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The Skinny: New Jersey 4, Isles 0

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 71 New Jersey 4, Isles 0 Timo Meier had a Gordie Howe hat trick, all in the second period, as th...

Friday, March 19, 2021

The Skinny: Philadelphia 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny"         

By Eric Hornick

Game 31
Philadelphia 4, Isles 3
Oskar Lindholm scored the winning goal just 2:22 to as the Philadelphia Flyers overcame a fierce Islander rally in the third period for a 4-3 victory before a socially-distanced crowd of 1,400 at the Nassau Coliseum.

After allowing three straight goals in the middle session, the Isles rallied to tie with three goals in a 6:34 span of the third. Michael Dal Colle and Sebastian Aho each scored their first goals of the season before Oliver Wahlstrom tied the game 34 seconds after Aho's tally with his second goal in as many games.

The loss snaps ends the Isles season-opening home point streak at 14 – it is the longest home point streak of the post-Cup era. The Isles remain tied with Philadelphia for the East Division point lead, but the Capitals now have two games in hand. 

The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
Oskar Lindblom (3) Claude Giroux (16), Travis Konecny (9) 02:26 PHI 1,NYI 0
Claude Giroux (7) Nate Prosser (1), Travis Konecny (10) 10:04 PHI 2,NYI 0
Jakub Voracek (5) Kevin Hayes (12), Scott Laughton (9) 14:01 PHI 3,NYI 0

3rd Period
Michael Dal Colle (1) Nick Leddy (18), Josh Bailey (13) 07:53 PHI 3,NYI 1
Sebastian Aho (1) Nick Leddy (19), Michael Dal Colle (3) 13:53 PHI 3,NYI 2
Oliver Wahlstrom (7) Nick Leddy (20), Adam Pelech (7) 14:27 PHI 3,NYI 3
Oskar Lindblom (4) Travis Konecny (11), Philippe Myers (6) 17:38 PHI 4,NYI 3

The Skinny        
The Isles have points in 20 of their last 24 games (16-4-4) and are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games.… The Isles have outscored their opponents 30-18 in the first period and 36-21 in the third period; however the Isles have been outscored 5-0 in their last two second periods and 28-22 on the season in the middle session… Nick Leddy earned the primary assist on all three goals; he is the first Islander since Josh Bailey (2-10-2020 at Philadelphia) to have a three assist period; Leddy, who now leads all East Division defensemen with 20 assists, has matched last season's point total (3-18-21) and equaled career highs for assists (3) and points (3) in a game.  Leddy is now tied-4th in assists among all defensemen, trailing only Tyson Barrie (26), Quinn Hughes (23) and Victor Hedman (23) …The Isles now have 11 goals from rookies (Oliver Wahlstrom 7, Kieffer Bellows 3, Sebastian Aho 1); among East Division teams, only New Jersey (20) has more…Wahlstrom is the fifth rookie to reach the seven goal mark; only Kirill Karpizov (10) and Pius Suter (8) have more… Mathew Barzal took a first period double-minor, extending his team lead in penalty minutes to 36… Travis Konecny had three helpers for Philly; his previous six points vs. the Isles were all goals…The Isles defense had four assists, giving them 57 – most in the East.  The defense has earned 39.0% of the Isles assists (2nd to Vancouver's 40.3%)…  Michael Dal Colle's goal ended a stretch of seven straight goals by American-born Islanders…Barzal played his 263rd consecutive game, breaking a tie with Denis Potvin for 6th place on the Isles' list; Barry Trotz coached his 181st game, tying Scott Gordon for 5th on the Isles' all-time list.

First Times in a Long Time
Michael Dal Colle's goal was his first since February 6, 2020 vs. Los Angeles, ending a stretch of 31 games without a goal.
Sebastian Aho's goal was his first since January 7, 2018 vs. New Jersey, ending a stretch of 21 games (and over 38 months) without an NHL goal.
Oskar Lindblom recorded his 2nd two-goal game, and his first since 2019.

Kings of 60
The Isles have won 17 games in regulation (out of 19 overall). Only Edmonton (19) has more regulation wins.

Varly Streaking
Semyon Varlamov is 6-2-1 in his last nine games, allowing just 21 goals in that span.  Varly has won 13 games this season with a goals against average of 2.17 and save percentage of .923.  All three are the best in the East Division.  Varlamov now has 245 career wins, tying Kirk McLean for 65th all-time.

