The Skinny: Vancouver 6, Isles 5

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 55

Vancouver 6, Isles 5

Elias Pettersson scored a pair of goals 3:50 apart in the third period but it was Anthony Beauvillier's late power play goal that would eventually be the winner as the Vancouver Canucks rallied from 1-0 and 4-2 deficits for a 6-5 win over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat continued make things happen in their third game together; Barzal had a goal and two assists while Horvat had one of each as the Isles duo each went +3 on the game.  Noah Dobson scored a last-minute goal for the Isles; it was only their second tally in their last 16 third periods and his first goal in 20 games.  Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson also scored for the Isles. 

The Isles, who saw their win streak end at four games, fall to 27-23-5 and remain tied with Pittsburgh for the 2nd Wild Card spot; however, the Penguins have played five fewer games. The Islanders head to Montreal for a Saturday matinee against the Canadiens. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (8) Josh Bailey (15), Adam Pelech (11) 11:05 VAN 0,NYI 1

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2) Elias Pettersson (39) 11:44 VAN 1,NYI 1

Brock Boeser (10) J.T. Miller (29), Riley Stillman (5) 12:30 VAN 2,NYI 1 

Brock Nelson (20) 14:34 VAN 2,NYI 2

2nd Period

Mathew Barzal (14) Noah Dobson (19), Anders Lee (17) 02:26 VAN 2,NYI 3 PP

Bo Horvat (33) Mathew Barzal (33), Ryan Pulock (15) 15:13 VAN 2,NYI 4

Nils Aman (2) Phillip Di Giuseppe (1), Dakota Joshua (5) 16:04 VAN 3,NYI 4

3rd Period

Elias Pettersson (23) Quinn Hughes (43), J.T. Miller (30) 04:38 VAN 4,NYI 4 PPG

Elias Pettersson (24) Brock Boeser (23), Ethan Bear (8) 08:28 VAN 5,NYI 4

Anthony Beauvillier (10) Brock Boeser (24), Quinn Hughes (44) 16:58 VAN 6,NYI 4 PPG

Noah Dobson (11) Mathew Barzal (34), Bo Horvat (24) 19:11 VAN 6,NYI 5

The Skinny    

Brock Nelson extended his point streak to a career-high nine games; it is the longest point streak by an Islander since Mathew Barzal also had a 9-game streak in December 2021-January 2022…It is the 7th time in his career that Nelson has scored 20 goals… With a post-game scoring change, the Isles went 2-3 on the power play and are 3-7 on the power play since the All-Star Break.  They are 3-32 in their last thirteen games and are 6-71 in the last 26 games …The Isles allowed two power play goals after killing 63-69 (91.3%) at home on the season prior to tonight ...The Isles scored the first goal for the eleventh time in the last thirteen games … The Isles have scored 30 goals in the last fourteen games (5-6-3); 16 of those goals have been scored in the first period…The Isles have been outscored 15-2 in their last sixteen third periods… The Isles' third period differential is now 0; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games but are -16 over the last 32 games… Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals for only the second time in his career (4-24-2022 vs. Washington)…Adam Pelech's assist gave him identical 22-95-117 totals to former teammate Thomas Hickey…The 11 combined goals match the most in UBS Arena history (7-4 loss to St. Louis on December 6th…Mathew Barzal has a point in every game he has played against Vancouver; he is 3-12-15 in nine meetings…The Isles fall to 19-3-2 when leading after two periods; the other losses were to the Rangers (December 22) and Wild (January 12th)…The Isles have scored nine goals in the last two games; it is the first time since December 23-27, 2022 that they have scored four goals in consecutive games…With his two assists in the third period, Quinn Hughes is now second among NHL defensemen in helpers…The loss ended a five-game winning streak on Jon Ledecky's birthday.

First Time in a Long Time

The Isles scored 5 goals and lost for the first time since a 6-5 shootout loss to Anaheim on December 21, 2019, at the Coliseum.  The last time the Isles scored 5 goals and lost in regulation was on March 22, 2018, when the lost 7-6 to Tampa Bay in Brooklyn.

The Shutout Streak Ends

Ilya Sorokin stopped 67 consecutive shots in his 144:00 shutout streak.  It is the 5th-longest in the NHL season (Antti Raanta - 163:54), and the second-longest of his career (146:54 last season). This is the sixth time this season Sorokin has had a shutout streak of at least 90 minutes, four time he has gone at least 100 minutes and the second time he has gone at least 120 minutes.   Sorokin joined Rick DiPietro as the only goalies in club history with three streaks of at least 140:00.

