"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 49
Florida 3, Isles 2 (OT)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his 8th career overtime goal as the Florida Panthers spoiled Alumni Weekend with a 3-2 win over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.
Both Florida goals in regulation were scored on the power play (Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk) but the Isles tied the game each time, with Simon Holmstrom scoring his 12th goal in the 2nd period and Kyle Palmieri adding a 6th-attacker goal with 1:31 to play.
The Isles are 1-2-1 under Patrick Roy. They are 2-7-2 in their last eleven games and 20-17-12 overall as they climb into 4th place in the Metro and within four points of third place Philadelphia. The Isles are off now until February 5th, when they face the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
The Scoring:
1st Period
No Goals
2nd Period
Sam Reinhart (37) Matthew Tkachuk (35), Carter Verhaeghe (26) 07:56 FLA 1,NYI 0 PPG
Simon Holmstrom (12) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (14), Oliver Wahlstrom (4) 16:29 FLA 1,NYI 1
3rd Period
Matthew Tkachuk (16) Aleksander Barkov (37), Brandon Montour (9) 05:59 FLA 2,NYI 1 PPG
Kyle Palmieri (13) Noah Dobson (46), Mathew Barzal (38) 18:31 FLA 2,NYI 2
OT
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (9) Evan Rodrigues (21), Anthony Stolarz (1) 01:57 FLA 3,NYI 2
The Skinny
The Isles went 3-7-3 in January and are 4-8-3 since the Christmas break…Since Christmas the Isles are 3-2-1 at home and 1-6-2 on the road… Noah Dobson now has a career-high 46 assists (good for tied-5th in the NHL and tied-2nd among defensemen) and has established a new career-high in points (52).. The Isles' defense has 53 points in the last 25 games and have 34 points in the last eighteen games (8-26-34)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 39-31 in the first period but have been outscored 65-49 in the second period and 67-54 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 27-10 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 2-13-3 when trailing after two periods ….Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves in his 599th NHL game; it was the first time he had started consecutive games since the game before and the game after last season's All-Star break. Ilya Sorokin was the back-up in both of those games; the only other time since his rookie season he has done so. … Vegas is 20-0-4 when scoring first and 22-0-3 when leading after two periods… Bo Horvat is closing in on 500 points (228-252-480); he has played 699 NHL games.…Dobson now has his nine assists in the 2nd 5-game assist streak of the season (and third of his career) and his 3rd 5-game point streak of the season (and fifth of his career); he has never had a point in six straight games…Sam Reinhart extended his point streak to 13 games and set a Florida team record with his NHL-leading 20th power play goal of the season; 52 of his 101 goals for the Cats have been scored on the power play…The Isles allowed two power play goals for the second straight game and the 4th time in 13 games this month….The Isles allowed their 9th overtime goal (most in the NHL); they have scored five themselves (tied-most in the NHL)... The Panthers extended their franchise record with an 8th-straight road win.
Woah Noah
Noah Dobson is the first Islander since Bryan Trottier in 1983-84 to have at least 46 assists in the team's first 49 games. Dobson is the only defenseman in Islander history to do so; Trottier did it five times, and Mike Bossy did it once.
Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 52 points since 2008-09 when Mark Streit had 56, and the first with at least 46 assists since Vladimir Malakhov had 47 in 1993-94.
Dobson is on pace for 77 assists; the club record for assists by a defensemen was set by Denis Potvin (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 87 points, which would trail only three seasons by Potvin.
Isles at The Break
Last Season This Season
Game 52 49
Record 25-22-5 20-17-12
Points 55 52
GF/GA 148/141 142/163
PP/PK 15.5/83.0 23.0/72.3
Metro 6th 4th
East 10th 9th
Leaders:
Goals Nelson/Lee 19 Nelson 21
Assists Barzal 31 Dobson 46
Points Nelson 46 Dobson 52
+/- Pelech +10 Dobson +21
The New Coach
The Isles are 1-2-1 under Patrick Roy. All four games have been decided by one goal.
The 20-Goal Club
Brock Nelson is the 7th player in club history to have at least eight seasons of at least 20 goals:
• Bryan Trottier 13
• Brent Sutter/Mike Bossy 10
• John Tavares/Denis Potvin 9
• Clark Gillies/Brock Nelson 8
Anders Lee needs seven more goals this season for his 8th season with at least 20 goals.
Inter-Division Games
The Isles are starting the new year with 17 straight inter-division games; they will play only two division foes in their first 30 games (February 18 vs NYR at MetLife, February 20 at Pittsburgh) of 2024.
Overtime Is (Not) Our Time
The Isles have played 18 overtime games. They are 5-9 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-3 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-7 in overtime and 1-2 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts.
The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 30overtime games.
The Isles have won 16 of the last 42 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).
Most OT/SO Losses Thru 49 Games (Since 1998-99)
• 12 (2023-24)
• 9 (2016-17)
• 8 (2009-10)
• 8 (2021-22)
Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play sixteen times this season.
Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down
The Isles have scored 31 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.
The Isles have allowed 42 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season.
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 7 times
• Allowed the next goal: 22 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: twice
Heavy Hitter
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,897
2. Matt Martin 3,777
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 20-17-12 for 52 points in 49 games
• 2022-23 23-21-5 for 51 points in 49 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-1-1
• Season: 18-79-97
• Last Season (Final) 41-132-173
The Islander defense scored 41 goals last season, which was the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04. The 173 points were their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.
