The Skinny: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Semi-Finals Game 1

Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1

Isles lead Best-of-7 series, 1-0

Mathew Barzal broke a scoreless tie midway through the second period and Ryan Pulock added the game-winner 5:36 into the third as the Islanders, behind 30 saves from Semyon Varlamov, defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 before a crowd of 14,513 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. 

Brayden Point scored the only Lightning goal, a 6-on-4 tally in the final minute, but it was not enough as the Isles seized home-ice advantage and the series lead.

The Isles have won four straight games in this year's playoffs; it the first time since 1983 that they have opened the Semi-Finals with a victory.  

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Mathew Barzal (4) Josh Bailey (7) 12:32 NYI 1,TBL 0

3rd Period

Ryan Pulock (4) Jordan Eberle (6) 05:36 NYI 2,TBL 0

Brayden Point (9) Alex Killorn (7), Nikita Kucherov (14) 19:06 NYI 2,TBL 1 PPG

The Series (Isles lead series, 1-0)

Game 1: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 

Game 2: Tuesday at Tampa Bay 

Game 3: Thursday  at Isles 

Game 4: Saturday at Isles 

Game 5: 6/21 at Tampa Bay (if needed)

Game 6: 6/23 at Isles  (if needed)

Game 7: 6/25 at Tampa Bay (if needed)

All remaining games in this series are 8:00 starts.

The Skinny 

The Isles are 6-3 in game 1's under Barry Trotz and have won every previous series under Trotz that they have won the opener… The Isles have played 43 playoff games under Barry Trotz; only Boston (48) has played more in that span… The Isles have outscored opponents 19-8 in the second period… Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to earn his 28th career playoff win… Mathew Barzal has score four times in the last five games, all Islander victories… The Isles lead the playoffs with 45 goals and are 2nd to Colorado in goals per game (3.46 to 3.80); the other three teams remaining in the playoffs all have a lower goals against per game average that the Isles' 2.70…The Isles had 40 hits; it is the seventh time in this year's playoffs that the Isles have had a 40-hit game…Ryan Pulock has four goals in the playoffs, including three game-winners, after scoring only twice in the regular season…Since dropping Game 1 vs Tampa Bay last season, the Isles have trailed for a total of 28:15 in the last six playoff games vs. the Lightning (excluding last year's game three, it is a total of 8.8 seconds)…The Isles have won four straight playoff games; it is the third straight playoff year that they have had a four-game win streak.  The Isles have not won five straight in the playoffs since 1983 (and a sixth game to start 1984)…The Isles have scored first in the last six playoff games against Tampa Bay…The Isles have yet to have a lead after the first period in any game in this year's playoffs.…The Isles have outscored their opponents 32-23 in 5-on-5 play.

First Time for Everything 

• Ryan Pulock is the first defenseman in Isles' history to record three game-winning goals in a single playoff year.  Denis Potvin (7) is the only Isles d-man with more career playoff winners. (Only 58 players in Stanley Cup history have recorded a 4th game-winning goal in a playoff year, including only four defensemen: Paul Coffey (1985), Al MacInnis (1989), Brian Leetch (1994) and Slava Voynov (2013) – who share the defenseman record with 4)  

Most Wins After Allowing the First Goal (Isles)

• 8 1980 

• 6 1977

• 6 1993

• 5 2021

• 5 1981 

• 5 1983 

• 5 1984

Brock Best

Brock Nelson has 22 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 22

• Josh Bailey 15

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Jordan Eberle 12

• J-G Pageau 11

• Mathew Barzal 11

• John Tavares 11

• Cal Clutterbuck 9

Nelson's 22 goals are tied for 10th in Islander history with Duane Sutter .  Sutter and the nine players ahead of Nelson won a combined 38 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles.  Nelson has scored more playoffs goals for the Isles than any other US-born player.

Hey, Josh Bailey!

Josh Bailey has 34 playoff assists for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Josh Bailey 34

• Mathew Barzal 23

• Jordan Eberle 20

• Brock Nelson 17

• Nick Leddy 17

• Ryan Pulock 13

• Anthony Beauvillier 13

• JG Pageau 13

Bailey's 34 assists are good for 11th in Islander history and are one assist shy of Brent Sutter's 10th place total (35).  The ten players ahead of Bailey won a combined 38 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles. 

