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The Skinny: Isles 6, Toronto 3

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 34 Isles 6, Toronto 3 The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:48 and the Maple Leafs ...

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

The Skinny: Detroit 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 8
Detroit 4, Isles 3 (OT)
Lucas Raymond scored 1:25 into overtime as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Islanders 4-3 before a crowd of 15,407 at UBS Arena.  It was the Red Wings' first win over the Isles in New York since December 19, 2017, snapping a 7-game Isles streak.

The Isles had built a 2-0 lead on a late 2nd period goal by Casey Cizikas and a goal 1:05 into the third period by Brock Nelson.  However, after blanking the opponents for 135:30, the Isles then allowed three goals in a 3:48 span to give the Red Wings the lead.  Bo Horvat tied the game on the power play with 4:11 to play to set the stage for Raymond's winning goal.

The Isles are 4-2-2 on the season and head to Washington to face the Caps on Thursday night at 7:00pm.

The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
Casey Cizikas (2) Bo Horvat (3) 18:39 DET 0,NYI 1 SHG

3rd Period
Brock Nelson (4) Noah Dobson (6), Pierre Engvall (4) 01:05 DET 0,NYI 2
Daniel Sprong (3) Michael Rasmussen (2), Jake Walman (3) 07:55 DET 1,NYI 2
Jake Walman (2) Moritz Seider (8), Lucas Raymond (5) 09:35 DET 2,NYI 2
J.T. Compher (2) Moritz Seider (9), Andrew Copp (2) 11:43 DET 3,NYI 2
Bo Horvat (4) Mathew Barzal (5), Noah Dobson (7) 15:49 DET 3,NYI 3 PPG

OT
Lucas Raymond (3) J.T. Compher (4) 01:25 DET 4,NYI 3

The Skinny    
Casey Cizikas' goal was the first one the Isles have ever scored against Ville Husso, who blanked them last season and was the Isles' first shorthanded goal of the season …Brock Nelson now has 36 October goals, breaking a tie with Denis Potvin for 7th on the club's all-time list…The Isles have allowed 236 shots in their last six games (2-2-2) after allowing only 42 in their first two games; it is the most shots the Isles have allowed in a six-game stretch since February 2018…. Cizikas played in his 753rd Isles game, passing Mike Bossy for 9th place in club history; eleven of Cizikas' 99 career goals have been shorthanded…Cizikas is now tied for 9th place in club history with those 11 shorties with three others, including Cal Clutterbuck… Noah Dobson had two assists and regained the team lead in points with nine; James Wisniewski (11 in 2011-12) is the only Islander defenseman in the last 30 years with more points through eight games…Dobson now has 98 assists and needs only two to become the 2nd-youngest defenseman in club history to reach 100 (Denis Potvin) .… The Isles killed both Detroit power plays and have killed 17 of 19 over the last five games.… The Isles have outscored their opponents 7-3 in the first period (the three goals allowed is tied with St. Louis for the fewest in the NHL) and have scored the first goal in six of their eight games …. The Isles had a season-high 40 shots on goal…The Isles are 0-7-2 in the last nine games that they allowed 3 goals or more…The Isles had won nine straight games when leading 2-0 dating back to last season; they are now 11-0-2 in their last 13 games leading 2-0, dating back to a loss in Tempe in January…JT Compher's assist on the winning goal was his 200th NHL point…The Isles had won the last seven games that they scored both a power play goal and a shorthanded goal, since losing in overtime in Detroit on December 4, 2021. 

First Times in a Long Time
Noah Dobson played 26:06; he has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last four games (first Isle to do that since Travis Hamonic did so six times in 2016) and at least 24 minutes in seven straight games (first since Hamonic did so nine times in 2014).
Bo Horvat's goal was the latest tying goal the Isles have scored on the power play since February 4, 2020, when Mathew Barzal scored at 16:01; the Isles won that game in overtime on a Beau (Anthony Beauvillier) goal.

First Time for Everything
After over 100 minutes of scoreless play, JT Compher's go-ahead goal was the first that the Islanders have allowed this season at 5-on-5 with Ryan Pulock and Alexander Romanov on the ice.

Shoot the Puck!
The Isles have been getting more rubber on goal during power plays than they did last season:
2023-24  Isles have 41 shots in 38:13 of PP (1.07 shots per minute)
2022-23  Isles had 336 shots in 379:43 of PP (0.88 shots per minute)
That's a 22% increase in shots per minute spent on the power play.

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,774
2. Matt Martin 3,722

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. 

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  4-2-2 for 10 points in 8 games
2022-23  4-4-0 for 8 points in 8 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  0-2-2
Season: 2-10-12
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 136 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.6% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.5%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 4-2-2 overall; they are 3-1-2 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.
Detroit is 6-3-1 overall; they are 3-1-1 at home and 3-2-0 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 3-1-2 against the East (1-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 2-1-1 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-0 against the West (1-1-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 88 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,409
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 4-0-2 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     10-17-12-1=40
Detroit 12-15-7-2=36
The Isles are 1-0-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 2-2-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 3-1-2 on the season and 3-1-2 vs. Detroit.   
Ville Husso made 37 saves; he is 4-2-1 on the season and 2-0-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (2:48); Detroit was 0-2 on the power play (4:00) and allowed a shorthanded goal.

