The Skinny: Isles 3, Carolina 2 (2-OT) (Carolina leads series 3-1)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 4

Isles 3, Carolina 2 (2-OT)

Carolina Leads Series 3-1

They're Alive! Mathew Barzal deflected Robert Bortuzzo's shot at 1:24 of the second overtime for his second goal of the game as the Islanders defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. Carolina still leads the series 3 games to 1.

Both Carolina goals came on the power play, as did Jean-Gabriel Pageau's third period goal that gave the Isles a lead early in the third period.

Game five will be played at RBC Arena in Raleigh on Tuesday at 7:30pm. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Seth Jarvis (2) Jake Guentzel (3) 08:00 CAR 1,NYI 0 PPG 

2nd Period

Mathew Barzal (1) Adam Pelech (2), Bo Horvat (1) 10:10 CAR 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Noah Dobson (1), Anders Lee (3) 01:38 CAR 1,NYI 2 PPG

Stefan Noesen (2) Teuvo Teravainen (2), Martin Necas (3) 14:08 CAR 2,NYI 2 PPG

OT

No Goals

2nd OT

Mathew Barzal (2) Robert Bortuzzo (1), Bo Horvat (2) 01:24 CAR 2,NYI 3 

The Series 

Game 1: Carolina 3, Isles 1

Game 2: Carolina 5, Isles 3

Game 3: Carolina 3, Isles 2

Game 4: Isles 3, Carolina 2 (2-OT)

Game 5: Tuesday at Carolina 7:30

Game 6: (if needed) Thursday 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 30 playoff games (2023 R1 games 5/6, 2024 R1G2)... Jean-Gabriel Pageau's goal was the first scored by the Isles in the third period; the Isles have been outscored 7-1 in the third period in the series, including two empty net goals…Sebastian Aho is now 8-6-14 in 14 playoff games against the Isles… Anders Lee is the only player on either team with points in all four games in the series; it is the first time in his career he has a point in four straight playoff games… The Isles are 6-2 in game 4 when trailing a series 3-0…Semyon Varlamov is 9-8 in playoff overtime while Frederik Andersen is 8-9… This was the 10th- longest game in club history…It was the 2nd overtime goal and third point for Mathew Barzal, the second overtime point (1-1-2) in only six OT games for Bo Horvat, and the first overtime point in nine games for Robert Bortuzzo… Bortuzzo also recorded his first point as an Islander (regular season or playoffs)…It was the first multi-goal playoff game for Barzal, who became the 10th player in club history to score both in regulation and in overtime in a playoff game; Barzal is now 4-4-8 in nine game played when Isles faced elimination...Horvat's two assists gives him five points (2-3-5) in ten playoff games as an Islander…It is the first time (8-1) Carolina has scored first in a potential clinching game and lost and the 13th come-from-behind win in a potential elimination game for the Isles…The Isles are 18-7 (.720) when facing elimination as the home team (best in NHL history); 18-6 in New York and 0-1 in Edmonton bubble.

First Time in a Long Time (Playoffs)

The Isles scored a power play goal in the first two minutes of the third period (with the 'fresh ice') for the 2nd time in club history, and the first time since May 11, 1982, vs. Vancouver (Bob Bourne)

The Isles won game 4 after trailing 3-0 for the first time since the 1993 Conference Finals against Montreal (with Patrick Roy in goal). 

Happy, Happy Birthday Varly 

Semyon Varlamov is the first Islander goalie to play (and win) a playoff game on his birthday; Al Montoya (2011) is the only one to play (and win) a regular season game in last 25 years.

It was the first time Varlamov has played a playoff game on his birthday. He played one previously in the regular season – in the final game of the 2013 season. The Avs lost to Minnesota 3-1 that night, in a game which Zach Parise scored the first goal and Cal Clutterbuck assisted on an empty-netter.

Birthday Playoff Wins (Age 36 or older)

• Martin Brodeur (40)

• Tony Esposito (39)

• Ed Belfour (36 and 38)

• Curtis Joseph (37)

• Semyon Varlamov (36)

Belfour's win on his 38th birthday (4/21/2003) was the only other one to happen in overtime. 

