"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 82
Isles 4, Montreal 2
(With apologies to Brendan Burke) Game 82 to the Island!
Brock Nelson scored twice, including the eventual game-winner, and Hudson Fasching and Anders Lee also scored as the Islanders clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.
Fasching's goal, his second in two games, broke a 1-1 tie just 1:19 after Rem Pitlick tied the score; the Canadiens would not catch the Islanders again as the Isles qualified for the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five seasons by eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had made the playoffs in sixteen straight seasons.
The Isles finish the regular season with a 42-31-9 record (93 points) as they edge one point ahead of Florida for the two wild cards; the Panthers host Carolina in their season finale tomorrow and will finish ahead of the Islanders with a win of any type.
The Isles will open the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the road on either Monday or Tuesday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Brock Nelson (35) Kyle Palmieri (17), Adam Pelech (15) 10:26 MTL 0,NYI 1
Rem Pitlick (6) Jake Evans (16) 17:38 MTL 1,NYI 1
Hudson Fasching (10) Zach Parise (13), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (27) 18:57 MTL 1,NYI 2
2nd Period
Brock Nelson (36) Noah Dobson (35), Scott Mayfield (18) 10:20 MTL 1,NYI 3
Nick Suzuki (25) 16:38 MTL 2,NYI 3 SHG
3rd Period
Anders Lee (28) Sebastian Aho (18), Noah Dobson (36) 16:00 MTL 2,NYI 4 PPG
The Skinny
The Isles were 23-22-5 after a January 25th loss to Ottawa but went 19-9-4 in their last 32 games to make the playoffs… The Isles outscored the opposition 36-13 over the last 25 third periods … The Isles' third period differential improves to +22; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games, -17 over the next 34 games but went +23 the last 25 games… Brock Nelson ends the season with 241 goals, one ahead of Anders Lee for 8th place on the club's all-time goal list … Noah Dobson extended his assist streak to four games while Hudson Fasching extended his point streak to four games as well… The Isles scored on their final power play attempt of the season, after going 0-prior 18…Scott Mayfield had a career-high six shots on goal…The Isles killed the only Canadien power play; they killed 91 of 102 at home this season for an NHL-best 89.2% (best in a full season)…Ilya Sorokin played in his 136th Islander game, breaking a tie with Semyon Varlamov and tying Roland Melanson for 9th place in club history…The Isles finished 11 games over NHL-.500, matching the season high…
First Time in a Long Time
The Isles won their final four home games for the first time since 1981-82 and finished with 53 points on home ice (most since 2015-16, when they had 55).
The Wild Card Race
1. Isles 93 points (36 regulation wins, 41 ROWs, 42 Ws) in 82 games
2. Florida 92 points (36 RWs/40 ROWs/42 Ws) in 81 games (Thursday vs Carolina)
Maximum Points/RWs
• Florida 94/37
• Isles 93/36
The Isles have clinched a wild card berth. If Carolina beats Florida on Thursday, the Isles will be the top wild card and face Carolina. If Florida wins, the Isles will be the second wild card and face Boston.
Isles Team Leaders
Goals: Nelson 36, Lee 28, Parise 21 (Horvat had 38 combined)
Assists: Nelson 39, Barzal 37, Dobson 36
Points: Nelson 75, Barzal 51, Lee 50 (Horvat had 70 combined)
• Nelson led the Isles in goals for the fourth straight season, after Lee did so in the prior three seasons.
• Nelson led the team in assists after Barzal had led four times in the prior five seasons.
• Nelson led the team in points after sharing the title with Barzal last season. Barzal had led or shared the team lead in five straight seasons, matching Mike Bossy's club record.
• Dobson led the defense with 13-36-49 totals, just behind last season's 13-38-51.
Other Team Leaders
Games: Parise, Pulock, Lee, Mayfield, and Nelson 82
+/-: Pelech +15, Romanov, Palmieri, and Nelson +13
PIM: Mayfield 83, Martin 63, Cizikas 54
PP Goals: Nelson and Lee 6, Pageau/Dobson 5
PP Points: Dobson and Barzal 19, Nelson 17
SH Goals: Pageau 3, Parise 2, Horvat 1
SH Points: Pageau 4, Parise 3, Cizikas 2
OT Goals: 5 with 1
GW Goals: Nelson 8, Barzal 5, Lee 4
Shots: Nelson 222, Lee 214, Dobson 206
Shoot %:(minimum 40 games): Fasching 16.4%, Nelson 16.2%, Holmstrom 15.4%
Ice Time: Pelech 21:39, Mayfield 21:02, Pulock 20:54
Face-off Win %: Horvat 58.0%, Pageau 57.3%, Cizikas 53.4%
Shootout Goals: Palmieri 2, Wahlstrom 1, Beauvillier 1
Hits: Martin 295, Romanov 198, Clutterbuck 194
Blocks: Mayfield 168, Romanov 129, Pulock 128
Home is Where The Sorokin Is
Ilya Sorokin went 20-10-3 at UBS Arena, with a 1.91 GAA and a 93.6% save percentage. He is only the third goalie in Islander history to win at least 20 games at home in a season (Halak 22 in 2014-15, Smith 20 in 1981-82). Among all active goalies, Sorokin has the best career home marks in both GAA (2.01) and save percentage (93.1%).
