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The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 68 Rangers 5, Isles 2 Johnny Brodzinski broke a 2-2 tie with 4:59 left in the middle period and ...

Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 68
Rangers 5, Isles 2
Johnny Brodzinski broke a 2-2 tie with 4:59 left in the middle period and the New York Rangers defeated the Islanders 5-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden. 

Bo Horvat scored both goals for the Islanders, who are now winless in their last four games (0-3-1). The Isles are 10-8-4 under Patrick Roy and 29-23-15 overall as they remain tied with Washington and three point behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan.

The Isles head back to UBS Arena to host Carolina in a nationally-streamed game on Tuesday. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Bo Horvat (28) Brock Nelson (28) 14:08 NYI 1,NYR 0 SHG

2nd Period
Mika Zibanejad (22) Jack Roslovic (19) 00:27 NYI 1,NYR 1
Will Cuylle (12) Ryan Lindgren (11), Adam Fox (44) 10:14 NYI 1,NYR 2
Bo Horvat (29) Brock Nelson (29), Mike Reilly (13) 13:55 NYI 2,NYR 2
Jonny Brodzinski (5) K'Andre Miller (20), Alex Wennberg (19) 15:01 NYI 2,NYR 3

3rd Period
Kaapo Kakko (10) Erik Gustafsson (23), Zac Jones (6) 02:36 NYI 2,NYR 4
Alexis Lafrenière (19) Artemi Panarin (56), K'Andre Miller (21) 10:42 NYI 2,NYR 5

The Skinny     
The Isles are 9-6-3 since the All-Star Break … Since Christmas, the Isles are 6-5-4 at home and 7-10-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 52 points under Patrick Roy (10-42-52) and have 42 points in the last 18 games (9-33-42)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 59-38 in the first period (fewest allowed in NHL), but have been outscored 93-69 in the second period (most allowed in NHL) and 87-73 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 55-30 in the second period since the Christmas break and have allowed at least two goals in 18 of the 34 games; the goals allowed are the most in the NHL over that span …The Isles are 2-19-2 when trailing after two periods …Mathew Barzal is 20-49-69; they are his highest totals in each category since his rookie season (22-63-85 in 2017-18)... Barzal now has 32 primary assists while Noah Dobson has 33 primary assists… Ilya Sorokin is 8-4-2 in his last fourteen decisions….This was the fifth time Ilya Sorokin faced-off again Igor Shesterkin; Sorokin has won two and Sorokin three…It was the Isles' first game at Madison Square Garden in 451 days…Bo Horvat is 6-5-11 in eight March games; he tied Brock Nelson for the club lead in goals…Horvat's first goal was shorthanded, giving the Isles ten shorties this season; the Isles are 2-7-1 in those ten games… It was the 13th shorthanded goal of Horvat's career and his second as an Islander…Horvat is 4-3-7 in eight career games at MSG…This was the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Rangers at home this season; the Isles are the only NHL team not to allow a SHG on home ice…Alex Romanov is the Isles' leader in +/- but went -4 for the first time in his career.

The Injury
Ryan Lindgren suffered a lower-body injury in the second period; he left the game and did not return.

Record-Breaking Defense
The Isles have not allowed a first period goal in ten straight games, breaking the club record of nine that was set December 26, 1978- January 12, 1979.

First Periods
The Isles scored the only goal of the first period. The Isles have scored 13 consecutive first period goals (over nine games), matching the 4th-longest streak of consecutive first period goals for in club history:
17  12/26/1978 - 1/14/1979
15  2/15/1994 - 3/1/1994
15 10/21/1977 - 11/5/1977
13 2/26/2024 - present
13 1/10/2019 - 2/2/2019
13 3/8/1980 - 3/22/1980

March to the Playoffs
Metro Division
3rd  Philadelphia 76 points in 68 games  (Tuesday vs. Toronto, Thursday at Carolina)
4th  Washington  73 points in 66 games  (Monday at Calgary, Wednesday vs. Toronto)
5th  Isles 73 points in 67 games  (Tuesday vs. Carolina, Thursday at Detroit)
6th  Pittsburgh     69 points in 67 games (Tuesday at New Jersey, Friday at Dallas)

Wild Card
1st WC Tampa Bay  78 points in 67 games  (Tuesday at Vegas, Thursday at San Jose)
2nd WC Detroit        74 points in 68 games  (Tuesday vs. Columbus, Thursday vs. Isles)
3rd  Washington 73 points in 66 games  (Monday at Calgary, Wednesday vs. Toronto, Friday vs. Carolina)
4th         Isles           73 points in 67 games  (Tuesday vs. Carolina, Thursday at Detroit)
5th Pittsburgh   69 points in 67 games (Tuesday at New Jersey, Friday at Dallas)
6th Buffalo        69 points in 68 games (Monday at Seattle, Tuesday at Vancouver, Thursday at Edmonton)

Milestone Men  
Brock Nelson had two assists, giving him 250 in the NHL. He is the 17th player to record 250 helpers for the Isles.
Casey Cizikas played in his 800th NHL game. He is the 9th player in club history to do so.
Brock Nelson has 270 goals, two behind John Tavares for 7th in club history.
Brock Nelson is one goal away from his third consecutive 30-goal season, a feat last accomplished for the Islanders by Matt Moulson.
Bo Horvat now has 497 career points.
Mike Reilly now has 99 career assists.

Mr. Consistency
Mathew Barzal has had five point streaks of at least five games this season, including an 8-game and a 7-game streak.

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 65 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 57 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Dobson is on pace for 70 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 80 points, which would trail only four seasons by Potvin.

Dobson has recorded only the fifth season in club history with at least 57 assists by a defenseman:  
1. Denis Potvin 70 (1978-79)
2. Denis Potvin 67 (1975-76)
3. Denis Potvin 64 (1977-78)
4. Denis Potvin 63 (1983-84)
5. Noah Dobson 57 (2023-24)

Dobson has a point in twelve straight home games, which is the third-longest defense streak in club history (Denis Potvin - 15 in 1974-75 and Tom Kurvers -14 in 1991-92). Only one other active defenseman has had a streak of at least 12 games (Brent Burns -12 in 2017-18)

Dobson is now tied-24th overall for assists in a season by an Islander.

Most assists (Islanders, last 35 years)
1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93
2. Mathew Barzal 63 in  2017-18
3. Noah Dobson 57 in 2023-24

Career Year?
Bo Horvat is 29-32-61 on the season. His 29 goals trail only 2022-23 (38) and 2021-22 (31) while his 61 points match 2018-19 for his 2nd- highest total behind last season's 70. Horvat had a career-high 34 assists in 2018-19.

