The Skinny: Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Semi-Finals Game 4

Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2

Best-of-7 series tied, 2-2

The Islanders built a 3-0 lead in the second period but needed a sliding save from Ryan Pulock just before the final horn to preserve a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of their semi-final series before a crowd of 12,978 at the Nassau Coliseum. 

Pulock's heroics made Matt Martin's second period goal the game-winner that tied the series 2-2. Martin, whose brother-in-law Gunnar Esiason was married on Saturday, recorded his first career playoff winner.

Game Five will be on Monday in Tampa; the series will return to the Nassau Coliseum for Game 6 on Wednesday.

The Scoring: 

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Josh Bailey (6) Brock Nelson (5), Anthony Beauvillier (8) 05:30 TBL 0,NYI 1

Mathew Barzal (6) Cal Clutterbuck (2), Adam Pelech (2) 13:46 TBL 0,NYI 2

Matt Martin (1) Cal Clutterbuck (3), Adam Pelech (3) 17:57 TBL 0,NYI 3

3rd Period

Brayden Point (12) Ondrej Palat (4), Erik Cernak (8) 03:45 TBL 1,NYI 3

Tyler Johnson (2) Nikita Kucherov (19), Ryan McDonagh (5) 06:43 TBL 2,NYI 3

The Series (Series tied, 2-2)

Game 1: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 

Game 2: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Game 3: Tampa Bay 2, Isles 1 

Game 4: Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2 

Game 5: Monday at Tampa Bay 8:00pm 

Game 6: Wednesday at Isles 8:00pm

Game 7: Friday at Tampa Bay (if needed) 8:00pm

The Skinny 

The Isles are 6-3 in game 4's under Barry Trotz, including 3-0 this season …The Isles have played 46 playoff games under Barry Trotz; only Boston (48) has played more in that span… The Isles have outscored opponents 23-10 in the second period…The Isles lead the playoffs with 51 goals and are 2nd to Colorado in goals per game (3.19 to 3.80); the other three teams remaining in the playoffs all have a lower goals against per game average that the Isles' 2.63… The Isles have yet to have a lead after the first period in any game in this year's playoffs, but are 9-2-0 when tied after 20 minutes…The Isles have outscored their opponents 37-30 in 5-on-5 play…Mathew Barzal is 6-2-8 in his last eight games...Brayden Point extended his goal streak to seven games with his league-leading 12th goal; Reggie Leach is the only player in Stanley Cup history to have a longer goal-scoring streak (10 games)…Nikita Kucherov extended his assist streak to seven games, with his 19th assist of this year's playoffs.  Kucherov, who had a franchise-record 27 helpers in The Bubble, has more assists than any other NHL player has points.…The team that has scored first has not trailed in any game in this series…The Lightning were held without a shot on their only power play of the game…Thirteen Islanders were on the ice for at least one goal…Adam Pelech and Cal Clutterbuck each had two assists in the second period; they each had only one in the previous 15 games in this year's playoffs and neither had ever had a two-assist game in their playoff career…With 13 points, Josh Bailey is now tied for 7th in the NHL in playoff scoring with (among others) JG Pageau; three other Islanders have 12 points….Scott Mayfield and JG Pageau were both "EVEN"; they remain 1-2 in +/- in the playoffs (+12/+11)…The Isles have scored three goals in a period seven times in this year's playoffs, including five times in the second period alone…With the Nets being eliminated tonight, the Isles have gone further than the other four winter teams in the NY-area for the third straight season…Casey Cizikas continues to lead the Stanley Cup playoffs in face-off percentage, winning 61.8%; he has had a losing record in draws only once so far in this year's playoffs…The Isles are within six wins of the Stanley Cup for the second straight season; they have not been closer since 1984, when they lost the Final in five games to end the Dynasty...Semyon Varlamov recorded his 17th playoff win for the Isles, matching Chico Resch for second place on the club's list, behind Billy Smith's 88.

First Time in a Long Time

• Brayden Point is the first player to score in seven consecutive playoff games since Claude Lemieux did so for Colorado in 1997.

• The win guarantees that the Coliseum will host a third game in the semifinals for the first time since 1984.

• The Isles are 3-0 in Game 4's for the first time since 1993 (also 3-0).

