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The Skinny: Isles 6, Toronto 3

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 34 Isles 6, Toronto 3 The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:48 and the Maple Leafs ...

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

The Skinny: Seattle 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 53
Seattle 2, Isles 1 (SO)
Tomas Tatar scored the only goal of the shootout as the Isles tied a team record and Ilya Sorokin set a team goalie record with a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Matty Beniers and Kyle Palmieri, the latter on the power play, traded goals in regulation. 

The Isles are 3-3-2 under Patrick Roy and are 4-8-3 in their last fifteen games and 22-18-13 overall as they regain fourth place in the Metro (seven points behind third place Philadelphia) and climb within three points of Detroit for the final wild card spot. The Isles are off until Sunday, when they host the Rangers at Met Life Stadium in the Stadium Series; this is the last time that they will have more than two days off until late March. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Matty Beniers (7) Jared McCann (17) 05:27 SEA 1,NYI 0  

2nd Period
Kyle Palmieri (15) Mathew Barzal (41), Noah Dobson (48)  14:37 SEA 1,NYI 1 PPG

3rd Period
No Goals

OT
No Goals

The Shootout
Oliver Wahlstrom (NG)/Matty Beniers (NG)
Bo Horvat (NG)/Tomas Tatar (G/GDG)
Mathew Barzal (NG)

The Isles are 1-4 in the shootout while Seattle is 2-4, with both wins coming against the Isles… Ilya Sorokin falls to 6-12 in his career in shootouts while Philipp Grubauer improves to 10-11…The Isles are 4-16 in their last 20 shootouts...The Isles have scored on 5 of 22 shootout attempts, with Bo Horvat and Oliver Wahlstrom each scoring twice and Simon Holmstrom scoring once…Islander goalies have stopped 13 of 21 opponent shootout attempts…It was Tomas Tatar's 8th career game deciding goal as he improves to 13 of 40 in his career.

The Skinny    
The Isles are 2-1-1 since the All-Star Break and are 6-9-4 since the Christmas break…Since Christmas the Isles are 4-3-2 at home and 2-6-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 60 points in the last 29 games and have 41 points in the last 22 games (10-31-41)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 43-34 in the first period but have been outscored 69-54 in the second period and 70-57 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 31-17 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 3-3-6 when tied after two periods …. Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri each extended their point streaks to six games; it is a season-long streak for Barzal and a career-long streak for Palmieri…Barzal now has 298 career assists.…Palmieri has recorded at least fifteen goals in each of the last eight seasons of at least 60 games… The Isles have allowed eight power play goals under Patrick Roy; they have allowed only nine goals at 5-on-5…  The Isles did not allow a power play goal for the first time in seven games…Ilya Sorokin lost in overtime/shootout for the tenth time this season; the NHL record of 14 was set by Frederik Andersen in 2016-17 (66 games)…Tim Thomas (2005-06 with Boston) is the only other goalie to lose ten times in OT/SO while playing as few as 38 games.

First Times in a Long Time
Seattle is the first team to win two shootouts in the same season from the Isles since Columbus did so in 2014-15.
The Isles have lost 13 OT/SO games, tying the franchise record set in 2010-11.

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)
1. Ilya Sorokin 10 (2023-24; CURRENT)
2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)
3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)
Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)
Ilya Sorokin 28 (CURRENT)
Rick DiPietro 28 

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 55 points since 2008-09 when Mark Streit had 56, and the first with at least 48 assists since 1989-90, when Jeff Norton recorded 49.

Dobson is on pace for 74 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 3-3-2 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals in each of their three wins. Ilya Sorokin is 3-1-1 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2-1.

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
This was the final of 17 straight inter-division games to open 2023; the Isles went 5-8-4 in those 17 games. After playing their next two games against Metro Rivals (February 18 vs NYR at MetLife, February 20 at Pittsburgh), the Isles will play 11 more inter-division games before facing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.
 
Overtime Is (Not) Our Time
The Isles have played 19 overtime games. They are 5-9 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-7 in overtime and 1-3 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 Islander OT/SO Losses 
13 (2023-24; CURRENT)
13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses (since 1999-00)
1. Dallas 14 (2021)
2. ISLES 13 (2023-24;CURRENT)

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 33 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 45 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 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,941
2. Matt Martin 3,806

Over the All-Star Break, an NHL audit added 35 hits to Clutterbuck's total and 17 to Martin's total. Those additions are reflected above.

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  22-18-13 for 57 points in 53 games
2022-23  26-22-5 for 57 points in 53 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-1-1
Season: 20-84-104
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 1,288
Alexandar Georgiev 1,257
Juuse Saros 1,206
Thatcher Demko 1,165

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 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 22-18-13 overall; they are 13-7-8 at home and 9-11-5 on the road.
Seattle is 22-21-10 overall; they are 11-9-4 at home and 11-12-6 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 7-10-6 against the West (3-5-2 vs. Central and 4-5-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 110 games at UBS Arena and recorded 76 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 6-15-4 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 3-0-0 when they score first and are 0-3-2 they do not.

The Shots
Isles       9-10-5-2=26
Seattle  7-10-11-2=30
The Isles are 7-5-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 14-12-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 16-12-10 on the season and 2-1-1 vs. Seattle.
Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves; he is 5-9-2 on the season and 4-3-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (4:35); Seattle was 0-2 on the power play (3:17).

The Isles are 12-6-7 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-12-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-12-8 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-6-5 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 2-14-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 14-3-13 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 5-9 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 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: Mathew Barzal (26:15);  Seattle: Vince Dunn (26:21)
Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 26:15 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (18-16-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1), Matthew Barzal (0-0-1)

Face-offs
Isles 36, Seattle 18 (67%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 14 for the Isles; no Kraken who took multiple draws won more than they lost. 

Hit Count
Isles 24 (Anders Lee -7)
Seattle 20 (Eeli Tolvanen-4)

Fights 
None. Season total: 6 (Martin 2, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 26 (Noah Dobson -5)
Seattle 17 (Jamie Oleksiak -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Seattle 70
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Seattle 66
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Pierre Engvall +16
Seattle: Two with +2

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

Scratches
(Robert Bortuzzo -LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-INJ), Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 133

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 165 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (137) 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: 2 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10)

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 (4):  Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13

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 811 *** 8. Matt Martin 797 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 787 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 731 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 689

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 263 *** 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 298…
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 and Noah Dobson 139 *** 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 418…
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. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***  17. Adam Pelech +75 ***  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 and Noah Dobson 139 *** 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 176… 
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 174 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 152

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 fell to 13-26-5-1 on the season after a 2-1 shootout loss to Lehigh Valley on Saturday; Karson Kuhlman had the only Bridgeport goal.

Bridgeport has a 3-on-3 weekend upcoming, as they visit Providence on Friday and then host Hartford on Saturday and Laval on Sunday.

Season Series Stats
Seattle sweeps the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2).

The Isles have won only two of the six all-time meetings between the teams.

UP NEXT
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18th –RANGERS VS. ISLANDERS (AT MET LIFE STADIUM) – 3:00pm
[ABC, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The Isles will play the second outdoor game in franchise history as they are the home team for the Stadium Series game with the Rangers on Sunday afternoon. 

The Rangers won the 2014 Stadium Series matchup with the Isles at Yankee Stadium; Brock Nelson, Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin all played in that game.

This will be the first meeting between the teams in 423 days as the Rangers defeated the Isles 5-3 at The Garden December 22, 2022, in the final of three meetings last season; the teams did not meet at all in calendar year 2023.

This is the first of four meetings on the season between the teams and the first meeting since former Islander coach Peter Laviolette took over as the Ranger head coach.

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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