The Skinny: Isles 5, Washington 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 54

Isles 5, Washington 3

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice in the first 6:16 and both Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey had three assists as the Isles built a 5-1 lead and defeated the Washington Capitals 5-3  before a sellout crowd of 18,573 at Capital One Arena. 

The Isles kept Alex Ovechkin at 698 goals as "The Great 8" was on-ice for all five Islander goals; he finished -4. 

The Isles improve to 32-16-6; their 70 points matches last year's Islander team for the 2nd-highest total of points thru 54 games in the Post-Cup era (71 in 2014-15).

The Scoring:

1st Period

Anthony Beauvillier (16) Josh Bailey (22), Brock Nelson (22) 03:30 NYI 1,WSH 0

Anthony Beauvillier (17) Brock Nelson (23), Josh Bailey (23) 06:16 NYI 2,WSH 0

John Carlson (15) Nicklas Backstrom (33) 12:55 NYI 2,WSH 1

Devon Toews (5) Josh Bailey (24), Ryan Pulock (22) 18:06 NYI 3,WSH 1

2nd Period

Leo Komarov (2) Brock Nelson (24), Nick Leddy (17) 00:45 NYI 4,WSH 1

Jordan Eberle (9) Anders Lee (15), Mathew Barzal (27) 10:36 NYI 5,WSH 1

Lars Eller (14) Carl Hagelin (13), Michal Kempny (14) 11:25 NYI 5,WSH 2

T.J. Oshie (21) John Carlson (52), Nicklas Backstrom (34) 16:59 NYI 5,WSH 3 PPG

3rd Period

No Goals

The Skinny        

The Isles are 4-1-2 in their last seven games…Anthony Beauvillier is 7-6-13 in the last ten games as he extended his point streak to six games (5-3-8) and matched his career high with 36 points (17-19-36)… Josh Bailey assisted on all three first period goals; it's the first time in his career he has assisted on three goals in a period…Brock Nelson had three assists for the first time in his career.. Devon Toews scored for the third time in four games this season against the Caps…Ryan Pulock had six shots on goal and blocked five Caps shots…The Isles scored three goals in the first period for the third time this season, but the first time on the road…Alex Ovechkin was held without a point and went -4.  It's only the 2nd time in his career he has been -4 at home….The Caps have allowed 12 goals in the last two games .... Mathew Barzal played in his 218th consecutive game, tying Lorne Henning for 12th on the all-time club list…The Caps had 5 players play the final 3:15…John Carlson had a goal and an assist, increasing his d-man leading totals to 15-52-67.

The Injury

Evgeny Kuznetsov suffered an upper body injury midway through the second period; he did not return.

First Times in a Long Time

• Josh Bailey is the first Islander with three assists in the first period since Mariusz Czerkawski (1-30-2002 at MSG)

• Devon Toews is the first Islander defenseman with three goals in a season against the Caps since Doug Crossman did so in 1989-90 (7 games).  Denis Potvin (6 goals in 1978-79, 3 goals in 1981-82) is the only other Isles D-man with at least three goals in a season vs. Washington.

• The Isles scored 4, 4, and 5 goals in the final three games of the season series.  It's the first time since 1989-90 that the Isles have scored at least four goals in three straight games vs. the Caps.

• The Isles scored 5 goals against the Caps for the first time since March 9, 2013; they did it in DC for the first time since October 18, 2007.

• The Isles had two players with at least three assists for the first time since January 13, 2018 at MSG (Eberle-4, Barzal-3).

Straight B's in Hockey 

An Islander with a surname starting with "B" has earned a point on 15 of the Isles' 18 goals this month.

Last Season vs. This Season

The Isles are 32-16-6 thru 54 games this season; they were an identical 32-16-6 thru 54 games last season.  Their 70 points in 54 games is tied for the 2nd-highest in the Post-Cup era (71 points in 2014-15, 70 points last season).