Daylight Staving Time

Semyon Varlamov earned his third overtime win to stave off elimination, breaking Chico Resch's club record (2). It is the third time the Isles have won a multiple-overtime game to stave off elimination (1987 Game 7 vs Washington; 2020 Game 5 in Bubble vs. Tampa Bay).

The New Mr. Overtime

Islanders with Multiple OT Goals:

• Bob Nystrom 4

• Mike Bossy and Ken Morrow 3

• Mathew Barzal, Ray Ferraro, Pat LaFontaine, John Tavares, Josh Bailey, and Denis Potvin 2

As Long as It Takes

This was the 10th-longest game in Islander history:

04/18/87 @ Pat LaFontaine W Washington 68:47 

04/22/16 @ Alan Quine W Florida 36:00 

09/03/20 Vs Ivan Provorov L Philadelphia 35:03 

04/20/93 @ Brian Mullen W Washington 34:50 

09/15/20 @ Jordan Eberle W Tampa Bay 32:30 

04/24/16 Vs John Tavares W Florida 30:41 

05/18/93 @ Stephan LeBeau L Montreal 26:21 

04/24/93 Vs Ray Ferraro W Washington 25:40 

04/14/03 Vs Todd White L Ottawa 22:25 

04/27/24 Vs Mathew Barzal W Carolina 21:24

Missing Marty

Matt Martin missed the game with an upper body injury, ending his streak of 82 consecutive Islander playoff games (both before and after his time in Toronto).  He had played every playoff game the team had played since he made it to the NHL. Prior to today, the last time that the Isles did not have Matt Martin in the lineup for a playoff game was April 20, 2007, in Buffalo; Martin was only 17 years old at the time.

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 189 hits in 65 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         3-4-1-1=9

Carolina   4-2-7-0=13

The Shots (Series)

Isles       36-30-36-11=113

Carolina 34-41-38-18=131

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

Game 4: Led: 12:30, Tied  46:44  Trailed: 22:10

Series:   Led: 53:53, Tied: 104:50, Trailed: 102:31

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles are 175-148 in 323 all-time playoff games. They are 98-55 at home (88-44 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto, 1-2 in Edmonton and 2-3 at UBS Arena) and 77-92 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 1-1 at home and 0-2 on the road.

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-3-3

• Playoffs 0-7-7

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 5 playoff games as well. 

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 41-24 (.645) all-time in overtime, including 21-14 at home. The Isles are 1-0in overtime in 2024; 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 .631

• Florida 13-8 .619

• Anaheim 24-15 .615

• Carolina 30-20 .600

• 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

The Isles' winning percentage is 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 21-14 .600

Overtime vs. Carolina

The Isles are 1-3 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

4/27/24 Vs Mathew Barzal  W(3-2)  21:24

*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 172-152

Most playoff games as GM

• Glen Sather (324) 

• Lou Lamoriello (324)

Lamoriello will break Sather's record in game 5.

First Things First

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

The Shots

Isles 6-8-11-9-2=36

Carolina 8-13-5-17-1=44

Shots by Game

Game 1:  Isles 34, Carolina 25

Game 2:  Isles 12, Carolina 39

Game 3:  Isles 31, Carolina 22

Game 4:  Isles 36, Carolina 44

Series:     Isles 113, Carolina 130

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

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves; he is 1-2 this year and 32-29 in his playoff career. 

Frederik Andersen made 33 saves; he is 3-1 this year and 35-27 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)

• Game 4: Isles 1-2 (3:38, 4 shots), Carolina 2-4 (5:20, 4 shots)

• Series:    Isles 2-7 (12:01, 11 shots), Carolina 4-14 (19:58, 13 shots)  

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

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

Three is a Magic Number

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

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 1-1 in games decided by a single goal (0-1 in regulation and 1-0 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: Noah Dobson (32:55);  Carolina: Dmitry Orlov (29:05) 

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 27:46 of ice-time. 