First Time for Everything 

• Matt Martin's goal was his first career game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

• The Isles had gone 0-5 (not including games in The Bubble) in previous home games against Tampa Bay.

• Nikita Kucherov has a 7-game playoff point streak (and playoff assist streak) for the first time.

For the History Books

• The Isles are the first team in Stanley Cup history to go sixteen consecutive games in one season without leading after the first period. The last playoff game that the Isles led after 20 minutes was Game 5 vs. Tampa Bay last season.

All Helpers Are Not Equal

All eight of Clutterbuck's career playoff helpers have been primary assists, including all seven with the Isles. Ray Ferraro also has seven primary and no secondary helpers. The all-time club leader for primary assists with no secondary is eight, held by Anders Lee.

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 23 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 23

• Josh Bailey 16

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Mathew Barzal 13

• Jordan Eberle 12

• J-G Pageau 11

• John Tavares 11

• Cal Clutterbuck 10

Nelson's 23 goals are ninth in Islander history, one ahead of Duane Sutter and one behind Brent Sutter. The nine players ahead of Nelson won a combined 34 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 21

• Nick Leddy 18

• Brock Nelson 18

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Ryan Pulock 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 50 playoff points for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Josh Bailey 50

• Brock Nelson 41

• Mathew Barzal 36

• Jordan Eberle 33

• Anthony Beauvillier 28

• J-G Pageau 24

• Nick Leddy 23

• John Tavares 22

Bailey's 50 points are 12th in Islander history and are two 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 16 games this spring. 

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 78 hits, while Matt Martin is second with 77; Ryan Pulock is fourth with 65 hits and Leo Komarov is fifth with 60 hits.  The Isles lead all teams with 656 hits.

Barry and Al

Barry Trotz is only the second 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

Game 2: Led: 0:00, Tied 28:43, Trailed 31:17

Game 3: Led: 0:00, Tied 12:44, Trailed 47:16

Game 4: Led: 34:30, Tied: 25:30, Trailed: 0:00

Series: Led: 61:58, Tied: 99:29, Trailed: 78:33

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

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

Total: Led: 233:37, Tied: 455:34, Trailed: 330:34

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles improve to 171-139 in 310 all-time playoff games. They are 94-53 at home (87-44 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 76-86 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 5-3 at home and 5-3 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 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 159 playoff games (82-77). His 159 games is 10th all-time (Mike Babcock is 9th with 164) while his 82 wins tie Toe Blake for 11th (Ken Hitchcock is 10th with 86). 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  82

4. Alain Vigneault 78

Most Playoff Games Coached (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 225

2. Darryl Sutter 170

3. Barry Trotz  159

4. Alain Vigneault 155

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 119

• Barry Trotz 27

• 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 46

• 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 5-1 when scoring first and are 5-5 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles          4-17-9=30   

Tampa Bay  11-9-10=30

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Game 2: Isles 26, Tampa Bay 33

• Game 3: Isles 28, Tampa Bay 25

• Game 4: Isles 30, Tampa Bay 30

• Series: Isles 115, Tampa Bay 119

• Vs. Boston: Isles 172, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 188, Pittsburgh 231

• Total Isles 475, Opponents 571

The Isles are 2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 2-0 when the shots are even and 6-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves and improves to 6-5 in the 2021 playoffs and 30-25 in his playoff career. 

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves but falls to 10-5 in this year's playoffs and 43-27 in his career. 

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play in 5:12 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time. 

Power Plays by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 1-4 (6:20, 7 shots), Tampa Bay 1-5 (9:08, 8 shots)

• Game 3: Isles 0-1 (2:00, 1 shot), Tampa Bay 0-1 (2:00, 1 shot)

• Game 4: Isles 0-3 (5:12, 4 shots), Tampa Bay 0-1 (2:00, 0 shots)

• Series: Isles 1-11 (19:32, 17 shots), Tampa Bay 2-9 (15:52, 13 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 10-43 (74:11, 55 shots), Opponents 12-35 (54:30, 60 shots)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 9-1 in the playoffs (6-1 in regulation and 3-0 in overtime) when they score at least three goals and 1-5 when they do not. 

Shutting the Door

The Isles are 6-3 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs. 

