The Skinny: Nashville 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 42

Nashville 3, Isles 1

Alexandre Carrier's shot broke Scott Mayfield's stick and then beat Ilya Sorokin for the winning goal with 7.9 seconds to play as the Nashville Predators rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 17,474 at Bridgestone Arena. 

Jean-Gabriel Pageau had given the Isles a 1-0 lead with eight minutes left in regulation, but Luke Evangelista's power play goal tied the game 3:08 later, setting the stage for Carrier's winning tally. 

The Isles are 19-13-10; they drop into the 2nd Wild Card with their 48 points (one fewer than Tampa Bay). The Isles head to Minnesota to begin a back-to-back set on Monday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

None

2nd Period

None 

3rd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5) Noah Dobson (37), Cal Clutterbuck (9) 12:00 NYI 1,NSH 0

Luke Evangelista (8) Ryan McDonagh (10), Philip Tomasino (12) 15:08 NYI 1,NSH 1 PPG

Alexandre Carrier (3) Jeremy Lauzon (3), Filip Forsberg (26) 19:52 NYI 1,NSH 2

Juuso Parssinen (8) Roman Josi (28) 19:59 NYI 1,NSH 3 ENG

The Skinny    

The Isles are 2-4-1 in their last seven games and are 3-5-1 since the Christmas break… Brock Nelson remains at 497 points as he played his 800th career game… Mathew Barzal's point streak ended at five games  (2-7-9)… Noah Dobson's assist, his 37th, moves him with three assists of Quinn Hughes for the NHL lead among defensemen (Cale Makar has 39) …. The Isles' defense has 42 points in the last nineteen games and have 19 points in the last ten games (7-12-19)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 36-25 in the first period but have been outscored 54-46 in the second period and 59-45 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 16-7 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 3-3-4 in games tied after two periods …. Ilya Sorokin appeared in a tenth straight game, matching his career high….Adam Pelech played 19:20 in his third game back after missing 20 games with an injury… The Isles have now gone ten games without a win vs. Nashville since October 28, 2017…Gustav Nyquist's point streak ended at ten games…The Isles have never shut-out the Preds….The Isles had gone 11-0-3 in the previous 14 games that they held a lead at any point (since losing on a last-minute goal in New Jersey on November 28th)… The Isles have allowed a tying goal in 23 games this season, going 10-5-8 in those games…It is the 23rd time the Isles have allowed a goal at 19:59 of the 3rd period and the 16th time it went into an empty net…Alexandre Carrier's game-winner was the latest go-ahead goal in Predator history.

The Great Eight (Hundred):

Brock Nelson played in his 800th game tonight.

He is the 9th 2010 draftee (2nd by Isles) and 3rd American to do so. The list:

Pickl Team Player Amateur Team GP

7 Carolina Jeff Skinner        Kitchener Rangers (OHL)     970

2 Boston Tyler Seguin         Plymouth Whalers (OHL)     942

12 Anaheim Cam Fowler     Windsor Spitfires (OHL)      934

4 Columbus Ryan Johansen Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 884

37 Carolina Justin Faulk     USA U-18 Development Team 877

5 Islanders Nino Niederreiter Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 851

1 Edmonton Taylor Hall     Windsor Spitfires (OHL)          832

28 San Jose Charlie Coyle South Shore (EJHL)                826

30 Islanders Brock Nelson Warroad HS (High-MN)          800

(totals for others exclude Saturday's games)

First Times in a Long Time

• It is the latest losing goal that the Isles have allowed since April 7, 2015, in Philadelphia, when Brayden Schenn beat them at 19:57, after the Isles had scored two late goals to tie.

• The winner and empty-net goals were scored seven seconds apart. It is the fastest two goals allowed by the Isles in nearly 13 years (:05, both by Nathan Gerbe, on January 21, 2011).