Coach Roy
The Isles are 10-8-4 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals or fewer in eight of their ten wins. Ilya Sorokin is 9-5-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3-2.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy
1. Mathew Barzal 8-15-23
2. Brock Nelson 9-13-22
3. Noah Dobson 2-18-20
4. Bo Horvat 11-8-19 (4 GWG)
5. Kyle Palmieri 10-5-15

Since the Break
The Isles are 9-6-3 since the all-star break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles have out-shot their opponents 29.7-28.1 (+1.6) since the break.

Overtime is Our Time
The Isles have played 23 overtime games, one behind Boston for the NHL lea. They are 7-11 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-4 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 28 overtime games.

The Isles have won 18 of the last 46 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 
15 (2023-24; CURRENT)
13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)
1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)
2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)
3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)
Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)
Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)
Rick DiPietro 28 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 2 empty-net goals and allowed 16.

Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 21 times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 41 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 55 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 13-67 (19.4%) and the Penalty Kill is 18-58 (69.0%). 
 
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 47 times this season:
Score the next goal: 13 times
Allowed the next goal: 30 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,984
2. Matt Martin 3,831

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. 

The 25-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:
Bryan Trottier 12
Mike Bossy 10
John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7
Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  29-23-15 for 73 points in 67 games
2022-23  34-25-8 for 76 points in 67 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-1-1
Season: 27-112-139 
Season Pace 33-137-170
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.

Lots of Work for Sorokin
Most shots against:
Ilya Sorokin 1,603
Juuse Saros 1,543
Alexandar Georgiev 1,524
Jordan Binnington 1,473

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Facing 40
Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots ten times this season and 27 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 34
2. Ilya Sorokin 27
3. Darcy Kuemper 23
4. Sam Montembault 21
Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
Ilya Sorokin 27 (184 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 279 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
51. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 279
53. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road
The Isles are 29-22-15 overall; they are 15-8-10 at home and 14-15-5 on the road.
The Rangers are 45-19-4 overall; they are 24-8-0 at home and 21-11-4 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 18-11-9 against the East (8-5-5 vs. Metropolitan and 10-6-4 vs. Atlantic) and 11-12-6 against the West (5-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 114 games at UBS Arena and recorded 79 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 1,434
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,434) and Patrick Roy (140) have combined for 1,574 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 21-4-10 when scoring first and are 8-19-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 8-1-1 when they score first and are 2-7-3 when they do not.

The Shots
Isles       7-14-6=27
Rangers 12-11-8-=31
The Isles are 11-8-6 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-14-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 22-16-11 on the season and 3-3-1-vs the Rangers.
Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves; he is 29-14-2 on the season and 4-7-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (4:35); the Rangers were 0-1 on the power play (0:35) and allowed a shorthanded goal.

The Isles are 16-7-9 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-16-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-15-10 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-8-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 27-4-11 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-19-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 16-3-15 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 7-11 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including today, the Isles are 3-1-4 in the front end and 0-5-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on Saturday vs. Winnipeg and Sunday vs. New Jersey; it is the only back-to-back home set this season played entirely at home. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Mathew Barzal (23:09); Rangers: K'Andre Miller (24:43)
Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 23:09 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (4-1-2), Noah Dobson (22-19-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-1-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 22, Rangers 28 (44%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 7 of 12 for the Isles; Vincent Trocheck won 8 of 12 for Rangers.

Hit Count
Isles 25 (Matt Martin -5)
Rangers 17 (Will Cuylle- 8)

Fights 
There were no fights. Season total: 8 (Martin 3, Lee 2, Pelech 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 21 (Noah Dobson -5)
Rangers 12 (Three with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 56, Rangers 73
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Rangers 70
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Adam Pelech +4
Rangers: Three with +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 7, Rangers 7
5-on-5: Isles 6, Rangers 7

Scratches
(Scott Mayfield – LTIR), Robert Bortuzzo, Oliver Wahlstrom, Hudson Fasching, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 161

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 179 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (151) and Kyle Palmieri (101) are the only other Islanders to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Three other Islanders (Noah Dobson, Cal Clutterbuck, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) have played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 15
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 20
Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 5-1-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on March 19th (ESPN+) vs. Carolina.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The remaining matinee games are March 23rd vs WPG, and April 13th at NYR.
The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 12-13-9 in matinees.

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 4 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20) , BUF no goalie interference (3/14)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24)

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and three time on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4, @SJ 3/7)  and allowed two in the same span eight times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32))

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.
For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)
Vs (5): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (5): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG); Bo Horvat 3/16 vs OTT 19:22 (Isles lost in OT).
Vs (7): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners
For (7): Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26
Vs (11): Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18; Brady Tkachuk 3/16

Shootout Winners
For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (4): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 825 *** 7. Bob Bourne 814 *** 8. Matt Martin 810 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 800 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 745 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Cal Clutterbuck 703…
32. Rich Pion and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Mathew Barzal 486 *** 36. Adam Pelech 485 *** 37. Radek Martinek 479 **** 38. Gerry Hart 476 *** 39. Mariusz Czerkawski and Ryan Pulock 471 *** 41. Scott Mayfield 469 

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 270 *** 9. Anders Lee 257 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 125…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall, and Casey Cizikas 105

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 306…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 250…
21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 188…
31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 33. Noah Dobson 147 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Steve Thomas 140 *** 36. Mark Streit 139 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 137

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 520 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 445  *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 431…
31. Nick Leddy 243 *** 32. Ray Ferraro and Casey Cizikas 238

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Adam Pelech +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 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 47 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 38

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 148 *** 9. Mark Streit 139 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 137…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Adam Pelech 110… 
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Noah Dobson 186 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 184
13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 136 *** 15. Tom Kurvers 134 …
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Tommy Salo 187 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 185 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 155

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 92 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy and Semyon Varlamov 66

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 20-33-6-1 on the season after a 4-2 loss in Belleville (Ontario) on Saturday. Garrett Pilon, the son of the former Islander, had two goals and an assist for Belleville.

The Baby Isles are off until Friday, when they visit Utica.

Season Series Stats
The Rangers lead the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1). The teams will meet at UBS Arena on April 9th and Madison Square Garden on April 13th to conclude the season series.

The Isles have lost two straight games at the Garden after going 7-1-0 in their previous eight trips. 

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, MARCH 19th  – CAROLINA AT ISLANDERS– 7:30pm
[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The Isles look to break their four-game winless streak as they entertain the Carolina Hurricanes in a nationally-streamed contest.

All three meetings this season have been one-goal games, with the Isles owning a pair of 5-4 wins in Carolina (one in overtime) after the Canes rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 overtime win on November 4th at UBS Arena.

The Isles are 0-4-2 in their last six home games with the Canes, including 0-3-1 at UBS Arena.

