The Skinny: Isles 4, Toronto 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 41

Isles 4, Toronto 3 (OT)

Mathew Barzal  converted a pass from Noah Dobson for the overtime goal, giving each player a four-point game as the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Alex Romanov and Bo Horvat scored second period goals to erase a pair of tallies early in the period from Austin Matthews as the Isles won a game that they trailed by two goals for the second time this season (December 9th vs Los Angeles).

The Isles hit the half-way mark with a 19-12-10 record; they are once again tied with Philadelphia for third place in the Metro but are ahead of the Flyers based on tiebreakers. The Isles head to Nashville to begin a four-game road trip on Saturday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (10) Noah Dobson (33), Mathew Barzal (31) 00:40 TOR 0,NYI 1 PPG

Bobby McMann (2) Noah Gregor (3), TJ Brodie (9) 12:39 TOR 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Auston Matthews (32) Mitchell Marner (28), Matthew Knies (8) 00:26 TOR 2,NYI 1

Auston Matthews (33) Pontus Holmberg (3) 02:40 TOR 3,NYI 1

Alexander Romanov (4) Mathew Barzal (32), Noah Dobson (34) 04:18 TOR 3,NYI 2

Bo Horvat (17) Noah Dobson (35), Mathew Barzal (33) 13:51 TOR 3,NYI 3 PPG

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

Mathew Barzal (12) Noah Dobson (36) 00:21 TOR 3,NYI 4

The Skinny    

The Isles are 2-3-1 in their last six games and are 3-4-1 since the Christmas break… Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to five games  (2-7-9) with his second four-point games of the season; both have been capped with overtime goals (November 30 vs Carolina)…Barzal also moved into 12th place on the club's assist list, passing Derek King… Noah Dobson had four assists for the first time in his career; it is the fourth time this season he has had at least three assists in a game as he hits the midway point with 42 points in 41 games…Dobson is now 2-9-11 in eight games against Toronto…. The Isles' defense has 41 points in the last eighteen games and have 18 points in the last nine games (7-11-18)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 36-25 in the first period but have been outscored 54-46 in the second period and 56-44 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 16-7 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 3-2-4 in games tied after two periods …. Ilya Sorokin appeared in a season-high ninth straight game; he appeared in ten straight games last season….Adam Pelech played 19:03 in his second game back after missing 20 games with an injury… Brock Nelson remains at 497 points as he played his 799th career game…Austin Matthews extended his league lead with his 11th multi-goal game of the season goals 32 and 33, the Isles ended William Nylander's four games point streak (4-5-9) and also held John Tavares without a point… Matthews now has 332 goals, tied with Ron Ellis for 4th place in club history, and has scored 12 goals in eighteen games against the Isles...The loss ended Toronto's 4-game winning streak…With tonight's results, only four points celebrate the teams ranked 6th-12th in the Eastern Conference…. .

Barzal Sets History

Mathew Barzal is the first player in NHL history to have multiple games in his career where he had at least three assists in regulation and then scored the winning goal in overtime. Barzal has done it twice this season (November 30th vs Carolina); they are only the 29th and 30th time it has ever happened – and the only time an Islander has done so.

It was the third time this season Barzal has recorded at least four points, tying Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, and Mitch Marner for the NHL lead. It is the second time in his career he has done that, becoming the first Islander since Pierre Turgeon with multiple seasons where he had three points in a game at least three times.

First Times in a Long Time

• It was only the 8th time in club history the Isles have scored a first minute Power Play Goal and the earliest Islander power play goal since Alexei Yashin scored in Chicago  on December 7, 2001. It is the earliest at home since 1996 (Mathieu Schneider 1-17-96 vs Hartford).

• Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson are the first Islander teammates to have at least four points in the same game since Barzal (5) and Jordan Eberle (4) did so on January 13, 2018 at Madison Square Garden.  It happened in a home game since Anders Lee (4) and John Tavares (4) did so on February 14, 2015 at the Coliseum.

Mr. Overtime

Mathew Barzal recorded his 5th career overtime goal in regular season play:

• 27-Dec-17 Vs Buffalo 3 2 Wot

• 23-Nov-18 @ New Jersey 4 3 Wot

• 28-Jan-23 Vs Vegas 2 1 Wot

• 30-Nov-23 @ Carolina 5 4 Wot

• 11-Jan-24 Vs Toronto 4-3 Wot

Most Regular Season Overtime Goals by an Islander

1. John Tavares 11

2. Brock Nelson 7

3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6

5. Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Regular Season Overtime Points by an Islander

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 17

3. Brock Nelson 16

Woah Noah

Dobson is the 4th Islander defensemen to have a four-assist game, joining Chris Campoli (2007) and Ryan Pulock (2018 and 2022). His 36 assists leave him tied for 7th in the NHL with William Nylander and trailing only Quinn Hughes (40) and Cale Makar (39) among defensemen.