Latest Go-Ahead Goal Allowed

• 19:59 1/27/1988 @MNS Brian MacLellan 

• 19:57 4/7/2015 @PHI Brayden Schenn

• 19:52 1/13/2024 @NAS Alexandre Carrier 

• 19:48 12/7/2021 Vs NAS Eeli Tolvanen

Fastest Two Goals Allowed

• :05 10/9/1991 @ NYR -3rd pd (Kris King 19:44, James Patrick 19:49 (ENG))

• :05 1/21/2011 @ BUF -3rd pd (Nathan Gerbe 16:38 and 16:43)

• :06 2/22/1990 @ PIT -2nd pd (Paul Coffey :48, Troy Loney :54)

• :06 2/6/1992   @VAN -2nd pd (Greg Adams 8:51, Cliff Ronning 8:57)

• :07 1/13/2024 @ NAS -3rd pd (Alexandre Carrier 19:52 ,Juuso Parssinen 19:59 (ENG))

Beasts of the East

The Isles are tied for the 2nd-most points in the Eastern Conference since November 15:

• Philadelphia 16-7-5 (37 points; .661)

• Florida 17-9-1 (35 points .648)

• Carolina 15-7-5 (35 points; .648)

• Isles 14-7-7  (35 points; .625)

• Toronto 13-6-6  (32 points; 640)

• New Jersey 15-9-2 (32 points; .616)

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 7 times

• Allowed the next goal: 22 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: twice 

Road Warriors

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing eight out of ten games on the road; they are 2-4-1 in this stretch:

• 12/31 @ Pittsburgh (3-1 L)

• 1/2 @ Colorado      (5-4 OTL)

• 1/4 @ Arizona        (5-1 W)

• 1/6 @ Vegas          (5-2 L)

• 1/ 9 Vs. Vancouver(5-2 L)

• 1/11 Vs. Toronto    (4-3 OTW)

• 1/13 @ Nashville   (3-1 L)

• 1/15 @ Minnesota

• 1/16 @ Winnipeg

• 1/19 @ Chicago

The Isles are starting the new year with 17 straight inter-division games; they will play only two division foes in their first 30 games (February 18 vs NYR at MetLife, February 20 at Pittsburgh) of 2024.

Fewest Regulation Losses Thru 42 Games (Post-Cup era)

• 11(2020-21; 27-11-4)

• 12 (2019-20; 27-12-3)

• 13 (2023-24; 19-13-10) 

• 13 (2014-15; 28-13-1)

• 14 (2001-02; 21-14-5-2)

• 15 (2015-16; 22-15-5)

• 15 (1985-86; 18-15-9)

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles have played 15 overtime games. They are 4-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-3 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-6 in overtime and 1-2 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-1 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 29 overtime games.

The Isles have won 15 of the last 39 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 42 Games (Since 1998-99)

• 10 (2023-24)

• 8 (2016-17)

• 8 (2009-10)

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 42 Games (since 2000) in NHL

• Dallas 12 (2021)

• Boston 11 (2019-20)

• Dallas 11 (2009-10)

• Isles 10 (2023-24)

• Six other teams with 10

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play thirteen times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down

The Isles have scored 28 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 34 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. Only 11 of those 39 were at home; the Isles have already allowed 14 home power play goals this season.

The Isles have allowed one shorthanded goal and scored eight shorties, so on a net basis they have scored more power play goals (28-1=27) than they have allowed(34-8=26).

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,874

2. Matt Martin 3,761

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  19-13-10 for 48 points in 42 games

• 2022-23  22-17-3 for 47 points in 42 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 17-65-82

• 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.

Lots of Work for Sorokin

Most shots against:

• Ilya Sorokin 1033

• Alexandar Georgiev 977

• Thatcher Demko 934

• Juuse Saros 925

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 278 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins and tied-third in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

50. Brian Elliott 279

51. Semyon Varlamov 278

52. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road

The Isles are 19-13-10 overall; they are 11-5-6 at home and 8-8-4 on the road.

Nashville is 24-18-1 overall; they are 13-11-0 at home and 11-7-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 13-7-6 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 6-3-2 vs. Atlantic) and 6-6-4 against the West (2-3-1 vs. Central and 4-3-3 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 104 games at UBS Arena and recorded 71 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 1,425

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 13-3-8 when scoring first and are 6-10-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles    9-10-6=25

Nashville 7-6-15=28

The Isles are 6-3-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-9-7 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves; he is 13-9-8 on the season and 0-3-1 vs. Nashville. 

