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The Skinny: Buffalo 7, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 35 Buffalo 7, Isles 1 Beck Melenstyn scored 2:07 into the first period and the Sabres outscored...

Friday, February 09, 2024

The Skinny: Isles 6, Tampa Bay 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 51
Isles 6, Tampa Bay 2
After playing five consecutive one-goal games, the Islanders scored three goals in both the first and second periods enroute to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

In a balanced effort, the Isles got goals from six different players, and had eleven players register points in their most one-sided win in two months. 

The Isles improve to 3-2-1 under Patrick Roy as they win consecutive games for the first time since December 11th-13th. They are 4-7-2 in their last thirteen games and 22-17-12 overall as they remain four points behind third place Philadelphia and climb within two points of Detroit and within three points of Tampa Bay for the wild card spots. The Isles will host Calgary in a Saturday matinee game. 

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Noah Dobson (7) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (15) 04:07 TBL 0,NYI 1
Nikita Kucherov (33) Darren Raddysh (15) 06:42 TBL 1,NYI 1
Mathew Barzal (15) Bo Horvat (26) 14:07 TBL 1,NYI 2
Kyle Palmieri (14) Mike Reilly (8), Brock Nelson (19) 18:35 TBL 1,NYI 3

2nd Period
Brandon Hagel (18) Anthony Cirelli (16), Victor Hedman (42) 01:14 TBL 2,NYI 3 PPG
Ryan Pulock (3) Pierre Engvall (10) 07:10 TBL 2,NYI 4 PPG
Bo Horvat (21) Mathew Barzal (39), Adam Pelech (5) 08:18 TBL 2,NYI 5
Casey Cizikas (6) 15:22 TBL 2,NYI 6

3rd Period
No Goals

The Skinny    
The Isles are 2-0-0 since the All-Star Break and are 6-8-3 since the Christmas break…Since Christmas the Isles are 4-2-1 at home and 2-6-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 58 points in the last 27 games and have 39 points in the last twenty games (10-29-39)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 43-32 in the first period but have been outscored 67-53 in the second period and 68-55 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 29-14 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 17-1-5 when leading after two periods …. Noah Dobson's first goal in 16 games gave him the team scoring lead, but Mathew Barzal took the scoring lead back with a goal and an assist later in the game; it was Barzal's 100th career multi-point game …Ilya Sorokin needed to make only 18 saves for the victory; it was the fewest shots he faced since a 14-save shutout in the second game of the season (vs. Arizona).… The Isles have allowed seven power play goals under Patrick Roy; they have allowed only six goals at 5-on-5… The Isles had a multi-goal lead for the first time since January 4th in Arizona …The Isles are now a + team at 5-on-5, outscoring their opponents 100-99; Tampa Bay has been outscored 122-105 at 5-on-5…Nikita Kucherov extended his point streak to six games while Brandon Hagel extended his streak to five; Kucherov, who leads the NHL in both assists (54) and points (87), now has points in seven straight games against the Isles Both Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri now have four game point streaks…The Isles held Tampa Bay to only three shots in the first period, and none after Kucherov's goal…Simon Holmstrom played his 100th NHL game…Ryan Pulock's goal tied him for 5th in club history with Jean Potvin (46); his 179th point tied Mark Streit for 9th…Bo Horvat's 21st goal tied him with Brock Nelson for the club lead…Casey Cizikas scored in first game back, after missing ten games.

The Injury
Brock Nelson left the game after a collision along the near boards in the 2nd period; he returned to start the third period.

First Time in a Long Time
The Isles scored at least three goals in each of the first two periods for the first time since an 8-` win over Edmonton on Super Bowl Sunday 2016 (Feb 7, 2016, in Brooklyn) 

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 53 points since 2008-09 when Mark Streit had 56, and the first with at least 46 assists since Vladimir Malakhov had 47 in 1993-94.

Dobson is on pace for 73 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 85 points, which would trail only three seasons by Potvin.

The New Coach
The Isles are 3-2-1 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals in each of their three wins.

The 20-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 7th player in club history to have at least eight seasons of at least 20 goals:
Bryan Trottier 13
Brent Sutter/Mike Bossy 10
John Tavares/Denis Potvin 9
Clark Gillies/Brock Nelson 8

Anders Lee needs seven more goals this season for his 8th season with at least 20 goals.

Inter-Division Games
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 18 overtime games. They are 5-9 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-3 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-7 in overtime and 1-2 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3 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 16 of the last 42 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 51 Games (Since 1998-99)
12 (2023-24)
10 (2016-17)
8 (2009-10)
8 (2011-12)
8 (2021-22)

Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play seventeen times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 32 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 44 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 
 
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 33 times this season:
Score the next goal: 8 times
Allowed the next goal: 23 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: twice 

The Isles held a two-goal lead tonight for the first time since their 5-1 win over Arizona on January 4th.