The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-1-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 2-1-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 37-7-6 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 3-0-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-0 in regulation. They are 0-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (26:06);  Detroit: Moritz Seider (24:07)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 19:24 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (2-2-1)

Face-offs
Isles 34, Detroit 32 (52%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 14 of 22 for the Isles; JT Compher won 13 of 20 for Detroit. 

Hit Count
Isles 13 (Casey Cizikas -5)
Detroit 8 (Michael Rasmussen -3)

Fights 
None. Season total: 2 (Martin 1, Pelech 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 16 (Ryan Pulock-4)
Detroit 12 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 67, Detroit 71
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 59, Detroit 61

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Mathew Barzal +7
Detroit: Moritz Seider +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 19, Detroit 16
5-on-5: Isles 16, Detroit 14

Scratches
Julien Gauthier, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 7

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 120th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span twice (COL 10/25 x2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have allowed the opposition to do so once.
For (0):  
Vs (1): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT)  

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (2):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 774 *** 8.Brock Nelson 766 *** 9.  Casey Cizikas 753…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 686 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 644

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 245 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 262…
18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 467 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 368

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +79 ***  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 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Noah Dobson 32

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov and Noah Dobson 98… 
21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
13. Tom Kurvers 134 *** 14. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 16. Noah Dobson 130 *** 
17. Gerry Hart 128 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov and Adam Pelech 125 ***  20. Thomas Hickey 117 ***
 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 142 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 137

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 73 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 60

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo and Semyon Varlamov 14

On the Farm  
After being swept in a pair of games last weekend, Bridgeport (2-4-1-0 on the season) heads to Hershey on Saturday to face the Bears.  Ruslan Iskhakov leads the team in scoring (2-6-8) while Jakub Skarek is 2-2-1 in the nets. 

Season Series Stats
Detroit leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1).  The teams will not meet again until a Leap Day (February 29th) game in Detroit.

The Isles are 7-0-1 in their last eight home game against Detroit and are 10-3-2 in the last fifteen meetings overall.

UP NEXT
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd  —ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON- 7:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
It's another single game road trip as the Isles head to DC to face the Capitals. . 

The Isles went 1-2-1 last season against Washington, with the win coming in a shootout in DC on March 29th.  Overall, the Isles are 3-3-2 in the last two seasons against the Caps but are 2-5-1 in their last eight trips to the Nation's Capital. It's the first of two meetings nine days apart between the teams; they will also meet twice in the same span in late December to complete the season series.

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

Sunday, October 29, 2023

The Skinny: Isles 2, Columbus 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 7
Isles 2, Columbus 0
Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves for his 39th career shutout and the Isles got goals from Kyle Palmieri and Matt Martin to earn a 2-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets before a crowd of 15,424 at Nationwide Arena.  

Varlamov, making his second appearance of the season, now has 60 wins as an Islander, including 14 by shutout. 

The Isles improve to 4-2-1 on the season and return home to face Detroit on Monday night at 7:30pm.

The Scoring:
1st Period
Kyle Palmieri (3) Pierre Engvall (3), Sebastian Aho (1) 15:45 NYI 1,CBJ 0

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Matt Martin (1) Casey Cizikas (2) 16:39 NYI 2,CBJ 0

The Skinny    
Semyon Varlamov has stopped 74 of the 77 shots he faced this season; the Isles are the first team to have multiple goaltenders with a shutout…The Isles have allowed 201 shots in their last five games (2-2-1) after allowing only 42 in their first two games; it is the most shots the Isles have allowed in a five-game stretch since February 2018….Casey Cizikas played in his 752nd Isles game, matching Mike Bossy for 9th place in club history . …Kyle Palmieri now is 3-4-7 in the first 7 games, matching Noah Dobson for the team lead in points.  Palmieri has had only one season (2018-19) where he had more than seven points through his team's first seven games… Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson both saw their point streaks end at five games… The Isles killed all three Columbus power plays and have killed 15 of 17 over the last four games, including all six this season on the road.… The Isles have outscored their opponents 7-3 in the first period (the three goals allowed is tied for the fewest in the NHL) and have scored the first goal in five of their seven games ….The Isles snapped four-game point streaks for both Jack Roslovic and Ivan Provorov…Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin have combined for nearly 7,500 hits in the NHL, but neither was credited with one tonight….Martin did score his first goal in 30 regular season games…Brock Nelson led all players with eight shots on goal – two shy of his career high (10, also vs. Columbus, on 11/12/2022) and finished with 13 attempts.

Silence the Cannon
Semyon Varlamov has four career shutouts against the Blue Jackets, matching Roberto Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov for most all-time against Columbus.  

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles are 4-2-1; the nine points in seven games represent their best 7-game start since 2015-16 (also 4-2-1).
Noah Dobson played 25:25; he has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last three games (first Isle to that since Travis Hamonic in 2016) and at least 24 minutes in six straight games (first since Hamonic in 2014).

Moving On Up
Semyon Varlamov tied Tommy Salo for 5th place on the club shutout list (14), became the 11th goalie in club history to win 60 games, and broke a tie for Roland Melanson for 10th place in games played by an Isle goalie (137). 

Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (273) and third in shutouts (39).

Shoot the Puck!
The Isles have been getting more rubber on goal during power plays than they did last season:
2023-24  Isles have 36 shots in 35:25 of PP   (1.02 shots per minute)
2022-23  Isles had 336 shots in 379:43 of PP (0.88 shots per minute)
That's a 16% increase in shots per minute spent on the power play.

