game streak in 2000, which is the last time an Islander had a longer streak…Nelson also has a four-game goal streak …Nelson's first goal was his 3rd scored on a wrap-around this season; no other player in the NHL has more than one…His second goal was the 50th power play goal of his career, tying Pierre Turgeon for 10th place on the club's all-time list…The Isles went 1-2 on the power play and are 6-17 on the power play since the All-Star Break, after hitting the break having gone 3-prior 64… The Isles allowed the first goal for only the 4th time in the last 16 games … The Isles have scored 40 goals in the last seventeen games (6-6-5); 18 of those goals have been scored in the first period…The Isles, who had been outscored 18-4 in their past eighteen third periods, staged a third period rally to win for the sixth time this season…It was also the 4th multi-goal comeback this season… The Isles' third period differential improves to +1; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -15 over the last 35 games… Noah Dobson has a four-game assist streak (1-5-6) …Zach Parise is the 126th player to appear in 1,200 games; he tied Owen Nolan in career games played and his 82nd career game-winning goal allowed him to pass Nolan for 85th place on the all-time goal list…Among active players, only Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter have more game-winning goals than Parise…Both Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal played over twenty minutes for the fourth straight game…The Penguins fall to 18-3-4 when leading after two periods; their seven losses when leading through 40 minutes are the most in the NHL.

The Injury

Josh Bailey left the game late in the second period with an injury; he did not return.

First Times in a Long Time

The Isles allowed 37 shots in the first two periods for the first time since March 3, 2018, in Pittsburgh.

Brock-2023

Brock Nelson now has a 12-game point streak; it is the longest active streak in the NHL.  It's the 9th time this season a player has had a streak of at least 12 games; Brock is the 8th player to do so as Connor McDavid has done so on two separate occasions.

He is the first Islander to score three goals on wrap-arounds since goal by shot type were officially recorded by the NHL in 2009-10.

Chasing 50

Bo Horvat has 34 goals in 55 games this season. No Islander has had at least 34 goals through the team's 58th game since Pierre Turgeon had 36 in 1992-93.  (If Horvat plays every game the rest of the season he would appear in 79 games.)

In Every Game

The Isles have played 58 games and have not lost by more than three goals in any of them.  It is the first time in club history this has happened.

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  28-23-7 for 63 points in 58 games

• 2021-22  25-24-9 for 59 points in 58 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-4-4

• Season: 30-90-120

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 30 goals; they didn't score their 30th  goal last season until game 80 on April 26th.   

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 15 shutouts in 112 career starts.  He has recorded a shutout in 13.4% of his starts, which is the best in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 13.4%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise now has 423 career goals, good for 9th among actives; the goal broke a tie with Owen Nolan for 85th place. Steve Shutt is 84th with 424 goals.

Home and Road

The Isles are 28-23-7 overall; they are 17-10-3 at home and 11-13-4 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 27-18-9 overall; they are 15-6-4 at home and 12-12-5 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 16-12-5 against the East (11-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 5-7-5 vs. Atlantic) and 12-11-2 against the West (4-7-2 vs. Central and 8-4-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 71 games at UBS Arena and recorded 49 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,516

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,391

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 19-8-3 when scoring first and are 9-15-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    8-10-10=28

Pittsburgh  18-19-7=44

The Isles are 14-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 14-14-5 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 40 saves; he is 18-17-5 on the season and 4-3-0 vs Pittsburgh. 

Casey DeSmith made 23 saves; he is 10-12-4 on the season and 3-2-1 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (2:41); Pittsburgh was 0-1 on the power play (2:00).

The Isles are 13-9-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-14-4 when they do not. The Isles are 11-11-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-12-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 23-6-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-17-4 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 7-5 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   

This back-to-back set concludes Saturday in Boston. The next set of back-to-backs will be on March 14th in Los Angeles and on March 15th in Anaheim. Including tonight, the Isles are 7-5-0 in the front end and 7-3-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Bo Horvat (24:18);  Pittsburgh: Jeff Petry (23:24)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 24:18 of ice-time. 

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

Face-offs

Isles 27, Pittsburgh 36 (43%)

No Islander who took more than two draws won more than he lost; Jeff Carter won 10 of 14 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 29 (Matt Martin -5)

Pittsburgh 19 (Jeff Zucker -4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Matt Martin -3)

Pittsburgh 14 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Pittsburgh 80

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 40, Pittsburgh 76

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +5

Pittsburgh:  Jeff Petry +24

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Pittsburgh 19

5-on-5: Isles 16, Pittsburgh 19

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Cal Clutterbuck – IR), (Jean-Gabriel Pageau-IR),  Ross Johnston, Parker Wotherspoon

Games Lost: 128

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 140th consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. Overall, his streak is 141 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 742 *** 9. Brock Nelson 734 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 721… 

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 654 *** 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 233 *** 11. Brock Nelson 229 *** 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 213…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Anders Lee 172

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. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 442 ***  16. Anders Lee 405 *** 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 +70 *** 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. Roman Hamrlik 120 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 123…

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 79 *** 26. Scott Mayfield and Noah Dobson 78

Defense Points

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

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 163…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Thomas Hickey and Adam Pelech 117...20. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 2q. Radek Martinek 109 *** 22. Dave Langevin 109 ***23. Noah Dobson 106 *** 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. Semyon Varlamov 58 *** 11. Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Sorokin 57

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 got goals from six players and improved to 20-19-7-1 record with a 6- 3 win in Hartford on Friday night. Chris Terry had a goal and three assists while Ruslan Ishakov added three helpers. 

Andy Andreoff (on recall to the Isles) leads the team with 20 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (33) and points (48). William Dufour has 16 goals and is tied-6th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Ishakov is 2nd among AHL rookies with 25 assists.

The Baby Islanders host Springfield on Saturday night and then play at 3pm Sunday in Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). The remaining two meetings will be in Pittsburgh on Monday (February 20th) and on March 9th.

The Isles are 8-1-4 in their last 13 home games against the Pens, with the only loss coming on Boxing Day 2021 with the Islanders missing numerous players due to COVID.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18th  –ISLANDERS AT BOSTON 5:00pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 4:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

Why did the Isles play at 7:00 (and not 7:30) on Friday?  Because they will play at 5:00 in Boston and NHL rules require at least 22 hours between games. 

It is the final meeting of the regular season between the teams with the Bruins owning a shootout win in Boston and a 4-1 victory at UBS Arena so far this season.

Although the Isles took two of three in Boston in the 2021 playoffs, they are 0-3-2 in their last five regular season games in Boston.

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