The Skinny: Buffalo 7, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Buffalo 7, Isles 1

Beck Melenstyn scored 2:07 into the first period and the Sabres outscored the Isles by two goals in each period, defeating the Isles 7-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Rasmus Dahlin had four assists as Buffalo snapped a 13-game winless streak (0-10-3). Kyle Palmieri scored the only goal for the Isles, who fell two games under NHL .500 at the holiday break.

The Isles return to play on Saturday as they host the Penguins in the front-end of a back-to-back home-and-home. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Beck Malenstyn (3) Jacob Bryson (3), Ryan McLeod (10) 02:07 BUF 1,NYI 0

Jiri Kulich (5) Dylan Cozens (9), Rasmus Dahlin (14) 16:49 BUF 2,NYI 0

2nd Period

Jason Zucker (9) Jack Quinn (5), Rasmus Dahlin (15) 06:53 BUF 3,NYI 0 PPG

Zach Benson (5) Rasmus Dahlin (16), Jiri Kulich (2) 15:45 BUF 4,NYI 0

Jack Quinn (4) Dylan Cozens (10), JJ Peterka (15) 18:21 BUF 5,NYI 0

Kyle Palmieri (12) Anthony Duclair (3), Isaiah George (4) 19:05 BUF 5,NYI 1

3rd Period

Tage Thompson (17)EN Rasmus Dahlin (17) 10:07 BUF 6,NYI 1

Jiri Kulich (6) 15:49 BUF 7,NYI 1

The Skinny

The Isles allowed the opening goal for the ninth time in ten games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 58-57 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 55-33 in the third period and overtime…The 49 goals allowed in the third period match the highest total in the NHL …The Isles have scored 67 goals and allowed 63 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 49-24 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 18 of the last 22 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 33-27 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin made his career-high eleventh straight start (5-5-1) he has allowed 21 goals in his last five games.… Anthony Duclair has assists in both games since his return… Tage Thompson's goal was the 2nd-earliest end-of-game empty-netter allowed in Isles history; Pavel Buchnevich scored at 9:21 of the 3rd period earlier this year (February 22nd)…The Isles have played more games (36) and earned more standings points (42) on December 23rd than any other day in their history…Zach Benson scored a goal for Buffalo in his 100th NHL game; Benson will not turn 20 years old until May…Both Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin were +4; Ryan Pulock was -4 after going -3 on Saturday…The Isles allowed a power play goal for the fourth straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-12 on the power play in the last six games.

One for The Record Books

This is the first time in Islander history that they have been outscored by multiple goals in each period in a home game. It has happened nine previous times (most recently February 25, 2017, in Columbus), all on the road.

 

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal remains tied with Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 32, Opponents 49

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 7, Opponents 11

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 24 of their 35 games. In the eleven games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-9-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, two fewer than Calgary for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 7 empty-net goals and allowed 11.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 23 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 12 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  13-15-7 for 33 points in 35 games

• 2023-24  17-9-9 for 43 points in 35 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 11-48-59

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

47. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-15-7 overall; they are 6-8-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Buffalo is 12-19-4 overall; they are 6-10-3mat home and 6-9-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-9-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-6-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,457

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,457) and Patrick Roy (163) have combined for 1,620 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 6-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-12-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      5-11-12=28

Buffalo  8-12-5=25

The Isles are 6-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 10-11-4 this season and 7-4-2 vs. Buffalo. 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves; he is 9-11-3 this season and 3-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00) on the power play; Buffalo was 1-3 (4:53) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-14-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-7-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-12-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (26:28); Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin (23:11)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:02).

Face-offs

Isles 37, Buffalo 27 (58%)

Bo Horvat won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Ryan Mc Leod won 8 of 14 for Buffalo. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -4)

Buffalo 17 (Peyton Krebs -4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 9 (Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson -3)

Buffalo 30 (Alex Tuch -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 78, Buffalo 44

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 59, Buffalo 30

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Maxim Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson +14

Buffalo: No Sabre was +

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Buffalo 9

5-on-5: Isles 5, Buffalo 8

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 117. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 201 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (151) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (6): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 875 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 850 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 794 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 521 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Adam Pelech  515 *** 33. Dave Lewis and Mathew Barzal 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 503

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 480 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 448…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +68 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 24. Ryan Pulock +53 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26  

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 217 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 105 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 6-18-2-2 on the season after a 4-1 win in Charlotte on Sunday. 

