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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, April 18, 2021

The Skinny: Isles 1, Philadelphia 0 (OT)

"The Skinny"      

By Eric Hornick

Game 45
Isles 1 Philadelphia 0 (OT)
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for his third shutout and Nick Leddy was credited with an overtime goal after his pass was deflected in by Travis Sanheim as the Isles broke a two-game losing streak and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 before a socially-distanced crowd of 3,603 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Sorokin is the first rookie in NHL history to record five wins over the Flyers (all of the others who had won four did so over multiple years).

The Isles moved back into 2nd place in the East Division, two points behind Washington and one point ahead of Pittsburgh. The Isles and Penguins have 11 games to play while Washington has only 10; the Isles will have an opportunity to tie Washington for the division lead on Tuesday when they host the Rangers.  Boston is six points behind Washington and four behind the Isles; the Bruins have 13 games to play.

The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
No Goals

OT
Nick Leddy (2) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (13), Jordan Eberle (15) 02:23  NYI 1,PHI 0

The Skinny        
The Isles are 9-7-0 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) …The Isles have killed 18 of the last 19 opponent power plays… The Isles again played without Cal Clutterbuck  and Josh Bailey; Braydon Coburn played his first game as an Islander, replacing Noah Dobson …The win snapped a four-game road losing streak (two in Pittsburgh and two in Boston)… Isles are 19-1-2 this season when scoring the first goal; the team that scored first has won the last eight Islander games… This was the 5th 1-0 game between the teams all-time.  The Flyers won the one that ended in regulation (1/22/1983); the Isles have now won twice in overtime and twice in shootouts…The Isles now lead the NHL with seven shutouts; Ilya Sorokin is tied for the rookie lead (with Carolina's Alex Nedeljkovic) with three…After losing eight straight OT/SO games (over two seasons), the Isles have won eight straight games beyond 60 months (including five with Sorokin in goal)…That was Nick Leddy's second OT goal in Philadelphia (also 11/24/2017); both of his goals this season (also 1/31) have been scored in Philadelphia…The Isles are 4-5-0 in their last nine road games, with all four wins requiring extra time.

First Time in a Long Time
This was the first scoreless Islander game to go to overtime since February 1, 2019, when Tampa Bay beat the Isles at the Coliseum in a shootout.
Nick Leddy's overtime goal ended a 159:27 Islander scoreless streak
There were six overtime games in the season series; the only other time that happened was in the 1988-89 season (Los Angeles vs. Winnipeg).
The Isles have won three games this season by a 1-0 score; the only other time that happened was in the 1998-99 season.
 
Magic Number Time
The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot falls to 15 (over the Rangers) and 10 (over Philadelphia).  New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Isles.

The Playoff Chase  (top 4 make playoffs)
Washington 62 points (10 to play)
ISLES 60 points (11 to play)
Pittsburgh         59 points (11 to play)
Boston 56 points (13 to play)
---------------------------------------------------
Rangers         52 points (11 to play)
Philadelphia 47 points (11 to play)

This Week's Schedule:
Monday – no games
Tuesday-  NYR @ Isles, NJ @ PIT, BOS @ BUF
Wednesday – no games
Thursday- WAS @ Isles, PHI @ NYR, NJ @ PIT, BOS @ BUF
Friday – PHI @ NYR, BOS @ BUF
Saturday- WAS @ Isles, NJ @ PIT
Sunday – BUF @ NYR, NJ @ PHI, BOS @ PIT

Sorokin's Shining
Ilya Sorokin is 12-2-0 in his last fourteen starts (1.67, .934).  Among goalies who have played at least 10 games in that span, only Juuse Soros (1.61) has a lower goals against average in that span and only Soros (.949) and Alex Nedeljkovic (.937) have a higher save percentage.

Sorokin is 8-0-0 at home.  He is the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season (Harry Lumley for Detroit in 1944-45 and Jaroslav Halak for Montreal in 2006-07 had each started 7-0-0).  Two others have won at least eight straight over multiple seasons. Gord Mc Rae for Toronto in 1972-73 and 1974-75 (10); Michel Plasse for St. Louis and Montreal in 1970-71 and 1972-73 (8).

Only one other NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won eight straight at home in a single season- Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.

Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):
1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)
2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)
3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)
4. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2020-21)
        Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)

Most Shutouts by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):
1. Chico Resch 7 (1975-76)
2. Ilya Sorokin 3 (2020-21)
        Chico Resch 3 (1974-75)

(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)

Varly Streaking
Semyon Varlamov is 9-5-1 in his last fifteen decisions, allowing just 36 goals in that span.  Varly has won 16 games this season with a goals against average of 2.24 and save percentage of .922.  Varlamov has 248 NHL wins and 31 shutouts, including four this season.   

Home Sweet Home
The Isles have earned points in 20 of their first 22 home games (18-2-2); it is their best home record through 22 games in the Post-Cup Era:

Most Points at Home Through 22 Games
40 1978-79 (18-0-4)
38 2020-21 (18-2-2)
36 1977-78 (16-2-4)
36 1980-81 (17-3-2)

Towards the Top of the Chart
The Isles now have 60 points in 45 games; it is their second-highest point total through 45 games in the Post-Cup era:
61 2019-20
60 2020-21
60 2013-14

Solid D
The Isles have allowed only 105 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 44 games; it matches the fewest goals that they have allowed through 44 games in their history:
105 (2020-21)
105 (1975-76)
109 (1977-78)
112 (1976-77)
112 (2015-16)

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

Home and Road
The Isles are 28-13-4 overall; they are 18-2-2 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.
Philadelphia is 20-18-7 overall; they are 9-10-4 at home and 11-8-3 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 873-631-60-155 in 1,719 games. 

Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman  1,244
2. Joel Quenneville  953
3. Barry Trotz    873

Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman   2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,749
3. Barry Trotz        1,719

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,439
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,322
3. Glen Sather 1,319

It All Starts at the Top
Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,195 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 19-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-12-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Isles have won 86.4% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton and Vegas, both .857).  The Isles are the only team with one regulation loss.

The Shots
Isles    4-9-13-2=28
Philadelphia    8-15-6-1=30
The Isles are 17-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-2 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 63-32-12 when outshot.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves and improves to 12-4-1 on the season and 5-0-1 in his career against Philadelphia.
Brian Elliott made 27 saves; he is 11-6-2 on the season and 9-2-9 in his career against the Isles. 

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

The Isles are 11-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-9-1 when they do not.  The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 22-4-2 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 8-10-1 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 86-8-10 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 14-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 4-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-1 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 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-2-1 in the back-half. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.
 
Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-4-3 (.804) 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: 19-7-3 (.707).

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 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-6-1 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), PIT (L/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/L))

In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-0 in the first game, 3-0-0 in the second game, and 3-0-0 in the third:
BUF (W/W/W), NJ (W/W/W), PHI (L/W/Wot)

Tired vs. Rested 
The Isles are 5-2-1 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 22-9-3 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:17); Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov (27:47)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:53 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-4-0), Ryan Pulock (15-7-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (2-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 19, Philadelphia 28 (40%)
Travis Zajac won 4 of 7 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 13 of 16 for Philadelphia.

The Isles are 17-7-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 11-3-1 when they win fewer.

Hit Count
Isles 29 (JG Pageau and Leo Komarov -5)
Philadelphia 27 (Wade Allison -5)
Fights 
There were no fights.  Season total: 4 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1, Johnston-1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 16 (Scott Mayfield -4)
Philadelphia 11 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Philadelphia 58
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Philadelphia 51

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Matt Martin and Kyle Palmieri +3
Philadelphia: Curtis Lazar +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Philadelphia 10
5-on-5: Isles 5, Philadelphia 8

Scratches
Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Ross Johnston, Noah Dobson, (Cal Clutterbuck- INJ), (Josh Bailey -INJ)
Games Lost: 49
COVID Games Lost -6

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 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.   

Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 290, Mathew Barzal 277, Ryan Pulock 240.  All three players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.

Iron Man
Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is tied-9th:
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. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 290
5. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284
6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 277
7. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
8. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
9. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 240
9. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)
 (*) 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 one goal and allowed four 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:  4 [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; Anders Bjork, 3/25/21 vs BOS (17:54) – tying goal/Isles won in OT]

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 908…
14. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 15. Matt Martin 605 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt 596 *** 18. John Tonelli 594 ***19. Brock Nelson 593 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 579 … 
27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 520 *** 29. Cal Clutterbuck 519 *** 30. Dave Lewis 514 *** 31. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 33. Nick Leddy 507

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 165 *** 16. Patrick Flatley and Josh Bailey 160

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 ***
4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6.  Josh Bailey 341 …
19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 192

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 501…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson 320

Games Coached 
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 195
 
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 111

On the Farm
Bridgeport is 4-13-1-0 on the season (3-6-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following a 4-0 win over Hartford on Saturday; Ken Appleby recorded the shutout, stopping 22 shots.  

Bridgeport returns to action on Tuesday afternoon when they host Providence.

Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series 5 games to 3 (and 12 points to 10). 
The Isles are 5-1-2 while Philadelphia is 3-1-4.

Six of the eight games went beyond 60 minutes, including each of the final four meetings.
 
UP NEXT
TUESDAY, APRIL 20th   – RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm
[MSSG+ [pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, WNYM 970]
The Isles head home for a three-game homestand, beginning on Tuesday with the 6th meeting of the season with the Rangers.

The teams split a pair of games earlier this month at the Coliseum, with the Rangers winning 4-1 on April 9th and the Isles winning 3-2 in overtime on April 11th.  The Islander win, on Ryan Pulock's overtime win, marked the first time the Isles had ever scored an overtime goal in a home game against the Rangers.

The Isles lead the season series 3 games to 2 (and 6 points to 5); the teams will conclude the season series with a traditional home-and-home (on April 29th at MSG and May 1st at Nassau Coliseum).

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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