Beasts of the East

The Isles are tied for the most points, and have the 3rd-best record, in the Eastern Conference since November 15:

• Florida 17-8-1 (35 points .673)

• Isles 14-6-7  (35 points; .648)

• Philadelphia 14-7-5 (33 points; .635)

• Carolina 14-7-5 (33 points; .635)

• Toronto 13-5-6  (32 points; 667)

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 

Road Warriors

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing eight out of ten games on the road; they are 2-3-1 in this stretch:

• 12/31 @ Pittsburgh (3-1 L)

• 1/2 @ Colorado      (5-4 OTL)

• 1/4 @ Arizona        (5-1 W)

• 1/6 @ Vegas          (5-2 L)

• 1/ 9 Vs. Vancouver(5-2 L)

• 1/11 Vs. Toronto    (4-3 OTW)

• 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 41 Games (Post-Cup era)

• 11(2020-21; 26-11-4)

• 12 (2023-24; 19-12-10) 

• 12 (2019-20; 26-12-3)

• 13 (2014-15; 27-13-1)

• 13 (2001-02; 21-13-5-2)

• 13 (2015-16; 22-14-5)

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles have played 15 overtime games. They are 4-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-3 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-6 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 30 overtime games.

The Isles have won 15 of the last 39 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 41 Games

• 10 (2023-24)

• 8 (2016-17)

The Isles played 11 ties through 39 games in 1973-74 and 9 ties through 39 games in 1974-75. In 1985-86, the Isles played 9 ties and also lost once in overtime.

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 41 Games (since 2000) in NHL

• Dallas 12 (2021)

• Dallas 11 (2009-10)

• Isles 10 (2023-24)

• Boston 10 (2019-20)

• Tampa Bay 10 (2009-10)

• Tampa Bay 10 (2008-09)

• New Jersey 10 (2013)

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 28 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 33 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.

The Isles have allowed one shorthanded goal and scored eight shorties, so on a net basis they have scored more power play goals (28-1=27) than they have allowed(33-8=25).

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,870

2. Matt Martin 3,755

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  19-12-10 for 48 points in 41 games

• 2022-23  22-17-2 for 46 points in 41 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-4-5

• Season: 17-64-81

• 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 1006

• Alexandar Georgiev 948

• Thatcher Demko 908

• Juuse Saros 900

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

Home and Road

The Isles are 19-12-10 overall; they are 11-5-6 at home and 8-7-4 on the road.

Toronto is 21-10-8 overall; they are 10-7-2 at home and 11-3-6 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 13-7-6 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 6-3-2 vs. Atlantic) and 6-5-4 against the West (2-2-1 vs. Central and 4-3-3 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 104 games at UBS Arena and recorded 71 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

First Things First

The Isles are 13-2-8 when scoring first and are 6-10-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles  11-15-3-1=30

Toronto  12-14-9-0=35

The Isles are 6-3-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-8-7 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 13-8-8 on the season and 4-3-0 vs. Toronto. 

Martin Jones made 26 saves; he is 8-3-1 on the season and 4-5-1 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 on the power play (2:55); Toronto was 0-1 on the power play (2:00).

The Isles are 11-5-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-7-4 when they do not. The Isles are 7-6-7 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-6-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 17-3-8 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-9-2 when they do not. Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 51-9-12 when scoring at least three goals.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 12-1-10 in games decided by a single goal including 7-1 in regulation. They are 4-7 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 (26:01);  Toronto: Morgan Reilly (23:42)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 21:05 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (15-10-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Toronto 25 (53%)

Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each won 11 of 19 for the Isles; Max Domi won 7 of 10 for Toronto. 

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Toronto 11 (Matthew Knies-3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Noah Dobson 3)

Toronto 19 (Simon Benoit 3

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 63, Toronto 63

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 52, Toronto 62

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +6

Toronto: TJ Brodie +21

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Toronto 14

5-on-5: Isles 6, Toronto 14

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Semyon Varlamov -IR), (Casey Cizikas-INJ), Samuel Bolduc, Julien Gauthier

Games Lost to injury: 88

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 153 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (125) 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 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 (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

Vs (7):   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 799 *** 8. Matt Martin 786*** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 719 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 677

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 260 *** 9. Anders Lee 251 …

23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 25. Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 *** 28. Mathew Barzal 117 **** 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 …

11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Mathew Barzal 290…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 237…

22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 182…

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 497 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 433 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 407…

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 +81 ***  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 127…

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 163… 

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 165 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 149

Wins

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

6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 83** 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 fell 4-3 in overtime to Springfield on Wednesday; the Baby Isles are 10-19-4-0 on the season. All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov had an assist to extend his point streak to nine straight games; he leads the team in goals (12), assists (17) and points (29). Otto Koivula also extended his point streak to six games.

The Baby Isles begin a 3-in-3 by hosting Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Friday. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2). The teams will meet on February 5th in Toronto to conclude the season series.

The Isles have won three straight over the Leafs for the first time since 2010.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12th — ISLANDERS AT NASHVILLE  – 8:00pm

[MSGSN2 (Pre-game at 7:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles will look to do something on Saturday that they have not done since October 28, 2017 – beat the Nashville Predators.

The Isles beat Nashville in Music City 6-2 that night but are 0-7-2 in their last nine games against the Preds, including 0-3-1 on the road. 

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