The Skinny: Vancouver 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 15

Vancouver 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Quinn Hughes scored his third career overtime goal on a breakaway 2:36 into overtime as the Vancouver Canucks rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits for a 4-3 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 18,972 at Rogers Arena.   

Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson scored power play goals 1:22 apart to give the Isles an early 2-0 lead, but the remaining six power plays all went to Vancouver and the Canucks scored on three of them.  Bo Horvat, in his return to Vancouver, had the other goal for the Isles but Hughes, Brock Boeser, and JT Miller each finished with a goal and two assists. 

The Isles and winless in their last six games (0-4-2) and remain one game below NHL -.500 (5-6-4); the back-to-back set concludes on Thursday in Seattle.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Pierre Engvall (1) Oliver Wahlstrom (1), Sebastian Aho (3) 07:30 NYI 1,VAN 0 PPG

Brock Nelson (7) Noah Dobson (9), Mathew Barzal (8) 08:52 NYI 2,VAN 0 PPG

2nd Period

J.T. Miller (10) Elias Pettersson (19), Andrei Kuzmenko (11) 04:39 NYI 2,VAN 1 PPG

Bo Horvat (5) Mathew Barzal (9) 08:33 NYI 3,VAN 1

Brock Boeser (13) J.T. Miller (15), Quinn Hughes (19) 11:03 NYI 3,VAN 2 PPG

3rd Period

Filip Hronek (1) Quinn Hughes (20), Brock Boeser (7) 08:30 NYI 3,VAN 3 PPG

OT

Quinn Hughes (6) J.T. Miller (16) 02:36 NYI 3,VAN 4

The Skinny    

The Isles have outscored their opponents 16-7 in the first period this season; only Boston has a better first period differential (+10)…It was the seventh time this season that the Isles led 2-0, matching Boston for most in the league, but the Isles are only 4-0-3 in those games…The Isles have been outscored 15-3 in the third period over the last eight games…The Isles have been outscored 25-9 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles are -12 in the third period; only San Jose (-21) and Seattle (-17) have a lower differential….The Isles have led at some point of 12 of their first 15 games, but recorded only five wins…Bo Horvat has nine points in his last nine games; he is second on the team in scoring…. Noah Dobson recorded his 100th assist; he leads the team with 13 points…Pierre Engvall scored his first goals since March 29th, ending a 19-game goalless streak…Cal Clutterbuck had two hits in his 997th NHL game… Mathew Barzal now has points in all ten career games against Vancouver (3-13-16)… Filip Hronek extended his point streak to 11 games, matching the Canuck franchise record for the longest point streak by a defenseman...Before scoring his third career overtime goal, Quinn Hughes set a franchise record by being the fastest Canuck to reach 20 assists (16 games)…The Isles allowed at least three power play goals for the second time this season (New Jersey-October 20th)…By scoring on their only two attempts, the Isles power play improved to 20% (8-40), which is 17th in the NHL….The Isles have been shorthanded 52 times (15-52, 71.2%), which is a difference of 0.8 power plays per game….JT Miller, Elias Petterson and Hughes are now tied for the NHL scoring lead with 26 points.

First Times in a Long Time 

The Isles scored two power play goals in the first 8:52; it was the earliest that they have scored two power play goals since November 13, 2009, when John Tavares and Mark Streit scored in the first 5:35 of a game in Carolina.

The Isles have allowed multiple power play goals in consecutive games for the first time since December 14-17, 2019, when Buffalo and Nashville each scored twice in games played at the Coliseum.

The Isles have allowed five power play goals in a two-game span for the first time since December 13-15, 2016, when Washington and Chicago did so at Barclays Center; it had not happened in consecutive games, both on the road, since December 5-8, 2009.

The Injury

Andrei Kuzmenko left the game midway through the third period after being stuck in the face off a shot from JT Miller.

Overtime Is (Not) Our Time

The Isles are 0-4 so far this season in overtime, allowing four goals on eight shots; the four overtimes have taken only 7:34 to play.

Ilya Sorokin is 13-22 in his career in games that have gone beyond sixty minutes; he is 8-13 in games decided in overtime and 5-9 in games decided by a shootout.

The Isles have lost 21 of the last 32 games that were decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Shoot the Puck!

The Isles have been getting more rubber on goal during power plays than they did last season:

• 2023-24  Isles have 63 shots in 60:14 of PP   (1.05 shots per minute)

• 2022-23  Isles had 336 shots in 379:43 of PP (0.88 shots per minute)

That's a 19% increase in shots per minute spent on the power play.

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play eight times this season.

