The Skinny: Islanders 4, Rangers 0

The Skinny - Game 1Isles 4, Rangers 0
Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored in the season's first 3:52 and Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for his 28th career shutout as the Isles opened the 2020-21 season with a 4-0 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Isles took control of the game early and grabbed a 3-0 lead before the first period was over. Anders Lee appeared to tip in Jordan Eberle's shot late in the second period to make it 4-0, but the goal was credited to Eberle.

The Scoring:1st Period
Brock Nelson (1) Anthony Beauvillier (1), Nick Leddy (1) 02:33 NYI 1,NYR 0 PPG
Anders Lee (1) Nick Leddy (2) 03:52 NYI 2,NYR 0
Mathew Barzal (1) Cal Clutterbuck (1) 13:31 NYI 3,NYR 0
2nd Period
Jordan Eberle (1) Anders Lee (1), Noah Dobson (1) 14:54 NYI 4,NYR 0 PPG
3rd Period
No Goals
The Skinny
The Isles improve to 2-3-0 on Opening Night over the last five years and 5-10-3 in their last 18 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 13-24-11 on Opening Night (11-19-8 on the road)…It is only the second time that the Isles have recorded an Opening Night shutout: Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976…Barry Trotz improves to 11-8-3 on Opening Night (2-1-0 with the Isles)…Semyon Varlamov started on Opening Night for the 10th straight season (and second for the Islanders). Only Jonathan Quick (who started his 12th straight opener tonight) has a longer active streak than Varlamov…Brock Nelson scored his 5th career Opening Night goal and the fourth-earliest in a season-opener in Isles history...Noah Dobson has assists in three consecutive games, dating back to last March….Igor Shesterkin allowed four goals in a game for the second time in his career; a fifth Islander goal was erased via video review…The Rangers also had a goal disallowed because the whistle was blown…JG Pageau played in his first Isles regular season win (the team went 0-3-4 after his acquisition last season).
The Injury
Kevin Rooney suffered an injury in the third period and did not return.
First Times in a Long Time
• The Isles opened the season with a 3-goal first period for only the second time in their history (October 2007 at Buffalo)
• Nick Leddy (2 assists) is the first Isles defenseman since Johnny Boychuk in 2015 with multiple points in an opener.
• Brock Nelson's goal was the earliest to start a season since Miro Satan in 2006
• The Isles had eight power plays - their most vs. the Rangers since October 15, 2011 (also eight) and the most against anyone since March 31, 2017, when they had ten vs. New Jersey.
Blanking on Broadway
It is only the third time the Isles have shut out the Rangers in a regular season game at Madison Square Garden:
• 12/17/1975: Billy Smith
• 1/13/2015: Jaroslav Halak
• 1/14/2021: Semyon Varlamov
It Is The Skinny, After All
For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Isles and Rangers played on either January 12th, 13th, or 14th. The Isles are 4-2-0 in the six games, winning in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021 and losing in 2019 and 2020.
Home and Road
The Isles are 1-0-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.
The Rangers are 0-1-0 overall; 0-1-0 at home and 0-0-0 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 846-618-60-151 in 1,675 games, and he is now four wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.
Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman 1,244
2. Joel Quenneville 925
3. Ken Hitchcock 849
4. Barry Trotz 846
5. Al Arbour 782
Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman 2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,705
3. Barry Trotz 1,675
4. Al Arbour 1,607
First Things First
The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-0-0 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 10-11-12=33
Rangers 9-12-3=24
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-0 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-25-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.
In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for his 28th career shutout (and third with the Isles); he is 1-0-0 on the season and 7-5-2 in his career against the Rangers.
Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves but falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 0-1-0 against the Isles
Special Teams
The Isles were 2-8 on the power play (12:52); the Rangers were 0-3 on the power play (6:00)
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-0-0 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-5-7 when scoring three or more.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 0-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not.
• The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
• The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (21:13); Rangers: Jacob Trouba (22:47)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:32 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 30, Rangers 21 (59%)
Casey Cizikas won 9 of 11 for the Isles; Scott Howden won 7 of 11 for the Rangers.
Hit Count
Isles 25 (Kieffer Bellows -8)
Rangers 24 (Two with 4)

Fights
There were no fights. Season total:0

Blocked Shots
Isles 20 (Adam Pelech and Andy Greene -4)
Rangers 11 (Adam Fox -3)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 56, Rangers 49
Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 44, Rangers 39
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Nick Leddy +12
Rangers: Scott Howden +9
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 17, Rangers 8
5-on-5: Isles 14, Rangers 7
200 Game Club
The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season. It is the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.
Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 269, Brock Nelson 246, Mathew Barzal 233, Ryan Pulock 196, Josh Bailey 154, Anthony Beauvillier 144.
Iron Man
Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10:
1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (\)
2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301
3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284
4. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 - CURRENT 269
5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 - CURRENT 246
John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
8. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 - 1/7/1978 240 (\\)
9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 233
10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221
(\) Start of NHL career.
(\\) Entire career with Islanders
Iron D
Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history:
1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262
2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (\) (\\)
3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198
4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 - CURRENT 196
(\) Start of NHL career.
(\\) Entire career with Islanders
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1123 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 1060 \\* 3. Bob Nystrom 900 \\* 4. Clark Gillies 872 \\* 5. Josh Bailey 866…
17. John Tonelli 594 \\* 18. Matt Martin 561\\* 19. Ken Morrow 550 \\* 20. Brock Nelson 549\\* 21. Duane Sutter 547 \\* 22. Lorne Henning 543 \\* 23. Claude Lapointe and Casey Cizikas 535
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 \\* 2. Bryan Trottier 500 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
12. Billy Harris 184 \\* 13. Anders Lee 173 \\* 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 \\* 15. Patrick Flatley 160 \\* 16. Josh Bailey 154 \\* 17. Brock Nelson 151
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 \\* 2. Denis Potvin 742 \\* 3. Mike Bossy 553…
6. John Tonelli 338 \\* 7. Pat Flatley 328 \\* 8. Brent Sutter 323 \\* 9. Josh Bailey 322 …
20. Ed Westfall 181 \\* 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 \\\22.Duane Sutter, Alexei Yashin andNick Leddy 171
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1353 \\\ 2. Mike Bossy 1126 \\* 3. Denis Potvin 1052…
11. Derek King 499 \\* 12. Patrick Flatley 488 \\* 13. Josh Bailey 476…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 \\* 21. Anders Lee 303 \\\22. Brock Nelson 296
Games Coached
1. Al Arbour 1,500 \\\ 2. Jack Capuano 483 \\* 3. Mike Milbury 192 …
6. Peter Laviolette 164 \\* 7. Ted Nolan 163 \\* 8. Butch Goring 154 \\* 9. Barry Trotz 151

Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 \\* 2. Jack Capuano 227 \\* 3. Barry Trotz 83
*UP NEXTSATURDAY, JANUARY 16th- ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00pm,MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio 1050]**
The Isles look to sweep the season-opening series as they face the Rangers again at Madison Square Garden.
It is the first time in Islander history that they will play consecutive games, both on the road, against the Rangers. The closest that they had come might have been in 2014, when they played at Yankee Stadium on January 29th and in the Garden two nights later. However, the Yankee Stadium game was technically an Islander home game.
*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.