The Skinny; Colorado 5, Isles 4 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Colorado 5, Isles 4 (OT)

Nathan MacKinnon scored on a power play just 32 seconds into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rallied from 1-0, 3-1, and 4-3 deficits for a 5-4 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 18,121 at Ball Arena. The Isles have points in 19 of their last 23 games (12-4-7). 

MacKinnon had points on the last three Colorado goals as the Avs fought back for the win.

The Isles are 17-10-10 on the season; they move back into third place in the Metro and climb within seven points of the first place Rangers. The third game of this four-game road trip will be Thursday in Arizona.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Pierre Engvall (5) Brock Nelson (15) 05:39 NYI 1,COL 0

Devon Toews (6) Logan O'Connor (7), Cale Makar (34) 06:11 NYI 1,COL 1

Brock Nelson (17) Noah Dobson (30), Ilya Sorokin (1) 19:28 NYI 2,COL 1 PPG

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (11) Cal Clutterbuck (8) 01:09 NYI 3,COL 1

Valeri Nichushkin (18) Samuel Girard (4), Jonathan Drouin (12) 04:18 NYI 3,COL 2

Jonathan Drouin (6) Mikko Rantanen (27), Nathan MacKinnon (40) 08:24 NYI 3,COL 3

Alexander Romanov (3) Mathew Barzal (27)  10:18 NYI 4,COL 3

3rd Period

Valeri Nichushkin (19) Nathan MacKinnon (41), Cale Makar (35) 12:21 NYI 4,COL 4 PPG

OT

Nathan MacKinnon (20) Cale Makar (36), Mikko Rantanen (28) 00:32 NYI 4,COL 5 PPG

The Skinny    

The Isles have played 21 one-goal games (11-1-9)…Noah Dobson played 28:38; it was the 19th straight game Dobson played at least 25 minutes, extending his own club record and it is the longest streak by any NHLer since Ryan Suter did so in 26 straight games in 2019 (no Islander has averaged 25 minutes per game since 2013-14)…Dobson is now averaging 25:53, which is 2nd in the NHL to Los Angeles' Drew Doughty (26:00) ... The Isles' defense has 33 points in the last fourteen games and have goals from five different defensemen in the last five games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 32-21 in the first period but have been outscored 47-43 in the second period and 53-38 in the third period and overtime this season.. The Isles are 8-0-3 when they lead after one period and 14-1-5 when they lead after two periods …. The Isles scored on the power play for the first time in six games but allowed two power play goals after having gone 9-9 in the last three games; the Isles are 1-2-5 this season when allowing multiple power play goals.… Mathew Barzal now has 399 career points; Jonathan Drouin has 299… Nathan MacKinnon has a point in every Avs home game (20) – the longest streak at the start of a season for any player since Wayne Gretzky…MacKinnon also reached the 20-goal mark for the 9th time…Noah Dobson now has 121 career assists, placing him 10th in club history among Isles defensemen, ahead of Travis Hamonic…This was the 7th time this season that the Isles have had a multi-goal lead but did not win (0-1-6).

The Injuries

• Semyon Varlamov left the game with 5:08 remaining in the first period; he did not return.

• Robert Bortuzzo left the game with 4:19 remaining in the second period with a lower body injury after a hit from Sam Girard; he did not return.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 29 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 21 times

• Game ended with 2-goal different: twice 

Road Warriors

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing eight out of ten games on the road:

• 12/31 @ Pittsburgh (3-1 L)

• 1/2 @ Colorado      (5-4 OTL)

• 1/4 @ Arizona

• 1/6 @ Vegas

• 1/ 9 Vs. Vancouver

• 1/11 Vs. Toronto

• 1/13 @ Nashville

• 1/15 @ Minnesota

• 1/16 @ Winnipeg

• 1/19 @ Chicago

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.

Fewest Regulation Losses Thru 37 Games (Post-Cup era)

• 10 (2019-20; 24-10-3)

• 10 (2021-22; 23-10-4)

• 10 (2023-24; 17-10-10) 

• 11 (2001-02; 19-11-5-2)

• 11 (2014-15; 25-11-1)

• 12 (2015-16; 20-12-5)

The last time the Isles had fewer regulation losses through 37 games was in 1980-81, when the Champs were 23-7-7 through 37 games.

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles have played 14 overtime games. They are 3-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-3 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 2-6 in overtime and 1-2 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-1 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 31 overtime games.

The Isles have won 14 of the last 38 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 37 Games

• 10 (2023-24)

• 7 (2009-10, 2013-14 and 2016-17)

The Isles played 11 ties through 37 games in 1973-74 and 9 ties through 37 games in 1974-75. In 1985-86, the Isles played 9 ties and also lost once in overtime.

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 37 Games (since 2000) in NHL

• Dallas 11 (2009-10)

• Isles 10 (2023-24)

• Dallas 10 (2021)

• Tampa Bay 10 (2008-09)

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play thirteen times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down

The Isles have scored 24 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 31 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. Only 11 of those 39 were at home; the Isles have already allowed 14 home power play goals this season.

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,851

2. Matt Martin 3,738

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  17-10-10 for 44 points in 37 games

• 2022-23  21-14-2 for 44 points in 37 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-1-2

• Season: 15-58-73

• 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 871  

• Jusse Saros 842

• Alexandar Georgiev 839

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.

