#NHLPeachy @NHL Islanders Clinch Playoff Spot for Fourth Time in Five Years
#NHLStats about the New York Islanders, who are headed to the postseason for the fourth time in the past five years and 28th time in franchise history. New York became the 16th and final team to clinch a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of collecting at least one point in their victory against the Canadiens.
1. The Stanley Cup Playoffs will arrive at UBS Arena for the first time as the Islanders seek their first Cup since a streak of four consecutive titles ended 40 years ago. New York can match the most Cups by a franchise that debuted in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68), a mark shared by Edmonton and Pittsburgh (both w/ 5).
2. The Islanders are 96-53 in 149 all-time postseason games as the home team, including an 88-44 record in 132 contests at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – fittingly nicknamed "Fort Neverlose" thanks to the club’s 11-1 home record in the Final from 1980-1983. New York’s all-time postseason home winning percentage of .644 is the third highest in League history (min. 100 GP) behind Montreal (.656 W%) and Edmonton (.646 W%).
3. Brock Nelson (23-18—41 in 67 GP) occupies 10th place on the Islanders’ career playoff goals list, one from tying Brent Sutter (24) for ninth place. Nelson has 9-6—15 in 13 career potential series-clinching games. His 0.69 goals-per-game rate in such contests ranks second in franchise history (min. 10 GP) behind Mike Bossy (0.70), while his nine career goals place sixth among all Islanders behind Bossy (23 in 33 GP), Bob Bourne (11 in 33 GP), Clark Gillies (11 in 39 GP), John Tonelli (10 in 29 GP) and Butch Goring (10 in 29 GP).
4. Josh Bailey (16-34—50 in 71 GP) needs one assist to tie Brent Sutter (35) for 10th place in franchise history and two points to match Duane Sutter (22-30—52 in 120 GP) for 11th place on the points list. Bailey can become the first player to play his first 15+ seasons with a franchise and then win his first Stanley Cup with them – the current benchmark is 14 seasons by Steve Yzerman who won the first of his four titles in 1996-97 with Detroit.
5. Bo Horvat is headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020, when he was one of five players to reach the 10-goal mark and the only member of that cohort who did not advance past the Second Round. The most points in a playoff year by an Islanders player acquired in-season is 19, by Butch Goring in 1980 (7-12—19 in 21 GP). Goring was acquired from Los Angeles in exchange for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis on March 10, 1980, with the move still considered the gold standard for deals made prior to the NHL Trade Deadline.
6. Mathew Barzal had a team-leading 6-8—14 during the 2021 postseason (19 GP), which saw the Islanders fall to the Lightning by a 1-0 margin in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Barzal (13-25—38 in 49 GP) can become the fourth player in franchise history with 40 or more points through his first 50 career postseason games – he would join Mike Bossy (35-34—69), Denis Potvin (19-31—50) and Bryan Trottier (11-30—41).
7. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has reached the Conference Finals/Semifinals three times (2017, 2020 & 2021; 2-3—5 in 20 GP). His 20 career games in that round are the most among active players who have never appeared in the championship series and are tied for the 10th highest such total in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68).
8. New York has two players with Final experience (Zach Parise & Alexander Romanov) but do not have any Cup winners. In the past 94 years (since 1929), four teams have hoisted the Cup with each winning member having not previously won: the 2019 Blues, 1989 Flames, 1980 Islanders and 1974 Flyers.
9. Ilya Sorokin (4-1 in 7 GP, 5 GS) won each of his first four career playoff games in 2021. Only Glenn “Chico” Resch (5-1 in 1975) and Semyon Varlamov (5-1 in 2020) have won at least five of their first six postseason decisions for the Islanders (with Resch doing so from the start of his career).
10. Lou Lamoriello (169-145 in 314 games) occupies second place on the all-time playoff wins list among NHL general managers, behind Glen Sather (187-137). Lamoriello (314) needs 11 games to surpass Sather (324) for the most in Stanley Cup Playoffs history (Sather’s total excludes the suspended game in 1988). Lamoriello, 80, can become the 10th NHL GM with four or more Cup wins and by far the oldest in League history to win.