Juuse Saros made 24 saves; he is 17-15-1 on the season and 7-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Nashville was 1-3 on the power play (5:55).

The Isles are 11-5-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-4 when they do not. The Isles are 7-7-7 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-6-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 17-3-8 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-10-2 when they do not. Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 51-9-12 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 12-1-10 in games decided by a single goal including 7-1 in regulation. They are 4-7 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-4 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-0-3 in the front end and 0-2-3 in the back end this season. The next set of back-to-backs will be on Monday in Minnesota and Tuesday in Winnipeg; the following back-to-back set will be on March 10th in Anaheim and March 11th in Los Angeles. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (25:17);  Nashville: Roman Josi (24:42)

Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with 21:03 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (15-11-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Nashville 26 (49%)

Brock Nelson won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Ryan O'Reilly won 12 of 17 for Nashville. 

Hit Count

Isles 28 (Matt Martin and Jean-Gabriel Pageau -6)

Nashville 21 (Jeremy Lauzon-4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 5 (Martin 2, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 25 (Three with 4)

Nashville 23 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Nashville 72

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 48, Nashville 61

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Pierre Engvall +10

Nashville: Two with +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, Nashville 5

5-on-5: Isles 6, Nashville 4

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Semyon Varlamov -IR), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Samuel Bolduc, Julien Gauthier

Games Lost to injury: 92

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 154 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (126) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games:

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 2 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6)

Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offside  (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13)

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute five times this season (three times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, and twice on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4) and allowed two in the same span six times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from at least two goals behind after two periods to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so four times.

For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)

Vs (4): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored two goals and have allowed four goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:

For (2: Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG)

Vs (5): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier @ NAS 19:52 (GWG)

OT Winners

For (4):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11

Vs (7):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2

Shootout Winners

For (1):  Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18

Vs (3):  Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15

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. Brock Nelson 800 *** 8. Matt Martin 787*** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 720 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 678

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 260 *** 9. Anders Lee 251 …

23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 25. Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 *** 28. Mathew Barzal 117 **** 29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30.Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 32. Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas 102

Assists

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

11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Mathew Barzal 290…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 237…

22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 182…

34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 133

Points

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

11. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 12. Derek King 499 *** 13. Brock Nelson 497 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 433 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 407…

32. Ray Ferraro 238 *** 33. Travis Green 237 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 233

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +80 ***  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 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

5. Jean Potvin 46 *** 6. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 36

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 133 *** 10. Noah Dobson 128…

13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 109 *** 16. Adam Pelech 102… 

20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 90

Defense Points

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

7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 178 *** 10. Noah Dobson 164… 

15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 17. Gerry Hart 128 *** 18. Adam Pelech 127…

20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 115

Goalie Games

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

8. Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 166 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 149

Wins

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

6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 83** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 65

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm  

Bridgeport battled back from a 3-0 deficit but fell 4-3 to Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday; the Baby Isles are 10-20-4-0 on the season. All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov had an assist to extend his point streak to ten straight games; he leads the team in goals (12), assists (18) and points (30). 

The Baby Isles visit Providence on Sunday afternoon and host Hershey in an MLK Day matinee on Monday. 

Season Series Stats

Nashville leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet on April 6th at UBS Arena to conclude the season series.

The Isles have lost four straight to Nashville in regulation and are 0-8-2 in the last ten against the Preds, dating back to a 6-2 win on October 28, 2017. 

UP NEXT

MONDAY, JANUARY 15th — ISLANDERS AT MINNESOTA  – 6:00pm

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

The Isles begin a back-to-back on Monday as they face the Wild in an early-evening game.

The Isles have had nearly as much trouble with the Wild as they have had with the Preds recently, going 0-4-1 in the last five meetings, including a 4-2 loss at UBS Arena on November 7th.  

The Isles have scored three goals or fewer in each of their last nine games against the Wild, going 3-5-1 in those nine games.

After an initial surge following their coaching change, the Wild are 1-7-1 in their last nine games, including a 6-0 loss on home-ice to Arizona tonight.

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