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,794

2. Matt Martin 3,734

Martin (7) and Clutterbuck (3) have combined for the 10-biggest hits seasons in Isles history in the Real-Time era, which began in 2005-06. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2023-24  5-6-4 for 14 points in 15 games

• 2022-23  9-6-0 for 18 points in 15 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  0-2-2

• Season: 6-17-23

• Last Season (Final) 41-132-173

The Islander defense scored 41 goals last season, which was the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04.  The 173 points were their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.

Best of the Best

Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 140 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.1% of his starts, which is the second-highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ilya Sorokin 12.1%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 274 career wins.  Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (274) and third in shutouts (40).

Home and Road

The Isles are 5-6-4 overall; they are 3-3-3 at home and 2-3-1 on the road.

Vancouver is 12-3-1 overall; they are 6-0-1 at home and 6-3-0 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 4-3-3 against the East (2-1-2 vs. Metropolitan and 2-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 1-3-1 against the West (1-2-0 vs. Central and 0-1-1 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 91 games at UBS Arena and recorded 63 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,410

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 5-1-4 when scoring first and are 0-5-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles           13-9-11-0=33

Vancouver 14-14-12-3=43

The Isles are 1-2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 3-4-3 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves; he is 3-3-4 on the season and 2-1-1 vs. Vancouver.   

Thatcher Demko made 30 saves; he is 8-3-0 on the season and 3-0-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-2 on the power play (0:44); Vancouver was 3-6 on the power play (9:27). 

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

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 3-1-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 38-7-8 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 3-0-4 in games decided by a single goal including 3-0 in regulation. They are 0-4 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-0-2 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  This back-to-back concludes Thursday in Seattle. The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 24 in Ottawa and November 25 vs. Philadelphia.  

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (25:17);  Vancouver: Quinn Hughes (29:24)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with a season-high 22:16 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (3-4-1), Alex Romanov (0-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 30, Vancouver 39 (43%)

Brock Nelson won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Elias Pettersson won 11 of 16 for Vancouver. 

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -3)

Vancouver 27 (Dakota Joshua -8)

Fights 

None. Season total: 2 (Martin 1, Pelech 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Noah Dobson -4)

Vancouver 14 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Vancouver 87

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Vancouver 62

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Bo Horvat +18

Vancouver: Dakota Joshua +19

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Vancouver 16

5-on-5: Isles 87, Vancouver 14

Scratches

Hudson Fasching, Julien Gauthier, Samuel Bolduc

Games Lost: 11

The Ironmen

Anders Lee played in his 127th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges

Isles:1 successful, 0 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2)

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  (10/21) 

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span three times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have allowed the opposition to do so once.

For (0):  

Vs (2): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) 

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners

For (0):  

Vs (4):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15

Shootout Winners

For (0):  

Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…

6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 780 *** 8.Brock Nelson 773 *** 9.  Casey Cizikas 760…

12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 693 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 651

Goals    

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 248 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …

28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 265…

18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 223…

23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 471 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 373

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +79 ***  17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54  

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…

6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 44 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk 35 *** 11. Noah Dobson 34

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 132…

13. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108  ***15. Bryan Berard, Adam Pelech and Noah Dobson 100… 

21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Scott Mayfield 86

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 176…

11, Travis Hamonic 146 *** 12. Dave Lewis 141 *** 13. Tom Kurvers and Noah Dobson 134… 

17. Gerry Hart 128 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov and Adam Pelech 125 ***  20. Thomas Hickey 117 ***

 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 112

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 146 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 140

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 73 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 61

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm  

Bridgeport is 4-7-1-0 on the season after dropping a School Day matinee game to Syracuse on Tuesday by a 5-4 score.  Bridgeport batted back from 4-0 to get to 4-3 before the eventual winning goal was scored into an empty net. 

The Baby Isles head to Hershey on Friday.

Season Series Stats

Vancouver leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).  The teams will meet on January 9th at UBS Arena to complete the season series.

The Isles are 5-0-3 in their last eight trips to Vancouver and have points in 13 of their last 15 games against the Canucks. 

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16th  —ISLANDERS AT SEATTLE– 10:00pm

[MSGSN, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]

The Isles did back below the 49th parallel as they interrupt their Western Canada trip with a game in Seattle against the Kraken. 

IT is the 5th all-time meeting between the teams.  The teams have split the season series in each of the first two years of the Kraken's existence with the road teams winning in 2021-22 and the home teams winning in 2022-23; each team has a shutout win on Long Island and the Isles have out-scored Seattle 10-9 in the four games.

AND FINALLY…

I was honored to be featured on the latest edition of Talkin Isles with Greg Picker and Cory Wright.  Find it here: https://talkin-isles.simplecast.com/episodes/eric-hornick

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com