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The Skinny: Carolina 5, Isles 3 (Carolina leads series 2-0)

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 2 Carolina 5, Isles 3 Carolina Leads Series 2-0 Sebastian Aho and Jo...

Monday, February 08, 2021

The Skinny: Isles 2, Rangers 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 11
Isles 2, Rangers 0 
Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin scored 2:05 apart midway through the third period and Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season as the Islanders blanked the Rangers 2-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Varlamov has not allowed a goal in 120 minutes against the Rangers this season; it is the first time the Isles have blanked the Rangers twice in a single season.  It was his 30th regular season shutout (and 5th as an Islander).

Barry Trotz recorded his 850th win as an NHL head coach, breaking a tie with Ken Hitchcock for 3rd play on the all-time list.

The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Casey Cizikas (2) Matt Martin (2), Adam Pelech (3) 11:15 NYI 1,NYR 0
Matt Martin (1) Cal Clutterbuck (3), Mathew Barzal (8) 13:20 NYI 2,NYR 0

The Skinny        
The Isles have won two straight and now points in four straight (2-0-2).…Mathew Barzal has points on twelve of the team's 25 goals this season, including nine of 18 at even-strength; Barzal also now has 15 assists (and five goals) in 15 games against the Rangers. He has an assist in six straight games overall; only Conor McDavid (8), Mitch Marner (8) and Charlie McAvoy (7) have longer active streaks…All three members of the fourth line have recorded a goal over the last two games and all three have points in each of the last two games…It is the first time since Opening Night that the road team won an Islander game (and snapped an 0-4-2 road stretch for the Isles); the nine consecutive wins by a home team matches the Islander club record…The Isles have three shutouts in their first 11 games for the first time since 1998-99 (all by Tommy Salo).. The Isles ended four-game point streaks for both Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome…The Isles have killed 13 of 14 at Madison Square Garden but only 7 of 12 in their other road games. 

Club 1800
Andy Greene led the Isles with four blocks, giving him a team-leading 26 this season, and exactly 1,800 in his career.   Greene is the fifth active NHL player with at least 1,800 blocks.

Longest Shutout Streaks for an Islander Goalie vs. the Rangers
122:00 Jaroslav Halak 2014-15
120:00 Semyon Varlamov CURRENT
110:35 Dwayne Roloson 110:35

Longest Home Win Streak to Open Season
7- 1982-83
4- 1984-85
3- 2020-21 (CURRENT)
3- 2003-04
3- 1992-93
3- 1988-89

Longest Win Streak by Home Teams in Islander Games
9 10/30-11/17/1984  (The Isles went 5-0-0 at home and 0-4-0 on road)
9 3/5-3/25/1995  (The Isles went 2-0-0 at home and 0-7-0 on road)
9 1/16-2/6/2021 (The Isles went 3-0-0 at home and 0-4-2 on road)

Home and Road
The Isles are 5-4-2 overall; 3-0-0 at home and 2-4-2 on the road.
The Rangers are 4-5-2 overall; 3-3-1 at home and 1-2-1 on the road.

Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 850-622-60-153 in 1,685 games, and he has passed Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  931
3. Barry Trotz    850
4. Ken Hitchcock    849

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,714
3. Barry Trotz        1,685

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello is the third-winningest general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,420
2. Glen Sather 1,319
3. Lou Lamoriello 1,299

It All Starts at the Top
Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,149 wins between the two of them.  They start each game with more than any other pair in NHL history (David Poile and Peter Laviolette had 2,036 after their last game together).  Bill Torrey and Al Arbour had  a then-record 1,462 at the end of the 1991-92 season, which was their last season together.  

First Things First
The Isles are 5-1-0 when scoring first and are 0-3-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles    7-14-9=30
Rangers        9-10-11=30

The Isles are 4-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 54-27-9 when outshot; the 54 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to improve to 5-2-1 on the season and 8-5-2 against the Rangers.  It was his 3rd shutout of the season and 30th of his career.
Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves but falls to 3-3-1 on the season and 0-2-0 in his career against the Isles. The Rangers have not scored a goal in either of the two losses against the Islanders.

