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The Skinny: Isles 5, Chicago 4

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 31 Isles 5, Chicago 4 Simon Holmstrom scored a goal and added two assists, while Jean-Gabriel P...

Sunday, August 30, 2020

The Skinny: Isles 3, Philadelphia 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Round 2 Game 3
Isles 3, Philadelphia 1  
Isles lead best-of-7 series, 2-1
Leo Komarov broke a 1-1 tie with a back-breaking goal at 19:54 of the second period and Anders Lee scored a power play goal in the third period as the Isles grabbed a 2-1 lead in their second round series with a 3-1 victory at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.  

Semyon Varlamov allowed only a first period goal from Tyler Pitlick and finished with 26 saves.  Matt Martin scored his third playoff goal to even the score 7:12 into the second period.

The win is the Isles' 9th in the bubble, matching the 1993 team for most playoff wins in the Post-Cup era.  The Isles are now 10 wins away from the Stanley Cup; they are now closer to the Cup than they have been in any year since 1993.

The Isles lead the series 2-1; game 4 will be on Sunday at 8pm.  

The Scoring: 
1st Period
Tyler Pitlick (2) Scott Laughton (3), Matt Niskanen (1) 14:18 PHI 1,NYI 0

2nd Period
Matt Martin (3) Mathew Barzal (7), Jordan Eberle (1) 07:12 PHI 1,NYI 1
Leo Komarov (1) Derick Brassard (1) 19:54 PHI 1,NYI 2

3rd Period
Anders Lee (6) Jordan Eberle (2), Ryan Pulock (6) 03:41 PHI 1,NYI 3 PPG

The Series (Isles lead 2-1)
Game 1: Isles 4 Philadelphia 0
Game 2: Philadelphia 4 Isles 3 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 3 Philadelphia 1
Game 4: Sunday 8pm
Game 5: Tuesday 7pm
Game 6: (if needed) Thursday September 3rd 
Game 7: (if needed) Saturday, September 5th

Tuesday's will be the first Isles game to ever be played in September (except pre-season).

The Skinny
The Isles have outscored the Flyers 6-0 in the third period after outscoring the Caps 7-1 in the third period; the Isles have allowed only one third period goal in their nine wins this post-season; the Isles lead the NHL with 17 third period goals in this year's playoffs…The Isles have allowed four first period goals in the last two games after allowing only three in their first 10 post-season games.. Nick Leddy played his 38th playoff game as an Islander without being penalized, extending his own club record...The Isles held the Flyers to 27 shots; they have allowed fewer than 30 in regulation time in all 12 playoff games.…Anders Lee recorded his second career playoff power play goal (in as many games)  to go along with 50 he has scored in regular season play; Lee now has six goals in the last eight games… The Flyers had won all eight previous games that they scored first…Anders Lee has 6 goals and no assists; only two players in Stanley Cup history have finished a playoff year with more goals and no assists (Chris Kontos 9-0 in 1989 for Los Angeles; James van Riemsdyk 7-0 in 2010 for Philadelphia)…The Isles have been shorthanded only four times in the first three games of this series; that's two fewer than any other series through three games (records date to 1978). The previous record was 6, set in 2015 vs. Washington.

First Times in a Long Time (Playoff Only)
Anders Lee is the first Islander to score PP goals in consecutive playoff games since Adrian Aucoin (games 5 and 6 vs. Toronto in 2002).  The last Isles forward to do so was Kip Miller, in games 4 and 5 of that series.
The Isles have won a second games in Round 2 for the first time since advancing to the Conference Finals in 1993.

Play to the Buzzer
Leo Komarov's goal was only the 5th in Isles playoff history to be scored in the final six seconds of a period (excluding empty nets):
5/2/1981 NYI @ NYR W Bob Nystrom (19:55 of 2nd)
5/8/1982 NYI VAN W OT Mike Bossy (19:58 of OT)
4/22/1987 NYI @ PHI W Mikko Makela (19:57 of 3rd- GWG)
4/27/2016 NYI @ TBL W Shane Prince (19:57 of 1st)

The Isles are 5-0 in those games, with the late goal being the eventual winner three times (Bossy, Makela, Komarov)

Pageau, Pageau, JG Pageau
JG Pageau has 18 goals in 47 career Stanley Cup games. Among active players who have played 47 or fewer games, only Jake Guentzel has scored more goals:

Jake Guentzel 25 goals in 45 games
Nathan MacKinnon 18 goals in 36 games
JG Pageau 18 goals in 47 games
Mark Schiefele 16 goals in 28 games
*Mark Stone 16 goals in 44 games
* Not including Vegas-Vancouver on Saturday night

Plus, Plus, Plus
The Isles now have three players +10 or better:
JG Pageau +12 (Leads NHL)(*)
Josh Bailey +10
Nick Leddy +10

No Isle has finished a playoff year higher than +6 (Benoit Hogue in 1993) in the Post-Cup era. Denis Potvin (team-leading +20) was one of five Isles +16 or better in 1983.