AND FINALLY…
You are reading the 994th consecutive edition of The Skinny. I expect to publish the 1,000th consecutive edition will be published after the game in Tampa Bay on March 30th.

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



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

Saturday, March 16, 2024

The Skinny: Ottawa 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 67
Ottawa 4, Isles 3 (OT)
Brady Tkachuk scored three times, including the game-winning goal with just 24 seconds to play in overtime as the Ottawa Senators rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits for a 4-3 victory over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

The Isles had grabbed leads on goals by Matt Martin (his first goal since January 6th) and Kyle Palmieri but could not protect the lead in the 3rd period. After Ridly Greig and Tkachuk gave the Sens the lead, the Isles needed a 6-on-4 goal from Bo Horvat to force overtime. 

The Isles, who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1), are 10-7-4 under Patrick Roy and 29-22-15 overall as they fall one point behind Detroit for the second wild card spot.  The Isles did move within three points of Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan.

The Isles head to Manhattan on Sunday for a nationally-televised game with the Rangers. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Matt Martin (3) Cal Clutterbuck (12), Kyle MacLean (2) 04:27 OTT 0,NYI 1

2nd Period
Brady Tkachuk (28) Drake Batherson (26), Erik Brannstrom (12) 11:46 OTT 1,NYI 1
Kyle Palmieri (21) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (19), Anders Lee (12) 16:22 OTT 1,NYI 2

3rd Period
Ridly Greig (10) Tim Stützle (45), Artem Zub (20) 06:35 OTT 2,NYI 2
Brady Tkachuk (29) Tim Stützle (46), Drake Batherson (27) 12:14 OTT 3,NYI 2 PPG
Bo Horvat (27) Noah Dobson (57), Mathew Barzal (49) 19:22 OTT 3,NYI 3 PPG

OT
Brady Tkachuk (30) Shane Pinto (13), Tim Stützle (47) 04:36 OTT 4,NYI 3 PPG

The Skinny     
The Isles are 9-5-3 since the All-Star Break … Since Christmas, the Isles are 6-5-4 at home and 7-9-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 51 points under Patrick Roy (10-41-51) and have 41 points in the last 17 games (9-32-41)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 57-38 in the first period (fewest allowed in NHL), but have been outscored 90-68 in the second period (most allowed in NHL) and 85-73 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 52-29 in the second period since the Christmas break and have allowed at least two goals in 17 of the 33 games; the goal allowed are the most in the NHL over that span …The Isles are 22-1-7 when leading after two periods …Mathew Barzal is 20-49-69; they are his highest totals in each category since his rookie season (22-63-85 in 2017-18)... Barzal now has 32 primary assists while Noah Dobson has 33 primary assists… Ilya Sorokin is 8-3-2 in his last thirteen decisions… Sorokin has allowed just 15 goals in his last seven games (5-2-0)… Brady Tkachuk (155) has fewer NHL goals than his brother Matthew (213) and father Keith (538) but he is the first in his family with a hat trick against the Isles….Tkachuk scored goals 5-on-5, 5-on-4, and 4-on-3 as he reached 30 goals for the third straight season… It was Brady Tkachuk's third career hat trick…Tim Stutzle had three assists, giving him 151 helpers in 275 NHL games…Kyle Palmieri has six goals in seven games in March…Matt Martin scored the first wrap-around goal of his career, ending a 126:15 team scoreless streak…It was the Isles' 10th home OT/SO loss of the season, breaking the club record set in 2013-14 (9).
 
First Time in a Long Time
The Isles have not allowed a first period goal in nine straight games, matching the club record set December 26, 1978- January 12, 1979.
The Isles have allowed five hat tricks this season; it is the first time since 2008-09 that five opponents have had hatty's. They have not allowed more since 2000-01, when they allowed six.
The Isles tied the game with a last-minute power play goal for the 11th time in their history and first time since April 7, 2018 (Ryan Pulock in Detroit).

First Periods
The Isles scored the only goal of the first period. The Isles have scored 12 consecutive first period goals (over nine games), for the 6th-longest streak of consecutive first period goals for in club history:
17  12/26/1978 - 1/14/1979
15  2/15/1994 - 3/1/1994
15 10/21/1977 - 11/5/1977
13 1/10/2019 - 2/2/2019
13 3/8/1980 - 3/22/1980
12 2/26/2024 - present

March to the Playoffs
Metro Division
3rd  Philadelphia 76 points in 68 games  (Tuesday vs. Toronto, Thursday at Carolina)
4th  Isles 73 points in 66 games  (Sunday at Rangers, Tuesday vs. Carolina, Thursday at Detroit)
5th Washington   71 points in 65 games  (Late: Saturday at Vancouver, Monday at Calgary, Wednesday vs. Toronto)

Wild Card
1st WC Tampa Bay  78 points in 67 games  (Tuesday at Vegas, Thursday at San Jose)
2nd WC Detroit       74 points in 67 games  (Sunday at Pittsburgh, Tuesday vs. Columbus, Thursday vs. Isles)
3rd Isles                73 points in 66 games  (Sunday at Rangers, Tuesday vs. Carolina, Thursday at Detroit)
4th Washington      71 points in 65 games  (Late: Saturday at Vancouver, Monday at Calgary, Wednesday vs. Toronto)
5th Buffalo             69 points in 68 games (Monday at Seattle, Tuesday at Vancouver, Thursday at Edmonton)

Milestone Men  
Brock Nelson has 270 goals, two behind John Tavares for 7th in club history.
Brock Nelson is one goal away from his third consecutive 30-goal season, a feat last accomplished for the Islanders by Matt Moulson.
Casey Cizikas played in his 799th NHL game.
Bo Horvat now has 495 career points.

Mr. Consistency
Mathew Barzal has had five point streaks of at least five games this season, including an 8-game and a 7-game streak.

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 65 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 57 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Dobson is on pace for 71 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 81 points, which would trail only four seasons by Potvin.

Dobson has recorded only the fifth season in club history with at least 57 assists by a defenseman:  
1. Denis Potvin 70 (1978-79)
2. Denis Potvin 67 (1975-76)
3. Denis Potvin 64 (1977-78)
4. Denis Potvin 63 (1983-84)
5. Noah Dobson 57 (2023-24)

Dobson has a point in twelve straight home games, which is the third-longest defense streak in club history (Denis Potvin - 15 in 1974-75 and Tom Kurvers -14 in 1991-92). Only one other active defenseman has had a streak of at least 12 games (Brent Burns -12 in 2017-18)

Dobson is now tied-24th overall for assists in a season by an Islander.