One Goal Games

The Isles are 6-4 in the playoffs in one-goal games (3-3 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 (24:52);  Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (25:02)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 20:03 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (4-0), Nick Leddy (2-4), Ryan Pulock (2-2), Scott Mayfield (2-0)

Face-offs

Isles 27, Tampa Bay 21 (56%)  

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 9 for the Isles; Tyler Johnson won 4 of 7 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)

• Game 3: Isles 23, Tampa Bay 26 (47%)

• Game 4: Isles 27, Tampa Bay 21 (56%)

• Series: Isles 105, Tampa Bay 89 (54%)

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

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

• Total: Isles 451, Opponents 421 (52%)

Hit Count

Isles 36 (JG Pageau -5)

Tampa Bay 42 (Four with 4)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41 

• Game 2: Isles 37, Tampa Bay 32

• Game 3: Isles 39, Tampa Bay 26

• Game 4: Isles 36, Tampa Bay 42

• Series: Isles 152, Tampa Bay 141

• Vs. Boston Isles 231, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 273, Pittsburgh 224

• Total: Isles 656, Opponents 586

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Adam Pelech-4)

Tampa Bay 10 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Tampa Bay 61 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 44, Tampa Bay 53

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Matt Martin +6

Tampa Bay: Barclay Goodrow +10

High Danger Chances:

All situations: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 9

5-on-5: Isles 7, Tampa Bay 8

Corsi Game by Game:

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

• Game 2: (All) Isles 44, Tampa Bay 57; (5-on-5) Isles 29, Tampa Bay 38

• Game 3: (All) Isles 62, Tampa Bay 42; (5-on-5) Isles 56, Tampa Bay 47

• Game 4: (All) Isles 52, Tampa Bay 61; (5-on-5) Isles 44, Tampa Bay 53

• Series: (All) Isles 203, Tampa Bay 215; (5-on-5) Isles 164, Tampa Bay 176

• 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 818, Opponents 1,040;  (5-on-5) Isles 685, Opponents 898

High-Danger Game by Game:

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

• Game 2: (All) Isles 12, Tampa Bay 15; (5-on-5) Isles 8, Tampa Bay 7

• Game 3: (All) Isles 15, Tampa Bay 5; (5-on-5) Isles 14, Tampa Bay 5

• Game 3: (All) Isles 10, Tampa Bay 9; (5-on-5) Isles 7, Tampa Bay 8

• Series: (All) Isles 47, Tampa Bay 43;  (5-on-5) Isles 38, Tampa Bay 28

• 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 168, Opponents 187;  (5-on-5) Isles 132, Opponents 137

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: 27

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: Lost an offsides challenge (6/19 by Tampa: Isles did not score on subsequent PP)

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 70

Josh Bailey 68

Casey Cizikas 66

Nick Leddy 64

Brock Nelson 64

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 70

Nick Leddy 64

Brock Nelson 59

Goals:

Brock Nelson 23

Josh Bailey 16

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Mathew Barzal 13

Jordan Eberle 12

J-G Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 10

Anders Lee 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Ryan Pulock 7

Mat Martin 7

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 23

Jordan Eberle 21

Nick Leddy 18

Brock Nelson 18

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Ryan Pulock 13

J-G Pageau 13

Points:

Josh Bailey 50

Brock Nelson 41

Mathew Barzal 36

Jordan Eberle 33

Anthony Beauvillier 28

J-G Pageau 24

Nick Leddy 23

Ryan Pulock 20

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 90

Cal Clutterbuck 66

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 3 

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

Matt Martin 1

OT Goals 

Josh Bailey 2

Mathew Barzal 1

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Semyon Varlamov 17-12  2.28 GAA, .922 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 4-1 2.28 GAA, .936 save percentage

(Varlamov's 17 wins tied him for second place in club history with Chico Resch. Only Billy Smith (88) has more playoff wins. 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

MONDAY, JUNE 21st  – 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+]

Monday is the first full day of summer, and the Isles will look to move the closest they have been to the Stanley Cup since 1984 with a Game 5 win in Tampa Bay.

The Isles are 7-6 in 13 previous series that are tied 2-2 (2-0 this season), while Tampa Bay is 5-6 in 11 previous series that were tied 2-2.

With Kenny Albert attending his daughter's graduation, Islander voice Brendan Burke will have the call on NBCSN on Monday night.