Career Years (Rookies and Players with Limited Experience Excluded)
• Sorokin – career highs in games (62) and wins (31)
• Pelech - 6 goals
• Pulock – 82 games for 2nd time
• Dobson - 13 goals (tied); +4 rating.
• Parise - 82 games for 5th time in career and 2nd consecutive season
• Horvat - 38 goals, 70 points, 4 SH goals, 5 GW goals
• Clutterbuck - +9 rating
• Martin - 12 assists, 19 points (Tied), played 81 games for first time as Isle.
• Engvall -17 goals
• Mayfield - 6-18-24 (all highs); 82 GP for 1st time
• Aho- 5-18-23 (all highs); 71 GP
• Lee -82 games for 3rd time
• Romanov- 20 assists, 22 points
• Nelson- 82 games for 4th time; 39 assists and 75 points
• Pageau- 27 assists; 5 PP goals – tied.
• Cizikas- 81 GP
The Goals (Season)
Isles 56-91-91-5=242 (3.0/game)
Opponents 57-87-69-4=217 (2.6/game)
The Shots (season)
Isles 780-896-818-30=2524 (30.8/game)
Opponents 813-927-767-37=2544 (31.0/game)
The Finales
The Isles are 5-2-4 in their last eleven season finales and are 26-15-9 all-time in their final game of the year.
Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,756
2. Matt Martin 3,703
Martin had three hits, giving him 295 for the season as he fell five hits shy of his sixth 300 hit season (5th for the Isles). Martin (7) and Clutterbuck (3) have combined for the 10-biggest hits seasons in Isles history in the Real-Time era, which began in 2005-06.
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2022-23 42-31-9 for 93 points in 82 games
• 2021-22 37-35-10 for 84 points in 82 games.
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-5-5
• Season: 41-132-173
• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160
The Islander defense have scored 41 goals, which is the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04. The 173 points are their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.
Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 16 shutouts in 130 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.4% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
• Ilya Sorokin 12.3%
• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
• Ken Dryden 11.8%
• Dominik Hasek 11.3%
Most Wins by an Islander Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 38 (2014-15)
2. Billy Smith 32 (1981-82)
Chris Osgood 32 (2001-02)
Rick DiPietro 32 (2006-07)
5. Ilya Sorokin 31 (2022-23)
Zach Attack
Zach Parise has scored 429 career goals, good for ninth among actives. He has tied Bill Guerin for 81st place; Joe Thornton and Alex Kovalev are next with 430 goals.
Active NHLers: 8th-11th in goals
8. Jeff Carter 431
9. Zach Parise 429
10. Patrice Bergeron 427
John Tavares 427
Home and Road
The Isles are 42-31-9 overall; they are 25-13-3 at home and 17-18-6 on the road.
Montreal is 31-44-6 overall; they are 17-20-3 at home and 14-24-3 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 26-18-6 against the East (16-8-2 vs. Metropolitan and 10-10-4 vs. Atlantic) and 16-13-3 against the West (6-7-3 vs. Central and 10-6-0 vs. Pacific).
Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 82 games at UBS Arena and recorded 60 sellouts of 17,255.
Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,531
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,405
3. Glen Sather 1,319
First Things First
The Isles are 27-11-5 when scoring first and are 15-20-3 when allowing the opening goal; they are 0-0-1 when a shootout produces the game's only goal.
The Shots
Isles 10-18-7=35
Montreal 8-6-5=19
The Isles are 24-12-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 18-19-5 when they are out-shot.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves; he is 31-22-7 on the season and 4-0-1 vs. Montreal.
Sam Montembault made 31 saves; he is 16-18-3 on the season and 1-2-2 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (4:22); Montreal was 0-1 on the power play (1:37).