Brian Pinho leads the team (and is tied-4th in the AHL) with 15 goals. Chris Terry's 19 assists  (just three off of the AHL lead) and 23 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.

Bridgeport is back in action on Friday when they host Providence.

Season Series Stats

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

This was only the second loss in the last fifteen home games for the Isles against Buffalo (13-2-0).

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28th –PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

Following the holiday break the Isles the Isles get back in action as they host Pittsburgh in the final home game of 2024.

It is the second meeting of the teams this season; the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 shootout win on November 5th at UBS Arena.

The teams will meet again on Sunday in The Steel City and will also play there on March 18th to conclude the season series.

AND FINALLY...

Happy Holidays to all!  Thanks so much for reading and commenting on The Skinny all season long!

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: 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 could not catch them. Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists, and Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal as the Isles beat Toronto 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,912 at Scotiabank Arena.

William Nylander twice brought the Leafs within a goal, but George and Noah Dobson scored 5:13 apart in the third period to help secure the victory in the first game the Isles played since November 3rd with fewer than three players on the injured list. 

 

The Isles improve to one game below NHL-.500 with a record of 13-14-7 on the season. They can get back to NHL-.500 with a win over Buffalo on Monday at UBS Arena. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Maxim Tsyplakov (7) Bo Horvat (15), Simon Holmstrom (11) 01:49 NYI 1,TOR 0

Bo Horvat (9) Alexander Romanov (3) 04:48 NYI 2,TOR 0

William Nylander (22) John Tavares (17), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (11) 12:29 NYI 2,TOR 1

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) Anders Lee (13), Alexander Romanov (4) 16:08 NYI 3,TOR 1

2nd Period

William Nylander (23) David Kampf (4), Matthew Knies (8) 05:43 NYI 3,TOR 2

3rd Period

Isaiah George (1) Anthony Duclair (2), Scott Mayfield (5) 05:23 NYI 4,TOR 2

Noah Dobson (5) Simon Holmstrom (12), Bo Horvat (16) 10:36 NYI 5,TOR 2

Bobby McMann (9) Mitch Marner (35), Jake McCabe (8) 13:49 NYI 5,TOR 3

Mathew Barzal (3)EN Anders Lee (14) 17:40 NYI 6,TOR 3

The Skinny

The Isles scored the opening goal, ending a streak of eight games where they allowed the opening tally… The Isles have outscored the opposition 57-52 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 53-33 in the third period and overtime…The 47 goals allowed in the third period match the highest total in the NHL …The Isles have scored 66 goals and allowed 58 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 47-24 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 18 of the last 21 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-24 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles are 10-2-2 when leading after two periods…Ilya Sorokin made his tenth straight start (5-4-1)… The Isles are 4-5-3 in their last twelve road games (4-0-3 in Canada and 0-5-0 in the US)…Mathew Barzal won all four of his face-offs; it is the most draws that he has won without a loss…Scott Mayfield went +5 for the second time in his career (10/18/2018 at Los Angeles)…The Isles defense has scored seven goals in the last eight games after tallying only four times in the first 26 games…Bo Horvat is 4-4-8 in his last seven games played; he now leads the team with sixteen assists…Anders Lee is now 13-14-27 on the season, leaving him just three assists shy of last season's total; Lee has not finished a season with more assists than goals since 2019-20….Isaiah George's first goal is a game-winner; he is the youngest Islander defenseman with a game-winner since Mathieu Biron (2-13-2000 at Rangers)…Anthony Duclair, playing his first game in nine weeks, earned an assist on George's goal; he is 2-2-4 in six games with the Isles…The Isles have scored 19 goals in the six games Duclair has played…William Nylander scored two goals for the fifth time this season…John Tavares had an assist but failed to score his 200th goal as a Maple Leaf; when he does he will be the fifth player with 200 goals for multiple NHL teams…Alex Romanov matched his season total with two assists…Since the start of last season, the Isles are 21-1-3 when scoring multiple first period goals (5-1-0 this season)…The Isles tied a season high with their six goals (also at Colorado on October 14) while the Leafs allowed six for only the second time (first time at home).

