The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 67

Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT)

Brock Nelson scored 2:13 into overtime to complete a comeback from a late-3rd pd two-goal deficit as the Isles completed a sweep of the season series with a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins before a crowd of 17,557 at PPG Paints Arena.   Hudson Fasching and Anders Lee scored in the final 5:29, with Lee's second goal of the night becoming the first tying goal the Isles have scored with a 6th attacker this season.

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves as he improved to 6-1-1 over his last eight decisions; Sorokin was also credited with his first career point on the Nelson overtime goal.

The Isles improve to 34-25-8 and head home to face Washington on Saturday before beginning a three-game California trip. The Isles retained the 1st Wild Card spot; they are two points ahead of Pittsburgh and six points ahead of Florida.  The Penguins have three games in hand and the Panthers have two.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Anders Lee (25) Bo Horvat (27), Kyle Palmieri (11) 05:23 NYI 1,PIT 0 PPG

Jake Guentzel (26) Marcus Pettersson (20), Sidney Crosby (49) 11:07 NYI 1,PIT 1 

Jason Zucker (22) Evgeni Malkin (44), Jeff Petry (20) 18:24 NYI 1,PIT 2

2nd Period

Josh Archibald (5) Brian Dumoulin (15), Jeff Petry (21) 10:49 NYI 1,PIT 3

3rd Period

Hudson Fasching (5) Casey Cizikas (13), Sebastian Aho (14) 14:31 NYI 2,PIT 3

Anders Lee (26) Noah Dobson (26), Brock Nelson (35) 18:45 NYI 3,PIT 3

OT

Brock Nelson (28) Ilya Sorokin (1) 02:13 NYI 4,PIT 3 

The Skinny    

The Isles are 11-3-3 in their last 17 games and 4-1-2 in their last seven road games…. The Isles have outscored the opposition 17-1 in their last ten third periods… The Isles' third period differential improves to +13; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games, -17 over the next 34 games but are +16 over the last ten games … Brock Nelson has points in 18 of the last 21 games… The Isles have won three straight games and are a season-high nine games over NHL-.500; it's the first time since the end of the 2021 Covid-shortened season (32-17-7) that the Isles are nine games over NHL-.500 … The Isles have won 16 games when trailing at some point – including each of the last three games against teams that chasing them…Matt Martin played in his 751st game for the Islanders; he is just one game behind Mike Bossy (752) for 7th place…Casey Cizikas played a career-high 21:03 and has five points in the last five games…Hudson Fasching has goals in consecutive games and 5 points in the last five games…Jeff Petry's 11 hits were the most by a Penguin since Tanner Glass had a club-record 13 in 2014 vs. Dallas…Only John Tavares (11) has more overtime goals than Brock Nelson (7); Nelson also has the winning goal in each of the Isles' last three OT wins against Pittsburgh…The Isles outscored Pittsburgh 8-0 in the 3rd period (and 9-0 in the 3rd period and OT) this season…Sidney Crosby had an assist; he is 41-91-132 in 82 career games against the Isles.

The Comeback Kids

• 16th win this season when trailing at some point (most since they had 18 in 2018-19).

• 5th win this season when trailing by multiple goals at some point.

• 9th win this season when trailing in 3rd period (Only Vegas-10 has more).

• 4th win this season when trailing by multiple goals in 3rd period (Tied LA for NHL lead).

First Time in a Long Time

• Ilya Sorokin is the first Islander to defeat Pittsburgh four times in one season since Rick DiPietro, also 4, in 2006-07.  Sorokin is the first Islander to win all four of his starts vs. Pittsburgh.

• Anders Lee is the first NHL player to score seven goals against Pittsburgh in a season since Alex Ovechkin in 2009-10.

• Anders Lee's tying goal was the latest for an Islander in a ROAD game since April 7, 2018, when Ryan Pulock knotted the season finale in Detroit with 30 seconds to play.

• The Isles improve to 112 games over (all-time) NHL-.500 for the first time since October 12, 1996.

First Times Ever

• Brock Nelson is the first player in NHL history to record three overtime goals against Pittsburgh, also tallying in back-to-back games in 2019.

• Jake Guentzel is the first player to score five career goals against Ilya Sorokin.

• Sorokin recorded his first career assist on the winning goal.

• This was the 50th third-period, multi-goal comeback win in the NHL this season, breaking the record of 49 set in  2009-10.

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,692

2. Matt Martin 3,661

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2022-23  34-25-8 for 76 points in 67 games

• 2021-22  31-27-9 for 71 points in 67 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-2-2

• Season: 35-101-136

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 35 goals, three more than they did last season and the most that they have scored since tallying 39 goals in 2017-18.

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 15 shutouts in 117 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.8% of his starts, which is the best in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 12.8%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise scored his 424th career goal, good for 9th among actives and tying Steve Shutt for 84th all-time. Brian Propp is next with 425.

Home and Road

The Isles are 34-25-8 overall; they are 20-11-3 at home and 14-14-5 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 32-22-10 overall; they are 17-9-5 at home and 15-13-5 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 20-13-5 against the East (13-5-1 vs. Metropolitan and 7-8-5 vs. Atlantic) and 14-12-3 against the West (6-7-3 vs. Central and 8-5-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 75 games at UBS Arena and recorded 53 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,522 

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,397

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 22-8-4 when scoring first and are 12-17-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles           7-6-13-2=28

Pittsburgh 13-11-10-2=38

The Isles are 17-10-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 17-15-5 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves; he is 23-18-6 on the season and 6-3-0 vs. Pittsburgh. 