Most assists (Islanders, last 35 years)
1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93
2. Mathew Barzal 63 in  2017-18
3. Noah Dobson 57 in 2023-24

Coach Roy
The Isles are 10-7-4 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals or fewer in eight of their ten wins. Ilya Sorokin is 9-4-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3-2.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy
1. Mathew Barzal 8-15-23
2. Brock Nelson 9-11-20
3. Noah Dobson 2-18-20
4. Bo Horvat 9-8-17 (4 GWG)
5. Kyle Palmieri 10-5-15

Since the Break
The Isles are 9-5-3 since the all-star break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles have out-shot their opponents 29.9-27.9 (+2.0) since the break.

Inter-Division Games
This was the last of eleven consecutive inter-division games; the Isles went 6-4-1 in that stretch. Beginning Sunday at Madison Square Garden, nine of the Isles' final sixteen games will be against Metro Division teams.
 
Overtime is Our Time
The Isles have played 23 overtime games, one behind Boston for the NHL lea. They are 7-11 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-4 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 30 overtime games.

The Isles have won 18 of the last 46 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 
15 (2023-24; CURRENT)
13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)
1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)
2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)
3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)
Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)
Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)
Rick DiPietro 28 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 2 empty-net goals and allowed 16.

Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 20 times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 41 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 55 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 13-64 (20.3%) and the Penalty Kill is 18-57 (68.4%). 
 
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 47 times this season:
Score the next goal: 13 times
Allowed the next goal: 30 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,980
2. Matt Martin 3,826

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. 

The 25-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:
Bryan Trottier 12
Mike Bossy 10
John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7
Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Anders Lee needs eight more goals this season for his 7th season with at least 25 goals.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  29-22-15 for 73 points in 66 games
2022-23  33-25-8 for 74 points in 66 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-1-1
Season: 27-111-138 
Season Pace 33-138-171
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.

Lots of Work for Sorokin
Most shots against:
Ilya Sorokin 1,572
Juuse Saros 1,519  (*)
Alexandar Georgiev 1,490 (*)
Jordan Binnington 1,449 (*)
Thatcher Demko 1,427
Connor Hellebuyck 1,426
(*) Later game Saturday

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Facing 40
Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots ten times this season and 27 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 34
2. Ilya Sorokin 27
3. Darcy Kuemper 23
4. Sam Montembault 21
Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
Ilya Sorokin 27 (183 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 279 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
51. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 279
53. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road
The Isles are 29-22-15 overall; they are 15-8-10 at home and 14-14-5 on the road.
Ottawa is 28-33-4 overall; they are 18-14-2 at home and 10-19-2 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 18-10-9 against the East (8-4-5 vs. Metropolitan and 10-6-4 vs. Atlantic) and 11-12-6 against the West (5-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 114 games at UBS Arena and recorded 79 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 1,434
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,434) and Patrick Roy (140) have combined for 1,574 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 21-3-10 when scoring first and are 8-19-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 8-0-1 when they score first and are 2-7-3 when they do not.

The Shots
Isles     5-13-13-2=33
Ottawa 8-12-6-4=30
The Isles are 11-8-6 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-13-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves; he is 7-7-4 on the season and 7-5-3-vs. Ottawa.
Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves; he is 15-20-4 on the season and 5-5-3 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (5:12); Ottawa was 2-3 on the power play (3:47).

The Isles are 16-7-9 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-15-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-15-10 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-7-5 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 27-4-11 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 16-3-15 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 7-11 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including today, the Isles are 3-1-4 in the front end and 0-4-3 in the back end this season. This back -to-back concludes Sunday afternoon in Manhattan. The next back-to-back set will be on Saturday vs. Winnipeg and Sunday vs. New Jersey; it is the only back-to-back home set this season played entirely at home. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (24:12); Ottawa: Jake Sanderson (25:09)
Brock Nelson led Islander forwards with 22:07 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (4-1-2), Noah Dobson (22-19-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-0-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 28, Ottawa 33 (46%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 23 for the Isles; Brady Tkachuk won 6 of 9 for Ottawa.

Hit Count
Isles 21 (Anders Lee -4)
Ottawa 14 (Artem Zub-5)

Fights 
There were no fights. Season total: 8 (Martin 3, Lee 2, Pelech 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 18 (Noah Dobson -4)
Ottawa 22 (Three with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 63, Ottawa 63
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 54, Ottawa 46
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Simon Holmstrom +16
Ottawa: Boris Katchouk +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 7, Ottawa 8
5-on-5: Isles 6, Ottawa 6

Scratches
Robert Bortuzzo, (Scott Mayfield – LTIR), Oliver Wahlstrom, Hudson Fasching, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 160

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 178 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (150) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Four other Islanders (Noah Dobson, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Palmieri, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) have played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 15
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 20
Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 5-0-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on March 17th (TNT) vs. the Rangers.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The remaining matinee games are March 16th vs OTT, March 17th at NYR, March 23rd vs WPG, and April 13th at NYR.
The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 12-12-9 in matinees.

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 4 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20) , BUF no goalie interference (3/14)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24)

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and three time on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4, @SJ 3/7)  and allowed two in the same span eight times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32))

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.
For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)
Vs (5): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (5): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG); Bo Horvat 3/16 vs OTT 19:22 (Isles lost in OT).
Vs (7): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners
For (7): Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26
Vs (11): Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18; Brady Tkachuk 3/16

Shootout Winners
For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (4): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 824 *** 7. Bob Bourne 814 *** 8. Matt Martin 809 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 799 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 744 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Cal Clutterbuck 702…
32. Rich Pion and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Mathew Barzal 485 *** 36. Adam Pelech 484 *** 37. Radek Martinek 479 **** 38. Gerry Hart 476 *** 39. Mariusz Czerkawski and Ryan Pulock 470 *** 41. Scott Mayfield 469 

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 270 *** 9. Anders Lee 257 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 125…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall, and Casey Cizikas 105

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 3065…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 248…
21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 188…
31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 33. Noah Dobson 147 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Steve Thomas 140 *** 36. Mark Streit 139 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 137

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 518 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 445  *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 431…
31. Nick Leddy 243 *** 32. Ray Ferraro and Casey Cizikas 238

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Adam Pelech +75 ***  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 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 47 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 38

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 148 *** 9. Mark Streit 139 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 137…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Adam Pelech 110… 
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Noah Dobson 186 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 184
13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 136 *** 15. Tom Kurvers 134 …
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Tommy Salo 187 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 184 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 155

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 92 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy and Semyon Varlamov 66

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm   
Bridgeport fell to 20-33-6-1 on the season as they dropped a 3-1 decision to Laval (Quebec) on Friday and a 4-2 decision in Belleville (Ontario) on Saturday. Garrett Pilon, the son of the former Islander, had two goals and an assist for Belleville.