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

The Skinny: Tampa Bay 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Semi-Finals Game 3

Tampa Bay 2, Isles 1

Tampa Bay leads best-of-7 series, 2-1

Brayden Point scored the winning goal late in the second period as the Tampa Bay Lightning regained home-ice advantage with a 2-1 victory over the Isles in Game 3 of their semi-final series before a crowd of 12,978 at the Nassau Coliseum. 

Point's goal came just after the expiration of a penalty to Adam Pelech and less than three minutes after the Isles tied the game on a goal by Cal Clutterbuck.

Nikita Kucherov assisted on the winning goal, giving him 18 in this year's playoffs.  Kucherov, who had a franchise-record 27 helpers in The Bubble, has more assists other NHL player has points.

Game Four will be on Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum. 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Yanni Gourde (3) Blake Coleman (5), Erik Cernak (7) 10:05 TBL 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Cal Clutterbuck (4) Matt Martin (1), Casey Cizikas (3) 17:01 TBL 1,NYI 1

Brayden Point (11) Victor Hedman (13), Nikita Kucherov (18) 19:40 TBL 2,NYI 1

3rd Period

No Goals

The Series (Tampa Bay leads, 2-1)

Game 1: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 

Game 2: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Game 3: Tampa Bay 2, Isles 1 

Game 4: Saturday at Isles 

Game 5: Monday at Tampa Bay

Game 6: Wednesday 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 4-5 in game 3's under Barry Trotz …The Isles have played 45 playoff games under Barry Trotz; only Boston (48) has played more in that span… The teams traded goals in the middle session; the Isles have outscored opponents 20-10 in the second period…The Isles lead the playoffs with 48 goals and are 3rd in goals per game (3.20 to 3.80); the other three teams remaining in the playoffs all have a lower goals against per game average that the Isles' 2.67… The Isles have yet to have a lead after the first period in any game in this year's playoffs…Cal Clutterbuck became the 7th player on the current roster with 10 playoff goals for the Isles…Matt Martin earned his first assist in this year's playoffs…The Isles have outscored their opponents 34-28 in 5-on-5 play… Brayden Point extended his goal streak to six games (breaking Ondrej Palat's club record) with his league-leading 11th goal; Nikita Kucherov extended his assist streak to six games…Point now has three point streaks of at least six games over the last two playoffs…The Lightning are 10-1 when they score first; the team that has scored first has not trailed in any game in this season.

First Time in a Long Time

• Brayden Point is the first player to score in six consecutive playoff games since Martin Havlat did so for Ottawa in 2006. 

First Time for Everything 

• Nikita Kucherov has a 6-game playoff point streak (and playoff assist streak) for the first time.

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 23 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 23

• Josh Bailey 15

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Mathew Barzal 12

• Jordan Eberle 12

• J-G Pageau 11

• John Tavares 11

• Cal Clutterbuck 10

Nelson's 23 goals are 9th in Islander history, one ahead of Duane Sutter and one behind Brent Sutter.  The nine players ahead of Nelson won a combined 34 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 21

• Nick Leddy 18

• Brock Nelson 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 40

• Mathew Barzal 35

• Jordan Eberle 33

• Anthony Beauvillier 27

• J-G Pageau 24

• Nick Leddy 23

• 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 15 games this spring. 

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 75 hits, while Matt Martin is second with 74, Ryan Pulock is fourth with 63 hits and Leo Komarov is fifth with 58 hits.  The Isles lead all teams with 620.

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

Game 2: Led: 0:00, Tied 28:43, Trailed 31:17

Game 3: Led: 0:00, Tied 12:44, Trailed 47:16

Series: Led: 27:28, Tied: 73:59, Trailed: 78:33

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: 430:04, Trailed: 330:34

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles fall to 170-139 in 309 all-time playoff games.  They are 94-53 at home (86-44 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 76-86 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 4-3 at home and 5-3 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 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 158 playoff games (81-77).  His 158 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  81

4. Alain Vigneault 78

Most Playoff Games Coached (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 225

2. Darryl Sutter 170

3. Barry Trotz  158

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 45

• 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 5-5 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles      7-13-8=28   

Tampa Bay  11-9-5=25

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Game 2: Isles 26, Tampa Bay 33

• Game 3: Isles 28, Tampa Bay 25

• Series: Isles 85, Tampa Bay 89

• Vs. Boston: Isles 172, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 188, Pittsburgh 231

• Total Isles 445, Opponents 541

The Isles are 2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0 when the shots are even and 6-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves but falls to 5-5 in the 2021 playoffs and 29-25 in his playoff career.  