Milestone Men

• Brock Nelson played his 200th consecutive game.

• Kyle Palmieri played his 150th consecutive game. 

• Noah Dobson scored his 45th goal, tying Nick Leddy for 7th among defensemen

• Scott Mayfield earned his 96th assist, tying Johnny Boychuk for 19th among defensemen and breaking a tie with Thomas Hickey and Dave Langevin.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles scored three first period goals for the second time this season but the first time they have done so against Toronto since December 29, 2015.

• The Isles scored twice in the opening five minutes for the first time since February 9, 2022, in Vancouver.

• It was the first penalty-free Isles game since November 1, 2015, vs. Buffalo.

By George, He Did It!

Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal, and it was a game-winner. He is the youngest defenseman in Islander history (20 years, 310 days) to score a game-winning first NHL goal (replacing Samuel Bolduc- 22 years, 60 days), and the youngest Islander to do so since Kyle Okposo (19 years, 340 days) did so on March 21, 2008, at New Jersey.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal remains tied with Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 32, Opponents 47

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 7, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 24 of their 34 games. In the ten games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-8-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, two fewer than Calgary for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 7 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 23 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 12 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  13-14-7 for 33 points in 34 games

• 2023-24  16-9-9 for 41 points in 34 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-3-5

• Season: 11-47-58

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

47. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-14-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Toronto is 21-11-2 overall; they are 14-5-0 at home and 7-6-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-8-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,457

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,457) and Patrick Roy (163) have combined for 1,620 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 6-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-11-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       9-12-13=34

Toronto  6-10-13=29

The Isles are 6-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 10-10-4 this season and 6-3-0 vs. Toronto. 

Joseph Woll made 28 saves; he is 9-5-0 this season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-0 (0:00) on the power play; Toronto was 0-0 (0:00) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-13-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-6-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-11-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:02); Toronto: Morgan Rielly (22:13)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (18:04).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Toronto 18 (65%)

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; no Maple Leaf won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 10 (Four with 2)

Toronto 34 (Two with 5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Ryan Pulock -3)

Toronto 15 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 69, Toronto 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, Toronto 48

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Five players were +14

Toronto: Two with +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 18, Toronto 12

5-on-5: Isles 18, Toronto 11

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 115. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 200 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (150) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (6): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 874 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 849 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 793 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 520 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis and Adam Pelech 514 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 513 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 502

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 480 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 448…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +69 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 22. Ryan Pulock +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26  

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 216 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 105 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-18-2-2 on the season and 0-8-1-0 in their last nine games, after dropping a 6-2 decision in Charlotte on Saturday. John Leonard had a hat trick for the Checkers. They will also play in North Toronto on Sunday at 4pm. 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). 

The Isles have won five straight games against Toronto since the first time since the mid-1980s; it is their longest active streak against any opponent.

The Isles are 9-6-0 against the Leafs in the fifteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has gone 6-6-12 in those games against the Isles.

The team will meet again on New Year's Eve afternoon in Toronto before wrapping up the series at UBS Arena two nights later.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23rd –BUFFALO AT ISLES 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles look to sweep the season series as they host the Sabres in the final game before the Christmas break. The Isles earned two wins over Buffalo in November, winning 4-3 in Western New York and 3-0 at UBS Arena, with Ilya Sorokin earning both victories. 

The Isles are 13-1-0 in their last 14 home games against the Sabres, including 4-1-0 at UBS Arena. 

The Sabres opened the season 4-7-1, then won seven of their next nine (7-2-0), but are 0-9-3 since Thanksgiving Eve.

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: Carolina 4, Isles 0

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 33

Carolina 4, Isles 0 

Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves for his 9th career shutout, and Carolina got goals from four different players as the Hurricanes defeated the Isles 4-0 before a sellout crowd of 18,700 at Lenovo Center. 

It was only the third time all season that the Isles were not within one goal at some point in the third period.

