The Skinny: Carolina 3, Isles 2 (Carolina leads series 3-0)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 3

Carolins 3, Isles 2

Carolina Leads Series 3-0

Sebastian Aho scored 7:14 into the second period to give Carolina a 3-1 lead and the Isles would never catch them, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Canes before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. Carolina now leads the series 3 games to 0.

Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson twice cut 2-goal deficits in half, but the Isles could never get even; Brett Burns and Dmitry Orlov scored in the first period for Carolina. 

Game four will be played at UBS Arena on Saturday at 2:00pm. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Brent Burns (1) Martin Necas (2), Teuvo Teravainen (1) 04:46 CAR 1,NYI 0

Dmitry Orlov (1) Andrei Svechnikov (3), Jake Guentzel (2) 10:25 CAR 2,NYI 0

2nd Period

Pierre Engvall (1) Anders Lee (2), Adam Pelech (1) 02:48 CAR 2,NYI 1

Sebastian Aho (2) Andrei Svechnikov (4), Jalen Chatfield (1) 07:14 CAR 3,NYI 1

Brock Nelson (1) Kyle Palmieri (1), Ryan Pulock (1) 17:39 CAR 3,NYI 2

3rd Period

No Goals

 

The Series 

Game 1: Carolina 3, Isles 1

Game 2: Carolina 5, Isles 3

Game 3: Carolina 3, Isles 2

Game 4: Saturday at Isles 2:00

Game 5: (if needed) Tuesday at Carolina 7:30

Game 6: (if needed) May 2 at Isles

Game 7: (if needed) May 4 at Carolina

The Skinny    

The Isles have led after the first period only three times in their last 29 playoff games (2023 R1 games 5/6, 2024 R1G2)... Neither team scored in the third period; the Isles have been outscored 6-0 in the third period in the series, including two empty net goals…Sebastian Aho is now 8-5-13 in 13 playoff games against the Isles… Anders Lee is the only player on either team with points in all three games in the series; Andrei Svechnikov had a pair of assists to give him four in the series (only Connor McDavid has more assists)… It was the first time Ilya Sorokin had ever been pulled in a playoff game…Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck each had only one shift in the third period.

First Time in a Long Time (Playoffs)

• Dmitry Orlov scored for the first time in 44 playoff games (5/17/2018 for Washington against Tampa Bay)

• The Isles made a goaltender change for the first time since June 21, 2021, in Tampa Bay (Varlamov allowed three, Sorokin allowed five in relief)

Pulock the Playoff Scorer

Ryan Pulock is 5th among Islander defensemen in career playoff goals:

1. Denis Potvin 56 

2. Ken Morrow 11

3. Mike McEwen 9 

    Tomas Jonsson 9

5. Ryan Pulock 8

The four players ahead of him share 14 Stanley Cup rings with the Islanders.

Pulock the Playoff Hitter

In regular season play, Ryan Pulock averages 1.7 hits (802 hits in 486 games). In the playoffs, Pulock has 185 hits in 64 games (2.9 per game), and he holds the Isles career record (real-time era) for playoff hits by a defenseman.

Most Hits by an Isles Defenseman (Playoffs, since 2007)

• Johnny Boychuk  10  4/23/2015 @ WSH

• Ryan Pulock 9 4/17/2023@ CAR 

• Ryan Pulock 8 5/16/2021@ PIT

• Ryan Pulock 8 5/20/2021vs PIT

The Goals (Series)

Isles         3-3-0=6 

Carolina   3-2-6=11

The Shots (Series)

Isles       30-22-25=77

Carolina 26-28-33=87

Led/Tied/Trailed

Game 1: Led: 0:00,   Tied: 36:49, Trailed: 23:01

Game 2: Led: 41:23, Tied: 16:31, Trailed: 2:06

Game 3: Led: 0:00    Tied: 4:46    Trailed: 55:14

Series:   Led: 41:23, Tied: 58:06, Trailed: 80:21

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles are 174-148 in 322 all-time playoff games. They are 97-55 at home (88-44 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto, 1-2 in Edmonton and 1-3 at UBS Arena) and 77-92 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 0-1 at home and 0-2 on the road.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-2-2

• Playoffs 0-4-4

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 122 regular season games at UBS Arena and recorded 89 sellouts of 17,255. The Isles have sold out 4 playoff games as well. 

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 40-24 (.645) all-time in overtime, including 20-14 at home. The Isles went 0-2 in overtime in 2023; they have gone 11-11 in 22 overtime games since 2015. 