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves and improves to 10-4 in this year's playoffs and 43-26 in his career. 

 

Power Plays

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

Power Plays by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 1-4 (6:20, 7 shots), Tampa Bay 1-5 (9:08, 8 shots)

• Game 3: Isles 0-1 (2:00, 1 shot), Tampa Bay 0-1 (2:00, 1 shot)

• Series: Isles 1-8 (14:20, 13 shots), Tampa Bay 2-8 (13:52, 13 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 10-40 (68:59, 51 shots), Opponents 12-34 (52:30, 60 shots)

Three is 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 1-5 when they do not. 

Shutting the Door

The Isles are 5-3 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 5-4 in the playoffs in one-goal games (2-3 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: Nick Leddy (24:40);  Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (26:38)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 19:21 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (3-0), Nick Leddy (2-4), Ryan Pulock (2-2), Scott Mayfield (2-0)

Face-offs

Isles 23, Tampa Bay 26 (47%)  

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Yanni Gourde won 8 of 11 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)

• Game 3: Isles 23, Tampa Bay 26 (47%)

• Series: Isles 78, Tampa Bay 68 (53%)

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

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

• Total: Isles 424, Opponents 400 (51%)

Hit Count

Isles 39 (Adam Pelech -6)

Tampa Bay 26 (Mikhail Sergachev -5)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41 

• Game 2: Isles 37, Tampa Bay 32

• Game 3: Isles 39, Tampa Bay 26

• Series: Isles 116, Tampa Bay 99

• Vs. Boston Isles 231, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 273, Pittsburgh 224

• Total: Isles 620, Opponents 544

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield -3)

Tampa Bay 21 (Victor Hedman -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 62, Tampa Bay 52 

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 56, Tampa Bay 47

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Kyle Palmieri +14

Tampa Bay: Anthony Cirelli +13

High Danger Chances:

All situations: Isles 15, Tampa Bay 5

5-on-5: Isles 14, Tampa Bay 5

Corsi Game by Game:

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

• Game 2: (All) Isles 44, Tampa Bay 57; (5-on-5) Isles 29, Tampa Bay 38

• Game 3: (All) Isles 62, Tampa Bay 42; (5-on-5) Isles 56, Tampa Bay 47

• Series: (All) Isles 151, Tampa Bay 154; (5-on-5) Isles 120, Tampa Bay 123

• 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 766, Opponents 979;  (5-on-5) Isles 641, Opponents 845

High-Danger Game by Game:

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

• Game 2: (All) Isles 12, Tampa Bay 15; (5-on-5) Isles 8, Tampa Bay 7

• Game 3: (All) Isles 15, Tampa Bay 5; (5-on-5) Isles 14, Tampa Bay 5

• Series: (All) Isles 37, Tampa Bay 34;  (5-on-5) Isles 31, Tampa Bay 20

• 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 158, Opponents 178;  (5-on-5) Isles 125, Opponents 129

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: 25

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 69

Josh Bailey 67

Casey Cizikas 65

Nick Leddy 63

Brock Nelson 63

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 69

Nick Leddy 63

Brock Nelson 58

Goals:

Brock Nelson 23

Josh Bailey 15

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Jordan Eberle 12

Mathew Barzal 12

J-G Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 10

Anders Lee 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Ryan Pulock 7

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 23

Jordan Eberle 21

Nick Leddy 18

Brock Nelson 17

Ryan Pulock 13

Anthony Beauvillier 13

J-G Pageau 13

Points:

Josh Bailey 49

Brock Nelson 40

Mathew Barzal 35

Jordan Eberle 33

Anthony Beauvillier 27

J-G Pageau 24

Nick Leddy 23

Ryan Pulock 20

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 90

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 3 

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 16-12  2.29 GAA, .922 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 4-1 2.28 GAA, .936 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

SATURDAY, JUNE 19th  – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS– 8:00pm 

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

The Isles will look to even the series in game 4 on Saturday night.  The Isles won games 4, 5, and 6 in the previous series this spring to get to this point.