The Isles fall two games below NHL-.500 with a record of 12-14-7 on the season. The Isles are off until Saturday, when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first of three meetings in thirteen days. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Andrei Svechnikov (12) Sebastian Aho (24), Shayne Gostisbehere (20) 05:47 NYI 0,CAR 1 PPG

Jordan Martinook (8) Jordan Staal (9) 08:21 NYI 0,CAR 2

2nd Period

Tyson Jost (2) Shayne Gostisbehere (21), Jack Roslovic (5) 11:13 NYI 0,CAR 3

Sebastian Aho (9) Eric Robinson (10), Jaccob Slavin (8) 19:44 NYI 0,CAR 4

3rd Period

None 

The Skinny

The Isles have allowed the opening goal in eight straight games and an NHL-leading 21 times this season; they have outscored the opposition 54-50 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 52-30 in the third period and overtime…The 46 goals allowed in the third period are the highest total in the NHL (pending Chicago late game)…The Isles have scored 58 goals and allowed 52 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 45-23 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 17 of the last 20 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-23 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles are 1-8-1 when trailing after two periods…Ilya Sorokin made his ninth straight start (4-4-1); he has allowed four goals in three straight starts, matching his career high…It was Pyotr Kochetkov's second career shutout against the Isles (December 10, 2022, at UBS Arena)…The Isles, who were blanked four times in the first ten games, have been shut-out five times this season (four times on the road)…The Isles have been outscored 9-2 in their two games on ESPN+ this season…Since leading Chicago 5-1 on Thursday, the Isles have been outscored 12-3…Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists, giving him five in two games vs. the Isles… Andrei Svechnikov now has three power play goals against the Isles this season…The Isles are 1-4-3 in their last eight road games.

Milestone Men

• Brock Nelson played his 873rd game, passing Clark Gillies for 5th place in club history. It was his 199th consecutive game.

• Brent Burns played his 874th consecutive game; it is the longest active streak in the NHL. 

• Jordan Staal recorded his 399th career assist.

First Time in a Long Time

The Isles are two games under .500 after 33 games; it is their worst record at this stage of the season since they were 9-19-5 in 2013-14. 

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 29, Opponents 46

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 23 of their 33 games. In the ten games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-8-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, one fewer than Philadelphia for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin now has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 6 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 20 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 7 times

• Allowed the next goal: 10 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  12-14-7 for 31 points in 33 games

• 2023-24  16-8-9 for 41 points in 33 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 9-44-53

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

47. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 4-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 3-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (1-0-1 with two to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in ten straight games against Canadian teams; the next three Canadian opponents will all be Toronto with road games on December 21 and December 31, and a home game on January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-14-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 6-7-5 on the road.

Carolina is 20-10-1 overall; they are 13-4-0 at home and 7-6-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-8-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,456

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,456) and Patrick Roy (162) have combined for 1,618 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 5-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-11-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       13-10-9=32

Carolina 11-12-6=29

The Isles are 5-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves before he was replaced after the second period; he is 9-10-4 this season and 4-6-1 vs. Carolina. Marcus Hogberg made six saves in his second appearance as an Islander, both in relief.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves; he is 13-5-0 this season and 4-2-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00) on the power play; Carolina was 1-2 (2:35) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-13-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-6-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-11-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (22:48); Carolina: Dmitry Orlov (22:08)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (17:17).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Carolina 24 (54%)

Bo Horvat won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Jordan Staal won 7 of 13 for Carolina. 

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Three with 3)

Carolina 13 (William Carrier -5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Dennis Cholowski -4)

Carolina 15 (Tyson Jost -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Carolina 64

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 56, Carolina 60

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Simon Holmstrom +14

Carolina: Jordan Staal +18

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Carolina 18

5-on-5: Isles 16, Carolina 16

Scratches

(Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), Matt Martin, Grant Hutton, Isaiah George

Games Lost to injury: 113. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 199 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (149) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (6): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 873 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 848 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 792 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 519 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 513 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 512 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 501

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 130…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 205…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 478 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 447…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +72 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +60 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Noah Dobson 44…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26  

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk 96 *** 20. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey, and Scott Mayfield 95

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 209 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 121

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 215 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 104 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-17-2-2 on the season and 0-7-1-0 in their last eight games, as they head to Charlotte for late afternoon games on both Saturday and Sunday.

