The image timeline in Helioviewer is intended to show the number of images per unit time (although if you consider small enough time intervals the image observation times are shown individually). The bokeh-based coverage plots show the number of files per day. IIRC these plots are built from different queries.
When the unit of time is "per day", the helioviewer timeline results should be the same as the coverage plots. I don't know if this is the case, but it should be checked. Ensuring consistency between the two means it will be easier to understand for the user and for helioviewer developers if and when there are data gaps.