Sorokin's Shining
Ilya Sorokin has allowed only nine goals in his last six games (6-0-0); in that span the Isles have allowed only 137 shots on goal (22.8 per game) . Sorokin has allowed 20 goals in 546 minutes this season (2.20), and since January 24th he has allowed only 15 goals in his eight appearances (1.87).  

Sorokin is the first rookie goalie in Islander history to record a win in six consecutive games and is the second Isles rookie to win six consecutive decisions (Roland Melanson – 6 games – 1982).  Melanson's streak began with the first game of the famed 15-game win streak. 

Towards the Top of the Table
The Isles have 42 points through 31 games, trailing only last year's team for most points through 31 games over the last 40 years.

Most Points through 31 games:
47 1978-79 (20-4-7)
46 2019-20 (22-7-2)
44 1976-77 (20-7-4)
43 1980-81 (19-7-5)
42 1983-84 (20-9-2)
42 2014-15 (21-10-0)
42 2020-21 (19-8-4)

Home Sweet Home
Before today's loss, the Isles had earned points in their first 14 home games (12-0-2); it was the second-longest point streak to open the season and only the sixth time in club history that the Isles have had a streak of at least 14 games at any point during the season. The previous five all occurred under the coaching of Al Arbour.

The Isles were the final team in the NHL to suffer a regulation loss at home.

Most Points at Home Through 15 Games
26 2020-21 (12-1-2)
26 1978-79 (11-0-4)
25 2019-20 (12-2-1)

Longest Home Point Streak to Open a Season
23 1978-79 (19-0-4)
14 2020-21 (12-0-2)
10 2017-18 (8-0-2)

Longest Home Point Streak at any point in a Season
23 1981-82 (21-0-2)
        23 1978-79 (19-0-4)
16 1977-78 (14-0-2)
15 1980-81 (12-0-3)
14 2020-21 (12-0-2)
        14 1974-75 (10-0-4)
13 2019-20 (12-0-1)
        13 1979-80 (11-0-2)

Solid D
The Isles have allowed only 71 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 31 games; it matches the fewest goals that they have allowed through 31 games in their history:
71 (2020-21)
71 (1977-78)
72 (2019-20)
72 (2015-16) 
75 (1976-77)

Results vs. Each East Division Opponent
Boston W-W-W-W  Remaining games: 4  (0 home, 4 away)
Buffalo W-W-W-W-W-W         Remaining games: 2  (0 home, 2 away)
New Jersey W-L-W-W-W-Wso Remaining games: 2  (2 home, 0 away)
Rangers         W-L-W Remaining games: 5  (4 home, 1 away)
Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L         Remaining games: 5  (3 home, 2 away)
Pittsburgh         W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W Remaining games: 2  (0 home, 2 away)
Washington L-L-L         Remaining games: 5  (4 home, 1 away)

Road Warriors
This was the fourth game in a stretch where the Isles will play eight out of 10 on the road.  The Isles are 2-2-0 in this stretch:
@ NJ W 3-2
@ NJ Wso 3-2
@WSH L 1-3
PHI L 3-4
PHI 3/20
@PHI 3/22
@BOS 3/23
@BOS 3/25
@PIT 3/27
@PIT 3/29
Following this stretch, 12 of the final 19 will be at home

19 in 33
This Isles are in a stretch in which they are scheduled to play 19 games in 33 days for the first time in franchise history.  The Isles are 10-2-1 in this stretch.

Home and Road
The Isles are 19-8-4 overall; they are 12-1-2 at home and 7-7-2 on the road.
Philadelphia is 15-10-3 overall; they are 7-5-2 at home and 8-5-1 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 864-626-60-155 in 1,705 games. 

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  944
3. Barry Trotz    864

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,734
3. Barry Trotz        1,705

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello is the third-winningest general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,427
2. Glen Sather 1,319
3. Lou Lamoriello 1,313

It All Starts at the Top
Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,177 wins between 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 13-1-2 when scoring first and are 6-7-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles    8-5-12=25
Philadelphia    9-12-10=31

The Isles are 13-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 5-4-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 58-29-12 when outshot.

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves but falls to 13-6-3 on the season and 7-3-2 in his career against Philadelphia.
Carter Hart made 22 saves to improve to 8-6-3 on the season and 2-2-0 in his career against the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Philadelphia was 0-2 (4:00).

The Isles are 8-3-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-5-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 4-6-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-2-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 14-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-6-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 80-7-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 7-3-4 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 0-3 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 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 3-0-2 in the front-half and 4-0-1 in the back-half.  The next back-to-back is scheduled for March 22nd/23rd, road games in Philadelphia and Boston.
 
Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-2-3 (.865) in back-ends. This is by far the best record of any NHL team in back-ends during this stretch.  Tampa Bay has the next best record: 18-6-3 (.722).

Series
The schedule as currently comprised has the Isles playing the same opponent in consecutive games seventeen times this season (including three-game stretches vs. the Sabres, Devils, Flyers, and Capitals).
  
In two-game series, the Isles are 3-2-2 in the first game and 2-4-1 in the second game:
NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot), BUF(W/W), PIT (L/L), PIT (Lot/W)

In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-0 in the first game, 2-0-0 in the second game, and 2-0-0 in the third:
BUF (W/W/W), NJ (W/W/W), PHI (L/-/-)

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 4-0-1 when both teams played the night before. 
The Isles are 1-2-0 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 14-6-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (26:08-season high); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (25:04)
Josh Bailey led Isles forwards with 21:01 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (8-2-0), Ryan Pulock (7-4-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (2-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 37, Philadelphia 26 (59%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 15 of 23 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 11 of 19 for Philadelphia.

The Isles are 11-6-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-1-1 when they are tied, and 8-1-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count
Isles 25 (Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin -5)
Philadelphia 16 (Nicolas Aube-Kubel -4)
Fights 
There were no fights.  Season total: 1 (Cizikas – 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 16 (Five with 2)
Philadelphia 11 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Philadelphia 59
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 32, Philadelphia 46

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Scott Mayfield +5
Philadelphia: Claude Giroux and Oskar Lindblom +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Philadelphia 10
5-on-5: Isles 5, Philadelphia 9

Scratches
Ross Johnston, Thomas Hickey, (Noah Dobson – COVID Protocol), (Anders Lee-LTIR), Leo Komarov
Games Lost: 22
COVID Games Lost -4

250-Game Club
The Isles have two players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 250 games, and they are two of just 15 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 276, Mathew Barzal 263, Ryan Pulock 226, Josh Bailey 184.  All four players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man
Brock Nelson now has the longest active streak (and 5th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 10th:
1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)
2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301
3. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – 3/13/2021 295
4. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284
5. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 276
6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 263
7. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
8. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
9. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)
10. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 226
 (*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders

Pulock's streak is the 2nd-longest by an Islander defenseman, trailing only Denis Potvin's 262-game streak.

Challenges
Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures 
The Isles are 1-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.(offsides 2/16 @BUF)

Opponents: 1 successful, 1 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR, no goalie interference 3/11 vs NJ)
The Isles are 1-0-0 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 3 goals 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) -winning goal]
Vs:  2 [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)-winning goal; Evgeni Malkin, 2/11/21 vs PIT (19:42) – tying goal/PIT won in OT; Oskar Lindblom, 3/18/21 vs PHI (17:38)-winning goal]

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 896…
17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 591 *** 19. Brock Nelson 579 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 565 …
27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 520 *** 29. Dave Lewis 514 *** 30. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509*** 32. Cal Clutterbuck 507 *** 33. Ed Westfall and Nick Leddy 493

Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Billy Harris and Anders Lee 184 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Brock Nelson 162 *** 16. Patrick Flatley 160  *** 17. Josh Bailey 157

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…
6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Josh Bailey 335 …
19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 188

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Josh Bailey 492…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 320  *** 22.  Brock Nelson 312

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 *** 4. Terry Simpson 187 *** 5. Scott Gordon and. Barry Trotz 181
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 102

On the Farm
Bridgeport improved to a 3-7-0-0 on the season (2-1-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-6-0-0 vs. Providence) with a 4-3 overtime win over Hartford today.  All four Sound Tiger goals were scored by Islander draft picks (Simon Holmstrom, Samuel Bolduc, Cole Coskey and Otto Koivula) with Koivula scoring the OT winner.
Bridgeport is now off until March 27th when they visit Hartford.

Season Series Stats
Philadelphia leads the season series 3 games to 0 (and 6 points to 2). The teams will meet again on Saturday at the Coliseum and on Monday in Philadelphia. 

The loss ends an Islander six-game point streak against Philadelphia (4-0-2) in regular season play.  Including their seven game playoff series in The Bubble, it is the Flyers' first win in regulation time in the last 14 meetings between the teams.

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, MARCH 20th   – PHILADELPHIA AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm
[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]
The brief homestand ends as the Isles play the Philadelphia Flyers in the second game of a three-game series.

The Isles will be looking to avoid a 3-game regulation losing streak for the first time since late January and restore an 11 point difference between the teams as Islander defenseman Nick Leddy celebrates his 30th birthday.

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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