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category; the 18 helpers are just two behind the AHL lead. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). 

It is only the Isles' second regular season loss in their last six games in Carolina (4-2-0).

The team will meet again on January 25th at UBS Arena before wrapping up the series in Raleigh on March 30th.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21st –ISLES AT TORONTO 7:00pm

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will play only three opponents in their next six games, including their entire season series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first of those three meetings will be on Saturday in Ontario.

The Isles swept the season series last year, winning three one-goal games, including twice in overtime. Over the last two seasons the Isles are 4-2-0 against Toronto. 

The Isles are 8-6-0 against the Leafs in the fourteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has gone 6-5-11 against the Isles.

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: Chicago 5, Isles 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 32

Chicago 5, Isles 3

The day started well, as Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech both returned to the lineup, but it did not end that way, as Connor Bedard scored the tie-breaking goal with 54 seconds to play, and Connor Murphy added an empty-netter as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Isles 5-3 before a crowd of 19,264 at United Center. 

The Islanders had scored to tie the game three times but could not equalize Bedard's winner in his 100th NHL game.

The Isles once again fall below NHL-.500 with a record of 12-13-7 on the season as they drop to 3-2-0 in the last five games; the loss deprived the Isles of a chance to move into a playoff spot.  The Isles have only one game in the next five days, and it is on Tuesday in Carolina. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Ilya Mikheyev (3) Teuvo Teravainen (8), Nolan Allan (5) 09:08 NYI 0,CHI 1

Ryan Pulock (1) 18:43 NYI 1,CHI 1

Taylor Hall (7) Teuvo Teravainen (9), Alex Vlasic (13) 19:40 NYI 1,CHI 2

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (9) Pierre Engvall (4), Kyle MacLean (3) 02:25 NYI 2,CHI 2

Teuvo Teravainen (7) Connor Bedard (19), Alex Vlasic (14) 15:19 NYI 2,CHI 3 PPG

3rd Period

Noah Dobson (4) Brock Nelson (10), Maxim Tsyplakov (12) 00:47 NYI 3,CHI 3

Connor Bedard (7) Ryan Donato (7) 19:06 NYI 3,CHI 4

Connor Murphy (1)EN 19:49 NYI 3,CHI 5

The Skinny

The Isles have allowed the opening goal in seven straight games; they have outscored the opposition 54-46 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 52-30 in the third period and overtime…The 46 goals allowed in the third period are the highest total in the NHL…The Isles have scored 58 goals and allowed 49 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 44-23 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 17 of the last 19 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-21 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles finished with 33 shots on goal; it was their most shots in 20 games (37 at Rangers on 11/3)… The Isles are 1-7-1 when trailing after two periods…The loss ended the Isles 4-game weekend winning streak (Saturday/Sunday)…Noah Dobson had eight shots on goal, matching a career high; Bo Horvat (11/1 at Buffalo) is the only other Isles with eight shot in a game this season... Ryan Pulock scored on a shot measured at 101.3 mph; there have been seven shots of at least 100 mph in the NHL this season and Pulock has recorded three of them…Six of the Isles' nine goals by defensemen has come in just three games (at Vancouver, vs. Chicago, at Chicago); seven of the nine have come in games against Western Conference foes…Connor Bedard is the youngest player since Taylor Hall (11-25-10 for EDM vs COL) to score a go-ahead goal in the 60th minute and only the eighth teenager since expansion to do so…Bedard went 0-7 in the face-off circle and has won less than 30% of his draws this season.

Milestone Men

• Scott Mayfield played his 500th NHL game.

• Brock Nelson played his 872nd game, tying Clark Gillies for 5th place in club history.

• Simon Holmstrom is the 6th Swedish-born Islander to reach 30 career goals, passing Niklas Andersson (29). Bob Nystrom (born in Sweden, raised in Canada) had 235; Anders Kallur had 101.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

• The Isles dressed eight players who had played 500 or more games for the team; it is the 9th time in club history that it happened, but the first time since January 2, 1986. 

First Time for Everything

The Isles dressed three defensemen (Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield) with 500 games of experience as Islanders.