Season Series Stats
The Isles win the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). 

The Isles are 12-2-2 in their last sixteen games with Ottawa, including 6-0-2 at home. 

UP NEXT
SUNDAY, MARCH 17th  – ISLANDERS AT RANGERS– 1:00pm
[TNT(pre-game at 12:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
It can take a long time to get to New York City from Long Island, but in the Islanders' case, it is 451 days since their last game at Madison Square Garden. The Isles make their return to Broadway with a nationally-televised St. Patrick's Day matinee on Sunday; both teams have changed coaches since the Rangers beat the Isles 5-3 on December 22, 2022, at MSG.

This is the second of four meetings this season; the Rangers won 6-5 in overtime at Met Life Stadium. The teams will meet twice in five days next month (April 9 at UBS, April 13 at MSG), but could there be a first playoff matchup in 30 years ahead?

Brendan Burke, Darren Pang, and Jackie Redmond will have the call on TNT (and in Canada on SportsNet 360).

AND FINALLY…
You are reading the 993rd consecutive edition of The Skinny. I expect to publish the 1,000th consecutive edition will be published after the game in Tampa Bay on March 30th.

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



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

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Skinny: Buffalo 4, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 65
Buffalo 4, Isles 0
The Isles have allowed the most 2nd period goals in the NHL. Buffalo scored three of them, in just a 5:13 span, and defeated the Isles 4-0 before a crowd of 15,637 at KeyBank Center.

The Isles went 2-2-0 on this road trip. However, after scoring thirteen goals in San Jose and Anaheim, the Isles ran into David Rittich in Los Angeles and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tonight. Luukkonen made 21 saves for his 5th shutout of the season as the Isles scoreless streak hit 121:48.

Victor Olofsson, Dylan Cozens, and Zach Benson all scored in the second period for the Sabres, who move within three points of a playoff spot.

The Isles are 10-7-3 under Patrick Roy and 29-22-14 overall as they remain in the second wild card spot (same points as Detroit in one fewer game); they remain four points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metro Division and drop four points behind Tampa Bay for the top Wild Card spot. 

The Isles head back to New York for a pair of matinees, as they host Ottawa on Saturday before visiting Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers on Sunday.

The Scoring:  
1st Period
None

2nd Period
Victor Olofsson (6) JJ Peterka (19), Owen Power (20) 04:28 NYI 0,BUF 1 PPG
Dylan Cozens (15) Connor Clifton (12), Jeff Skinner (21) 08:15 NYI 0,BUF 2
Zach Benson (8) Henri Jokiharju (12), Owen Power (21) 09:41 NYI 0,BUF 3

3rd Period
Zach Benson (9)EN Rasmus Dahlin (34), Bowen Byram (14) 15:06 NYI 0,BUF 4

The Skinny     
The Isles are 9-5-2 since the All-Star Break … Since Christmas, the Isles are 6-4-3 at home and 7-9-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 50 points under Patrick Roy (10-40-50) and have 40 points in the last 16 games (9-31-40)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 56-38 in the first period (fewest allowed in NHL), but have been outscored 89-67 in the second period (have allowed the most 2nd period goals in NHL) and 82-72 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 51-28 in the second period since the Christmas break and have allowed at least two goals in 17 of the 33 games; the goal allowed are the most in the NHL over that span …The Isles are 8-19-5 when they allow the opening goal …Mathew Barzal is 20-48-68; they are his highest totals in each category since his rookie season (22-63-85 in 2017-18)... Barzal now has 32 primary assists while Noah Dobson had 32 primary assists… Ilya Sorokin falls to 8-3-2 in his last thirteen decisions… Sorokin has allowed just 15 goals in his last seven games (5-2-0)… The Isles were shut-out for the 6th time this season and the second straight game… Zach Benson recorded his first career 2-goal game as he became the third Sabre with a multi-goal game before he turned 19 (Pierre Turgeon  x2, Phil Housley)…. Buffalo outscored the Isles 7-1 at home this season.

First Time in a Long Time
The Isles were shut-out in consecutive games for the first time since February 13-15, 2020, when Nashville (Juuse Soros) and Vegas (Marc-Andre Fleury) blanked them in consecutive road games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is the first Sabre since Ryan Miller (6 in 2011-12) to record at least five shutouts in a season.

First Periods
The first period was scoreless. The Isles have scored 11 consecutive first period goals (over eight games), matching their longest streak of first period goals scored since they scored 13 straight in 2019. There are only five longer streaks of consecutive first period goals for in club history:
17  12/26/1978 - 1/14/1979
15  2/15/1994 - 3/1/1994
15 10/21/1977 - 11/5/1977
13 1/10/2019 - 2/2/2019
13 3/8/1980 - 3/22/1980

March to the Playoffs
Metro Division
3rd  Philadelphia 76 points in 67 games  (Saturday at Boston)
4th  Isles 72 points in 65 games  (Saturday vs Ottawa)
5th Washington   69 points in 63 games  (Late: Thursday at Seattle, Saturday at Vancouver)

Wild Card
1st WC Tampa Bay  76 points in 66 games  (Saturday at Florida)
2nd WC  Isles           72 points in 65 games  (Saturday vs. Ottawa)
3rd Detroit        72 points in 66 games  (Saturday vs. Buffalo)
4th Washington 69 points in 64 games (Late: Thursday at Seattle, Saturday at Vancouver)
5th Buffalo        69 points in 67 games (Saturday at Detroit)

Milestone Men  
Brock Nelson has 270 goals, two behind John Tavares for 7th in club history.
Anders Lee has 443 points, tied with Billy Harris for 15th place in club history.
Brock Nelson is one goal away from his third consecutive 30-goal season, a feat last accomplished for the Islanders by Matt Moulson.

Mr. Consistency
Mathew Barzal has had five point streaks of at least five games this season, including an 8-game and a 7-game streak.

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 64 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 56 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Dobson is on pace for 71 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 81 points, which would trail only four seasons by Potvin.

Dobson is tied for 5th in club history with his 56-assist season:
1. Denis Potvin 70 (1978-79)
2. Denis Potvin 67 (1975-76)
3. Denis Potvin 64 (1977-78)
4. Denis Potvin 63 (1983-84)
5. Denis Potvin 56 (1980-81)
    Stefan Persson 56 (1978-79)
    Noah Dobson 56 (2023-24)

Dobson has a point in eleven straight home games, which is the third-longest defense streak in club history (Denis Potvin - 15 in 1974-75 and Tom Kurvers -14 in 1991-92). Only one active defenseman has had a longer streak (Brent Burns -12 in 2017-18)

Dobson is now tied-25th overall for assists in a season by an Islander.