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,771
2. Matt Martin 3,720

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. 

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  4-2-1 for 9 points in 7 games
2022-23  3-4-0 for 6 points in 7 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  0-1-1
Season: 2-8-10
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 135 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.6% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.6%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 4-2-1 overall; they are 3-1-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.
Columbus is 3-3-2 overall; they are 3-2-1 at home and 1-0-1 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 3-1-1 against the East (1-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 2-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-0 against the West (1-1-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 87 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,409
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 4-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     14-9-10=33
Columbus 11-7-17=35
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 2-2-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves; he is 1-1-0 on the season and 10-5-2 vs. Columbus.   
Spencer Martin made 31 saves; he is 1-2-0 on the season and 0-2-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (6:00); Columbus was 0-3 on the power play (6:00).

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-1-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 37-7-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 3-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 3-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (25:25);  Columbus: Zach Werenski (24:24)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:50 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (2-2-0)

Face-offs
Isles 23, Columbus 17 (58%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 10 for the Isles; Boone Jenner won 10 of 15 for Columbus. 

Hit Count
Isles 10 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -3)
Columbus 9 (Three with 2)

Fights 
None. Season total: 2 (Martin 1, Pelech 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov -3)
Columbus 15 (Erik Gudbranson -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 73, Columbus 71
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 56, Columbus 52

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Kyle Palmieri +14
Columbus: David Jiricek +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Columbus 13
5-on-5: Isles 10, Columbus 9

Scratches
Julien Gauthier, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 6

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 119th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span twice (COL 10/25 x2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 773 *** 8.Brock Nelson 765 *** 9. Mike Bossy and. Casey Cizikas 752…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 685 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 643

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 261…
18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 367

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +78 ***  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 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Noah Dobson 32

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Noah Dobson 96… 
21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Noah Dobson 128 *** 19. Adam Pelech 125 ***  20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 141 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 137

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 73 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 60

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo and Semyon Varlamov 14

On the Farm  
Bridgeport fell to 2-4-1-0 on the season with losses of 5-2 and 2-0 in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday.  Ruslan Iskhakov leads the team in scoring (2-6-8) while Jakub Skarek is 2-2-1 in the nets. 

The Baby Islanders don't play again until November 4th when they visit Hershey.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will next meet on December 7th on Long Island.

The Isles are 7-0-2 in their last nine games against Columbus overall and have earned points in each of their last six trips to Columbus (4-0-2).

UP NEXT
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30th  — DETROIT AT ISLANDERS - 7:30pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
The Islanders return home to welcome the Detroit Red Wings to UBS Arena for the only time this season. 

The Isles went 2-1-0 last season against Detroit, with the home team earning multi-goal wins in all three games. The Isles have won seven straight home games from the Red Wings (for the first time ever) and are 10-3-1 in the last 14 meetings overall. 

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

Friday, October 27, 2023

The Skinny: Isles 3, Ottawa 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 6
Isles 3, Ottawa 2
Noah Dobson scored with 13:15 remaining in the third period to break a 2-2 tie as the Isles snapped a three-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators before a crowd of 14,911 at UBS Arena.  

The Isles led 2-0 after one period on goals by Bo Horvat and Cal Clutterbuck but ran into penalty troubles in the second period as Ottawa rallied to tie the game after 40 minutes.

The game was delayed in the second period when Erik Brannstrom appeared to hit his head on the ice following a legal check by Cal Clutterbuck.  The Senators later reported that Brannstrom, who was stretchered off the ice, "was alert, has use of his extremities and has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation."

The Isles are 3-2-1 on the season and visit Columbus on Saturday night at 7:00pm.

The Scoring:
1st Period 
Bo Horvat (3) Kyle Palmieri (4), Noah Dobson (5) 02:41 OTT 0,NYI 1 PPG
Cal Clutterbuck (2) Casey Cizikas (1) 13:05 OTT 0,NYI 2

2nd Period
Claude Giroux (2) Tim Stützle (6), Josh Norris (2) 06:52  OTT 1,NYI 2 PPG
Jakob Chychrun (4) Rourke Chartier (1), Parker Kelly (2) 12:25 OTT 2,NYI 2

3rd Period
Noah Dobson (2) Mathew Barzal (4), Bo Horvat (2) 06:45 OTT 2,NYI 3

The Skinny    
The Isles have allowed 168 shots in their last four games after allowing only 42 in their first two games; it is the most shots the Isles have allowed in a four-game stretch since February 2018….Casey Cizikas played in his 751st Isles game; he will tie Mike Bossy for 9th place in club history with his next appearance. …Noah Dobson had two points for the second straight game to take over the team lead in scoring (2-5-7); he has had seven of the nine points for the Isles defense this season… Dobson's assist was the 96th of his career, passing Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey for 18th among Isles defensemen; only Denis Potvin (219) and Tomas Jonsson (also 96) had as many before their 24th birthday…Dobson's goal was his 32nd, breaking a tie with Bryan Berard for 12th place among defenders… Mathew Barzal and Dobson extended their point streaks to five games as Dobson matched his career-best streak…Bo Horvat had his second multi-point game of the season.. The Isles killed seven of eight Ottawa power plays but have allowed six power play goals in their first five home games; it was the first time that the Isles have been shorthanded eight times at home since March 1, 2014, vs. New Jersey…they allowed only six in their first 27 home games last season (enroute to the best home PK in the NHL)… The Isles had a multi-goal lead after one period for the second time in five home games this season; it happened only four times last season… The Isles have outscored their opponents 6-3 in the first period but have been outscored 9-5 in the second stanza. …Claude Giroux's goal gave him 73 points in 68 games vs. Isles; among active players only Sidney Crosby (132) and Evgeni Malkin (85) have more….The Isles snapped five-game point streaks for both Ridly Greig and Jake Sanderson.