The Bolts are 5-0 in "true" playoff road games against the Isles, winning both games in 2004 (Coliseum), both games  in 2016 (Barclays) and game 3 in this series.  The Isles earned the victory in game 3 in The Bubble. 

The Isles are 6-13 in 19 previous series that trail 2-1 (2-0 this season), while Tampa Bay 13-3 in 16 previous series with a 2-1 lead.

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

The Skinny: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Semi-Finals Game 2

Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Best-of-7 series tied, 1-1

For the third straight series, the Isles are heading home with a split of the first two games.  Ondrej Palat broke a 1-1 tie in the middle period and the Lightning added a pair of goals in the third period as Tampa Bay earned the split with a 4-2 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 14,771 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. 

Nikita Kucherov had three assists, given him 17 in this year's playoffs. It is that seventh time in his playoff career that Kucherov has had at least three helpers  Kucherov, who had a franchise-record 27 helpers in The Bubble,  has more assists than any other player in this series has points.

Game Three will be on Thursday at the Nassau Coliseum. 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Brayden Point (10) Nikita Kucherov (15), David Savard (1) 08:58  NYI 0,TBL 1

Brock Nelson (7) 13:30 NYI 1,TBL 1 PPG

2nd Period

Ondrej Palat (3) Nikita Kucherov (16), Victor Hedman (12) 13:15 NYI 1,TBL 2

3rd Period

Jan Rutta (1) Barclay Goodrow (1), Blake Coleman (4) 02:16 NYI 1,TBL 3

Victor Hedman (1) Nikita Kucherov (17), Steven Stamkos (9) 09:17 NYI 1,TBL 4 PPG

Mathew Barzal (5) Jordan Eberle (7), Nick Leddy (6) 16:44 NYI 2,TBL 4

The Series (Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 

Game 2: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Game 3: Thursday at Isles 

Game 4: Saturday at Isles 

Game 5: 6/21 at Tampa Bay

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 4-5 in game 2's under Barry Trotz …The Isles have played 44 playoff games under Barry Trotz; only Boston (48) has played more in that span… Ondrej Palat scored the only goal of the middle period; the Isles have outscored opponents 19-9 in the second period… The loss ended an Islander four-game playoff win streak… Tampa Bay defensemen had two goals in the third period; it was the first two goals for the Tampa defense in this year's playoffs…Mathew Barzal has scored five times in the last six games… The Isles lead the playoffs with 47 goals and are 2nd to Colorado in goals per game (3.36 to 3.80); the other three teams remaining in the playoffs all have a lower goals against per game average that the Isles' 2.71…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… The Isles had scored first in the last six playoff games against Tampa Bay before tonight…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 33-26 in 5-on-5 play…Tampa Bay improves to 12-0 in the game following a loss over the last two post-seasons…Victor Hedman now has 9 career playoff goals vs. the Isles; only four defensemen in NHL history have had more career playoff goals vs. a single opponent…Brayden Point extended his goal streak to five games (matching Palat's club record) with his league-leading 10th goal; Nikita Kucherov extended his assist streak to five games…There were 54 penalty minutes assessed, including 33 to the Isles.

The Injuries:

• Semyon Varlamov missed the final 6:50 of the first period in concussion protocol following a collision with Brayden Point

• JG Pageau did not play the final 13:32; Barry Trotz explained post-game that he had "tweaked something".

First Time in a Long Time

• Jan Rutta's third period goal was his first 72 games (regular season/playoffs), dating back to 2019.

First Time for Everything 

• Brock Nelson is the first post-Dynasty Islander to crack the club's playoff  top 10 in goals, assists or points. Nelson passed Duane Sutter for 10th place with his 23rd goal

 

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 23 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 23

• Josh Bailey 15

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Mathew Barzal 12

• Jordan Eberle 12

• J-G Pageau 11

• John Tavares 11

• Cal Clutterbuck 9

Nelson's 23 goals are 9th in Islander history, one ahead of Duane Sutter and one behind Brent Sutter.  The nine players ahead of Nelson won a combined 34 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 21

• Nick Leddy 18

• Brock Nelson 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 40

• Mathew Barzal 35

• Jordan Eberle 33

• Anthony Beauvillier 27

• J-G Pageau 24

• Nick Leddy 23

• 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 14 games this spring, matching Anthony Beauvillier and J-G Pageau's total through 14 games last summer. No Isle has scored more goals in the first 14 games of a playoff year since Ray Ferraro (13 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 69 and Leo Komarov is fourth with 58 hits.  The Isles lead all teams with 581.