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); the Rangers were 0-3 on the power play (4:54). 

The Isles are 3-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-3-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-4-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-0-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 3-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-3-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 70-6-8 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 2-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 2-1 in regulation. They are 0-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front-half and 0-0-1 in the back-half.  The next back-to-back is scheduled for February 15th/16th in Buffalo.

Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-3 in back-ends.

Series
The recently-announced schedule changed mean that the Isles will play the same opponent in consecutive games nineteen times this season (including a three-game stretch vs. the Sabres in early March).  The Isles are 2-1-1 in the first game and 0-3-1 in the second game:
NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot)

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 0-0-1 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 
The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
The Isles are 5-4-1 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (22:42); Rangers: Adam Fox (24:36)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:12 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (2-0-0), Ryan Pulock (3-2-1), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0), Mathew Barzal (0-1-1)

Face-offs
Isles 17, Rangers 27 (41%)
Oliver Wahlstrom won both draws he took for the Isles; Mika Zibanejad won 11 of 13 for Rangers.

The Isles are 4-3-0 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 0-1-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count
Isles 25 (Leo Komarov -5)
Rangers 25 (Alexis Lafreniere -5)
Fights 
There were no fights.  Season total: 0
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 14 (Andy Greene -4)
Rangers 19 (K'Andre Miller -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 59, Rangers 48
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 57, Rangers 39

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  JG Pageau +11
Rangers: Adam Fox +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Rangers 11
5-on-5: Isles 12, Rangers 9

Scratches
(Anthony Beauvillier-IR), Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Ilya Sorokin
Games Lost: 11

240 Game Club
The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 240 games, and they are three of just 18 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 279, Brock Nelson 256, Mathew Barzal 243, Ryan Pulock 206, Josh Bailey 164.  All five players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man
Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10; it is the first time in club history that three different Isles have had concurrent streaks of at least 240 games:
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. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 279
5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 256
7. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
8. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 243
9.   J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)
10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D
Ryan Pulock has become the third Islander defensemen to play in 200 consecutive games: 
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)
3. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 206
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 
The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 1 successful, 0 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)
The Isles are 0-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-0-0 in games that go the opponents' way.

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored 1 goal and allowed 1 goal in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:
For: 1 [Anders Lee, 2/6/21 vs PIT (17:14)]
Vs: 1  [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Josh Bailey 876…
17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 571 *** 19. Brock Nelson 559 *** 20. Ken Morrow 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Casey Cizikas 545 …
28. Dave Lewis 514. *** 29. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 31. Anders Lee 504 *** 32. Ed Westfall 493 *** 33. Cal Clutterbuck 489

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 176 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 155 *** 17. Brock Nelson 152

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Josh Bailey 324 …
20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Nick Leddy 172

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 479…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 307  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 299

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Barry Trotz 161
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 88

On the Farm
Bridgeport dropped a 5-2 decision to Hartford on Sunday to fall to 0-2-0 on the season.  They will next play in Marlborough, MA against Providence on Sunday afternoon.  All 24 of their games will be played against either Providence or Hartford.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2).

All three games have ended in a shutout, including twice when Semyon Varlamov's Isles have blanked Igor Shesterkin's Rangers.

The teams will not meet again until April 9th,  when they begin a stretch of five games in 23 days against each other.

UP NEXT
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11th  –PITTSBURGH AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm
[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]
The Isles have moved into a playoff spot but to stay there they will need to handle the Penguins on home-ice on Thursday.

The Isles are 3-0-0 on Coliseum ice and will look to win their first four home games for the first time since 1984-85.

The Isles opened the season series with a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday; this is the second of six meetings in February between the games.

The Isles are 3-0-2 in the last five games with Pittsburgh at home and are 4-0-2 in the last six games with Pittsburgh overall.

The game is being played on the 10th anniversary of one of the most remembered games in Coliseum history -- the famed 2011 Brawl Game.

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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