The Skinny: Tampa Bay 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 77

Tampa Bay 5, Isles 0

The Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from five different players and Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his third regular season shutout against the Islanders, earning a 5-0 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,092 at AMALIE Arena.  The victory clinched a playoff spot for Tampa for the 6th consecutive season.

It was the first time since Ilya Sorokin's NHL debut (1/16/2021) that the Islanders were shut-out by a margin of at least five goals.

The Isles fall to 39-29-9 and play the back-end of this back-to-back in Carolina on Sunday.  The Isles remain in the first Wild Card; however, they are now two points ahead of Florida and three points ahead of Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh has six games to play, Florida has five games left and the Isles also have five.  Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now 9 (over both Buffalo and Florida). 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Mikhail Sergachev (9) Ross Colton (14), Darren Raddysh (1) 17:53 NYI 0,TBL 1

2nd Period

Tanner Jeannot (6) Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (9), Ian Cole (14) 03:42 NYI 0,TBL 2

Nikita Kucherov (29) Brayden Point (40), Mikhail Sergachev (50) 09:57 NYI 0,TBL 3

Steven Stamkos (33) Darren Raddysh (2), Brayden Point (41) 11:45 NYI 0,TBL 4

3rd Period  

Brayden Point (48) Nikita Kucherov (77), Alex Killorn (35) 13:26 NYI 0,TBL 5 PPG

The Skinny    

The Isles are 16-7-4 in their last 27 games and 6-3-4 in their last thirteen road games; the Isles are 17-16-6 on the road…. The Isles have outscored the opposition 30-10 over the last 20 third periods … The Isles' third period differential falls to +19; the Isles were +16 in the third period through 23 games, -17 over the next 34 games but are +20 the last 20 games … Brock Nelson played in his 753rd career game, passing Mike Bossy for 8th place in game played …Ilya Sorokin lost only once in March (8-1-1, losing in Los Angeles on March 14th) ….Alex Killorn played in his 800th game….It was the 325th consecutive home sellout for Tampa…Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his 32nd career shutout, including three against the Isles (he also has two playoff shutouts vs. New York)…It was the sixth time that the Isles have been shutout (most since 2013-14, also six)… Darren Raddysh recorded his first two assists in his NHL career, after going pointless in 15 games…Mikhail Sergachev recorded the third 50-assist season for a Lightning defensemen (Viktor Hedman has the other two)…Ilya Sorokin did not finish a start for the first time this season; the last time he was removed other than for injury was on November 16, 2021 in Florida.

 

The Wild Card Race

1. Isles 87 points (33 regulation wins) in 77 games (Sunday at Carolina)

2. Florida 85 points (33 RWs) in 77 games (Tuesday vs. Buffalo)

3. Pittsburgh 84 points (28 RWs) in 76 games (Sunday vs. Philadelphia)

4. Buffalo 81 points (28 RWs) in 75 games (Tuesday at Florida)

5. Ottawa 79 points (29 RWs) in 76 games (Sunday at Columbus, Tuesday at Carolina)

6. Washington 77 points (26 RWs) in 76 games (Sunday vs Rangers)

Isn't it Magic?

Pittsburgh can reach 96 points if they win their last six games while Florida can reach 95 if they win their final five games and Buffalo can do so if they win their final seven.  That makes the Isles' Magic number 9 over Florida and Buffalo and 10 over Pittsburgh.  

Islander clinching numbers vs. other East Conference teams:  DET (2), WAS (2), OTT (5)

The Isles have clinched at least 13th place in the East, as CBJ, MTL and PHI cannot catch the Isles.  With one more win, they will clinch at least 11th in the East.  They will clinch a playoff spot by guaranteeing a finish above eight other Eastern Conference teams, and they will clinch the top wild card if they guarantee themselves a finish above nine other teams.

One at a Time (courtesy NHL)

Forwards with the most career regular-season goals and no multi-goal games, NHL history:

54 – Mike Sullivan

53 – Chris Thorburn

48 – Peter Marsh

47 – Pierre Engvall

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,738

2. Matt Martin 3,689

Martin had four hits in this game, giving him 281 for the season.  He needs 19 to record 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  39-29-9 for 87 points in 77 games

• 2021-22  35-32-10 for 80 points in 77 games; finished 37-35-10 for 84 points.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-0-0

• Season: 37-119-156

• Last Season (Final) 32-128-160

The Islander defense have scored 37 goals, which is the most that they have scored since tallying 39 goals in 2017-18.  The 160 points that they recorded last season was their most since 2017-18 (171).

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 15 shutouts in 125 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.0% of his starts, which is the second-highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ilya Sorokin 12.0%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Zach Attack 

Zach Parise has scored 429 career goals, good for ninth among actives. He has tied Bill Guerin for 81st place; Jeff Carter, Joe Thornton and Alex Kovalev are next with 430 goals. 