Most assists (Islanders, last 35 years)
1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93
2. Mathew Barzal 63 in  2017-18
3. Pierre Turgeon 56 in 1993-94 (traded after 69 games)
Noah Dobson 56 in 2023-24

Coach Roy
The Isles are 10-7-3 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals or fewer in eight of their ten wins. Ilya Sorokin is 9-4-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3-1.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy
1. Mathew Barzal 8-14-22
2. Brock Nelson 9-11-20
3. Noah Dobson 2-17-19
4. Bo Horvat 8-8-16 (4 GWG)
5. Kyle Palmieri 9-5-14

Since the Break
The Isles are 9-5-2 since the all-star break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles have out-shot their opponents 29.7-27.8 (+1.9) since the break.

Inter-Division Games
Tonight was the tenth of eleven consecutive inter-division games; the Isles are 6-4-0 in that stretch. The Isles will finish this stretch at home on Saturday against Ottawa before facing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.
 
Overtime is Our Time
The Isles have played 22 overtime games. They are 7-10 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 28 overtime games.

The Isles have won 18 of the last 45 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 
14 (2023-24; CURRENT)
13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)
1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)
2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)
3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)
Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)
Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)
Rick DiPietro 28 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 2 empty-net goals and allowed 16.

Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 20 times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 40 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 53 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 12-61 (19.7%) and the Penalty Kill is 16-54 (70.4%). 
 
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 47 times this season:
Score the next goal: 13 times
Allowed the next goal: 30 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,979
2. Matt Martin 3,824

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. 

The 25-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:
Bryan Trottier 12
Mike Bossy 10
John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7
Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Anders Lee needs eight more goals this season for his 7th season with at least 25 goals.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  29-22-14 for 72 points in 65 games
2022-23  32-25-8 for 72 points in 65 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-0-0
Season: 27-110-137 
Season Pace 34-139-173
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.

Lots of Work for Sorokin
Most shots against:
Ilya Sorokin 1,572
Juuse Saros 1,519
Alexandar Georgiev 1,490 
Jordan Binnington 1,449
Thatcher Demko 1,427
Connor Hellebuyck 1,426

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Facing 40
Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots ten times this season and 27 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 34
2. Ilya Sorokin 27
3. Darcy Kuemper 23
4. Sam Montembault 21
Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
Ilya Sorokin 27 (183 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 279 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
51. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 279
53. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road
The Isles are 29-22-14 overall; they are 15-8-9 at home and 14-14-5 on the road.
Buffalo is 32-30-5 overall; they are 17-17-1 at home and 15-13-4 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 18-10-8 against the East (8-4-5 vs. Metropolitan and 10-6-3 vs. Atlantic) and 11-12-6 against the West (5-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 113 games at UBS Arena and recorded 78 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 1,434
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,434) and Patrick Roy (140) have combined for 1,574 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 21-3-9 when scoring first and are 8-19-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 8-0-0 when they score first and are 2-7-3 when they do not.

The Shots
Isles     5-6-10=21
Buffalo 13-16-8=37
The Isles are 11-8-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-13-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves; he is 22-15-11 on the season and 5-3-2 vs. Buffalo.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves; he is 22-16-3 on the season and 2-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (7:39); Buffalo was 1-4 on the power play (5:58).

The Isles are 16-7-8 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-15-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-15-9 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-7-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 27-4-10 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-18-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 16-3-14 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 7-10 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 3-1-3 in the front end and 0-4-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on Saturday vs. Ottawa and Sunday at the Rangers. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (26:00); Buffalo: Bowen Byram (23:24)
Brock Nelson led Islander forwards with 22:01 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (4-1-2), Noah Dobson (22-19-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-0-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 20, Buffalo 24 (45%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 14 for the Isles; Peyton Krebs won 7 of 8 for Buffalo.

Hit Count
Isles 50 (Kyle Palmieri -4)
Buffalo 21 (Jordan Greenway-5)

Fights 
Anders Lee fought Connor Clifton in the third period. Season total: 8 (Martin 3, Lee 2, Pelech 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 9 (Nine with 1)
Buffalo 8 (Zemgus Girgensons -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 42, Buffalo 56
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 30, Buffalo 43
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Two with +1
Buffalo: Jordan Greenway +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 4, Buffalo 8
5-on-5: Isles 2, Buffalo 7

Scratches
(Robert Bortuzzo -LTIR), (Scott Mayfield – LTIR), Oliver Wahlstrom, Hudson Fasching, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 159

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 177 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (149) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Four other Islanders (Noah Dobson, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Palmieri, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) have played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 15
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 20
Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 5-0-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on March 17th (TNT) vs. the Rangers.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-2-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The remaining matinee games are March 16th vs OTT, March 17th at NYR, March 23rd vs WPG, and April 13th at NYR.
The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games.

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 4 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20) , BUF no goalie interference (3/14)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24)

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and three time on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4, @SJ 3/7)  and allowed two in the same span eight times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32))

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.
For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)
Vs (5): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG)
Vs (7): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners
For (7):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26
Vs (10):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18

Shootout Winners
For (1):  Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (4):  Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 823 *** 7. Bob Bourne 814 *** 8. Matt Martin 808 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 798 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 743 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Cal Clutterbuck 701…
32. Rich Pion and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Mathew Barzal 484 *** 36. Adam Pelech 483 *** 37. Radek Martinek 479 **** 38. Gerry Hart 476 *** 39. Mariusz Czerkawski 470 *** 40. Ryan Pulock  and Scott Mayfield 469 

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 270 *** 9. Anders Lee 257 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 125…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall, and Casey Cizikas 105

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 305…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 248…
21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 187…
31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 33. Noah Dobson 147 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Steve Thomas 140 *** 36. Mark Streit 139 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 137

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 518 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 444  *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 430…
31. Nick Leddy 243 *** 32. Ray Ferraro and Casey Cizikas 238

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Adam Pelech +76 ***  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 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 47 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 38

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 147 *** 9. Mark Streit 139 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 137…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Adam Pelech 110… 
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Noah Dobson 185 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 184
13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 136 *** 15. Tom Kurvers 134 …
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Tommy Salo 187 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 184 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 154

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 92 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy and Semyon Varlamov 66

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm   
Bridgeport fell to 20-31-6-1 on the season as they drooped a 5-1 decision to Laval (Quebec) on Wednesday. After an off-day Thursday, they will also play in Laval on Friday. The weekend concludes with a game on Saturday in Belleville (Ontario).

Season Series Stats
Buffalo wins the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). 

The home team won all three games this season, with the Isles scoring only one goal in two trips to Buffalo. 

This has been a 'homer' series in recent years, with the home team winning 14 of the last 15 meetings; the Isles are 7-1-0 at home but are 0-5-2 in their last seven trips to Western New York. It is the first time ever that the Sabres have won seven straight home games against the Isles.

