The Skinny: Winnipeg 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 44

Winnipeg 4, Isles 2

Neal Pionk and Mason Appleton scored 2:39 apart in the second period to break a 1-1 tie as the Winnipeg Jets improved their NHL-leading record to 29-10-4 (62 points) with a 4-2 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 12,600 at Canada Life Centre. 

Anders Lee had both goals for the Islanders; it was his 2nd 2-goal game of the season and the 38th multi-goal game of his career.

The Isles are 0-3 on this road trip and 1-5-0 in their last six games as they fall to 19-15-10 overall. The Isles head to Chicago to conclude the road trip on Friday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Gabriel Vilardi (11) Adam Lowry (15), Josh Morrissey (26) 09:41 NYI 0,WPG 1

Anders Lee (12) Mike Reilly (6), Sebastian Aho (5) 15:53 NYI 1,WPG 1

2nd Period

Neal Pionk (4) Cole Perfetti (16), Nate Schmidt (6) 15:19 NYI 1,WPG 2 PPG

Mason Appleton (7) Dominic Toninato (4), Dylan DeMelo (13) 17:58 NYI 1,WPG 3

3rd Period

Anders Lee (13) Bo Horvat (24) 00:35 NYI 2, WPG 3

Kyle Connor (18) 18:38 ENG NYI 2, WPG 4

The Skinny    

The Isles are 2-6-1 in their last nine games and are 3-7-1 since the Christmas break… Brock Nelson remains at 497 points … Mathew Barzal went pointless for the third straight game after not having consecutive games without a point all season long… The Isles' defense has 44 points in the last twenty games and have 21 points in the last eleven games (7-14-21)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 37-27 in the first period but have been outscored 58-46 in the second period and 62-46 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 20-7 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 1-11-1 when trailing after two periods …. Ilya Sorokin appeared in a career-high twelfth straight game….Winnipeg is 25-3-1 when allowing two goals or fewer, and they have done so in 13 straight games (one of only 12 teams to have a streak that long since 1929-30).

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles lost to Winnipeg for the first time since December 4, 2018 in Brooklyn (7-0-0) and for the first time in Winnipeg since December 29, 2017 (4-0-0).

• The Jets have not allowed more than three goals in 33 straight games, longest since Minnesota set the Modern Era record of 35 in 2015.

• The Isles have lost four straight road games in regulation for the first time since November 7-16, 2021 (the final four games of their season-opening 13-game road trip). They have not had a longer regulation road losing streak since a 5-game streak in December 2017/January 2018.

Road Warriors

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing eight out of ten games on the road; they are 2-6-1 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 (5-0 L)

• 1/16 @ Winnipeg  (4-2 L)

• 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.

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 28 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 44 Games (Since 1998-99)

• 10 (2023-24)

• 8 (2016-17)

• 8 (2009-10)

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play fourteen 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 37 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.

 

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 

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,883

2. Matt Martin 3,763

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  19-15-10 for 48 points in 44 games

• 2022-23  23-18-3 for 49 points in 44 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 17-67-84

• 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 1,108

• Alexandar Georgiev 1,011

• Juuse Saros 953

• Thatcher Demko 934

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.

Facing 40

Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots eight times this season and 25 times in his career. 

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)

1. John Gibson 32

2. Ilya Sorokin 25

3. Darcy Kuemper 22

4. Sam Montembault 20

    Karel Vejmelka 20

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 19-15-10 overall; they are 11-5-6 at home and 8-10-4 on the road.

Winnipeg is 29-10-4 overall; they are 16-6-2 at home and 13-4-2 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 6-8-4 against the West (2-5-1 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 6-12-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles        11-15-12=38

Winnipeg 13-18-13=44

The Isles are 6-3-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-11-7 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 40 saves; he is 13-10-8 on the season and 2-1-0 vs. Winnipeg.

Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves; he is 22-7-3 on the season and 4-5-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Winnipeg was 1-5 on the power play (9:29).

The Isles are 11-5-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-10-4 when they do not. The Isles are 7-9-7 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 2-12-2 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 0-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

Including tonight, the Isles are 2-1-3 in the front end and 0-3-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on March 10th in Anaheim and March 11th in Los Angeles. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (27:39);  Winnipeg: Josh Morrissey (25:06)

Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with a season-high 22:27 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (15-13-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Winnipeg 34 (46%)

Bo Horvat won 16 of 27 for the Isles; Dominic Toninato won 11 of 18 for Winnipeg. 

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Winnipeg 16 (Neal Pionk -3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Three with 3)

Winnipeg 12 (Morgan Barron -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 64, Winnipeg 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 51, Winnipeg 48

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee +12

Winnipeg: Two with +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Winnipeg 12

5-on-5: Isles 13, Winnipeg 8

Scratches

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

Games Lost to injury: 101

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 156 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (128) 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 802 *** 8. Matt Martin 789*** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 722 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 680

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 260 *** 9. Anders Lee 253 …

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 435 *** 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 +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 *** 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 168 *** 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  

The Baby Isles are 11-21-4-0 on the season. All-Star Iskhakov has points in 11 of the last 12 games and leads the team in goals (13), assists (18) and points (31). 

The Baby Isles are off now until they host Hartford on First Responder's Night on Saturday.

Season Series Stats

Winnipeg leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).

This was only the Isles' second loss in regulation in Winnipeg since the Jets relocated from Atlanta (11-2-1) and snaps a four-game winning streak in Manitoba. 

The teams will conclude the season series on March 23rd at UBS Arena with a Saturday afternoon matinee.

UP NEXT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19th — ISLANDERS AT CHICAGO  – 8:30pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 8:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The road trip comes to an end on Friday in Chicago against the Blackhawks.

The Isles will miss Connor Bedard, who is on injured reserve, but will be looking to end the road trip with a victory. The Isles swept the series last season and are 3-0-1 over the last two seasons against the Hawks.

The teams will conclude the season series with a game at UBS Arena on April 2nd. 

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