Active NHLers:  8th-11th in goals

8. Jeff Carter 430

9. Zach Parise 429

10. Patrice Bergeron 427

11. John Tavares 423

Home and Road

The Isles are 39-29-9 overall; they are 22-13-3 at home and 17-16-6 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 45-26-6 overall; they are 27-7-5 at home and 18-19-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 23-16-6 against the East (15-6-2 vs. Metropolitan and 8-10-4 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 79 games at UBS Arena and recorded 57 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

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

1. David Poile 1,529

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,402

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 24-10-5 when scoring first and are 15-19-3 when allowing the opening goal; they are 0-0-1 when a shootout produces the game's only goal.  

The club record for wins after allowing the first goal is 18, set in 2014-15. The 2014-15 season is one of only three times in club history that the Isles have had at least a .500 record when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles       10-20-8=38

Tampa Bay 14-12-6=32

The Isles are 22-11-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 17-18-5 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves before being replaced after Tampa Bay's 4th goal; he is 28-20-7 on the season and 0-4-0 vs. Tampa Bay.  Semyon Varlamov made ten saves in relief.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 38 saves; he is 34-20-4 on the season and 11-4-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:09); Tampa Bay was 1-2 on the power play (2:22).

The Isles are 16-10-4 when they score at least one power play goal and 23-19-5 when they do not. The Isles are 15-13-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 24-15-6 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 32-6-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-23-5 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     

This final set of back-to-backs concludes tomorrow in Carolina. The Isles are 7-7-1 in the front end and 8-4-2 in the back end. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (21:09);  Tampa Bay: Darren Raddysh (21:54)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards with 19:00 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Alexander Romanov (2-2-1), Noah Dobson (4-12-2), Adam Pelech (11-3-0), Ryan Pulock (7-5-1), Scott Mayfield (7-2-4), 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 17, Tampa Bay 27 (39%)

No Isle won more than he lost; Anthony Cirelli won 11 of 15 for Tampa Bay.

Hit Count

Isles 36 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Tampa Bay 27 (Three with 5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 17 (Martin-7, Johnston-3, Lee-2, Wahlstrom-2, Cizikas, Romanov, Mayfield)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Three with 2)

Tampa Bay 13 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Tampa Bay 53

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Tampa Bay 46

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Pierre Engvall +19

Tampa Bay: Ian Cole +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 17

5-on-5: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 14

Scratches

Oliver Wahlstrom-IR), (Mathew Barzal-INJ), Parker Wotherspoon, Ross Johnston, Josh Bailey, (Sebastian Aho-INJ)

Games Lost: 197

The Ironmen

Zach Parise played in his 159th consecutive Islander game; he has played in every game since joining the team in October 2021. Overall, his streak is 160 games, making it the 15th-longest active streak in the NHL.  Anders Lee extended his streak to 107 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: 7 (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.

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 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 1,055…

6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 761 *** 8.Brock Nelson 753 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 740…

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 673 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Derek King 638 *** 16. Cal Clutterbuck 631

Goals    

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Anders Lee 239 *** 9. Bob Bourne 238 *** 10. Brock Nelson 237 *** 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 219…

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 456 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 415 *** 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 +78 ***  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

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…

6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik 43 **** 8. Ryan Pulock 42 *** 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 128…

15. Bryan Berard 100 *** 16. Vladimir Malakhov and Adam Pelech 98…  

21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 22. Bert Marshall 87 *** 23. Radek Martinek and Noah Dobson 85 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 83

Defense Points

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

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 170…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Adam Pelech 122 *** 19. Thomas Hickey 117*** 20. Noah Dobson 115 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Radek Martinek 109 *** 23. Scott Mayfield 108

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

9. Roland Melanson 136 *** 10 Semyon Varlamov 135 *** 11. Ilya Sorokin 131

Wins

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

7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 67 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 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

Chris Terry and Paul Thompson each scored twice as Bridgeport defeated Providence 5-2 on Saturday to improve to 31-26-7-1 on the season; they remain three points behind the Wolf Pack for the final playoff spot.  Bridgeport has seven games to play while Hartford has five.

Andy Andreoff leads the team (and is 2nd in the AHL) with 32 goals, while Chris Terry continues to lead in assists (44) and points (65); his 65 points are 6th in the AHL with his 44 assists are tied-5th. William Dufour has 20 goals, which is 11th among AHL rookies while All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov is tied-2nd among AHL rookies with 32 assists and is 3rd among all rookies with 49 points.

Bridgeport hosts Lehigh Valley on Sunday afternoon. 

Season Series Stats

Tampa Bay leads the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series on Thursday at UBS Arena.

The Isles have lost six straight regular season games to the Lightning since defeating the Bolts 5-1 at Amalie Arena on December 9, 2019, and have been out-scored 27-10 in that span.

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, APRIL 2nd  -  ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA 6:00pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 5:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles conclude the final back-to-back series of the season as they face the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.  The road team has won the first three meetings this season and the Isles will look to split the season series by making it four for four. 

The Isles are 5-2-1 in their last eight games in Carolina and are 7-3-1 in their last 11 trips to Raleigh.

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