First Times in a Long Time
Noah Dobson played a career-high 27:42; it is the most ice-time for an Islander in a game that ended in regulation since Nick Leddy played 28:05 on October 27, 2016, vs. Pittsburgh.
Dobson, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock all played over 26 minutes – the first time three Isles had done that since February 21, 2013 (Travis Hamonic, Mark Streit, Lubomir Visnovsky) in Montreal; that game ended on a Thomas Hickey overtime goal. The last time three Isles played at least 26 minutes in a game that ended in regulation was March 12, 2004, vs Anaheim (Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson, Janne Niinimaa).
Ilya Sorokin stopped 15 of 16 shots with the Isles shorthanded.  He is the first Islander goalie to face at least 16 power play shots since Mikko Koskinen faced 22 shots on February 11, 2011, vs. Pittsburgh.

First Times For Everything
Rourke Chartier earned his first NHL assist for Ottawa; it came nearly five years to the day of his only NHL goal.
Simon Holmstrom was assessed his first NHL penalty; he had gone 54 penalty-free games, which was a club record from the start of an Isles tenure.
 
Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,771
2. Matt Martin 3,720

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. 

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  3-2-1 for 7 points in 6 games
2022-23  2-4-0 for 4 points in 6 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  1-1-2
Season: 2-7-9
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 135 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.6% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.6%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 3-2-1 overall; they are 3-1-1 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.
Ottawa is 3-4-0 overall; they are 3-2-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 2-1-1 against the East (0-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 2-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-0 against the West (1-1-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 87 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,408
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 3-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     17-10-11=38
Ottawa 13-18-16=47
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 1-2-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 45 saves; he is 3-1-1 on the season and 3-0-1 vs. Ottawa.   
Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves; he is 1-3-0 on the season and 4-5-3 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (4:21); Ottawa was 1-8 on the power play (10:58).

The Isles are 21-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 2-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 37-7-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 3-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 3-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (career-high 27:42);  Ottawa: Jakub Chychrun (28:12)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 20:28 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (1-2-0)

Face-offs
Isles 33, Ottawa 34 (49%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 22 for the Isles; Josh Norris won 12 of 18 for Ottawa. 

Hit Count
Isles 22 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -5)
Ottawa 10 (Two with 2)

Fights 
Matt Martin fought Mark Kastelic in the second period. Season total: 2 (Martin 1, Pelech 1)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 16 (Noah Dobson -3)
Ottawa 21 (Thomas Chabot-4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 64, Ottawa 77
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Ottawa 52

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Adam Pelech/Noah Dobson +10
Ottawa: Three with +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Ottawa 13
5-on-5: Isles 11, Ottawa 7

Scratches
Julien Gauthier, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 5

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 118th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span twice (COL 10/25 x2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 772 *** 8.Brock Nelson 764 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 751…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 684 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 642

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 261…
18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 367

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +78 ***  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 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Noah Dobson 32

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Noah Dobson 96… 
21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Noah Dobson 128 *** 19. Adam Pelech 125 ***  20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 141 *** 10. Roland Melanson and Semyon Varlamov 136

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 73 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 59

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4.Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13 

On the Farm  
Bridgeport, now 2-2-1-0 on the season, heads to Charlotte to face the Checkers on both Friday and Saturday.  Ruslan Iskhakov leads the team in scoring (2-4-6) while Jakub Skarek is 2-1-1 in the nets.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to  0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will next meet on Black Friday in Ottawa.

The Isles are 6-0-1 in their last seven home games against Ottawa. 

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28th  — COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS - 7:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
The Islanders play their second road game of the season on Saturday in Columbus. 

The Isles went 3-0-1 last season against Columbus, including a split of a pair of overtime games.  Over the last two seasons the Isles are 6-0-2 against the Blue Jackets.    Since October 2019, the Isles are 3-0-2 in their last five trips to Ohio. 

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

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

The Skinny: Colorado 7, Isles 4

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 4
Colorado 7, Isles 4
Bowen Byram and Nathan MacKinnon scored 13 seconds apart late in the second period to erase a 3-2 Islander lead and Mikko Rantenen would eventually score the winning goal as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Islanders 7-4 before a crowd of 14,856 at UBS Arena.  

The game was tied four different times; the Isles scored three tying goals for the second straight home game.  Colorado scored four times in the 20th minutes of periods (two in the second and two empty-netters in the third) to cement their NHL record-breaking 15th straight road win; the win breaks a tie with the 2006 Buffalo Sabres for the longest road win streak in league history. 

The Isles host Ottawa on Thursday night at 7:30pm.