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

Game 2: Led: 0:00, Tied 28:43, Trailed 31:17

Series: Led: 27:28, Tied: 61:15, Trailed: 31:17

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: 417:20, Trailed: 283:18

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles fall to 170-138 in 308 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 76-86 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 4-2 at home and 5-3 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 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 157 playoff games (81-76).  His 157 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  81

4. Alain Vigneault 78

Most Playoff Games Coached (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 225

2. Darryl Sutter 170

3. Barry Trotz  157

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 44

• 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 5-4 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles      10-7-9=26   

Tampa Bay  17-8-8=33

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Game 2: Isles 26, Tampa Bay 33

• Series: Isles 57, Tampa Bay 64

• Vs. Boston: Isles 172, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 188, Pittsburgh 231

• Total Isles 417, Opponents 516

The Isles are 2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0 when the shots are even and 6-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves but falls to 5-4 in the 2021 playoffs and 29-24 in his playoff career.  

Ilya Sorokin stopped all six shots that he faced in the final 6:50 of the first period.

 

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves and improves to 9-4 in this year's playoffs and 42-26 in his career. 

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 6:20 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 1-5 on the power play in 9:08 of PP time.  

Power Plays by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 1-4 (6:20, 7 shots), Tampa Bay 1-5 (9:08, 8 shots)

• Series: Isles 1-7 (12:20, 12 shots), Tampa Bay 2-7 (11:52, 12 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 10-39 (66:59, 50 shots), Opponents 12-33 (50:30, 59 shots)

Three is 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 1-4 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: Nick Leddy (22:44);  Tampa Bay: Ryan McDonagh (24:05)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:22 of ice-time 

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

Face-offs

Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)  

Brock Nelson won 8 of 11 for the Isles; Steven Stamkos won 5 of 6 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by Game

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

• Game 2: Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)

• Series: Isles 55, Tampa Bay 42 (56%)

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

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

• Total: Isles 401, Opponents 374 (52%)

Hit Count

Isles 37 (Ryan Pulock -7)

Tampa Bay 32 (Barclay Goodrow -6)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41 

• Game 2: Isles 37, Tampa Bay 32

• Series: Isles 77, Tampa Bay 73

• Vs. Boston Isles 231, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 273, Pittsburgh 224

• Total: Isles 581, Opponent 518

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Nick Leddy -3)

Tampa Bay 8 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Tampa Bay 57 

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: 24

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 68

Josh Bailey 66

Casey Cizikas 64

Nick Leddy 62

Brock Nelson 62

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 68

Nick Leddy 62

Brock Nelson 57

Goals:

Brock Nelson 23

Josh Bailey 15

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Jordan Eberle 12

Mathew Barzal 12

J-G Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 9

Anders Lee 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Ryan Pulock 7

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 23

Jordan Eberle 21

Nick Leddy 18

Brock Nelson 17

Ryan Pulock 13

Anthony Beauvillier 13

J-G Pageau 13

Points:

Josh Bailey 49

Brock Nelson 40

Mathew Barzal 35

Jordan Eberle 33

Anthony Beauvillier 27

J-G Pageau 24

Nick Leddy 23

Ryan Pulock 20

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 90

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 3 

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  2.29 GAA, .922 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 4-1 2.28 GAA, .936 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

THURSDAY, JUNE 17th  – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS– 8:00pm 

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

The Coliseum will host its first Conference Final/Semifinal game in 28 years as the Isles host Tampa Bay in Game 3.

The Bolts are 4-0 in "true" playoff road games against the Isles, winning both games in 2004 (Coliseum) and in 2016 (Barclays).  The Isles earned the victory in game 3 in The Bubble. 

The Isles are 11-10 in 21 previous series that are tied 1-1, while Tampa Bay 11-6 in 17 previous series.

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

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