"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 21
New Jersey 5, Isles 4
Curtis Lazar scored with 23 seconds to play in regulation to cap a three-goal third period as the New Jersey Devils rallied from a 4-2 deficit for a 5-4 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 16,091 at Prudential Center.
The Isles had grabbed a 4-2 lead in the second period by scoring three times in a 4:41 span, but for the fourth time this season (7-1-3) the Isles lost a game that they led after 40 minutes.
The loss ended the Isles' six game point streak (3-0-3), which was their longest point streak under Lane Lambert.
The Isles fall to 8-7-6 on the season; the middle game of this three-game road trip will be in Carolina on Thursday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Bo Horvat (6) Noah Dobson (12), Mathew Barzal (12) 05:16 NYI 1,NJD 0 PPG
Michael McLeod (4) Curtis Lazar (3) 10:29 NYI 1,NJD 1
2nd Period
Dawson Mercer (5) Jack Hughes (18), Tyler Toffoli (8) 04:19 NYI 1,NJD 2
Mathew Barzal (6) Anders Lee (2), Noah Dobson (13) 08:24 NYI 2,NJD 2
Cal Clutterbuck (3) Casey Cizikas (4), Julien Gauthier (1) 09:40 NYI 3,NJD 2
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Mathew Barzal (13), Alexander Romanov (3) 13:05 NYI 4,NJD 2
3rd Period
Jack Hughes (7) Dawson Mercer (3), Brendan Smith (2) 05:08 NYI 4,NJD 3
Nico Hischier (4) Jack Hughes (19), Luke Hughes (11) 11:10 NYI 4,NJD 4 PPG
Curtis Lazar (4) Kevin Bahl (3), Michael McLeod (4 ) 19:37 NYI 4, NJD 5
The Skinny
The Isles saw shutout streaks (103:46) and scoreless streaks (74:58) end in the first period… Mathew Barzal had three points to take over the team lead in scoring (6-13-19) by one point over Noah Dobson (2 assists to give him 5-13-18); it was the 23rd time in his career that Barzal has recorded at least three points…Barzal also extended his road point streak to seven straight games (4-7-11); a team-leading 12 of his 19 points have come on the road…Dobson played 25:38 to raise his season average to 25:03, which is 6th in the NHL; no Islander has average 25 minutes per game since 2013-14….JG Pageau scored his first goal since April 2nd, snapping a streak that included 25 regular season and six playoff games… Cal Clutterbuck scored his first goal in 15 games; Julien Gauthier earned an assist on the play for his first point as an Islander…Alex Romanov earned his third assist in the last three games…The Isles have been outscored 19-5 over the last twelve third periods… The Isles have outscored their opponents 21-12 in the first period and are 21-21 in the middle period; however, they have been outscored 32-13 in the third period and overtime this season ..Jack Hughes had a season-high 9 shots on goal and scored on Ilya Sorokin for the 7th time – most of any player in the NHL….Nico Hischier's power play goal was the 9th allowed in the third period this season by the Isles; they have scored only twice on the power play in the third period… Hischier's goal was also the 8th tying goal scored by the opposition in the 3rd period (including twice by Calgary on November 18th) ; the Isles are 2-1-4 in those games…The Isles have led at some point of 17 of their first 21 games, but have won only eight of them… Simon Holmstrom is only one goal shy of his rookie year total of 6; he is the only player in the NHL with at least five goals but no assists… …Hudson Fasching's next appearance will be his 100th NHL game
The Injury
Dougie Hamilton left the game after the second period with an upper body injury and did not return.
The Debut
Mike Reilly played 10:42 in his Islander debut. He had three shots and six attempts but was -2.
First Times in a Long Time
It was the first time the Isles lost a game in regulation when leading after two periods since April 29, 2022 (Trotz' final game) vs Tampa Bay. Since January 2020 Isles had been 54-1-1 when taking a multi-goal lead to the third period. It's their first regulation loss on the road in this situation since December 9, 2014,in Minnesota and ends a 45-game road winning streak (since OT loss on November 12, 2015, in Florida)
Noah Dobson is the first Islander defenseman since Vladimir Malakhov (1993-94) to have 18 points in the first 21 games. No Isles d-man has had more since Denis Potvin had 21 in 1986-87.
It was the first time the Isles allowed the deciding goal in the final 23 seconds of regulation since Eeli Tolvanen scored for Nashville at 19:48 on December 9, 2021, at UBS Arena and the first time they did so on the road since Patrick Marleau of San Jose did so on November 25, 2016 (also at 19:37).
Overtime/Shootout Losses
The Isles are 0-4 in games decided by an overtime goal. allowing four goals on 16 shots; the seven overtimes have taken 22:34 to play. They are 1-2 in shootouts.
Ilya Sorokin is 14-23 in his career in games that have gone beyond sixty minutes; he is 8-13 in games decided in overtime and 6-10 in games decided by a shootout.
The Isles have lost 21 of the last 32 games that were decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).
Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play nine times this season.
Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are now 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,804
2. Matt Martin 3,734
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 8-7-6 for 22 points in 21 games
· 2022-23 13-8-0 for 26 points in 21 games
Offense from Defense
· Today: 0-3-3
· Season: 7-27-34
· 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 18 shutouts in 144 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.5% 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%
Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 275 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (275) and tied-third in shutouts (40).