Other First Times in a Long Time

The Isles scored a tying goal three times for the first time since October 24, 2023, vs. Colorado; it last happened on the road on February 15, 2022, in Buffalo.

Moving On Up

Noah Dobson scored his 44th goal, passing Roman Hamrlik for 8th place on the defense goal scoring list. Dobson also scored for the second straight game; it is the seventh time that has happened, but he has never scored in three straight games.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Road Winners

The Isles are 6-6-5 on the road this season. Their 17 road points rank them tied-fourth in the East, behind Washington (24), New Jersey (22) and Florida (19).

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 29, Opponents 46

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 23 of their 32 games. In the nine games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-7-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, one fewer than Philadelphia for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin now has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 6 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 18 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 7 times

• Allowed the next goal: 10 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  12-13-7 for 31 points in 32 games

• 2023-24  15-8-9 for 39 points in 32 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-0-2

• Season: 9-44-53

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

47. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 4-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 3-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (1-0-1 with two to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in ten straight games against Canadian teams; the next three Canadian opponents will all be Toronto with road games on December 21 and December 31, and a home game on January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-13-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 6-6-5 on the road.

Chicago is 10-18-2 overall; they are 5-8-0 at home and 5-10-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-7-3 against the East (3-2-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,456

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,456) and Patrick Roy (162) have combined for 1,618 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 5-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-10-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       6-14-13=33

Chicago 10-6-7=23

The Isles are 5-7-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 9-9-4 this season and 4-1-1 vs. Chicago. 

Arvid Soderblum made 30 saves; he is 2-8-1 this season and 1-3-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 (6:51) on the power play; Chicago was 1-2 (2:05) on the power play, and scored just 0:12 into a 5-on-3.

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-12-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-5-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-8-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-10-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (24:26); Chicago: Alex Vlasic (23:56)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (20:56).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Chicago 22 (56%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 10 for the Isles; Ryan Donato won 4 of 7 for Chicago. 

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Adam Pelech and Matt Martin -4)

Chicago 22 (Two with 3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Three with 2)

Chicago 10 (Louis Crevier -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Chicago 41

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Chicago 36

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Noah Dobson +18

Chicago: Alex Vlasic +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, Chicago 7

5-on-5: Isles 13, Chicago 7

Scratches

(Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Bo Horvat-INJ), Grant Hutton, Isaiah George

Games Lost to injury: 110. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 198 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (148) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with nine games remaining. The next national game will stream on December 17th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles visit Carolina. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (6): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki (2:39)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Clark Gillies and Brock Nelson 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 847 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 791 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 512 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 511 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 500

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 130…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 205…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 477 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 447…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +74 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +60 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Noah Dobson 44…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26  

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk 96 *** 20. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey, and Scott Mayfield 95

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 209 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 120

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 214 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 104 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-17-2-2 on the season and 0-7-1-0 in their last eight games, following losses to Providence and Laval this weekend, 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category; the 18 helpers are just two behind the AHL lead. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Bridgeport heads to Charlotte for late afternoon games next Saturday and Sunday. 

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).  

The loss ends the Isles seven-game point streak against Chicago (5-0-2).

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17th –ISLES AT CAROLINA 3:000pm

[ESPN+/HULU, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles head to Carolina for a nationally streamed game against the Hurricanes on Tuesday. 

The Isles scored four second period goals to beat Carolina at UBS Arena, 4-3 on December 7th.

The Isles won both regular season meetings in Carolina last season by identical 5-4 scores but went 0-3 in Raleigh in the opening round of the playoffs. 

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: Isles 5, Chicago 4

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 31

Isles 5, Chicago 4

Simon Holmstrom scored a goal and added two assists, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau contributed three helpers as the Islanders built a 5-1 lead midway through the third period and then held on for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks before a crowd of 16,170 at UBS Arena. 

Conor Bedard had a first period power play goal and then added two assists in the final nine minutes for the Hawks. The Isles broke the game open with three goals in a 2:19 span of the third only to have Chicago respond with three goals of their own, including twice in the final 70 seconds.