They are three of only 6 players in NHL +10 or better (Cole Makar +11, Alec Martinez +10(*), Jamie Oleksiak +10),
* Not including Vegas-Vancouver on Saturday night

Beau Knows Goal
Anthony Beauvillier now has seven goals this summer, leaving him fourth in goals by an Islander in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.
Ray Ferraro 13 (1993)
Steve Thomas 9 (1993)
Bryan Trottier 8 (1987)
Anthony Beauvillier 7 (2020)

Hey, Josh Bailey
Josh Bailey now has nine assists this summer, leaving him second in assists by an Islander in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.
Derek King 11 (1993)
Josh Bailey 9 (2020)
Steve Thomas 8 (1993)
Pat LaFontaine 8 (1987)
John Tonelli 8 (1985)

Thanks for the Help
Ryan Pulock now has six assists this summer, matching the most by an Islander defenseman in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.
Ryan Pulock 6 (2020)
Roman Hamrlik 6 (2002)
Dennis Vaske 6 (1993)
Vladimir Malakhov 6 (19930

Elite Eight Again!
The Isles are in Round 2 for the second straight season and third time in the last five years.  In those five years, no Eastern Conference team has advanced to Round 2 more than the Isles.  Tampa Bay, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Washington have also appeared in the Elite 8 three times.

Longest Playoff Shutout Streaks by a Goalie:
Semyon Varlamov 138:17 (8/20-8/26/2020)
Billy Smith  136:59 (4/11-4/16/1980)
Robin Lehner 123:29 (4/16-4/26/2019)

The Isles' team shutout record in post-season play is 182:50, set in April 1979 (all vs. Chicago).

Joining Smitty
Semyon Varlamov has won 9 of his 11 decisions this summer. Billy Smith (10-1 in 1980 and 9-2 in 1981) is the only other goalie in Isles history to start a playoff year that way.

Familiar Foes
This is the 5th meeting of the Isles and Philadelphia in the playoffs (Isles are 1-3 and have won 13 of 28 games):
1975 Semi-Finals  Flyers won series 4-3
1980 STANLEY CUP FINAL  Isles won series, and Stanley Cup  4-2
1985 Patrick Division Finals  Flyers won series 4-1
1987 Patrick Division Finals  Flyers won series 4-3
2020 Eastern Conference First Round  Isles lead series 2-1

2020 is the third straight playoff meeting between the teams that followed the Isles eliminating Washington; the winner of each previous Islander-Flyer series between the teams has at least reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Barry and Al
Barry Trotz is only the 2nd coach to lead the Isles to multiple series wins, joining Al Arbour.  Terry Simpson and Jack Capuano are the only other coaches to lead the Isles to a playoff series victory.

Lou and Bill
Lou Lamoriello has won 28 playoff series as a General Manager, tying Bill Torrey for second place on the all-time list. Glen Sather has 41 wins.

Overtime is Our Time
The Isles are 35-18 (.660) all-time in overtime, including 19-10 (.655) at home. The .660 overall percentage is 2nd to Tampa Bay (18-8 .692) while the .655 home percentages is the best in NHL history. The Isles are 1-1 in overtime this season; they have gone 6-5 in eleven overtime games since 2015.

Overtime is Our Time vs. Philadelphia
The Isles are 3-2 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Philadelphia:
05/01/75 @ Bob Clarke L Phil 2:56 
05/07/75 Vs Jude Drouin W Phil 1:53 
05/13/80 @ Denis Potvin W Phil 4:07 
05/24/80 Vs Bobby Nystrom W Phil 7:11
08/26/20 @(Tor) Philippe Myers  L            Phil       2:41

Lead/Tie/Trailed
Game 1: Led: 53:54, Tied: 6:06,  Trailed: 0:00 
Game 2: Led:  0:00. Tied 6:47, Trailed: 55:54
Game 3: Led 20:06, Tied 27:00, Trailed 12:54
Series:   Led  74:00, Tied: 39:53,  Trailed: 68:48 

Vs Florida:  Led: 120:01, Tied: 58:56,  Trailed 61:03
Vs. Washington  Led  130:12, Tied 120:32, Trailed: 53:44

Playoffs All-Time
The Isles improve to 157-127 in 284 all-time playoff games.  They are 88-47 at home (including 2-5 at Barclays and 4-1 in Toronto) and 69-80 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 4-1 when they are the home team and 5-2 when they are the road team.