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles will play 28 of their 41 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles are 11-7-1 on Coliseum ice, but only 2-5-1 in their last 8 games in Uniondale.  The Isles are 6-0-3 at Barclays Center this season and have not lost in Brooklyn (regular season) since January 12, 2019 (11-0-3); their next Brooklyn game is on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 15-9-2 on the road this season, including 8-4-1 in the last 13 games.

The Road Ahead

The Isles are beginning a stretch in which they will play six out of seven games (and 17 of their next 27 games) on the road. The Isles are 1-1-0 in this stretch:

• 2/8 - @ Lightning L 1-3

• 2/10 - @ Capitals W 5-3

• 2/11 – Vs. Flyers (Barclays)

• 2/13 - @ Predators

• 2/15 - @ Golden Knights

• 2/17- @ Coyotes

• 2/19 - @ Avalanche

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 842-611-60-147 in 1,660 games, and he is now eight wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  919

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    842

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,691

3. Barry Trotz        1,660

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 20-7-3 when scoring first and are 12-9-3 when allowing the opening goal.

Highest Percentage of Games Won (Post-Cup Era) Allowing First Goal

• .545 (18-13-2) 2014-15

• .500 (12-9-3) 2019-20

• .459 (17-18-2) 2018-19

• .410 (14-21-4) 1985-86

The Shots

Isles       10-14-8=32

Washington  10-8-11=29

The Isles are 12-6-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 20-9-2 when they are outshot.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 32-16-6 overall: 17-7-4 at home (11-7-1 on Long Island and 6-0-3 in Brooklyn) and 15-9-2 on the road.  

Washington is 36-15-5 overall: 16-9-4 at home and 20-6-1 on the road.  

By Division & Conference

The Isles are 10-7-2 in Division games and 22-9-4 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles are 23-10-3 against the East and 9-6-3 against the West.  

In the Nets

Thomas Greiss made 26 saves to improve to 16-9-4 on the season and 4-3-1 in his career against Washington.

Ilya Samsonov made 15 saves before being replaced after the Isles' 5th goal; he falls to 16-4-1 on the season and 2-1-0 against the Isles.  Braden Holtby made 12 saves in relief.

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-2 in 2:37 of power play time; Washington was 1-3 in 4:07 of power play time.

The Isles are 12-5-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 20-11-5 when they do not.  The Isles are 13-9-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 19-8-4 when they do not.

The Isles are 5-4-3 when they have more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays are even, and 23-6-3 when the opposition has more power plays.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 28-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-14-3 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 64-4-5 when scoring three or more, with two of the four regulation losses coming against Nashville.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-4-6 in games decided by a single goal including 5-4 in regulation. They are 8-4 in games decided in overtime and are 3-2 in shootouts.  The Isles are 4-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Greatest Percentage of 1-goal games won 

• 1981-82 -- .800

• 1982-83 & 1976-77 -- .667

• 1991-92 -- .619

• 2019-20 -- .615

• 2014-15 -- .605

• 2018-19 -- .594

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 2-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 6-1-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 3-1-1 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 21-14-5 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (23:37); Washington: John Carlson (27:56)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 19:35 of ice-time.

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Ryan Pulock (12-5-3), Devon Toews (3-5-1), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Nick Leddy (4-3-2), Brock Nelson (1-0-0), Mathew Barzal (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Washington 32 (47%)  

Mathew Barzal won 6 of 10 for the Isles; Nicklas Backstrom won 9 of 15 for Washington.