(all stats below exclude Seattle)

The Isles are the best overtime team in Stanley Cup history: 

• Isles 40-24 .625

• Florida 13-8 .619

• Anaheim 24-15 .615

• Carolina 30-19 .612

• Ottawa 22-16 .579

• Colorado 46-34  .575

The Isles are also one of the best teams on the road in Stanley Cup history:

• Florida 9-4 .692

• Isles 20-10 .667

• Anaheim 15-8 .652

• Tampa Bay 14-8 .636

• Colorado 26-15 .634

• Carolina 14-9 .609

The Isles' winning percentage is tied-5th at home in overtime games  

• Carolina 16-10 .615

• Chicago 30-18-1 .612

• Buffalo 20-13 .606

• Montreal 46-29-1 .605

• Isles 20-14 .588

• Ottawa 10-7 .588

Overtime vs. Carolina

The Isles are 0-3 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Carolina:

4/26/19 Vs Jordan Staal L (0-1) 04:04  (Brooklyn*)

4/19/23 @ Jesper Fast L (3-4)  05:03

4/28/23 Vs Paul Stastny L (1-2)  06:01

*It was the last overtime game and penultimate playoff game at Barclays Center.

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest post-season win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. Glen Sather 187-137

2. Lou Lamoriello 171-152

Sather (324) is also the only GM with more playoff games than Lamoriello (323). Lamoriello will tie Sather's record in game 4.

First Things First

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

The Shots

Isles 15-5-11=31

Carolina 9-10-3=22

Shots by Game

Game 1:  Isles 34, Carolina 25

Game 2:  Isles 12, Carolina 39

Game 3:  Isles 31, Carolina 22

Series:     Isles 77, Carolina 86

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

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 11 saves before being replaced after Carolina's third goal; he is 0-1 this year and 6-6 in his playoff career. Semyon Varlamov stopped all eight shots he faced in relief.

Frederik Andersen made 29 saves; he is 3-0 this year and 35-26 in his playoff career.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (3:08); Carolina was 0-2 on the power play (3:08). 

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 0-2 (3:59, 4 shots), Carolina 1-3 (4:12, 3 shots)

• Game 2: Isles 1-1 (1:16, 1 shot),  Carolina 1-5 (7:18, 4 shots)

• Game 3: Isles 0-2 (3:08, 2 shots), Carolina 0-2 (3:08, 2 shots)

• Series:    Isles 1-5 (8:23, 7 shots), Carolina 2-10 (14:38, 9 shots)  

• 2023 Playoffs Isles 1-18 (32:02, 21 shots), Carolina 5-25 (36:09, 26 shots)

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 0-1 when they score at least three goals and are 0-2 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (24:38);  Carolina: Brent Burns (22:21) 

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 21:23 of ice-time. 

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

Face-offs

Isles 29, Carolina 19 (60%)

Bo Horvat won 14 of 20 for the Isles; no Cane won more than he lost. 

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 24, Carolina 34 (41%)

• Game 2: Isles 28, Carolina 41 (41%)

• Game 3: Isles 29, Carolina 19 (60%)

• Series   : Isles 81, Carolina 94 (46%)

Hit Count

Isles 40 (Cal Clutterbuck and Adam Pelech -6)

Carolina 22 (Jordan Staal -4)

Hits by Game

• Game 1: Isles 17, Carolina 23

• Game 2: Isles 27, Carolina 27

• Game 3; Isles 40, Carolina 22

• Series   : Isles 84, Carolina 72

Fights 

None. Playoff total: 1 (MacLean 1)

Blocked Shots

Isles 21 (Brock Nelson -3)

Carolina 15 (Five with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 65, Carolina 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Carolina 55

Corsi Game by Game:

Game 1: (All) Isles 59, Carolina 74; (5-on-5) Isles 52, Carolina 65

Game 2: (All) Isles 28, Carolina 110; (5-on-5) Isles 20, Carolina 85

Game 3: (All) Isles 65, Carolina 62; (5-on-5) Isles 53, Carolina 55

Series:    (All) Isles 152, Carolina 246; (5-on-5) Isles 125, Carolina 205

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Bo Horvat +8

Carolina: Brent Burns +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Carolina 6

5-on-5: Isles 9, Carolina 5

High-Danger Game by Game:

Game 1: (All) Isles 8, Carolina 8; (5-on-5) Isles 7, Carolina 8

Game 2: (All) Isles 9, Carolina 23; (5-on-5) Isles 4, Carolina 15

Game 3: (All) Isles 9, Carolina 6; (5-on-5) Isles 9, Carolina 5

Series:    (All) Isles 26, Carolina 37; (5-on-5) Isles 20, Carolina 28

2023 Playoffs: (All) Isles 89, Carolina 83; (5-on-5) Isles 68, Carolina 65

Scratches

(Scott Mayfield- LTIR), Simon Holmstrom, Samuel Bolduc, Oliver Wahlstrom, Ruslan Iskhakov, Sebastian Aho, Jacob Skarek, Robin Salo, Dennis Cholowski, Julien Gauthier, Karson Kuhlman, Brian Pinho.