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

It's an SH SH (Simon Holmstrom Shorthanded) Goal

Only seven players in Isles history have scored more shorthanded goals in a season than Simon Holmstrom, who now has five:

1 Bob Bourne       1980-81    7

  Frans Nielsen      2010-11   7

3 Shawn Bates       2002-03   6

Michael Grabner  2010-11   6

Lorne Henning    1976-77    6

Anders Kallur      1980-81    6

Michael Peca      2001-02    6

It's a JG SH Assist

Jean-Gabriel Pageau is the first Isle in 42 years with at least five shorthanded assists in a season:

1 Lorne Henning  1976-77 8

2. Bryan Trottier  1980-81 5

    Denis Potvin    1980-81 5

    Bryan Trottier  1981-82 5

    Billy Carroll      1981-82 5

    J-G Pageau       2023-24 5

Home and Road

The Isles are 17-10-10 overall; they are 10-4-6 at home and 7-6-4 on the road.

Colorado is 19-13-4 overall; they are 11-6-1 at home and 8-7-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 12-7-6 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 5-3-2 vs. Atlantic) and 5-3-4 against the West (1-2-1 vs. Central and 4-1-3 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 102 games at UBS Arena and recorded 70 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 1,423

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 11-2-8 when scoring first and are 6-8-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles        8-9-5-0=22

Colorado 16-10-12-1=39

The Isles are 5-2-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-7-7 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 11 saves before removing himself from the game with 5:08 to play in the first period. Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves on 27 shots; he is 11-6-8 on the season and 0-2-2 vs. Colorado. 

Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves; he is 20-8-2 on the season and 11-4-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play (4:09); Colorado was 2-5 on the power play (8:22).

The Isles are 9-4-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-6-4 when they do not. The Isles are 6-5-7 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-5-3 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 15-3-8 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-7-2 when they do not. Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 50-9-12 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-1-10 in games decided by a single goal including 7-1 in regulation. They are 3-7 in games decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-0-3 in the front end and 0-2-3 in the back end this season. The next set of back-to-backs will be on January 15th in Minnesota and January 16th in Winnipeg; the following back-to-back set will be on March 10th in Anaheim and March 11th in Los Angeles. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (28:06);  Colorado: Cale Makar (25:39)

Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with 17:05 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (13-8-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Colorado 28 (47%)

Bo Horvat won 7 of 11 for the Isles; Ross Colton won 4 of 6 for Colorado.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Two with 3)

Colorado 16 (Jack Johnson -3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 5 (Martin 2, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 31 (Alex Romanov -6)

Colorado 16 (Samuel Girard -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Colorado 91

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 36, Colorado 70

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  No Isle was a +

Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon +30

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Colorado 14

5-on-5: Isles 4, Colorado 10

Scratches

Adam Pelech (LTIR), (Ryan Pulock-LTIR), Matt Martin, Oliver Wahlstrom, Sebastian Aho

Games Lost to injury: 72

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 149 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (121) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games:

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 1 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9)

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 four times this season (twice at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, and once on road-11/24 @OTT) and allowed two in the same span five times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27)

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 (2: Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG)

Vs (4): 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)

OT Winners

For (3):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11

Vs (6):   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) 1/2

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 795 *** 8. Matt Martin 782 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 781 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 715 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 673

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 258 *** 9. Anders Lee 250 …

23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 25. Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 *** 28. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 29. Mathew Barzal 115 *** 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 …

11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Derek King 288 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 284…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 236…

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

34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 133

Points

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

11. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 12. Derek King 499 *** 13. Brock Nelson 494 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 431 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 399…

32. Ray Ferraro 238 *** 33. Travis Green 237 *** 34. Kenny Jonsson and Casey Cizikas 232

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 ***  17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54  

Defense Goals

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

5. Jean Potvin 46 *** 6. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. 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. Ryan Pulock 133 *** 10. Noah Dobson 121…

13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 109 *** 16. Adam Pelech 102… 

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 157… 

15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 17. Gerry Hart 128 *** 18. Adam Pelech 127…

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 161 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 149

Wins

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

6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 81 *** 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 9-18-2-0 on the season. Ruslan Iskhakov leads the team with 10 goals and 24 points; he shares the assist with lead (14) with Dennis Cholowski.

The Baby Isles begin a five-game homestand on Thursday as they host Hartford.

Season Series Stats

Colorado wins the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1). 

The Isles are 1-4-2 in their last seven games with the Avs, and have not won in Denver since December 18, 2018, when Thomas Greiss was in nets for a 4-1 win.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 —ISLANDERS AT ARIZONA – 9:00pm ET

[MSGSN (pre-game at 8:30),  WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles will look to sweep the season series as they face the Coyotes in Tempe. 

Ilya Sorokin need to make only 14 saves in a 3-0 Isles win back on October 17th at UBS Arena; it was Sorokin's 2nd shutout against the Coyotes.  While Arizona has won only once in New York in their last ten trips, the Isles are only 2-3-2 in their last seven trips to the desert.

The late-night hockey continues on Saturday at 10pm in Vegas.

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