Hit Count

Isles 23  (Casey Cizikas -4)

Washington 26 (Tom Wilson -7)

 

Fights

Ross Johnston fought Garnet Hathaway in the second period.  Season total:11 – Johnston-5 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Mayfield (vs ANA), Lee (vs FLA), Martin (vs NYR)

Blocked Shots

Isles: 22  (Ryan Pulock -5)

Washington: 9 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Washington 67

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 43, Washington 48

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +6

Washington: Carl Hagelin & Lars Eller +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Washington 7 (including 7-0 Isles in the 3rd pd)

5-on-5: Isles 13, Washington 5

Back-to-Backs

Including tonight, the Isles are 5-3-0 in the front-half and 5-1-1 in the back-half.  This back-to-back concludes on Tuesday against Philadelphia at Barclays Center. The next back-to-back will be March 12th in Calgary and March 13th in Edmonton. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 16-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 28-15-4 in night games and 4-1-2 in matinees. The next matinee will be February 17th in Arizona. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  It's the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 254, Brock Nelson 231, Mathew Barzal 218, Ryan Pulock 181, Josh Bailey 139, Anthony Beauvillier 129, and Devon Toews 102. 

Iron Man

Anders Lee now has the fifth longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson has also moved into the top 8:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

5. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 254

6. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

7. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

8. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 231

9. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

10. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995 - 2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

11. Bryan Trottier 3/7/1981 - 1/12/1984 219

12. Lorne Henning 12/28/1974 - 11/6/1977 218

        Mathew Barzal 10/6/17- CURRENT 218

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 181

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

(Adam Pelech-INJ), (Cal Clutterbuck-INJ), Kieffer Bellows, Sebastian Aho, Tom Kuhnhackl

Total games lost: 116.

Late Heroes 

The Isles have scored three times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.

11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles have allowed three goals in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.

12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

Challenges

Isles: 4 successful, 1 failure (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL), (offside 1/21 vs NYR)

The Isles are 4-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-1 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), (Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ), (Komarov-goalie interference 1/2 vs. NJ),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles are 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-3-0 in games that go the opponent's way.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5.  Josh Bailey 851…

18. Ken Morrow 550 *** 19. Duane Sutter and Matt Martin 547 *** 21. Lorne Henning 543 *** Claude Lapointe 535  *** 23. Brock Nelson 534 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 533

Goals

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

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 169 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 151 *** 17. Pierre Turgeon 147 ***18. Mariusz Czerkawski and Brock Nelson 145

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

7.    Pat Flatley 328 *** 8.   Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Stefan Persson and Josh Bailey 317 …

21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 168

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 468…

21. Mariusz Czerkawski 295 *** 22. Duane Sutter 292 *** 23. Alexei Yashin and Anders Lee 290 *** 25. Ed Westfall and Brock Nelson 286

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***

5. Thomas Greiss 189

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 ***2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 136

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Terry Simpson 81 *** 4. Barry Trotz 79

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 2 games to 2 (and 4 points to 4), with each team scoring 14 times.  

The road team has won each of the eight games over the last two seasons.  The Isles have won four straight road games against the Caps for the first time since the Isles won the first 4 games played between the teams in Landover, MD, in the mid-1970s.

On the Farm   

Grant Hutton scored 3:50 into overtime as the Sound Tigers complete a weekend sweep of Providence with a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island; Josh Ho-Sang assisted on both Bridgeport goals, giving him five points (2-3-5) in the last four games.

The Sound Tigers head to Lehigh Valley on Friday and then return home to face Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday.

Up Next

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11th  -  PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS AT BARCLAYS CENTER –7:00 PM

[NBCSN (NHL Live pre-game at 6:00), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

The Isles conclude the back-to-back as they host the Flyers in a nationally televised game; Brendan Burke and Brian Boucher will have the call on NBCSN.

It's the third meeting of the teams this season; the Isles defeat Philly 5-3 at the Coliseum in late October (for their 7th straight win) and then rallied from a 3-0 deficit with just over 12 minutes to play for a 4-3 shootout win in Philadelphia on November 16th (extending their point streak to 14 games).

The Isles are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games against the Flyers, including three OT/SO wins.

This is the Flyers' first game at Barclays Center since April 3, 2018; overall, the Isles are 3-2-2 in seven games between the teams in Brooklyn.

The teams will meet again in Philadelphia on March 24th to complete the season series.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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