A Winning Summer
With a record of 9-3 in the playoffs, the Isles are guaranteed a winning record for this year's playoffs.  It is the first time in the post-Cup era that the Isles have won more games than they lost.  It is the most games the Isles have won in the playoffs since 1993, when they also won 9.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 845-618-60-151 in 1,674 games and will begin next season just five 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  925
3. Ken Hitchcock    849
4. Barry Trotz    845
5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,705
3. Barry Trotz        1,674
4. Al Arbour 1,607 

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)
Barry Trotz has now coached 133 playoff games (68-65).  His 68 wins have tied Claude Julien for 15th place.  Trotz won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:
Al Arbour 119
Barry Trotz 13
Jack Capuano 10
Terry Simpson 9
Peter Laviolette 4
Ted Nolan 1
Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):
Al Arbour 198
Jack Capuano 24
Barry Trotz 20
Terry Simpson 20
Peter Laviolette 12
Steve Stirling 5
Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:
Al Arbour 26 (26-9)
Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)
Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)
Barry Trotz 2 (2-2)
Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)
Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:
Al Arbour 29
Barry Trotz 3
Jack Capuano 1
Terry Simpson 1

First Things First
The Isles are 5-1 when scoring first and are 4-2 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots
Isles       10-15-4=29
Philadelphia  9-6-12=27

Shots by Game
Game 1: Isles 29, Philadelphia 29
Game 2: Isles 34, Philadelphia 31
Game 3: Isles 29, Philadelphia 27
Series: Isles 92, Philadelphia 87
Vs. Florida: Isles 122, Florida 103
Vs. Washington: Isles 136, Washington 124
Playoffs: Isles 350, Opponents 314

The Isles are 6-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 2-1 when the shots are even and 1-1 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves to improve to 9-2 in this year's playoffs and 22-15 in his career.
Carter Hart made 26 saves but falls to 7-4 in the playoffs (all this year).

Power Plays
The Isles were 1-2 on the power play in 3:13 of PP time; Philadelphia was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time.

Power Plays by Game
Game 1: Isles 0-1 (2:00, 0 shots), Philadelphia 0-1 (2:00, 1 shot)
Game 2: Isles 1-3 (4:17, 5 shots), Philadelphia 0-2 (4:00, 2 shots)
Game 3: Isles 1-2 (3:13, 1 shot), Philadelphia 0-1 (2:00, 4 shots)
Series: Isles 2-6 (9:30, 6 shots), Philadelphia 0-4 (8:00, 7 shots)
Vs. Florida: Isles 4-13 (23:55; 15 shots), Florida 4-14 (16:51, 21 shots)
Series: Isles 2-22 (34:26, 29 shots), Washington 4-18 (24:57, 20 shots)
Playoffs:  Power Play: 8-41 (69:51, 50 shots), Penalty Kill 8-36 (49:48, 48 shots)

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 7-1 in the playoffs (7-0 in regulation and 0-1 in overtime) when they score at least three goals and 2-2 when they do not.  Last season the Isles scored at least three goals in each of their four wins and two or fewer in each of their four losses.

Shutting the Door
The Isles are 9-0 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs.  (The Isles won 25 straight, and 39 out of 40 games in the Dynasty era allowing two or fewer goals in a playoff game)

One Goal Games
The Isles are 2-3 in the playoffs in one-goal games (1-2 in regulation and 1-1 in overtime). The Isles are 0-0  in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Adam Pelech (23:14);  Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (24:42)
Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 18:07 of ice-time 
Isles record by ice-time leader: Scott Mayfield (1-0), Adam Pelech (5-0), Mathew Barzal (2-1), Nick Leddy (1-1), Devon Toews (0-1)

Face-offs
Isles 25, Philadelphia 26 (49%).

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 14 for the Isles; Nate Thompson won 6 of 8 for Philadelphia.  