The Isles regain NHL-.500 with a record of 121-12-7 on the season as they improve to 3-1-0 in the last four games, the win ties the Islanders with the Rangers in points, but both teams trail Tampa Bay by one point for the final playoff spot. The Isles head to Chicago on Sunday afternoon to complete the home-and-home series. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Connor Bedard (6) Ryan Donato (6), Alex Vlasic (11) 16:47 CHI 1,NYI 0 PPG

2nd Period

Dennis Cholowski (3) Simon Holmstrom (9), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) 06:59 CHI 1,NYI 1

Simon Holmstrom (8) Ryan Pulock (10), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (9) 14:06 CHI 1,NYI 2

3rd Period

Noah Dobson (3) Brock Nelson (9), Anders Lee (12) 05:39 CHI 1,NYI 3

Bo Horvat (8) Simon Holmstrom (10), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (10) 06:36 CHI 1,NYI 4

Maxim Tsyplakov (6) Kyle Palmieri (13), Noah Dobson (14) 07:58 CHI 1,NYI 5

TJ Brodie (1) Connor Bedard (17), Nick Foligno (5) 11:04 CHI 2,NYI 5

Tyler Bertuzzi (7) Taylor Hall (7) 18:50 CHI 3,NYI 5

Tyler Bertuzzi (8) Alex Vlasic (12), Connor Bedard (18) 19:50 CHI 4,NYI 5

The Skinny

Simon Holmstrom recorded his first career three-point game, raising his total to 52 career points (29-23-52)… Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded his first three-assist game as an Islander, hitting that mark for only the second time in his career (March 12, 2016, vs. Toronto)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 52-43 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 5-29 in the third period and overtime…The 44 goals allowed in the third period are tied with Pittsburgh for the highest total in the NHL…The Isles have scored 58 goals and allowed 49 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 44-23 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 16 of the last 18 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 31-20 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles finished with 21 shots on goal; it was the 14th straight game that they had 31 or fewer…Each team scored three times in the third period, marking the first time that has happened (3+ for each team) since December 6, 2022, when the Blues outscored the Isles 4-3 in the 3rd period of a 7-4 win…The Isles defense scored twice, after tallying only five times in the first 30 games; four of the seven goals have come in just two games (11/14 at Vancouver)…Dennis Cholowski scored his 3rd goal of the season; it is the most goals that he has scored since he was a rookie (8 in 2018-19)…It is the first time this season that the Isles have scored three times in the third period…The three goals in 2:19 were the fastest by the Isles since February 9, 2022 in Vancouver (three in :31, which is the 2nd-fastest in club history)…Ilya Sorokin improves 8-35-15 when allowing at least four goals; only four of the eight wins have been in regulation…TJ Brodie scored his first goal as a Blackhawk and only his second in his last 137 games…Chicago is 1-6-0 in their last seven games, beating only the Rangers on Monday…Maxim Tsyplakov's goal tied him for 4th among rookies with six; he leads all rookies with a +9 rating; thirteen of his 17 points have come at home, where he is +10…The Hawk rally gave Tsyplakov his first game-winning goal….Chicago is 1-14-0 when leading after two periods.

On The Cusp

• Bo Horvat's third period goal was the 249th of his NHL career

• Scott Mayfield played his 499th NHL game.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

• The Isles have only 54 shots over the last three games; it is only the 3rd time in club history that has happened and the first time since a three-game stretch that ended exactly 23 years earlier: December 12, 2001.

Moving On Up

Noah Dobson scored his 43rd goal, matching Roman Hamrlik for 8th place.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Home Cooking

The Isles end a stretch where they played eight of 11 games are at home; they did not play consecutive road games during that stretch. The Isles went 5-4-2 (4-4-0 at home and 1-0-2 on road) in that stretch:

• 23-Nov-24 Vs St. Louis W 3-1

• 25-Nov-24 Vs Detroit     L 2-4

• 27-Nov-24 Vs Boston    L 3-6

• 29-Nov-24 @ Washington L 4-5 OT

• 30-Nov-24 Vs Buffalo    W 3-0

• 3-Dec-24  @ Montreal L 1-2 OT

• 5-Dec-24  Vs Seattle   L 2-5

• 7-Dec-24  Vs Carolina W 4-3

• 8-Dec-24  @ Ottawa W 4-2

• 10-Dec-24 Vs Los Angeles L 1-3

• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago W 5-4

Weekend Warriors

Since November 19th, the Isles 3-0-0 on Saturday and 1-0-0 on Sunday, but 1-5-3 on the other nights of the week.