The Scoring:
1st Period 
Ryan Johansen (3) Mikko Rantanen (5), Cale Makar (5) 05:19 COL 1,NYI 0 PPG
Cal Clutterbuck (1) Noah Dobson (3), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) 10:03 COL 1,NYI 1
Cale Makar (3) Mikko Rantanen (6), Devon Toews (3) 12:52 COL 2,NYI 1

2nd Period
Kyle Palmieri (2) Mathew Barzal (3), Noah Dobson (4) 02:56 COL 2,NYI 2 PPG 
Simon Holmstrom (1) Cal Clutterbuck (2), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) 05:55 COL 2,NYI 3
Bowen Byram (1) Valeri Nichushkin (4), Cale Makar (6) 19:18 COL 3,NYI 3
Nathan MacKinnon (4) Valeri Nichushkin (5) 19:31 COL 4,NYI 3

3rd Period
Anders Lee (1) 04:40 COL 4,NYI 4
Mikko Rantanen (5) Tomas Tatar (4) 07:47 COL 5,NYI 4
Ryan Johansen (4)EN Mikko Rantanen (7) 19:00 COL 6,NYI 4
Ross Colton (1)EN OWN 19:29 COL 7,NYI 4

The Skinny   
Mathew Barzal passed Billy Harris by recording his 260th assist (15th in club history)... The Isles have allowed 121 shots in their last three games after allowing only 42 in their first two games; ..Casey Cizikas became the 10th player in club history to appear in 750 games; Matt Martin played only 5:31 – his lowest ice-time since the game played right before COVID shut down the NHL in 2020…Noah Dobson had two assists; he has had five of the seven points for the Isles defense this season…Cale Makar had a goal and two assists for his 21st career three-point game; he now has 11 points in seven career games against the Isles… Mikko Rantanen had four points for the second time this season and 19th time of his career….Colorado has scored at least four goals in five of their first six games (all wins)…Noah Dobson had two assists to give him 95 on his career, tying Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey for 18th among Isles defensemen… Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson extended their point streaks to four games; Dobson is one game shy of his career-best streak…Valerie Nichuskin extended his point streak to five games while Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan Johansen each scored for the third straight game…The Isles have allowed 17 goals through five games; it is the most they have allowed through five games since 2013, when they allowed 18…The Isles have allowed five power play goals in their first four home games; they allowed only five in their first 22 home games last season (enroute to the best home PK in the NHL)…The Isles have now won 55.4% of their face-offs; that is the best percentage in the NHL.

First Times For Everything
The Isles allowed four goals at 19:00 or later of a period for the first time in club history.
Ilya Sorokin allowed five goals in consecutive games for the first time in his NHL career; the ten goals allowed matched the total in his first two NHL games (and not equaled since).
 
Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,769
2. Matt Martin 3,717

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. 

Simon Says, "No Penalties"
Simon Holmstrom extended his club record for consecutive games at the start of his tenure with the team before taking a penalty:

Isles Games Played Before Taking First Penalty
Simon Holmstrom 54 (CURRENT) *
Billy MacMillian 42
Brian Marchinko 42 (ENTIRE ISLES CAREER)
Mike Bossy 39
Frans Nielsen 39

Marchinko played five games with Toronto before joining the Isles in 1972; he took no penalties in his 47-game career.  Like Holmstrom, both Bossy and Nielsen represent games from the start of their career.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  2-2-1 for 5 points in 5 games
2022-23  2-3-0 for 4 points in 5 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  0-2-2
Season: 1-6-7
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 134 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.7% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.7%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 2-2-1 overall; they are 2-1-1 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.
Colorado is 6-0-0 overall; they are 3-0-0 at home and 3-0-0 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 1-1-1 against the East (0-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 1-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-0 against the West (1-1-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 86 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,407
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 2-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     6-16-10=32
Colorado 17-14-9=40
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-2-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin 33 saves; he is 2-1-1 on the season and 0-2-1 vs. Colorado.   
Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves; he is 6-0-0 on the season and 10-4-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-5 on the power play (6:55); Colorado was 1-3 on the power play (4:21).

The Isles are 1-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 0-1-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 1-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 36-7-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 2-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 2-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (26:25);  Colorado: Cale Makar (24:39)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:05 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (0-2-0)

Face-offs
Isles 36, Colorado 22 (62%)
Borck Nelson won 11 of 15 for the Isles; no Avalanche who took multiple draws won more than he lost.

Hit Count
Isles 21 (Ryan Pulock  -4)
Colorado 5 (Two with 2)

Fights 
None. Season total: 0
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Noah Dobson -5)
Colorado 11 (2 with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 55, Colorado 68
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 36, Colorado 48

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Bo Horvat +5
Colorado: Two with +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 16, Colorado 14
5-on-5: Isles 8, Colorado 11

Scratches
Julien Gauthier, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 4

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 117th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road) and allowed two in the same span twice (COL 10/25 x2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 771 *** 8.Brock Nelson 763 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 750…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 683 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 641

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 241 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 260…
18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 418 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 366

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +78 ***  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 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard and  Noah Dobson 31

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey and. Noah Dobson 95 *** 21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Noah Dobson 126 *** 19. Adam Pelech 125 ***  20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 140 *** 10. Roland Melanson and Semyon Varlamov 136

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 72 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 59

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4.Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13 

On the Farm 
Tanner Fritz tied the game midway through the third period, but Hershey earned a 3-2 overtime win Sunday over Hershey. 

Bridgeport, now 2-2-1-0 on the season, heads to Charlotte to face the Checkers on both Friday and Saturday.

Season Series Stats
Colorado leads the season series, 1 game to  0 (and 2 points to 0).  The teams will conclude the season series in Denver on January 2nd.