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

Face-offs

Isles 48, Carolina 23 (68%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 19 of 23 for the Isles; no Cane who too more than two face-offs 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%)

• Game 4: Isles 48, Carolina 23 (68%)

• Series   : Isles 129, Carolina 117 (52%)

The home team has won 152 of 246 face-offs (62%, winning at least 59 percent in each game)

Hit Count

Isles 40 (Adam Pelech -6)

Carolina 24 (Jordan Staal -5)

Hits by Game

• Game 1: Isles 17, Carolina 23

• Game 2: Isles 27, Carolina 27

• Game 3; Isles 40, Carolina 22

• Game 4: Isles 40, Carolina 24

• Series   : Isles 124, Carolina 96

Fights 

None. Playoff total: 1 (MacLean 1)

Blocked Shots

Isles 22 (Adam Pelech -6)

Carolina 18 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 78, Carolina 93

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 69, Carolina 62

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

Game 4: (All) Isles 78, Carolina 93; (5-on-5) Isles 69, Carolina 82

Series:    (All) Isles 230, Carolina 339; (5-on-5) Isles 194, Carolina 287

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee +13

Carolina: Jalen Chatfield +18

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Carolina 18

5-on-5: Isles 15, Carolina 14

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

Game 4; (All) Isles 16, Carolina 18; (5-on-5) Isles 15, Carolina 14

Series:    (All) Isles 42, Carolina 55; (5-on-5) Isles 35, Carolina 42

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

Scratches

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

Playoff Games Lost: 6

The Ironman (Playoffs)

Brock Nelson is the new playoff ironman; he played in his 72nd consecutive Islander playoff game.

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 1, Vs. 0 (Barzal vs CAR R1G4 21:24)

Regular Season: For 9, Vs. 11

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games: 

Matt Martin 82

Casey Cizikas 79

Brock Nelson 77

Cal Clutterbuck 75

Ryan Pulock 65

Scott Mayfield 58

Consecutive Games:

Brock Nelson 72

Ryan Pulock 61

Mathew Barzal 59

Goals:

Brock Nelson 26

Mathew Barzal 17

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 12

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

Adam Pelech 13

Scott Mayfield 12

Casey Cizikas 12

Anders Lee 11

Noah Dobson 10

Points:

Brock Nelson 49

Mathew Barzal 43

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 27

Ryan Pulock 25

Anders Lee 21

Cal Clutterbuck 18

Casey Cizikas 18

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 127

Cal Clutterbuck 86

Casey Cizikas 64

Anders Lee 48

Scott Mayfield 47

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

Jean-Gabriel Pageau 1

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

SH Goals

Bo Horvat 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 7

Mathew Barzal 4

Ryan Pulock 3

Kyle Palmieri 2

Scott Mayfield 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Matt Martin 1

OT Goals 

Mathew Barzal 2

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Semyon Varlamov 19-16,  2.28 GAA, .923 save percentage.

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

(Varlamov's 19 wins is second in club history to Billy Smith's 88. Among goalies who have played at least ten post-season games, Varlamov has both the best goals against average and the best save percentage in club history.)

Coaching Numbers:

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 119

• Barry Trotz 28

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Lane Lambert 2

• Patrick Roy 1

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 198

• Barry Trotz 49

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Lane Lambert 6

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

• Patrick Roy 4

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Barry Trotz 7 (7-6)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

•  Patrick Roy 1 (1-0)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

• Lane Lambert 0 (0-2)

Series Stats

Carolina leads the series, 3 game to 1.

The Isles are 3-11 all-time in playoff games against Carolina, including 2-5 at home. 

The Isles are 2-14 in best-of-7 playoff series when they trail 3-1, with the wins coming in 1975 (vs. Pittsburgh) and 1987 (vs. Washington).

Carolina is 6-0 when leading a best-of-7 by a 3-1 margin.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, APRIL 30th –ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA – GAME 5– 7:30pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), TBS, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

Last season, trailing 3 games to 1, the Isles won game 5 in Raleigh to return the series to Long Island. They will look to do so again in game 5 on Tuesday night,

The Isles are 31-24 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