The Skinny: Isles 2, Columbus 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 7

Isles 2, Columbus 0

Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves for his 39th career shutout and the Isles got goals from Kyle Palmieri and Matt Martin to earn a 2-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets before a crowd of 15,424 at Nationwide Arena.  

Varlamov, making his second appearance of the season, now has 60 wins as an Islander, including 14 by shutout. 

The Isles improve to 4-2-1 on the season and return home to face Detroit on Monday night at 7:30pm.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (3) Pierre Engvall (3), Sebastian Aho (1) 15:45 NYI 1,CBJ 0

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Matt Martin (1) Casey Cizikas (2) 16:39 NYI 2,CBJ 0

The Skinny    

Semyon Varlamov has stopped 74 of the 77 shots he faced this season; the Isles are the first team to have multiple goaltenders with a shutout…The Isles have allowed 201 shots in their last five games (2-2-1) after allowing only 42 in their first two games; it is the most shots the Isles have allowed in a five-game stretch since February 2018….Casey Cizikas played in his 752nd Isles game, matching Mike Bossy for 9th place in club history . …Kyle Palmieri now is 3-4-7 in the first 7 games, matching Noah Dobson for the team lead in points.  Palmieri has had only one season (2018-19) where he had more than seven points through his team's first seven games… Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson both saw their point streaks end at five games… The Isles killed all three Columbus power plays and have killed 15 of 17 over the last four games, including all six this season on the road.… The Isles have outscored their opponents 7-3 in the first period (the three goals allowed is tied for the fewest in the NHL) and have scored the first goal in five of their seven games ….The Isles snapped four-game point streaks for both Jack Roslovic and Ivan Provorov…Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin have combined for nearly 7,500 hits in the NHL, but neither was credited with one tonight….Martin did score his first goal in 30 regular season games…Brock Nelson led all players with eight shots on goal – two shy of his career high (10, also vs. Columbus, on 11/12/2022) and finished with 13 attempts.

Silence the Cannon

Semyon Varlamov has four career shutouts against the Blue Jackets, matching Roberto Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov for most all-time against Columbus.  

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles are 4-2-1; the nine points in seven games represent their best 7-game start since 2015-16 (also 4-2-1).

• Noah Dobson played 25:25; he has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last three games (first Isle to that since Travis Hamonic in 2016) and at least 24 minutes in six straight games (first since Hamonic in 2014).

Moving On Up

Semyon Varlamov tied Tommy Salo for 5th place on the club shutout list (14), became the 11th goalie in club history to win 60 games, and broke a tie for Roland Melanson for 10th place in games played by an Isle goalie (137). 

Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (273) and third in shutouts (39).

Shoot the Puck!

The Isles have been getting more rubber on goal during power plays than they did last season:

• 2023-24  Isles have 36 shots in 35:25 of PP   (1.02 shots per minute)

• 2022-23  Isles had 336 shots in 379:43 of PP (0.88 shots per minute)

That's a 16% increase in shots per minute spent on the power play.

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,771

2. Matt Martin 3,720

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

• 2023-24  4-2-1 for 9 points in 7 games

• 2022-23  3-4-0 for 6 points in 7 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-1-1

• Season: 2-8-10

• Last Season (Final) 41-132-173

The Islander defense scored 41 goals last season, which was the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04.  The 173 points were their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 135 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.6% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 12.6%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road

The Isles are 4-2-1 overall; they are 3-1-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

Columbus is 3-3-2 overall; they are 3-2-1 at home and 1-0-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 3-1-1 against the East (1-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 2-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-0 against the West (1-1-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 87 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,409

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 4-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles     14-9-10=33

Columbus 11-7-17=35

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 2-2-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves; he is 1-1-0 on the season and 10-5-2 vs. Columbus.   

Spencer Martin made 31 saves; he is 1-2-0 on the season and 0-2-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Columbus was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-1-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 37-7-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 3-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 3-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (25:25);  Columbus: Zach Werenski (24:24)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:50 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (2-2-0)

Face-offs

Isles 23, Columbus 17 (58%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 10 for the Isles; Boone Jenner won 10 of 15 for Columbus. 

Hit Count

Isles 10 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -3)

Columbus 9 (Three with 2)

Fights 

None. Season total: 2 (Martin 1, Pelech 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov -3)

Columbus 15 (Erik Gudbranson -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 73, Columbus 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 56, Columbus 52

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Kyle Palmieri +14

Columbus: David Jiricek +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Columbus 13

5-on-5: Isles 10, Columbus 9

Scratches

Julien Gauthier, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)

Games Lost: 6

The Ironmen

Anders Lee played in his 119th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span twice (COL 10/25 x2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.

For (0):  

Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners

For (0):  

Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners

For (0):  

Vs (0):   

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 773 *** 8.Brock Nelson 765 *** 9. Mike Bossy and. Casey Cizikas 752…

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 685 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 643

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …

28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 261…

18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points

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

13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 367

+/-

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 ** 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. Noah Dobson 32

Defense Assists

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

8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…

15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Noah Dobson 96… 

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 173…

17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Noah Dobson 128 *** 19. Adam Pelech 125 ***  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. Ilya Sorokin 141 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 137

Wins

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

7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 73 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 60

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo and Semyon Varlamov 14

On the Farm  

Bridgeport fell to 2-4-1-0 on the season with losses of 5-2 and 2-0 in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday.  Ruslan Iskhakov leads the team in scoring (2-6-8) while Jakub Skarek is 2-2-1 in the nets. 

The Baby Islanders don't play again until November 4th when they visit Hershey.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will next meet on December 7th on Long Island.

The Isles are 7-0-2 in their last nine games against Columbus overall and have earned points in each of their last six trips to Columbus (4-0-2).

UP NEXT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 30th  — DETROIT AT ISLANDERS - 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Islanders return home to welcome the Detroit Red Wings to UBS Arena for the only time this season. 

The Isles went 2-1-0 last season against Detroit, with the home team earning multi-goal wins in all three games. The Isles have won seven straight home games from the Red Wings (for the first time ever) and are 10-3-1 in the last 14 meetings overall. 

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