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, MARCH 16th  – OTTAWA AT ISLANDERS– 12:30pm
[MSGSN(pre-game at 12:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The Isles return home as they play the front-end of a back-to-back weekend by hosting the Ottawa Senators.

The Isles will be looking to sweep the season series from the Sens, having won 3-2 in October at UBS Arena (45 saves for Sorokin) and 5-3 in Ottawa on Black Friday (Isles played most of the game with four defensemen).

The Isles are 12-2-1 in their last fifteen games with Ottawa, including 6-0-1 at home.

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



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

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 64
Los Angeles 3, Isles 0
After scoring thirteen goals in San Jose and Anaheim, the Isles ran into David Rittich in Los Angeles. Rittich made 26 saves and the Los Angeles Kings earned a 3-0 win over the Isles before a crowd of 17,061 at crypto.com Arena.

Adrian Kempe scored 7:14 into the 2nd period to break a scoreless tie and Philip Danault doubled the advantage in the second period. Trevor Moore added an empty net goal as Los Angeles ended the Islanders' six-game winning streak and four-game road winning streak.

The Isles are 10-6-3 under Patrick Roy and 29-21-14 overall as they fall behind Detroit based on the regulation win tie-breaker and out of a playoff spot; they remain two points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metro Division and two points of Tampa Bay for the top Wild Card spot. 

The Isles, who have never won in Anaheim, San Jose, and Los Angeles on the same trip,  conclude the four-game road trip on Thursday in Buffalo. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
None

2nd Period
Adrian Kempe (20) Jordan Spence (17), Alex Laferriere (10) 07:14 NYI 0,LAK 1

3rd Period
Phillip Danault (15) Trevor Moore (20), Drew Doughty (27) 06:07 NYI 0,LAK 2
Trevor Moore (25)EN 17:38 NYI 0,LAK 3

The Skinny     
The Isles are 9-4-2 since the All-Star Break … Since Christmas, the Isles are 6-4-3 at home and 7-8-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 50 points under Patrick Roy (10-40-50) and have 40 points in the last 15 games (9-31-40)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 56-38 in the first period (fewest allowed in NHL), but have been outscored 86-67 in the second period (have allowed the most 2nd period goals in NHL) and 81-72 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 48-28 in the second period since the Christmas break and have allowed at least two goals in 16 of the 32 games; the goal allowed are the most in the NHL over that span …The Isles are 8-18-5 when they allow the opening goal …Mathew Barzal is 20-48-68; they are his highest totals in each category since his rookie season (22-63-85 in 2017-18)... Barzal now has 32 primary assists while Noah Dobson had 32 primary assists… The Isles have scored at least five goals four times in the last six games and seven times in the last fourteen games…Mathew Barzal saw his point streak end at seven games (3-6-9), while Brock Nelson's 5-game streak and Bo Horvat's 4-game streak also ended …Ilya Sorokin falls to 8-2-2 in his last twelve decisions… Sorokin has allowed just twelve goals in his last six games (5-1-0, 1.99 GAA, .921 save percentage)… The Isles were nine points behind Tampa Bay when they began play two weeks ago in Dallas, but now trail Tampa Bay by only two points… Adrian Kempe reached 20 goals for the third straight season; he now has 96 goals over the last three campaigns…Drew Doughty earned his 660th point on the Danault goal, breaking a tie with Butch Goring for 9th place on the Kings' list…The Isles were shut-out for the 5th time this season….The Kings are 24-0-3 when leading after two periods this season.

First Periods
The first period was scoreless. The Isles have scored 11 consecutive first period goals (over seven games), matching their longest streak of first period goals scored since they scored 13 straight in 2019. There are only five longer streaks of consecutive first period goals for in club history:
17  12/26/1978 - 1/14/1979
15  2/15/1994 - 3/1/1994
15 10/21/1977 - 11/5/1977
13 1/10/2019 - 2/2/2019
13 3/8/1980 - 3/22/1980

March to the Playoffs
Metro Division
3rd  Philadelphia 74 points in 65 games  (Tuesday vs. San Jose, Thursday vs. Toronto)
4th  Isles 72 points in 64 games   (Thursday at Buffalo)
5th Washington  69 points in 62 games   ( Wednesday at Edmonton, Thursday at Seattle)

Wild Card
1st WC Tampa Bay  74 points in 65 games  (Thursday vs Rangers)
2nd WC Detroit        72 points in 64 games  (Tuesday at Buffalo, Thursday vs. Arizona)
3rd         Isles           72 points in 64 games  (Thursday at Buffalo)
4th Washington 69 points in 63 games   (Wednesday at Edmonton, Thursday at Seattle)

Milestone Men  
Kyle Palmieri played his 800th NHL game, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau played in his 700th NHL game.
Cal Clutterbuck became the 13th player in club history to play 700 games for the Isles.
Brock Nelson has 270 goals, two behind John Tavares for 7th in club history.
Anders Lee has 443 points, tied with Billy Harris for 15th place in club history.
Brock Nelson is one goal away from his third consecutive 30-goal season, a feat last accomplished for the Islanders by Matt Moulson.

Mr. Consistency
Mathew Barzal saw his point streak end at seven games, one shy of his season high. He also has three other 5-game streaks, giving him five streaks of at least five games.

Woah Noah
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 64 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 56 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Dobson is on pace for 71 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 82 points, which would trail only four seasons by Potvin.

Dobson is tied for 5th in club history with his 56-assist season:
1. Denis Potvin 70 (1978-79)
2. Denis Potvin 67 (1975-76)
3. Denis Potvin 64 (1977-78)
4. Denis Potvin 63 (1983-84)
5. Denis Potvin 56 (1980-81)
    Stefan Persson 56 (1978-79)
    Noah Dobson 56 (2023-24)

Dobson has a point in eleven straight home games, which is the third-longest defense streak in club history (Denis Potvin - 15 in 1974-75 and Tom Kurvers -14 in 1991-92). Only one active defenseman has had a longer streak (Brent Burns -12 in 2017-18)

Dobson is now tied-25th overall for assists in a season by an Islander.

Most assists (Islanders, last 35 years)
1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93
2. Mathew Barzal 63 in  2017-18
3. Pierre Turgeon 56 in 1993-94 (traded after 69 games)
    Noah Dobson 56 in 2023-24

The New Coach
The Isles are 10-6-3 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals or fewer in eight of their ten wins. Ilya Sorokin is 9-3-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3-1.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy
1. Mathew Barzal 8-14-22
2. Brock Nelson 9-11-20
3. Noah Dobson 2-17-19
4. Bo Horvat 8-8-16 (4 GWG)
5. Kyle Palmieri 9-5-14

The New Top Line
(since put together February 26th)
Brock Nelson 4-6-10 +6
Bo Horvat 4-5-9 +6
Mathew Barzal 3-5-8 +5

The Isles are 6-1-0 in that stretch.