Lots of Work for Sorokin
Most shots against:
• Ilya Sorokin 1,202
• Alexandar Georgiev 1,133
• Juuse Saros 1,071
• Thatcher Demko 1,032 (not including late game Saturday)
No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.
Facing 40
Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots nine times this season and 26 times in his career.
Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie
1. Jaroslav Halak 11 2017-18
2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73
3. Ilya Sorokin 9 2023-24
Joey Mac Donald 9 2008-09
Dwayne Roloson 9 2009-10
No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.
Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)
1. John Gibson 32
2. Ilya Sorokin 26
3. Darcy Kuemper 22
4. Sam Montembault 21
5. Karel Vejmelka 20
Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)
1. Billy Smith 46 (674 games)
2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)
3. Ilya Sorokin 26 (171 games)
Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 278 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins and tied-third in shutouts.
All-time Goalie Wins
50. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 278
52. Marty Turco 275
Home and Road
The Isles are 20-17-12 overall; they are 12-6-7 at home and 8-11-5 on the road.
Florida is 31-14-4 overall; they are 14-7-2 at home and 17-7-2 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 13-8-7 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 6-4-3 vs. Atlantic) and 7-9-5 against the West (3-5-2 vs. Central and 4-4-3 vs. Pacific).
Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 107 games at UBS Arena and recorded 73 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 1,425
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,425) and Patrick Roy (131) have combined for 1,556 wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.
First Things First
The Isles are 14-3-9 when scoring first and are 6-14-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 7-8-7-1=23
Toronto 4-17-13-2=36
The Isles are 6-5-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-12-7 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves; he is 6-5-2 on the season and 8-5-1 vs. Toronto.
Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves; he is 8-4-2 on the season and 1-2-0 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (2:00); Florida was 2-4 on the power play (5:54).
The Isles are 11-6-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-11-6 when they do not. The Isles are 7-11-8 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-6-4 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 18-4-9 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-13-3 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 13-3-12 in games decided by a single goal including 7-3 in regulation. They are 5-9 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-1-3 in the front end and 0-3-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on March 10th in Anaheim and March 11th in Los Angeles.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (27:45); Florida: Brandon Montaur (24:11)
Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with a career-high 23:42 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (16-15-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).
Face-offs
Isles 31, Florida 36 (46%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 13 for the Isles; Aleksander Barkov won 16 of 18 for Florida.
Hit Count
Isles 15 (Five with 2)
Florida 16 (Four with 3)
Fights
None. Season total: 5 (Martin 2, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1)
Blocked Shots
Isles 24 (Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield -6)
Florida 8 (Two with 2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Florida 73
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 43, Florida 49
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Mike Reilly +6
Florida: Gustav Forsling +8
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 5, Florida 11
5-on-5: Isles 5, Florida 4
Scratches
(Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Casey Cizikas-IR), (Hudson Fasching-INJ), (Adam Pelech-INJ), Julien Gauthier
Games Lost to injury: 123
The Ironmen
Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 161 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (133) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games.
Challenges
Isles: 2 successful, 2 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6)
Opponents: 1 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offside (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13)
Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute five times this season (three times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, and twice on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4) and allowed two in the same span six times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13)
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from at least two goals behind after two periods to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so four times.
For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)
Vs (4): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT)
Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored two goals and have allowed four goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (3): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT)
Vs (6): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG)
OT Winners
For (4): Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21
Vs (8): Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) ½; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19
Shootout Winners
For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (3): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15
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 807 *** 8. Matt Martin 793 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 727 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 685
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 262 *** 9. Anders Lee 253 …
21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Duane Sutter 121 *** 23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 25. Mathew Barzal, Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 32. Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas 102
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Mathew Barzal 295…
16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 18. Brock Nelson 238…
22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 182…
33. Travis Green 145 *** 34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Noah Dobson 137 ***37. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 38. Ryan Pulock 133
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
11. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 12. Brock Nelson 500 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 *** 16. Anders Lee 435 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 413…
32. Ray Ferraro 238 *** 33. Travis Green 237 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 233
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +76 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
5. Jean Potvin 46 *** 6. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 36
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Mark Streit 139 *** 9. Noah Dobson 137 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 133…
13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 109 *** 16. Adam Pelech 103…
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 90
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 *** 10. Noah Dobson 173…
15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 17. Gerry Hart and Adam Pelech 128…
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 115
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. Glenn Healy 176 *** 9. Ilya Sorokin 171 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 151
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 84** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 65
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 11-24-5-0 on the season after dropping a home-and-home series with Providence. They will host Springfield on both Wednesday and Friday.
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (the Isles have 3 points to Florida's 2). The teams will meet in Sunrise, Florida on March 28th to complete the season series.
The Isles are 6-4-2 in their last 12 games with Florida, including 3-1-2 at home.
UP NEXT
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5th –ISLANDERS AT TORONTO– 7:00pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The Isles will look to sweep the Leafs as they play their first game after the All-Star Break and their only game out of the Metro area until February 20th as they visit Toronto for the only time this season.
The Isles have won twice at home this season against Toronto, with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal each scoring in overtime, and will be looking to win three games in a season against Toronto for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
It will be the 2,000th road game in Islander history and is expected to be Horvat's 700th NHL game.
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