Bailey also has 49 playoff points for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Josh Bailey 49

• Brock Nelson 39

• Mathew Barzal 34

• Jordan Eberle 32

• Anthony Beauvillier 27

• J-G Pageau 24

• Nick Leddy 22

• John Tavares 22

Bailey 49 points are 12th in Islander history and are three points shy of Duane Sutter's 11th place total (52).  The eleven players ahead of Bailey won a combined 42 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles.   

Hometown Hero

Kyle Palmieri has seven goals in 13 games this spring, matching Anthony Beauvillier and J-G Pageau's total through 13 games last summer.  No Isle has scored more goals in the first 13 games of a playoff year since Ray Ferraro (12 in 1993).

Only five players have scored more goals for the Isles in their first playoff run with the team:

• Ray Ferraro 13 (1993)

• Steve Thomas 9 (1993)

• Patrick Flatley 9 (1984)

• JG Pageau 8 (2020)

• JP Parise 8 (1975)

Young Mr. Dobson

Noah Dobson is the second defenseman in Isles history to record at least seven playoff assists before his 22nd birthday.  You may remember the other: Denis Potvin had nine assists in 17 games in 1975. 

With seven assists, Dobson is one behind Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews total of eight assists last summer for the most by an Islander defenseman in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.

• Ryan Pulock 8 (2020) 

• Devon Toews 8 (2020)

• Noah Dobson 7 (2021)

• Roman Hamrlik 6 (2002)

• Dennis Vaske 6 (1993)

• Vladimir Malakhov 6 (1993)

Pageau, Pageau, Pageau

JG Pageau has ten assists this spring; it is the fourth-highest total by an Islander in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.

• Josh Bailey 18 (2020) 

• Mathew Barzal 12 (2020) 

• Derek King 11 (1993)

• JG Pageau 10 (2021)

Familiar Foes

This is the fourth all-time playoff meeting between the teams:

• 2004- Conference Quarter-Finals. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 1.

• 2016- 2nd Round. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 1.

• 2020- Conference Finals. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 2.

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck leads all players in this year's playoffs with 71 hits, while Matt Martin is second with 65 and Leo Komarov is third with 57 hits.  The Isles lead all teams with 544.

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.  Trotz has won a playoff series in seven consecutive years (four with Washington and three with the Isles).  Arbour did that from 1979-1985 (all with Isles) – no one had done it since, until Trotz came along.

Lou and Bill

Lou Lamoriello's win vs. Boston was his 31st playoff series win as a General Manager, which is second all-time to Glen Sather (41).  Bill Torrey is third with 28 playoff series wins. 

Led/Tied/Trailed

Game 1: Led: 27:28, Tied: 32:32, Trailed: 0:00

Series: Led: 27:28, Tied: 32:32, Trailed: 0:00

Vs Boston:   Led:  105:51, Tied: 197:54, Trailed: 74:39

Vs. Pittsburgh Led: 66:48, Tied: 158:11, Trailed: 177:22

Total: Led: 199:07, Tied: 388:37, Trailed: 252:01

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles improve to 170-137 in 307 all-time playoff games.  They are 94-52 at home (86-43 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 76-85 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 4-2 at home and 5-2 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 877-635-60-158 in 1,730 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  962

3. Barry Trotz    877

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,761

3. Barry Trotz        1,730

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has now coached 156 playoff games (81-75).  His 156 games is 10th all-time (Mike Babcock is 9th with 164) while his 81 wins are one behind Toe Blake for 11th.  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 Coaching Wins (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 121

2. Darryl Sutter 89

3. Barry Trotz    80

4. Alain Vigneault 78

Most Playoff Games Coached (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 225

2. Darryl Sutter 170

3. Barry Trotz  156

4. Alain Vigneault 155

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 119

• Barry Trotz 26

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 198

• Barry Trotz 43

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Barry Trotz 6 (6-6)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most game 7 wins/game seven record)

• Al Arbour 4 (2-2)

• Terry Simpson 2 (1-1)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-0)

• Jack Capuano 0 (0-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 6

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

First Things First

The Isles are 4-1 when scoring first and are 5-3 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles     14-9-8=31   

Tampa Bay  11-9-11=31

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Series: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Vs. Boston: Isles 172, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 188, Pittsburgh 231

• Total Isles 391, Opponents 483

The Isles are 2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0 when the shots are even and 6-3 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to improve to 5-3 in the 2021 playoffs and 29-23 in his playoff career.  

 

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves but falls to 8-4 in this year's playoffs and 41-26 in his career. 

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 6:00 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 1-2 on the power play in 2:44 of PP time.  

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 0-3 (6:00, 5 shots), Tampa Bay 1-2 (2:44, 4 shots)

• Series: Isles 0-3 (6:00, 5 shots), Tampa Bay 1-2 (2:44, 4 shots)

• Vs. Boston: Isles 6-16 (27:39, 23 shots), Boston 7-14 (19:44, 28 shots)

• Vs. Pittsburgh: Isles 3-16 (27:00, 15 shots), Pittsburgh 3-12 (18:54, 19 shots)

• Total: Isles 9-35 (60:39, 43 shots), Opponents 11-28 (41:22, 51 shots)

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 8-1 in the playoffs (5-1 in regulation and 3-0 in overtime) when they score at least three goals and 1-3 when they do not. 

Shutting the Door

The Isles are 5-2 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 5-3 in the playoffs in one-goal games (2-2 in regulation and 3-1 in overtime). The Isles are 1-0 in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (23:28);  Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (24:41)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards with 19:21 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (3-0), Nick Leddy (2-2), Ryan Pulock (2-2), Scott Mayfield (2-0)

Face-offs

Isles 28, Tampa Bay 18 (61%)  

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 14 of 21 for the Isles; Brayden Point won 8 of 13 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Tampa Bay 18 (61%)

• Series: Isles 28, Tampa Bay 18 (61%)

• Vs. Boston: Isles 165, Boston 168 (49%)

• Vs. Pittsburgh: Isles 181, Pittsburgh 164 (52%)

• Total: Isles 374, Opponents 350 (52%)

Hit Count

Isles 40 (Matt Martin -6)

Tampa Bay 41 (Barclay Goodrow -6)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41 

• Series: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41

• Vs. Boston Isles 231, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 273, Pittsburgh 224

• Total: Isles 544, Opponent 486

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Tampa Bay 8 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 45, Tampa Bay 55 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 35, Tampa Bay 38

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Ryan Pulock +7

Tampa Bay: Barclay Goodrow +10

High Danger Chances:

All situations: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 14

5-on-5: Isles 9, Tampa Bay 8

Corsi Game by Game:

• Game 1: (All) Isles 45, Tampa Bay 55; (5-on-5) Isles 35, Tampa Bay 38

• Series: (All) Isles 45, Tampa Bay 55; (5-on-5) Isles 35, Tampa Bay 38

• Vs. Boston: (All) Isles 312, Boston 414;  (5-on-5) Isles 264, Boston 355

• Vs. Pittsburgh: (All)  Isles 303, Pittsburgh 411;  (5-on-5) Isles 257, Pittsburgh 367

• Total(All) Isles 660, Opponents 880;  (5-on-5) Isles 556, Opponents 760

High-Danger Game by Game:

• Game 1: (All) Isles 10, Tampa Bay 14;  (5-on-5) Isles 9, Tampa Bay 8

• Series: (All) Isles 10, Tampa Bay 14;  (5-on-5) Isles 9, Tampa Bay 8

• Vs. Boston: (All) Isles 55, Boston 72;  (5-on-5) Isles 42, Boston 54

• Vs. Pittsburgh:(All)  Isles 66, Pittsburgh 72; (5-on-5) Isles 52, Pittsburgh 55

• Total (All) Isles 131, Opponents 158;  (5-on-5) Isles 103, Opponents 117

Scratches

(Anders Lee), (Oliver Wahlstrom), Cory Schneider, Sebastian Aho, Braydon Coburn, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Michael Dal Colle, Thomas Hickey, Austin Czarnik

Playoff games lost: 22

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)

• Kyle Palmieri (16:30 of OT on 5/16 vs. Pittsburgh – Game 1)

• Josh Bailey (20:51 of OT on 5/24 vs. Pittsburgh – Game 5)

• Casey Cizikas (14:48 of OT on 5/31 vs. Boston – Game 2)

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed

• Brad Marchand (3:36 of OT on 6/3 vs. Boston – Game 3)

Playoff Challenges

• Isles: Lost a goalie interference challenge (6/5 vs Boston; Bruins did not score on subsequent PP)

• Opponents: None

Most Overtime Wins in a Series

• 3 vs. Washington (1993)

• 3 vs. Florida (2016)

• 2 vs. Toronto (1978)

• 2 vs. Rangers (1979)

• 2 vs. Boston (1980)

• 2 vs. Philadelphia (1980)

• 2 vs. New Jersey (1988)

• 2 vs. Pittsburgh (2021)

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 39-22 (.639) all-time in overtime, including 19-13 at home. The Isles are 3-1 in overtime this season; they have gone 10-9 in nineteen overtime games since 2015. 

Overtime vs. Tampa Bay

The Isles are 1-4 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Tampa Bay; the goals vs. Martin St. Louis and Anthony Cirelli clinched series and the Lightning went on to win the Stanley Cup.   

 

04/16/04 @ Martin St. Louis L TB 00:04:07 Tampa

05/03/16 Vs Brian Boyle L TB 00:02:48 Brooklyn

05/06/16 Vs Jason Garrison L TB 00:01:34 Brooklyn

09/15/20 @ Jordan Eberle W TB 00:32:30 Edmonton

09/17/20 Vs Anthony Cirelli L TB 00:13:18 Edmonton

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Matt Martin 67

Josh Bailey 65

Casey Cizikas 63

Nick Leddy 61

Brock Nelson 61

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 67

Nick Leddy 61

Brock Nelson 56

Goals:

Brock Nelson 22

Josh Bailey 15

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Jordan Eberle 12

J-G Pageau 11

Mathew Barzal 11

Cal Clutterbuck 9

Anders Lee 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Ryan Pulock 7

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 23

Jordan Eberle 20

Brock Nelson 17

Nick Leddy 17

Ryan Pulock 13

Anthony Beauvillier 13

J-G Pageau 13

Points:

Josh Bailey 49

Brock Nelson 39

Mathew Barzal 34

Jordan Eberle 32

Anthony Beauvillier 27

J-G Pageau 24

Nick Leddy 22

Ryan Pulock 20

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 83

Cal Clutterbuck 64

Casey Cizikas 44

PP Goals

Anthony Beauvillier 4

Mathew Barzal 4

Jordan Eberle 4

Ryan Pulock 3

Josh Bailey 3

Anders Lee 3

Brock Nelson 2 

Nick Leddy 1

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

Nick Leddy 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

SH Goals

Josh Bailey 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 7

Ryan Pulock 3

Anthony Beauvillier 3

Jordan Eberle 3

Josh Bailey 3

Mathew Barzal 2

Thomas Hickey 1

Leo Komarov 1

Andy Greene 1

Scott Mayfield 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

OT Goals 

Josh Bailey 2

Mathew Barzal 1

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Semyon Varlamov 16-10  2.22 GAA, .924 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 4-1 2.32 GAA, .934 save percentage

(Varlamov's 16 wins place him third in club history, behind Billy Smith (88) and Chico Resch (17).  Among goalies who have played at least ten post-season games, Varly has the best goals against average and the best save percentage in club history.)

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, JUNE 15th  – ISLANDERS AT TAMPA BAY– 8:00pm 

[NBCSN, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 98.7FM; Pre-Game and Post-Game coverage on MSG+]

The Isles will look to take a 2-0 lead in the series on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay.  Not counting The Bubble, the Isles have not taken a 2-0 lead in the series by winning a pair of road games since the 1983 Final.  Six times in the interim they have taken a 1-0 lead (including vs. Pittsburgh last month) but dropped Game 2.

The Isles are 19-5 in 24 previous series that they won the first game; the Lightning are 9-8 in 17 previous series that they dropped the opener.

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