The Isles are 1-4-1 in their last meetings with the Avs.

UP NEXT
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26th  — OTTAWA AT ISLANDERS - 7:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
The Islanders conclude the homestand as they host Ottawa.

The Isles went 1-1-1 last season with the Sens, including a shootout loss at UBS on Valentine's Day.  The Isles are 5-0-1 in their last six home games against Ottawa. 

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, October 21, 2023

The Skinny: Buffalo 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 4
Buffalo 3, Isles 1
Jeff Skinner broke a scoreless tie late in the second period to key a three-goal outburst as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Islanders 3-1 before a crowd of 16,179 at Key Bank Center.  

All three Sabre goals came in a 6:03 span late in the second period and early in the third period; Eric Comrie's shutout was spoiled by a Noah Dobson goal at 18:39 of the third period.

The Isles head home to face Colorado on Tuesday night; it's an 8:00 start as part of the NHL's Frozen Frenzy. 

The Scoring:
1st Period
None

2nd Period 
Jeff Skinner (2) Casey Mittelstadt (2) 16:37 NYI 0,BUF 1
Mattias Samuelsson (1) Casey Mittelstadt (3), Jeff Skinner (1) 19:23 NYI 0,BUF 2

3rd Period
Dylan Cozens (2) Rasmus Dahlin (5), Jordan Greenway (2) 02:40 NYI 0,BUF 3
Noah Dobson (1) Mathew Barzal (2), Bo Horvat (1) 19:07 NYI 1,BUF 3 

The Skinny    
The Isles allowed the first for the first time this season, leaving Ottawa as the only team to score first in every game they have played this season…Tage Thompson had a career-high ten shots on goal; it's the most shots a Sabre has had against the Isles since Jochen Hecht had 11 on New Year's Day 2007….Kyle Palmieri's point streak ended at three games….Semyon Varlamov made his season debut and appeared in his 136th game as an Islander, matching Roland Melanson for 10th place on the Isles' all-time list…Noah Dobson tied Bryan Berard for 12th among Isles defensemen with 31 goals; Mathew Barzal matched Billy Harris with 259 assists (15th in club history).. Julien Gauthier played 12:58 in his Islander debut; he is the first player to make his Isles debut this season and the 588th player in club history… Gauthier, who was 4th in the NHL last season in 22 mph bursts, was the only player on either team to reach that mark tonight…Oliver Wahlstrom returned to the lineup for the first time since being injured on December 27th; he had missed the last 49 Islander regular season games…The Isles have allowed 82 shots in their last two games after allowing only 42 in their first two games; the 82 shots in consecutive games is the most that they have allowed since Calgary and the Rangers combined for 86 last November 7-8th (Isles won both of those games)….Hudson Fasching was out of the lineup for the first time since the All-Star break; Simon Holmstrom also missed his first game of the season.
 
Home is Where The Sorokin Is
Ilya Sorokin, who went 20-10-3 at UBS Arena with a 1.91 GAA and a 93.6% save percentage last season, is 2-0-1 in the new campaign.  He is only the third goalie in Islander history to win at least 20 games at home in a season (Halak 22 in 2014-15, Smith 20 in 1981-82). Among all active goalies, Sorokin has the best career home marks in both GAA (2.00) and save percentage (93.1%). 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,767
2. Matt Martin 3,716

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. 

Simon Says, "No Penalties"
Simon Holmstrom extended his club record for consecutive games at the start of his tenure with the team before taking a penalty:

Isles Games Played Before Taking First Penalty
Simon Holmstrom 53 (CURRENT) *
Billy MacMillian 42
Brian Marchinko 42 (ENTIRE ISLES CAREER)
Mike Bossy 39
Frans Nielsen 39

Marchinko played five games with Toronto before joining the Isles in 1972; he took no penalties in his 47-game career.  Like Holmstrom, both Bossy and Nielsen represent games from the start of their career.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  2-1-1 for 5 points in 4 games
2022-23  2-2-0 for 4 points in 4 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  1-0-1
Season: 1-4-5
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 133 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.9% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.8%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 2-1-1 overall; they are 2-0-1 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.
Buffalo is 2-3-0 overall; they are 2-2-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 1-1-1 against the East (0-0-1 vs. Metropolitan and 1-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-0-0 against the West (1-0-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 85 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,407
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 2-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles     7-9-9=25
Buffalo 14-17-12=43
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-1-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves; he is 0-1-0 on the season and 13-5-1 vs. Buffalo.   
Eric Comrie made 24 saves; he is 1-0-0 on the season and 21-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:24); Buffalo was 0-3 on the power play (5:24).

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 1-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-1-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 36-6-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 2-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 2-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including tonight, the Isles are 0-0-1 in the front end and 0-1-0 in the back end this season.  The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noh Dobson (24:44);  Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin (23:02)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 19:44 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1), Noah Dobson (0-1-0)

Face-offs
Isles 18, Buffalo 38 (32%)
No Islander won more than he lost; Kyle Okposo won 7 of 8 for Buffalo. 