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,904
2. Matt Martin 3,784

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  22-17-12 for 56 points in 51 games
2022-23  24-22-5 for 53 points in 51 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   2-2-4
Season: 20-82-102
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 1,258
Alexandar Georgiev 1,189
Juuse Saros 1,129
Thatcher Demko 1,110

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 nine times this season and 26 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
3. Ilya Sorokin 9 2023-24
Joey Mac Donald 9 2008-09
Dwayne Roloson 9 2009-10

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 33
2. Ilya Sorokin 26
3. Darcy Kuemper 22
4. Sam Montembault 21
Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
3. Ilya Sorokin 26   (173 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career.

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, whose next appearance will be his 600th NHL game, 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 21-17-12 overall; they are 12-6-7 at home and 9-11-5 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 27-19-5 overall; they are 17-5-3 at home and 10-15-2 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 15-8-7 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 8-4-3 vs. Atlantic) and 7-9-5 against the West (3-5-2 vs. Central and 4-4-3 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 108 games at UBS Arena and recorded 74 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 1,427
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,427) and Patrick Roy (133) have combined for 1,560 wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 16-3-9 when scoring first and are 6-14-3 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles          14-7-3=24
Tampa Bay 3-7-10=20
The Isles are 7-4-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 14-12-8 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 15-12-9 on the season and 2-4-0 vs. Tampa Bay.
Jonas Johansson made 18 saves; he is 10-7-5 on the season and 0-3-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (7:53); Tampa Bay was 1-2 on the power play (3:19).

The Isles are 12-6-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-11-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-11-8 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-6-4 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-4-9 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-13-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 14-3-12 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 5-9 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     
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 (22:08);  Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (23:39)
Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 19:35 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (18-15-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs
Isles 20, Tampa Bay 28 (42%)
Casey Cizikas won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Anthony Cirelli won 7 of 11 for Tampa Bay. 

Hit Count
Isles 31 (Matt Martin -6)
Tampa Bay 26 (Two with 4)

Fights 
None. Season total: 6 (Martin 2, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 21 (Three with 3)
Tampa Bay 13 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 48, Tampa Bay 53
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 32, Tampa Bay 42
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Kyle Palmieri +5
Tampa Bay: Anthony Cirelli +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Tampa Bay 12
5-on-5: Isles 4, Tampa Bay 9

Scratches
(Robert Bortuzzo -LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-INJ), Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 128

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 163 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (135) 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 offsides (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 four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG)
Vs (6): 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 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (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, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21
Vs (9):   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) ½; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27

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 809 *** 8. Matt Martin 795 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 785 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 729 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 687

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 262 *** 9. Anders Lee 253 …
21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Duane Sutter 121 *** 23. Mathew Barzal 120…
30. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 32. Casey Cizikas 103

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Mathew Barzal 296…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 240…
22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 183…
33. Travis Green 145 *** 34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Noah Dobson 137 *** 37. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 38. Ryan Pulock 133

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
11. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 12. Brock Nelson 502 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 *** 16. Anders Lee 436 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 416…
32. Ray Ferraro 238 *** 33. Travis Green 237 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 234

+/-
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  

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
5. Jean Potvin and Ryan Pulock 46 *** 6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 37

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Noah Dobson 137 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 133…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 109 *** 16. Adam Pelech 104… 
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 and Ryan Pulock 179 *** 10. Noah Dobson 174… 
15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 17. Adam Pelech 129…
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 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 173 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 151

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 86 *** 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 is 13-25-5-0 on the season as the AHL is wrapping up its All-Star Break. Cole Bardreau was named AHL Player of the Week after going 3-2-5 in three games last week.

Bridgeport faces Hartford on Friday.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0).

The Isles have won two straight games from Tampa Bay (by a combined 12-3 score) after dropping their prior six regular season games to the Bolts. 

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10th –CALGARY AT ISLANDERS - 1:00pm
[MSGSN (12:30 pre-game), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
It is Matinee Isles time as the Islanders look to sweep the season series from the Calgary Flames for the first time in eight seasons. 

The teams met twelve weeks ago in Calgary and the Isles earned a 5-4 shootout win that stopped a seven-game Isles winless streak.

The Flames played in the first-ever game at UBS Arena, earning a 5-2 win on November 20, 2021, but the Isles won last season's Island matchup 4-3, on an overtime goal by Noah Dobson.

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

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