All-time Goalie Wins
50. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 275
Marty Turco 275
Home and Road
The Isles are 8-7-6 overall; they are 4-3-4 at home and 4-4-2 on the road.
New Jersey is 10-9-1 overall; they are 5-5-1 at home and 5-4-0 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 6-4-4 against the East (3-2-3 vs. Metropolitan and 3-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 2-3-2 against the West (1-2-0 vs. Central and 1-1-2 vs. Pacific).
Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 93 games at UBS Arena and recorded 65 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 1,413
3. Glen Sather 1,319
First Things First
The Isles are 6-2-5 when scoring first and are 2-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.
The Shots
Isles 9-11-8=28
New Jersey 8-10-16=34
The Isles are 2-2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 5-5-5 when they are out-shot.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 5-4-5 on the season and 6-3-2 vs. New Jersey.
Vitek Vanacek allowed 4 goals on 18 shots before he was replaced by Akira Schmid, who stopped all ten shots he faced. Schmid is 2-4-1 on the season and 2-2-0 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (5:21); New Jersey was 1-4 on the power play (5:27).
The Isles are 4-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-3-3 when they do not. The Isles are 2-5-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-2-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 6-2-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-1 when they do not. Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 41-8-9 when scoring at least three goals.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 5-1-6 in games decided by a single goal including 4-1 in regulation. They are 0-4 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 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 1-0-2 in the front end and 0-1-2 in the back end this season. The next set of back-to-backs will be on December 15 vs Boston and December 16 at Montreal.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (25:38); New Jersey: John Marino (23:07)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards with 18:55 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (6-5-3), Alex Romanov (0-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).
Face-offs
Isles 22, New Jersey 31 (42%)
No Islander who took multiple face-offs won more than he lost; Michael McLeod won 8 of 10 for New Jersey.
Hit Count
Isles 18 (Ryan Pulock -4)
New Jersey 20 (Curtis Lazar-4)
Fights
Anders Lee fought Brendan Smith late in regulation. Season total: 3 (Martin 1, Pelech 1, Lee 1)
Blocked Shots
Isles 22 (Noah Dobson -5)
New Jersey 5 (John Marino-2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 41, New Jersey 73
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 32, New Jersey 60
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Grant Hutton and Mike Reilly EVEN
New Jersey: Four with +15
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, New Jersey 12
5-on-5: Isles 9, New Jersey 11
Scratches
Matt Martin, Adam Pelech (upper body – LTIR), (Sebastian Aho-IR). Hudson Fasching, Samuel Bolduc
Games Lost to injury: 19
The Ironmen
Three Islanders have played at least 100 consecutive games:
· Anders Lee 133
· Brock Nelson 105
· Ryan Pulock 104
Challenges
Isles:2 successful, 0 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24)
Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures – BUF no offside (10/21)
Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute once this season (no times at home and once on road-11/24 @OTT) and allowed two in the same span three times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8)
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 three times.
For (0):
Vs (3): 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)
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)
Vs (1): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG)
OT Winners
For (0):
Vs (4): Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15
Shootout Winners
For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (2): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25
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 780 *** 8.Brock Nelson 779 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 766…
11. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 12. Anders Lee 699 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 657
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 251 *** 9. Anders Lee 244 …
28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29. Mathew Barzal 111 *** 30.Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 ***32. Anthony Beauvillier 102 *** 33. Anders Kallur 101 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 100
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 269…
18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 227…
23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 178…
34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 133
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 14. Brock Nelson 478 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 *** 16. Anders Lee 422 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 380…
34. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 35. Greg Gilbert 231 *** 36. Benoit Hogue and Trent Hunter 229 *** 38. Casey Cizikas 229
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 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…
5. Jean Potvin 46 *** 6. Nick Leddy 45 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 44 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Johnny Boychuk and Noah Dobson 35
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 133…
12. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 13. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 ***15. Noah Dobson 104 *** 16. Adam Pelech 102…
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Ken Morrow and Scott Mayfield 88
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Mark Streit 179 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 177…
11, Travis Hamonic 146 *** 12. Dave Lewis 141 *** 13. Noah Dobson 137…
15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 17. Gerry Hart 128 *** 18. Adam Pelech 127…
20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Adrian Aucoin and Scott Mayfield 113
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 150 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 142
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 75 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Tommy Salo and Semyon Varlamov 62
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 improved to 6-11-1-0 on the season with a 4-2 victory over Belleville on Sunday afternoon. Kyle MacLean had a pair of goals and Ruslan Iskhakov and Travis Mitchell each had a goal and an assist in the win.
The Baby Isles are off until Friday, when they head to Providence for the front-end of a home-and-home series.
Season Series Stats
New Jersey leads the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2).
The teams will next play at UBS Arena on March 24th.
The Isles are 8-3-0 in the last eleven trips to New Jersey and are 14-6-1 in their last 21 meetings with the Devils.
UP NEXT
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30th — ISLANDERS AT CAROLINA– 7:00pm ET
[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The road trip continues Thursday in Raleigh as the Islanders head to Carolina for the first time since Game 5 of the 2023 Playoffs.
It is the second meeting of the season between the teams; Carolina rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win at UBS Arena on November 4th. The Canes have won the last four regular season meetings (Isles are 0-3-1), including a 2-1 win over the Isles on April 2nd in Raleigh; Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the only goal for the Isles in that one.
The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN+/Hulu; Steve Levy and Ray Ferraro will have the call.