The Isles are 17-10-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 25-21-5 when they do not. The Isles are 15-13-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 27-17-6 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 35-6-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-25-5 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 15-6-9 in games decided by a single goal including 9-6 in regulation. They are 5-4 in games decided in overtime and are 1-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles were 7-7-1 in the front end and 8-5-2 in the back end this season.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Scott Mayfield (26:11); Montreal: Mike Matheson (28:41)
Anders Lee led Isles forwards with 18:37 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-2-1), Noah Dobson (4-12-2), Adam Pelech (12-4-0), Ryan Pulock (8-6-1), Scott Mayfield (8-2-4), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1-0), Sebastian Aho (0-1-0), Bo Horvat (4-2-1), Tied (0-1-0).
Face-offs
Isles 38, Montreal 18 (68%)
Brock Nelson won 19 of 27 for the Isles; No Canadien who took multiple draws won more than he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 17 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)
Montreal 19 (Michael Pezzetta -6)
Fights
None. Season total: 17 (Martin-7, Johnston-3, Lee-2, Wahlstrom-2, Cizikas, Romanov, Mayfield)
Blocked Shots
Isles 18 (Noah Dobson -6)
Montreal 19 (Mike Matheson -4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 72, Montreal 48
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 60, Montreal 43
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Scott Mayfield +30
Montreal: Frederic Allard +7
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 22, Montreal 9
5-on-5: Isles 16, Montreal 7
Scratches
Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Mathew Barzal-INJ), Parker Wotherspoon, Ross Johnston, (Alexander Romanov- INJ), Simon Holmstrom
Games Lost: 212
The Ironmen
Zach Parise played in his 164th consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. Overall, his streak is 165 games, making it the 15th-longest active streak in the NHL. Anders Lee extended his streak to 112 games. (Scott Mayfield, Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other Islanders to appear in every game this season.)
Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 0 failures – STL goalie interference 11/3, CBJ goalie interference 3/24
Opponents: 2 successful, 0 failures – PIT offside 12/27, VAN goalie interference 2/9
League reviews: 8 (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; NJD no goal 3/27-stood.; Isles goal-Parise vs PHI 4/8-overturned.
Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (six 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)
• 0:49 4/7 vs TBL (Nelson and Palmieri)
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 have 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. (4): Dimitry Orlov Vs WAS 1/16 (4:27)
Dylan Cozens @ BUF 1/19 (0:12)
Mike Matheson @ MTL 2/11 (4:38)
Boone Jenner @ CBJ 3/24 (0:40
Shootout Winners
For (1): Kyle Palmieri @ WAS 3/29
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 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 766 *** 8.Brock Nelson 758 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 745…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 678 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Derek King 638 *** 16. Cal Clutterbuck 636
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 241 *** 9. Anders Lee 240 *** 10. Bob Bourne 238 *** 11. Bobby Nystrom 235 *** 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 221…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 176
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 462 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 *** 16. Anders Lee 416 *** 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. Adam Pelech +77 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard 31***13. Noah Dobson 30
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 129…
15. Bryan Berard 100 *** 16. Adam Pelech 99 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 20. Noah Dobson 91 *** 21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 172…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Adam Pelech 124 *** 19. Noah Dobson 121 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Roland Melanson and Ilya Sorokin 136 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 135
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 70 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 59
Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro and Ilya Sorokin 16 ***
5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13
On the Farm
Bridgeport improved to 33-29-7-1 on the season with a 6-4 win over Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. Chris Terry had a hat trick and Andy Andreoff added a pair of goals.
Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is now tied for the AHL lead) with 36 goals, while Chris Terry continues to lead in assists (46) and points (72); his 72 points are 5th in the AHL with his 46 assists are also 5th. William Dufour has 21 goals, which is 12th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov is 2nd among AHL rookies with 34 assists and is 3rd among all rookies with 51 points.
Bridgeport hosts Hershey on Friday and visit Providence on Saturday to close their season.
Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 2).
It is the second straight season that the Isles have gone 2-0-1 against Montreal; they are 2-0-1 at home and 2-0-1 against the Canadiens in that stretch.
UP NEXT
THE PLAYOFFS
The Isles' first round playoff opponent will be determined on Thursday. All games in the first round of the playoffs will air on both MSG Networks and a national cable network (TNT/TBS/ESPN/ESPN2). (If an Islander game is selected for ABC, that game will air only on ABC.)
AND FINALLY…
The 50th Islander regular season is in the record books. This golden anniversary team now begins a chase for a Silver Cup. The Skinny streak stands at 921 consecutive regular season/playoff games; look for edition 922 after Game 1 of the playoffs.
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
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