Face-offs by Game
Game 1: Isles 28, Philadelphia 30 (48%)
Game 2: Isles 31, Philadelphia 27 (53%)
Game 3: Isles 25, Philadelphia 26 (49%)
Series: Isles 84, Philadelphia 83 (50%)
Vs. Florida:  Isles 106, Florida 127 (45%)
Vs. Washington: Isles 156, Washington 122 (56%)
Playoffs: Isles 346, Opponents 332 (51%)

Hit Count
Isles 36 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -5)
Philadelphia 33 (Nicolas Aube-Kubel-6)

Hits Game by Game:
Game 1: Isles 34, Philadelphia 29
Game 2: Isles 39, Philadelphia 31
Game 3: Isles 36, Philadelphia 33
Series: Isles 109, Philadelphia 93
Vs. Florida:  Isles 128, Florida 124
Series: Isles 194, Washington 177
Playoffs: Isles 431, Opponents 394

Fights
There were no fights. Playoff total -1  (Lee -1)

Blocked Shots
Isles 18 (Three with 3)
Philadelphia 14 (Tyler Pitlick -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Philadelphia 63
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 54, Philadelphia 56

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Mathew Barzal +8
Philadelphia: Sean Couturier +9

Corsi Game by Game:
Game 1 (All) Isles 51, Philadelphia 67;  (5-on-5) Isles 47, Philadelphia 63
Game 2 (All) Isles 71, Philadelphia 53;  (5-on-5) Isles 63, Philadelphia 48
Game 3 (All) Isles 57, Philadelphia 63;  (5-on-5) Isles 54, Philadelphia 56
Series: (All) Isles 179, Philadelphia 183;  (5-on-5) Isles 164, Philadelphia 167
Vs Florida (All) Isles 226, Florida 224;  (5-on-5) Isles 174, Florida 168
Vs Washington: (All) Isles 260, Washington 294; (5-on-5) Isles 190, Washington 212
Playoffs (All)  Isles 665, Opponent 701; (5-on-5) Isles 528, Opponent 547

Scratches
Michael DalColle, Ross Johnston, Johnny Boychuk, Tom Kuhnhackl, Noah Dobson, Andrew Ladd, Otto Koivula, Thomas Hickey, Sebastian Aho, Christopher Gibson
Playoff games lost: 5. 

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)
Mathew Barzal – Game 3 vs. Washington (8/18/20) – 4:28 of OT

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed
Philippe Myers – Game 2 vs. Philadelphia (8/26/20) – 2:41 of OT

Playoff Challenges
None

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)
Games:
Casey Cizikas 44
Matt Martin 44
Josh Bailey 42

Goals:
Brock Nelson 10 
Josh Bailey 10 
Anthony Beauvillier 8
Anders Lee 7
Jordan Eberle 7
JG Pageau 6
Mathew Barzal 5
Cal Clutterbuck 5

Assists:
Josh Bailey 18
Mathew Barzal 12
Nick Leddy 10
Jordan Eberle 10
Brock Nelson 9
Ryan Pulock 9
Devon Toews 8

Points:
Josh Bailey 28
Brock Nelson 19
Mathew Barzal 17
Jordan Eberle 17
Nick Leddy 14

Penalty Minutes:
Matt Martin 46
Cal Clutterbuck 42
Casey Cizikas 38

PP Goals
Mathew Barzal 2
Josh Bailey 2 
Anthony Beauvillier 2
Brock Nelson 2 
Ryan Pulock 2
Anders Lee 2
Devon Toews 1
Jordan Eberle 1
Nick Leddy 1

SH Goals
Josh Bailey 1
 
GW Goals
Brock Nelson 3
Anthony Beauvillier 3
Jordan Eberle 2
Josh Bailey 2
Thomas Hickey 1
Mathew Barzal 1
Andy Greene 1
Leo Komarov 1

OT Goals 
Josh Bailey 1
Mathew Barzal 1
Thomas Hickey 1

Goaltending
Thomas Greiss  5-7  2.42 GAA, .921 save percentage
Semyon Varlamov 9-2 1.69 GAA, .935 save percentage

Up Next
ROUND 2- GAME 4 – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30th – 8:00PM 
ISLANDERS VS PHILADELPHIA (AT TORONTO)  
[NBC-Channel 4, 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050; 30-minute pre-game and expanded post-game on MSG+]

It will be a quick turn-around as the teams meet again at 8pm on Sunday.  Believe it or not, it will be the first-ever Isles appearance in prime-time on a broadcast network (NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS).

This is the second time in the post-season the Isles have played back-to-back (games 2 and 3 vs. Florida) and the second time the Flyers have done so (games 4 and 5 vs. Montreal).

The Isles will look to take a 3-1 lead in the series. The Isles are 8-2 all-time when they lead a series 2-1, while the Flyers are 7-22 when they trail 2-1.

Game 5 of the series will be played Tuesday at 7pm.

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


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