Chasing 50

Bo Horvat has 33 goals in 52 games this season. No Islander has had at least 33 goals through the team's 55th game since Pierre Turgeon had 34 in 1992-93.  (If Horvat plays every game the remainder of the season he would appear in 79 games.)

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  27-23-5 for 59 points in 55 games

• 2021-22  23-24-8 for 54 points in 55 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  1-3-4

• Season: 29-79-108

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 29 goals; they didn't score their 29th goal last season until game 79 April 24th.   

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 15 shutouts in 111 career starts.  He has recorded a shutout in 13.6% of his starts, which is the best in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 13.5%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise has 422 career goals, good for 9th among actives, and tied with Owen Nolan for 85th place; Steve Shutt is 84th with 424 goals.

Home and Road

The Isles are 27-23-5 overall; they are 16-10-2 at home and 11-13-3 on the road.

Vancouver is 21-27-4 overall; they are 10-13-1 at home and 11-14-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 15-12-3 against the East (10-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 5-7-2 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 69 games at UBS Arena and recorded 48 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 1,391

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 19-8-2 when scoring first and are 8-15-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles         7-11-11=29

Vancouver 8-16-10=34

The Isles are 14-9-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 12-44 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves; he is 17-17-4 on the season and 2-1-0 vs Vancouver. 

Colin Delia made 24 saves; he is 7-3-1 on the season and 1-0-1 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 on the power play (5:16), scoring on a 6-on-4 for the first time this season; Vancouver was 2-4 on the power play (6:06).

The Isles are 12-9-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-14-4 when they do not. The Isles are 11-11-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 16-12-4 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 22-6-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-17-3 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 10-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 6-5 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 17th vs Pittsburgh and on February 18th in Boston. The Isles are 6-5-0 in the front end and 7-3-1 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:02);  Vancouver: Tyler Myers (25:03)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 21:13 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 (5-5-0), Scott Mayfield (7-1-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Tied (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 26, Vancouver 23 (53%)

Bo Horvat won 10 of 18 for the Isles; JT Miller won 10 of 19 for Vancouver. 

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Matt Martin -6)

Vancouver 23 (Dakota Joshua -4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 9 (Zach Parise -4)

Vancouver 15 (JT Miller -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Vancouver 56

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 39, Vancouver 44

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech +5

Vancouver:  Two with +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 17, Vancouver 20

5-on-5: Isles 14, Vancouver 14

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Cal Clutterbuck – IR), Ross Johnston, Parker Wotherspoon, Sebastian Aho

Games Lost: 119

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 137th 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: 2 successful, 0 failures – PIT offside 12/27, VAN goalie interference 2/9

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 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)

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 1,044…

7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 739 *** 9. Brock Nelson 731 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 718… 

13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 651 *** 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 225 *** 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 393…

15. Billy Harris 259 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 254 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 211…

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 575  …

14. Billy Harris 443 *** 15. Brock Nelson 436 ***  16. Anders Lee 401 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 359

+/-

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. 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.  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 122…

18.Adam Pelech,  Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95

Defense Points

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

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 162…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Thomas Hickey and Adam Pelech 117...

23. Scott Lachance and Ken Morrow 105 *** 25. Noah Dobson 102 *** 26. Scott Mayfield 100

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 57 *** 12. Ilya Sorokin 56

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 has spent the AHL-Star Break with a 19-18-7-1 record.  They are one point behind Hartford for the final playoff spot and are even in games with the Wolf Pack.

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is tied-8th in the AHL) with 20 goals, while Chis Terry continues to lead in assists (30) and points (44). William Dufour has 15 goals and is tied-4th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Ishakov is tied-2nd among AHL rookies with 22 assists.

The Baby Islanders have only seven games remaining in February; they visit Lehigh Valley Saturday in their only game until February 17th.

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).   

Overall, the Isles are 8-2-4 in their last fourteen meetings with Vancouver, but they have lost both meetings with the Canucks that have been played at UBS Arena. 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11th  – ISLANDERS AT MONTREAL 12:30pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 12:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Islanders head to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Saturday afternoon. 

It's the middle of three meetings on the season; the Isles earned a 2-1 win on UBS Arena ice on January 14th.  The teams will meet on April 12th at UBS to conclude the 82-game schedule.

The Isles swept a pair of games in Montreal last season; the Isles have never won three consecutive games in Montreal.

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