Road Winners

The Isles are 6-5-5 on the road this season; it is the third consecutive season that they have earned exactly 17 points in their first sixteen road contests. Their 17 road points rank them tied-fourth in the East, behind Washington (24), New Jersey (22) and Florida (19).

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 28, Opponents 44

Tying Goals: Isles 3, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 7

Empty Net Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 9

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 23 of their 31 games; they are 1-6-1 in the seven games that they trailed after forty minutes. In the six games that they trailed the entire third period, they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, one fewer than Philadelphia for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin now has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 6 empty-net goals and allowed 9.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 18 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 7 times

• Allowed the next goal: 10 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  12-12-7 for 31 points in 31 games

• 2023-24  15-8-8 for 38 points in 31 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-2-4

• Season: 7-43-50

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

46. Connor Hellebuyck 293

      Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 4-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 3-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (1-0-1 with two to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in ten straight games against Canadian teams; the next three Canadian opponents will all be Toronto with road games on December 21 and December 31, and a home game on January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-12-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 6-5-5 on the road.

Chicago is 9-18-2 overall; they are 4-8-0 at home and 5-10-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-7-3 against the East (3-2-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-5-4 against the West (3-1-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,456

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,456) and Patrick Roy (162) have combined for 1,618 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 5-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-9-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles         6-8-7=21

Chicago 11-5-14=30

The Isles are 5-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 8-8-4 this season and 1-4-0 vs. Chicago. 

Arvid Soderblum made 14 saves before being replaced after the Isles' 5th goal; he is 2-7-1 this season and 0-3-0 vs the Isles. Drew Commesso stopped the only two shots he faced in his NHL debut.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 (6:00) on the power play; Chicago was 1-2 (3:37) on the power play.

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-11-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-4-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-10-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

Including today, the Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Brock Nelson (22:50); Chicago: Alex Vlasic (25:23)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (22:50).

Face-offs

Isles 40, Chicago 15 (73%)

Casey Cizikas won 12 of 15 for the Isles; no Hawk won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Alex Romanov and Casey Cizikas -4)

Chicago 15 (Nick Foligno -3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Six with 3)

Chicago 15 (Connor Murphy -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Chicago 61

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, Chicago 53

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Max Tsyplakov +11

Chicago: Connor Murphy +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Chicago 13

5-on-5: Isles 5, Chicago 10

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-INJ), Hudson Fasching, Grant Hutton

Games Lost to injury: 106. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 197 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (147) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with nine games remaining. The next national game will stream on December 17th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles visit Carolina. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-2-1 in matinee games this season, with 8 games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 15th in Chicago. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-15-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 1 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (0): 

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (3): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (5): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki (2:39)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 871 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 846 *** 8. Matt Martin 842 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 790 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518 *** 31. Ryan Pulock 517 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 511 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 499

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 130…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 265…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 205…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 5509 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 477 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 447…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +73 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +59 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 48 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik and Noah Dobson 43…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26  

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk 96 *** 20. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey, and Scott Mayfield 95

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 208 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 201…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 120

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 213 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 104 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-15-2-2 on the season and 0-5-1-0 in their last six games, following a 4-2 home loss on Wednesday to Providence. Justin Gill scored his first professional goal while Brian Pinho scored his team-leading 13th.

Brian Pinho leads the team with 13 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists and 21 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories; the 18 helpers are just one behind the AHL lead.

Bridgeport will also play the Baby Bruins in Rhode Island on Friday. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series,1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play again on Sunday in Chicago to complete the season series. 

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th –CHICAGO AT ISLES 3:000pm

[MSGSN (Pre-Game at 2:30pm), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will complete the home-and home with a game in Chicago against the Blackhawks.

The Isles have gone 5-0-2 in the last seven games vs. the Hawks. The were in Chicago last January 19th and the Isles dropped a 4-3 overtime decision in Chicago in Lane Lambert's last game as Islander Head Coach.

The Hawks will play in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon before heading home.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick