The Skinny: San Jose 5, Isles 4 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 24

San Jose 5, Isles 4 (OT)

Tomas Hertl scored two 6th attacker goals 1:41 apart and complete his 6th career hat trick and rookie William Eklund scored in the final seconds of overtime as the San Jose Sharks rallied from a 4-1 third period deficit for a 5-4 overtime win over the Islanders before a crowd of 14,244 at UBS Arena.

The Islanders built a 4-1 lead using three special team goals – a 2nd period Brock Nelson tally broke a 1-1 tie, and third period goals 3:10 apart by Mike Reilly (shorthanded) and Ryan Pulock (power play) but it was not enough as the Sharks rallied for their first points all season when trailing after 40 minutes (1-15-0). The Isles have points in nine of their last ten games (5-1-4); all but one game in that stretch has been decided by a single goal.

The Isles are 10-7-7 on the season and move back into the 2nd Wild Card spot; the six-game homestand continues Thursday vs. Columbus. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Julien Gauthier (2) Simon Holmstrom (1), Bo Horvat (12) 09:28 SJS 0,NYI 1

Tomas Hertl (5) Anthony Duclair (4) 12:19 SJS 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (11) Noah Dobson (17), Bo Horvat (13) 05:27 SJS 1,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

Mike Reilly (1) Simon Holmstrom (2) 05:17 SJS 1,NYI 3 SHG

Ryan Pulock (2) Mike Reilly (1), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) 08:27 SJS 1,NYI 4 PPG

Kevin Labanc (1) Nikita Okhotiuk (6) 11:55 SJS 2,NYI 4

Tomas Hertl (6) Mikael Granlund (10), William Eklund (5) 16:49 SJS 3,NYI 4

Tomas Hertl (7) William Eklund (6), Alexander Barabanov (1) 18:30 SJS 4,NYI 4

OT

William Eklund (6) Mikael Granlund (11)  04:55 SJS 5,NYI 4

The Skinny    

The Isles have lost twice this season (0-0-2) when leading by three goals (also Carolina on November 4, 2023)...Bo Horvat had two points for the second straight game and the sixth time this season … After scoring seven goals, Simon Holmstrom recorded his first two assists of the season; he had been the only NHL player with at least five goals but no assists…Holmstrom now leads the NHL in shorthanded points (4)… Noah Dobson recorded his team-leading 17th assist and played 25:30; it Is the 6th straight game he has played at least 25 minutes (no Islander has averaged 25 minutes per game since 2013-14)…. The Isles have been outscored 25-9 over the last fourteen third periods… The Isles have outscored their opponents 24-15 in the first period and 26-23 in the middle period; however, they have been outscored 39-18 in the third period and overtime this season … The Isles have allowed 11 third period tying goals this season (including twice by Calgary on November 18th and by Carolina on November 30th) ; the Isles are 3-1-5 in those games…The Isles allowed only eight tying goals in the third period all last season... The Isles have led at some point of 20 of their first 24 games, winning only ten of them…  The Isles are 9-1-4 when leading after two periods… Alexander Romanov appeared in his 100th Isles contest. …Mike Reilly is the 397th Islander, including Billy Smith, to score a goal…It was the first time in 10 games that the Isles out-shot their opponents…The Isles power play scored for the 4th straight game (5-13, 38.5%) and has now scored 11 times in 29 opportunities (an NHL-leading 37.9%) since November 15th….The Isles PK is now 7-7 over the last three games and 17-19 (89.5%) over the last eight games….The Sharks are the 5th team to score two 6-on-5 goals in a game this season….The Isles have scored five shorthanded goals this season; they scored only six last season and three of those were into empty nets….The Isles remain the only NHL team without an empty net goal…The Isles did have their first 5-on-3 of the season (they scored on the subsequent 5-on-4); Toronto is the only team without a 5-on-3 opportunity this season.

 

First Times in a Long Time

• It is the first time the Isles have allowed two 6-on-5 goals since April 11, 2015, vs. Columbus (in the final home game of the first Coliseum era).

• It is the first time San Jose has overcome a 3-goal deficit to win a regular season game since December 8, 2010, in Philadelphia; the Sharks also famously did it in Game 7 vs Vegas in the 2019 playoffs.

• Mike Reilly scored his first goal since January 15, 2022

• It is the first time the Isles lost a game that they led by three goals in the third period since January 18, 2020 (led Washington 4-1, lost 6-4)

• It is the latest that the Isles had a three-goal lead and did not win since October 10, 2009, in Boston, when the Bruins scored three times in the final 8:01 to tie and then won it in a shootout.

First Times for Anything

Julien Gauthier's goal gave him goals in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Milestone Men

Mike Reilly and Jean-Gabriel Pageau both hit milestones with assists on Ryan Pulock's goal. Reilly recorded his 100th career point while Pageau now has 300 points.

Overtime Is (Not) Our Time

The Isles are 1-5 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-2 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin has allowed all five overtime goals, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-0 in games decided by an overtime goal.

The Isles have lost 22 of the last 34 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 ten times this season.

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,810

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  10-7-7 for 27 points in 24 games

• 2022-23  15-9-0 for 30 points in 24 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:  2-2-4

• Season: 9-32-41

• 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 146 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.3% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:

• Ilya Sorokin 12.3%

• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%

• Ken Dryden 11.8%

• Dominik Hasek 11.3%

Lots of Work for Sorokin

Ilya Sorokin has faced 580 shots in his 16 games (an average of 36.3 per game).

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 276 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (276) and tied-third in shutouts (40).

All-time Goalie Wins

50. Brian Elliott 279

51. Semyon Varlamov 276

52. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road

The Isles are 10-7-7 overall; they are 4-3-5 at home and 6-4-2 on the road.

San Jose is 7-17-2 overall; they are 5-6-2 at home and 2-11-0 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-4-4 against the East (4-2-3 vs. Metropolitan and 4-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 2-3-3 against the West (1-2-0 vs. Central and 1-1-3 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 94 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 1,415

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 7-2-6 when scoring first and are 3-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles       15-11-11-2=39

San Jose  7-13-14-3=37

The Isles are 2-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-5 when they are out-shot.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 6-4-6 on the season and 1-0-3 vs. San Jose. 

Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves; he is 4-6-0 on the season and 3-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 on the power play (4:24); San Jose was 0-2 on the power play (4:00). 

The Isles are 6-4-4 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 8-2-3 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 8-2-6 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 43-8-10 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 7-1-7 in games decided by a single goal including 5-1 in regulation. They are 1-5 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 (25:30);  San Jose: Mario Ferraro (26:10)

Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with 21:06 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (7-5-4), Alex Romanov (1-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 37, San Jose 34 (52%)

Brock Nelson won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Tomas Hertl won 13 of 23 for San Jose.

Hit Count

Isles 16 (JG Pageau -6)

San Jose 12 (Nikita Okhotiuk-5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Martin 1, Pelech 1, Lee 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Four with 2)

San Jose 17 (Marc-Edouard Vlasic -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 74, San Jose 67

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 61, San Jose 47

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +20

San Jose: Nico Sturm +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, San Jose 13

5-on-5: Isles 11, San Jose 5

Scratches

Matt Martin (INJ), Adam Pelech (upper body – LTIR), (Sebastian Aho-IR). Oliver Wahlstrom, Grant Hutton

Games Lost to injury: 30

The Ironmen

Three Islanders have played at least 100 consecutive games:

• Anders Lee 136

• Brock Nelson 108

• Ryan Pulock 107

Challenges

Isles:2 successful, 0 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24)

Opponents: 0 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offside  (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30)

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 at least two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have allowed the opposition to do so four 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); SL 12/5( trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed three 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 (3): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT)

OT Winners

For (1):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30

Vs (5):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5

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. Brock Nelson 782 *** 8. Matt Martin 780 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 769…

11. Patrick Flatley 712 *** 12. Anders Lee 702 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. John Tavares 669 *** 15. Cal Clutterbuck 660

Goals    

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 252 *** 9. Anders Lee 245 …

23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 25. Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 *** 28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29. Mathew Barzal 112 *** 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 …

12. Derek King 288 *** 13. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 14. Bob Nystrom 278 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 273…

17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 20. Brock Nelson 229…

22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Ed Westfall 181 *** 24. Anders Lee 179…

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 481 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 424 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 385…

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 and Ryan Pulock 45 *** 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, Gerry Hart, and Noah Dobson 108 *** 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 178…

11, Travis Hamonic 146 *** 12. Noah Dobson 143… 

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 152 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 143

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Roland Melanson 77 *** 8. Ilya Sorokin 76 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 63

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm  

Bridgeport is 6-13-1-0 on the season as they begin a six-game road trip that will take them into the Christmas break. 

The Baby Isles will begin the trip with games  Friday in Utica and Saturday in Springfield. 

Season Series Stats

San Jose leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1). The teams will next play on March 7th in Northern California. 

 

The Isles are 6-1-4 in their last eleven games with the Sharks.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7th  — COLUMBUS AT ISLANDERS– 7:30pm ET

[MSGSN (7:00 pre-game), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

Game 2 of this six-game homestand will be on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Isles blanked Columbus on October 28th in Ohio and are 7-0-2 in their last nine games with the Jackets. The Isles are 4-0-0 against Columbus at UBS Arena, winning the four games by a combined total of 17-6 (one of the wins required at overtime goal by Zach Parise). 

This is Columbus' only visit to UBS Arena this season. The teams will meet April 4th in Columbus 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