The Skinny: Carolina 2, Isles 1. (Carolina leads series 1-0)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 1

Carolina 2, Isles 1.   

Carolina Leads Series 1-0

Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen scored power play goals in the first 22:27 and that was all the Carolina Hurricanes needed to defeat the Islanders 2-1 in Game 1 of their series before a sellout crowd of 18,680 at PNC Arena.  

Ryan Pulock got the Islanders within one goal 24 seconds after Noesen scored but the Isles could not get even.

Game 2 of this series will be in Raleigh on Wednesday before UBS Arena hosts the first playoff game in the building's history on Friday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Sebastian Aho (1) Brent Burns (1), Martin Necas (1) 03:47  NYI 0,CAR 1 PPG

2nd Period

Stefan Noesen (1) Brent Burns (2), Martin Necas (2) 02:27  NYI 0,CAR 2 PPG

Ryan Pulock (1) 02:51 NYI 1,CAR 2

3rd Period

No Goals

The Series 

Game 1: Carolina 2, ISLES 1

Game 2: Wednesday at Carolina 7:00

Game 3: Friday at UBS Arena 7:00

Game 4: Sunday at UBS Arena 1:00

Game 5: (if needed) Tuesday, April 25 at Carolina

Game 6: (if needed) Friday, April 28 at UBS Arena

Game 7: (if needed) Sunday, April 30 at Carolina

The Skinny    

Ryan Pulock scored for the 8th time in 56 playoff games; he scores once every 8 games in playoffs vs once every 10 games in the regular season… Pulock also had nine hits; it was the most hits he has ever had in an NHL game, regular season or playoffs… Martin Necas matched a career playoff high with two assists and two points…Sebastian Aho tied Eric Staal for the all-time lead in Hurricanes playoff goals (19), breaking a tie with his coach (Rod Brind'Amour -18)…The Isles have lost four straight road playoff games since winning game 1 in Tampa Bay in 2021…Bo Horvat took 28 faceoffs in his Islander playoff debut (most in a  playoff game ending in regulation since Michael Peca (4-10-2004 at Tampa Bay)…Mathew Barzal, playing his first game in nearly two months, skated 21:12.

Pulock the Playoff Scorer

Ryan Pulock moved into 5th place among Islander defensemen in career playoff goals:

1. Denis Potvin 56 

2. Ken Morrow 11

3. Mike McEwen 9 

        Tomas Jonsson 9

5. Ryan Pulock 8

The four players ahead of him share 14 Stanley Cup rings with the Islanders.

Pulock the Playoff Hitter

In regular season play, Ryan Pulock averages 1.6 hits (703 hits in 428 games).  In the playoffs, Pulock has 159 hits in 56 games (2.8 per game), and he holds the Isles career record (real-time era) for playoff hits.

Most Hits by an Isles Defenseman (Playoffs, since 2007)

• Johnny Boychuk  10  4/23/2015 @ WSH

• Ryan Pulock 9 4/17/2023 @ CAR

• Ryan Pulock 8 5/16/2021 @ PIT

• Ryan Pulock 8 5/20/2021 vs PIT

Going Wild

Wild Card teams are 10-18 in 28 previous series against division champions. This is the second time that the Isles have qualified as a Wild Card; they defeated Florida in six games in 2016 for their first playoff series win in 23 years. (The Wild Card has existed since 2014, but it was not used in 2020 or 2021).

The Goals (Series)

Isles      0-1-0=1

Carolina 1-1-0=2

The Shots (Series)

Isles      10-7-8=25

Carolina 14-15-8=37

Led/Tied/Trailed

Game 1: Led: 0:00, Tied: 4:11, Trailed: 55:49

Series:   Led: 0:00, Tied: 4:11, Trailed: 55:49

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles fall to 172-142 in 314 all-time playoff games. They are 95-53 at home (88-44 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 76-89 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 0-0 at home and 0-1 on the road.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  1-0-1

• Playoffs 1-0-1

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 82 regular season games at UBS Arena and recorded 60 sellouts of 17,255. 

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 40-22 (.645) all-time in overtime, including 20-13 at home. The Isles went 4-1 in overtime in 2021; they have gone 11-9 in 20 overtime games since 2015. The Isles are the best overtime team in Stanley Cup history: 

• Isles 40-22 .645

• Anaheim 24-15 .615

• Carolina 27-17 .614

• Tampa Bay 23-16 .590

• Colorado 46-33  .582

The Isles are also the best team on the road in Stanley Cup history:

• Isles 20-9 .690

• Tampa Bay 14-7 .667

• Anaheim 15-8 .652

• Colorado 26-14 .650

• Carolina 13-9 .591

The Isles' winning percentage is tied-3rd at home in overtime games (teams playing at least 5 home games)

• Carolina 14-8 .636

• Chicago 30-18-1 .612

• Isles 20-13 .606

• Buffalo 20-13 .606

• Montreal 46-29-1 .605

Overtime vs. Carolina

The Isles are 0-1 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Carolina:

04/26/19 Vs Jordan Staal L (0-1) 04:04  (Brooklyn*)

*It was the last overtime game and penultimate playoff game at Barclays Center.

Sweet Lou

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

1. Glen Sather 187-137

2. Lou Lamoriello 169-146

Sather (324) is also the only GM with more playoff games than Lamoriello (315).

First Things First

The Isles are 0-0 when scoring first and are 0-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles       10-7-8=25

Carolina  14-15-8=37

Shots by Game

Game 1:  Isles 25, Carolina 37

Series:    Isles 25, Carolina 37

The Isles are 0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0 when the shots are even and 0-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves; he is 0-1 this year and 4-2 in his playoff career.   