Hit Count
Isles 39 (Alexander Romanov -5)
Buffalo 16 (Peyton Krebs-3)

Fights 
None. Season total: 0
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 22 (Adam Pelech -6)
Buffalo 13 (2 with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, Buffalo 79
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 36, Buffalo 64

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Samuel Bolduc +4
Buffalo: Tage Thompson +19

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Buffalo 19
5-on-5: Isles 9, Buffalo 17

Scratches
Simon Holmstrom, Hudson Fasching, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 3

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 116th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road):

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 770 *** 8.Brock Nelson 762 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 749…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 682 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 640

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 240 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Billy Harris and Mathew Barzal 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 417 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 365

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +78 ***  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 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard and  Noah Dobson 31

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 20. Noah Dobson 93 *** 21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Adam Pelech 125 *** 19. Noah Dobson 124 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 139 *** 10. Roland Melanson and Semyon Varlamov 136

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 72 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 59

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4.Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13 

On the Farm 
Robin Salo scored 1:13 into overtime to give Bridgeport a 2-1 home-opener win Saturday over Utica. 

Bridgeport, now 2-2-0 on the young season, hosts Hershey at 3pm Sunday.

Season Series Stats
The season series is even, 1 game to  1 (and 2 points to 2).  The final meeting will be in Buffalo on March 14th.

The Isles are 0-4-2 in their last six trips to Western NY; they will look to avoid their longest losing streak ever in Buffalo when they play again in March.

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24th  — COLORADO AT ISLANDERS - 8:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
The Islanders return home to face the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

The teams split a pair of games last season, with the Isles rallying for a 5-4 win at UBS Arena and then dropping a 1-0 shootout loss in Denver.

The Avs have won 14 straight road games (3-0-0 this season) and will be looking to set an all-time NHL record. The Sabres won 14 straight road games in 2006. 

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

The Skinny: New Jersey 5, Isles 4 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 3
New Jersey 5, Isles 4 (OT)
Jack Hughes completed a four-point game with an overtime goal as the New Jersey Devils scored four power play goals and overcame a late tying goal by Bo Horvat to defeat the Islanders 5-4 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.  

Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat each scored twice for the Islanders, with Horvat's goal at 18:49 representing the latest tying goal for the Islanders since the final game of the 2017-18 season (Ryan Pulock  at Detroit – 19:30) 

It's the first time since 2014-15 that the Isles have opened 2-0-1 or better and only the eleventh time in franchise history that they have done so.

The Isles head to Buffalo on Saturday to conclude the first back-to-back of the season. 

The Scoring:
1st Period
Brock Nelson (2) Pierre Engvall (2), Kyle Palmieri (2) 12:35 NJD 0,NYI 1
Dougie Hamilton (3) Timo Meier (1), Akira Schmid (1) 19:00 NJD 1,NYI 1 PPG

2nd Period 
Tyler Toffoli (1) Jack Hughes (5), Jesper Bratt (3) 00:21 NJD 2,NYI 1 PPG
Brock Nelson (3) Kyle Palmieri (3) 01:37 NJD 2,NYI 2
Luke Hughes (1) Jack Hughes (6), Jesper Bratt (4) 02:36 NJD 3,NYI 2 PPG
Bo Horvat (1) Noah Dobson (2), Matt Martin (1) 06:10 NJD 3,NYI 3

3rd Period 
Jack Hughes (3) Ondrej Palat (2), Jesper Bratt (5) 04:30 NJD 4,NYI 3 PPG
Bo Horvat (2) Mathew Barzal (1), Kyle Palmieri (4) 18:49 NJD 4,NYI 4

OT
Jack Hughes (4) 02:19 John Marino (2), Timo Meier (2)NJD 5,NYI 4

The Skinny    
The Isles scored first for the third straight game; Ottawa is the only other team to score first in every game they have played this season…Brock Nelson now has 35 goals in games played in October, tying Denis Potvin for 7th place on the club's all time list; Nelson is now six goals shy of joining the 250-goal club…There were five goals scored in a span of 7:10, beginning with Dougie Hamilton's goal late in the first period; it was the first time the Devils had scored a goal in the first period and the first time the Isles had allowed one…Noah Dobson had a career-high eight blocked shots…The Isles scored three tying goal s for the first time since an overtime win vs. Columbus last November 12th…Bo Horvat, who had 28 multi-goal games for Vancouver, recorded his first one for the Isles… Lindy Ruff earned his 100th win as Devils coach…Jack Hughes leads the NHL with 10 points; he now has six goals in nine games against Ilya Sorokin and is 7-3-10 in 15 games against the Isles….Kyle Palmieri had two assists, giving him four points (1-3-4) in his three-game point streak to open the season.

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles allowed three power play goals for the first time since March 16, 2018 (in Washington) and then allowed a fourth power play goal for the first time since March 1, 2014 (also at home vs. New Jersey)
Jesper Bratt had three assists, all on the power play. He is the first opponent with three power play assists against the Isles since Nicklas Backstrom of Washington (November 5, 2013).
Noah Dobson was a career-best +4; he is the first Isle to go +4 in a game that the Isles did not win since Thomas Hickey was +4 in a 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh on January 23, 2014.

The Injury
Nico Hischier missed the third period with an upper body injury.

Home is Where The Sorokin Is
Ilya Sorokin, who went 20-10-3 at UBS Arena with a 1.91 GAA and a 93.6% save percentage last season, is 2-0-1 in the new campaign.  He is only the third goalie in Islander history to win at least 20 games at home in a season (Halak 22 in 2014-15, Smith 20 in 1981-82). Among all active goalies, Sorokin has the best career home marks in both GAA (2.00) and save percentage (93.1%). 

Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,765
2. Matt Martin 3,712

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. 

Simon Says "No Penalties"
Simon Holmstrom extended his club record for consecutive games at the start of his tenure with the team before taking a penalty:

Isles Games Played Before Taking First Penalty
Simon Holmstrom 53 (CURRENT) *
Billy MacMillian 42
Brian Marchinko 42 (ENTIRE ISLES CAREER)
Mike Bossy 39
Frans Nielsen 39

Marchinko played five games with Toronto before joining the Isles in 1972; he took no penalties in his 47-game career.  Like Holmstrom, both Bossy and Nielsen represent games from the start of their career.

Last Year vs. This Year
2023-24  2-0-1 for 5 points in 3 games
2022-23  2-1-0 for 4 points in 3 games

Offense from Defense
Today:  0-1-1
Season: 0-4-4
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.

Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 17 shutouts in 133 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.9% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
Ilya Sorokin 12.8%
Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
Ken Dryden 11.8%
Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Home and Road
The Isles are 2-0-1 overall; they are 2-0-1 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.
New Jersey is 2-1-10 overall; they are 1-1-1 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 1-010 against the East (0-0-1vs. Metropolitan and 1-0-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-0-0 against the West (1-0-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 85 games at UBS Arena and recorded 62 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 1,407
3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First
The Isles are 2-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-0-0 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots
Isles             8-10-13-1=32
New Jersey 13-15-9-2=39
The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-1 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves; he is 2-0-1 on the season and 6-3-1 vs. New Jersey.   
Akira Schmid made 28 saves; he is 1-0-1 on the season and 1-2-0 vs. the Isles.  

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); New Jersey was 4-5 on the power play (5:09).

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-0-1 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 1-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-0-0 when they do not.  Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 36-6-5 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 2-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 2-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 0-1-0 in the front end and 0-0-0 in the back end this season.  This back-to-back concludes on Saturday in Buffalo. The next set of back-to-backs will be on November 15 in Vancouver and November 16 in Seattle.  

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (26:57);  New Jersey: Jack Hughes (24:21)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 20:47 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-1)

Face-offs
Isles 31, New Jersey 29 (52%)
Brock Nelson won 9 of 15 for the Isles; Nico Hischier won 11 of 18 for New Jersey. 

Hit Count
Isles 22 (Ryan Pulock -6)
New Jersey 10 (2 with 2)

Fights 
None. Season total: 0
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 24 (Noah Dobson -8)
New Jersey 9 (2 with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 45, New Jersey 72
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 34, New Jersey 58

5-on-5 leaders:
Isles:  Brock Nelson +3
New Jersey: Nico Hischier +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 14, New Jersey 12
5-on-5: Isles 10, New Jersey 9

Scratches
Oliver Wahlstrom. Julien Gauthier, (Scott Mayfield -INJ)
Games Lost: 2

The Ironmen
Anders Lee played in his 115th consecutive Islander game; it Is the longest active streak on the team.  (Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are the other current Islanders to appear in every game last season and this season.)

Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside  

Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute no times this season (no times at home and none on road):

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have not allowed the opposition to do so.
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)

OT Winners
For (0):  
Vs (1):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20

Shootout Winners
For (0):  
Vs (0):   

All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 *** 7. Matt Martin 769 *** 8.Brock Nelson 761 *** 9. Mike Bossy 752 *** 10. Casey Cizikas 748…
12. Brent Sutter 694 *** 13. Anders Lee 681 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 639

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 244 *** 9. Anders Lee 240 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29 Mathew Barzal 106

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Billy Harris 259 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 258 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 222…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 177

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 466 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 417 *** 17. Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson 369…19. Mathew Barzal 364

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +80 ***  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 ** 24. Ryan Pulock +52

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** Kenny Jonsson 57…
6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Roman Hamrlik and Ryan Pulock 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk *** 11. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 12. Bryan Berard 31***13. Noah Dobson 30

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 131…
15. Bryan Berard and Adam Pelech 100 *** 17. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 18. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 20. Noah Dobson 93 *** 21. Ken Morrow 88 *** 23. Bert Marshall 87 ***24. Radek Martinek and Scott Mayfield 85

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 173…
17. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 18. Adam Pelech 125 *** 19. Noah Dobson 123 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin 113 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 111

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. *** Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 139 *** 10. Roland Melanson 136 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 135

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 72 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo 62 *** 11. Semyon Varlamov 59

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 17 *** 
4.Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Tommy Salo 14 *** 6. Semyon Varlamov 13 

On the Farm 
Bridgeport is 1-2-0-0 on the season after dropping a 4-2 decision in Providence on Wednesday. 

Bridgeport hosts Utica Saturday in their home opener.

Season Series Stats
New Jersey leads the season series, 1 game to  0 (and 2 points to 1).  The next meeting will be in New Jersey on November 28th.

The Isles are 16-5-1 in their last 22 games against the Devils.

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21st  — ISLANDERS at BUFFALO - 7:00pm,
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio]
The Islanders play their first road game as they head to Buffalo to face the Sabres.

The Isles defeated Buffalo 3-2 in their season-opener last Saturday but are 0-3-2 in their last five games in Buffalo.  The Isles will be looking to avoid a 6-game winless streak in Western New York for the first time since 1999 to 2001 (0-4-2).

The teams will meet again in Buffalo on Pi Day (March 14th) to conclude the season series.

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