Since the Break
The Isles are 9-4-2 since the break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles have out-shot their opponents 30.3-27.3 (+3.0) since the break.

Inter-Division Games
Tonight was the ninth of eleven consecutive inter-division games; the Isles are 6-3-0 in that stretch. The next divisional opponent will be the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.
 
Overtime is Our Time
The Isles have played 22 overtime games. They are 7-10 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 28 overtime games.

The Isles have won 18 of the last 45 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 
14 (2023-24; CURRENT)
13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)
1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)
2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)
3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)
Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)
Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)
Rick DiPietro 28 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 2 empty-net goals and allowed 15.

Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play nineteen times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 40 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 52 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 12-57 (21.1%) and the Penalty Kill is 15-50 (70.0%). 
 
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 47 times this season:
Score the next goal: 13 times
Allowed the next goal: 30 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,974
2. Matt Martin 3,822

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. 

The 25-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:
Bryan Trottier 12
Mike Bossy 10
John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7
Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Anders Lee needs eight more goals this season for his 7th season with at least 25 goals.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  29-21-14 for 72 points in 64 games
2022-23  31-25-8 for 70 points in 64 games

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-0-0
Season: 27-110-137 
Season Pace 35-140-175
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.

Lots of Work for Sorokin
Most shots against:
Ilya Sorokin 1,536
Juuse Saros 1,490
Alexandar Georgiev 1,469 
Thatcher Demko 1,427

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Facing 40
Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots ten times this season and 27 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 34
2. Ilya Sorokin 27
3. Darcy Kuemper 23
4. Sam Montembault 21
Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
Ilya Sorokin 27 (182 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 279 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
51. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 279
53. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road
The Isles are 29-21-14 overall; they are 15-8-9 at home and 14-13-5 on the road.
Los Angeles is 33-20-11 overall; they are 14-11-7 at home and 19-9-4 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 18-9-8 against the East (8-4-5 vs. Metropolitan and 10-5-3 vs. Atlantic) and 11-12-6 against the West (5-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 113 games at UBS Arena and recorded 78 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 1,434
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,434) and Patrick Roy (140) have combined for 1,574 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 21-3-9 when scoring first and are 8-18-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 8-0-0 when they score first and are 2-6-3 when they do not.

The Shots
Isles             7-6-13=26
Los Angeles 5-12-8=25
The Isles are 11-8-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-12-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 22-14-11 on the season and 1-3-0 vs. Los Angeles.
David Rittich made 26 saves; he is 10-4-3 on the season and 2-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-5 on the power play (7:39; including :12 of 5-on-3); Los Angeles was 0-3 on the power play (3:51).

The Isles are 16-7-8 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-14-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-14-9 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-7-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 27-4-10 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-17-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 16-3-14 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 7-10 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-6 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 3-1-3 in the front end and 0-4-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on Saturday vs. Ottawa and next Sunday at the Rangers. 

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:13); Los Angeles: Drew Doughty (23:02)
Brock Nelson led Islander forwards with 19:02 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (4-1-2), Noah Dobson (22-18-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-0-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs
Isles 32, Los Angeles 20 (62%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 15 for the Isles; no King who took multiple draws won more than he lost. 

Hit Count
Isles 24 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)
Los Angeles 26 (Alex Laferriere -6)

Fights 
None. Season total: 7 (Martin 3, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 15 (Noah Dobson -3)
Los Angeles 16 (Drew Doughty-4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Los Angeles 55
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 38, Los Angeles 42
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Ryan Pulock +16
Los Angeles: Trevor Moore +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Los Angeles 5
5-on-5: Isles 5, Los Angeles 4

Scratches
(Robert Bortuzzo -LTIR), (Scott Mayfield – LTIR), Oliver Wahlstrom, (Matt Martin -INJ), Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 157

The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 176 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (148) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Four other Islanders (Noah Dobson, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Palmieri, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) have played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 15
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 20
Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 5-0-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on March 17th (TNT) vs. the Rangers.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-2-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The remaining matinee games are March 16th vs OTT, March 17th at NYR, March 23rd vs WPG, and April 13th at NYR.
The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games.

Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 3 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20) 

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24)

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and three time on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4, @SJ 3/7)  and allowed two in the same span eight times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32))

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.
For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)
Vs (5): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG)
Vs (7): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners
For (7):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26
Vs (10):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18

Shootout Winners
For (1):  Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (4):  Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 822 *** 7. Bob Bourne 814 *** 8. Matt Martin 807 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 797 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 742 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Cal Clutterbuck 700…
32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Mathew Barzal 483 *** 36. Adam Pelech 482 *** 37. Radek Martinek 479 **** 38. Gerry Hart 476 *** 39. Mariusz Czerkawski 470 *** 40. Scott Mayfield 469 *** 41. Ryan Pulock 468

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 270 *** 9. Anders Lee 257 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 125…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall, and Casey Cizikas 105

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 305…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 248…
21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 187…
31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 33. Noah Dobson 147 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Steve Thomas 140 *** 36. Mark Streit 139 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 137

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 518 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 444  *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 430…
31. Nick Leddy 243 *** 32. Ray Ferraro and Casey Cizikas 238

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Adam Pelech +76 ***  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 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 47 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 38

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 147 *** 9. Mark Streit 139 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 137…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Adam Pelech 110… 
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Noah Dobson 185 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 184
13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 136 *** 15. Tom Kurvers 134 …
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Tommy Salo 187 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 183 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 154

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 92 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy and Semyon Varlamov 66

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 20-30-6-1 on the season as they travel to Laval (Quebec) for games Wednesday and Friday. The weekend concludes with a game on Saturday in Belleville (Ontario).

Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (Los Angeles earned 3 points to the Isles' 2). 

The Isles have never swept three straight games in California and are 2-11-0 in 13 trips to Staples Center/crypto.com Arena since 2006.

UP NEXT
THURSDAY, MARCH 14th  – ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO– 7:00pm
[MSGSN(pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The final 18 games of the regular season all will be played in the Eastern Time Zone, beginning with a Pi Day (3-14) game in Buffalo.

It is the final meeting of the season between the teams; the Isles opened their season with a 3-2 win over the Sabres at UBS Arena but then fell 3-1 in Buffalo on October 21st.

This has been a 'homer' series in recent years, with the home team winning 13 of the last 14 meetings; the Isles are 7-1-0 at home but are 0-4-2 in their last six trips to Western New York.

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



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