Antti Raanta made 24 saves; he is 1-0 this year and 7-6 in his playoff career.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (8:00); Carolina was 2-4 on the power play (4:52).

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 0-4 (8:00, 4 shots), Carolina 2-4 (4:52, 5 shots)

• Series: Isles 0-4 (8:00, 4 shots), Carolina 2-4 (4:52, 5 shots)

The Isles are 0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1 when they do not. The Isles are 0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 0-0 when they score at least three goals and are 0-1 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-1 in games decided by a single goal (0-1 in regulation and 0-0 in overtime). The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:45);  Carolina: Jaccob Slavin (23:25)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 21:54 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Noah Dobson (0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 35, Carolina 37 (48%)

Bo Horvat won 16 of 28 for the Isles; Jesperi Kotkaniemi won 7 of 9 for Carolina. 

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 35, Carolina 37 (48%)

• Series  : Isles 35, Carolina 37 (48%)

Hit Count

Isles 43 (Ryan Pulock -9)

Carolina 39 (Stefan Noesen -6)

Hits by Game

• Game 1: Isles 43, Carolina 39

• Series   : Isles 43, Carolina 39

Fights 

None. Playoff total: 0

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Scott Mayfield  -4)

Carolina 16 (Jaccob Slavin -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Carolina 73

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Carolina 62

Corsi Game by Game:

Game 1: (All) Isles 57, Carolina 73; (5-on-5) Isles 42, Carolina 62

Series: (All) Isles 57, Carolina 73; (5-on-5) Isles 42, Carolina 62

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Samuel Bolduc and Bo Horvat +2

Carolina: Two with +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Carolina 13

5-on-5: Isles 10, Carolina 11

High-Danger Game by Game:

Game 1: (All) Isles 16, Carolina 13; (5-on-5) Isles 10, Carolina 11

Series: (All) Isles 16, Carolina 13; (5-on-5) Isles 10, Carolina 11

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Alexander Romanov- INJ), Parker Wotherspoon, Ross Johnston, Simon Holmstrom, Jakub Skarek

Playoff Games Lost: 2

The Ironman (Playoffs)

Matt Martin played in his 74th consecutive Islander playoff game; he has played in every Islander playoff game since 2013.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures

League reviews: 0  

Quickies

The Isles have not scored two goals in under a minute during this postseason.   They did so seven times in the regular season. 

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

There has not been a multi-goal third period comeback in this year's playoffs.

The Isles came from two goals behind after two periods to win four times and allowed the opposition to do so once in the regular season.

 

Last Minute Heroes:

There has not been a tying or winning goal in the final three minutes of the third period in the playoffs,

In the regular season, the Isles 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. 

Overtime Winners

Playoffs:  For 0, Vs. 0

Regular Season: For 5, Vs. 4

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games: 

Matt Martin 74

Josh Bailey 71

Casey Cizikas 70

Brock Nelson 68

Cal Clutterbuck 66

Ryan Pulock 56

Scott Mayfield 52

Consecutive Games:

Matt Martin 74  (every game since start of 2013 playoffs)

Brock Nelson 63

Ryan Pulock 52

Mathew Barzal 50

Scott Mayfield 50

Goals:

Brock Nelson 23

Josh Bailey 16

Mathew Barzal 13

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 10

Anders Lee 8

Ryan Pulock 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Matt Martin 7

Casey Cizikas 5

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 25

Brock Nelson 18

Ryan Pulock 13

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 13

Adam Pelech 10

Scott Mayfield 10

Casey Cizikas 10

Points:

Josh Bailey 50

Brock Nelson 41

Mathew Barzal 38

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 24

Ryan Pulock 21

Cal Clutterbuck 17

Anders Lee 16

Casey Cizikas 15

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 109

Cal Clutterbuck 70

Scott Mayfield 45

Casey Cizikas 44

Mathew Barzal 37

Anders Lee 30

+/-

Scott Mayfield +22

Jean-Gabriel Pageau +19

Kyle Palmieri +6

Adam Pelech +6

Cal Clutterbuck +5

Mathew Barzal +4

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 4

Ryan Pulock 3

Josh Bailey 3

Anders Lee 3

Brock Nelson 3 

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

SH Goals

Josh Bailey 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 7

Ryan Pulock 3

Josh Bailey 3

Mathew Barzal 2

Scott Mayfield 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Matt Martin 1

OT Goals 

Josh Bailey 2

Mathew Barzal 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Ilya Sorokin 4-2 2.69 GAA, .925 save percentage.

Semyon Varlamov 18-14  2.30 GAA, .922 save percentage.

(Varlamov's 18 wins is second in club history to Billy Smith's 88. Among goalies who have played at least ten post-season games, Varlamov has the best goals against average and best save percentage in club history.)

Series Stats

Carolina leads the series, 1 game to 0.  

The Isles are 0-5 all-time in playoff games against Carolina.

The Isles are 8-16 in best-of-7 playoff series when they drop Game 1; they had lost the last eight series that they trailed 0-1 before beating Boston in six games in 2021.

UP NEXT

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19th  -  ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA 7:00pm

[MSG & MSGSN (Pre-game at 6:30), ESPN 2, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles will look to get even in Game 2. The Isles are 11-13 in game 2s of best-of-7's after losing game 1.  The last time they faced this situation was in 2021 vs. Boston; Casey Cizikas scored in overtime to even the series.

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