Tristan Jarry made 24 saves; he is 19-7-6 on the season and 10-3-1 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (6:39); Pittsburgh was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 15-10-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-15-5 when they do not. The Isles are 14-12-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 20-13-6 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 28-6-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 6-19-5 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 15-6-8 in games decided by a single goal including 10-6 in regulation. They are 5-3 in games decided in overtime and are 0-5 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: Adam Pelech (24:25);  Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (27:06)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 23:17 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-2-1), Noah Dobson (4-12-2), Adam Pelech (7-2-0), Ryan Pulock (7-5-1), Scott Mayfield (7-1-3), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Bo Horvat (3-0-1), Tied (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Pittsburgh 22 (55%)

Bo Horvat won 16 of 26 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 12 of 21 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 35 (Scott Mayfield -7)

Pittsburgh 40 (Jeff Petry -11)

Fights 

There were no fights. Season total: 16 (Martin-6, Johnston-3, Lee-2, Wahlstrom-2, Cizikas, Romanov, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Three with 2)

Pittsburgh 26 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Pittsburgh 60

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Pittsburgh 50

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Three with +7

Pittsburgh: Kris Letang +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Pittsburgh 16

5-on-5: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 13

Scratches

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

Games Lost: 167

The Ironman

Zach Parise played in his 149th consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. Overall, his streak is 150 games, making it the 15th-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: 6 (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; Isles goal – Fasching vs BUF 3/7 -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 four times this season and have allowed the opposition to do so once.

For (4): 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

Trailed 3-1, Won 4-3 (OT) at PIT 3/9

Vs (1):  Led 4-2, Lost 6-5 vs VAN 2/9

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored four goals and allowed one goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime. 

For(4): 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)

Anders Lee @ PIT 3/9 (18:45; Isles won in OT)

Vs (1): Kappo Kaako @NYR  12/22 (17:13: GW)

Overtime Winners

For (5): 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)

Brock Nelson @ PIT 3/9 (2:13)

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

For (0): 

Vs (5):  David Pastrnak @ BOS 12/13

Evan Rodrigues @ COL 12/19

Jason Robertson Vs DAL 1/10

Tim Stutzle Vs OTT 2/14

Frederick Gaudreau @MIN 2/28

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,052…

6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Mike Bossy 752 *** 8. Matt Martin 751 *** 9. Brock Nelson 743 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 730…

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. John Tavares 669 *** 14. Anders Lee 663 *** 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 …

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Bob Bourne and Anders Lee 238 *** 10. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 11. Brock Nelson 233 *** 12. Derek King 211 *** 13. John Tonelli 206  *** 14 Billy Harris and Josh Bailey 184…

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 396…

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 217…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Anders Lee 174

Points

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

6.  Brent Sutter 610 *** 7. Josh Bailey 580  …

13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 450 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 412 *** 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 +73 *** 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 29

Defense Assists

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

8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 125…

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

23. Radek Martinek 85 *** 24. Noah Dobson 81*** 25. Adrian Aucoin and Scott Mayfield 80 

Defense Points

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

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 166…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Adam Pelech 119 *** 19. Thomas Hickey 117...20. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 21. Noah Dobson 110 *** 22.  Radek Martinek 109 *** 23. Dave Langevin 107 *** 24. Scott Lachance and Ken Morrow 105 *** 26. Scott Mayfield 104

Wins

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

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

Shutouts

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

4. Ilya Sorokin 15 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13 

On the Farm

Bridgeport opened a three-game series in Charlotte with a 3-2 win on Wednesday. Arnaud Durandeau, Grant Hutton and Andy Andreoff scored for Bridgeport while Chris Terry had a pair of assists.  40 saves from Cory Schneider preserved the win.  

Bridgeport is now 26-22-7-1 on the season and currently hold the last playoff spot in their division.  They are two points ahead of Hartford and only two points behind Lehigh Valley.

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is tied-8th in the AHL) with 24 goals, while Chris Terry continues to lead in assists (37) and points (54); his 54 points are tied-10th in the AHL with his 37 assists are tied-7th. William Dufour has 19 goals, which is tied-6th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov is 3rd  among AHL rookies with 30 assists and is tied for the rookie point lead with 44 points.

Bridgeport will also play on Friday and Saturday night in Charlotte.

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series, 4 games to 0 (and 8 points to 1).  It is the first time the Isles have ever swept the Penguins in a season series.

Anders Lee scored seven goals in the season series – the most by an Islander since Pat LaFontaine (9) in 1989-90.

The Isles outscored the Pens, 18-10, using third period rallies to win each of the last three games. 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, MARCH 11th –WASHINGTON AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

[MSG (Pre-game at 7:00 or following Knicks post-game), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles look to sweep the four games against teams chasing them for playoff spots as they host the Capitals for the second time this season.  Washington rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Isles 4-3 at UBS Arena on January 16th on an overtime goal by Dimitri Orlov (now with Boston)

The Isles have not yet been to DC, but will play in the District on March 29th and April 10th (in their final road game of the regular season). 

 

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