Playoff Games Lost: 4

The Ironman (Playoffs)

Matt Martin played in his 82nd consecutive Islander playoff game; he has played in every Islander playoff game since 2013.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  (Regular season 3 of 7, including 1 of 3 for Roy)

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures (Regular season 5 of 8 were successful)

League reviews: 0  

Quickies

The Isles have not scored two goals in under a minute during this postseason. They did so eight times in the regular season. 

The Isles allowed 2 goal in under a minutes once in the postseason (CAR R1G2, :09); The Isles allowed two goals in under a minute nine times in the regular season.

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have allowed one multi-goal third period comeback in this year's playoffs (CAR R1G2, led 3-1, lost 5-3).

The Isles came from two goals behind after two periods to win once and allowed the opposition to do so five times in the regular season.

 

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have allowed one tying goal (Aho CAR R1G2 17:45) and one winning goal (Martinook CAR R1G2 17:54) in the final three minutes of the third period in the playoffs,

In the regular season, the Isles scored five goals and allowed eight goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime. 

Overtime Winners

Playoffs:  For 0, Vs. 0

Regular Season: For 9, Vs. 11

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games: 

Matt Martin 82

Casey Cizikas 78

Brock Nelson 76

Cal Clutterbuck 74

Ryan Pulock 64

Scott Mayfield 58

Consecutive Games:

Matt Martin 82 (every game since start of 2013 playoffs)

Brock Nelson 71

Ryan Pulock 60

Mathew Barzal 58

Goals:

Brock Nelson 26

Mathew Barzal 15

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 11

Anders Lee 10

Kyle Palmieri 10

Ryan Pulock 8

Matt Martin 8

Casey Cizikas 6

Assists:

Mathew Barzal 26

Brock Nelson 23

Ryan Pulock 17

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 15

Scott Mayfield 12

Casey Cizikas 12

Adam Pelech 12

Anders Lee 10

Noah Dobson 9

Points:

Brock Nelson 49

Mathew Barzal 41

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 26

Ryan Pulock 25

Anders Lee 20

Cal Clutterbuck 18

Casey Cizikas 18

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 127

Cal Clutterbuck 86

Casey Cizikas 64

Scott Mayfield 47

Anders Lee 44

Mathew Barzal 43

+/-

Scott Mayfield +23

Jean-Gabriel Pageau +16

Kyle Palmieri +8

Adam Pelech +6

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 4

Anders Lee 4

Ryan Pulock 3

Brock Nelson 3 

Kyle Palmieri 2

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

SH Goals

Bo Horvat 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 7

Mathew Barzal 3

Ryan Pulock 3

Kyle Palmieri 2

Scott Mayfield 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Matt Martin 1

OT Goals 

Mathew Barzal 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Ilya Sorokin 6-6, 2.83 GAA, .921 save percentage.

Semyon Varlamov 18-16,  2.31 GAA, .921 save percentage.

(Varlamov's 18 wins is second in club history to Billy Smith's 88. Among goalies who have played at least ten post-season games, Varlamov has the best goals against average while Varlamov, Sorokin and Thomas Greiss share the best save percentage in club history.)

Series Stats

Carolina leads the series, 3 game to 0.

The Isles are 2-11 all-time in playoff games against Carolina, including 1-5 at home. 

The Isles are 1-6 in best-of-7 playoff series when they trail 3-0; they have lost the last six series that they trailed 0-3 since beating Pittsburgh in the 1975 Quarter-Finals.

Carolina is 2-0 when leading a best-of-7 by a 3-0 margin.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, APRIL 25th–CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS – GAME 4– 2:00pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 1:30), TNT, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The lsles look to extend the series when they welcome Carolina to UBS Arena for Game 4. The Isles are 5-2 in game 4s of best-of-7's after losing games 1, 2 and 3.   The last time the Isles won game 4 in this situation was in the 1993 Conference Finals against Montreal (with Patrick Roy in goal). The two teams to sweep the Isles are the 1994 Rangers and 2019 Hurricanes.

The Isles are 30-24 all-time in games where they face elimination.

MSG Networks will continue to have game coverage in the first round of the playoffs. All Stanley Cup playoff games also air on either TNT/TBS or ESPN/ESPN2/ABC.

 

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