The Skinny: Isles 5, Arizona 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 38

Isles 5, Arizona 1

Bo Horvat scored twice and added an assist as the Islanders defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-1 before a sellout crowd of 4,600 at Mullett Arena. Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson each had a pair of assists and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves as the Isles improved to 13-4-7 in their last 24 games. 

Nick Schmaltz had the only Arizona goal; it came just seconds after a 5-on-3 had ended.

The Isles are 18-10-10 on the season; they are now tied with Carolina for second place in the Metro and remain seven points behind the first place Rangers. The final game of this four-game road trip will be Saturday in Vegas against the Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Bo Horvat (15) Noah Dobson (31), Brock Nelson (16) 07:56 NYI 1,ARI 0 PPG

Mike Reilly (3) Mathew Barzal (28), Bo Horvat (22) 12:02 NYI 2,ARI 0

2nd Period

Nick Schmaltz (11) Sean Durzi (15), Alex Kerfoot (19) 03:29 NYI 2,ARI 1 PPG

3rd Period

Anders Lee (11) Mathew Barzal (29) 04:29 NYI 3,ARI 1

Julien Gauthier (5) Simon Holmstrom (5), Noah Dobson (32) 05:22 NYI 4,ARI 1

Bo Horvat (16) 13:05 NYI 5,ARI 1

The Skinny    

Mathew Barzal recorded his 400th point; it came in his 457th game… Noah Dobson played 25:09, going +3 with two assists; it was the 20th 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 25:51, which is 2nd in the NHL to Los Angeles' Drew Doughty (25:56 entering late game tonight) ... The Isles' defense has 36 points in the last fifteen games and have 13 points in the last six games (6-7-13)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 34-21 in the first period; the 21 goals are tied with Boston and Los Angeles for the fewest in the NHL…The Isles  have been outscored 48-43 in the second period and 53-41 in the third period and overtime this season …The Isles are 9-0-3 when they lead after one period and 15-1-5 when they lead after two periods …. The Isles scored on the power play for the second straight game…Anders Lee played his 150th consecutive game for the Isles while Alex Kerfoot played his 300th consecutive game for the Coyotes…Mike Reilly matched a career high with six shots on goal; he is one goal shy of his career high…Bo Horvat recorded his third two-goal game of the season…All but one of Anders Lee's goals have come in the last 24 games…Ilya Sorokin has appeared in a season-high six straight game; he appeared in ten straight games last season.

First Time in a Long Time

The Isles earned their first win by at least four goals on the road all season. It last happened on February 25, 2023, in Winnipeg (4-0) and matches their biggest road margin of victory since October 27, 2018 (6-1 in Philadelphia.

Beasts of the East

The Isles have the most points, and the best record, in the Eastern Conference since November 15:

• Isles 13-4-7   (33 points; .688)

• Rangers 15-8-0 (30 points; .652)

• Carolina 12-6-4 (28 points; .636)

The All-Star

Mathew Barzal recorded his 400th point on the same night he was named to his third NHL All-Star Game. Only six Islanders reached 400 points in fewer than 457 games (Bossy, Trottier, Potvin, LaFontaine, Tavares, and Brent Sutter); John Tonelli also did it in game 457.

Woah Noah

Noah Dobson is now 6-32-38 and +19 on the season. It is the fourth time that he has gone +3 or better. Denis Potvin (six times) is the only other defender in club history with 38 points through 38 games.

Dobson is tied for 3rd among defensemen in points (38, with Victor Hedman) and tied for 8th overall in assists (32, with William Nylander). 

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season (including twice tonight):

• 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 1-1-1 in this stretch:

• 12/31 @ Pittsburgh (3-1 L)

• 1/2 @ Colorado      (5-4 OTL)

• 1/4 @ Arizona        (5-1 W)

• 1/6 @ Vegas

• 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 38 Games (Post-Cup era)

• 10 (2019-20; 25-10-3)

• 10 (2021-22; 24-10-4)

• 10 (2023-24; 18-10-10) 

• 11 (2014-15; 26-11-1)

• 12 (2001-02; 19-12-5-2)

• 12 (2015-16; 21-12-5)

The last time the Isles had fewer regulation losses through 38 games was in 1980-81, when the Champs were 23-7-8 through 38 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 30 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 38 Games

• 10 (2023-24)

• 8 (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 38 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 25 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 32 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 3,856

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  18-10-10 for 46 points in 38 games

• 2022-23  21-15-2 for 44 points in 38 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-2-3

• Season: 16-60-76

• 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 907  

• Alexandar Georgiev 882

• Jusse Saros 868

By comparison, the Kings goalies have faced only 907 shots (Entering play Thursday).

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 18-10-10 overall; they are 10-4-6 at home and 8-6-4 on the road.

Arizona is 19-16-2 overall; they are 12-7-0 at home and 7-9-2 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 6-3-4 against the West (2-2-1 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 1,424

3. Glen Sather 1,319

First Things First

The Isles are 12-2-8 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       11-6-14=31

Arizona    9-13-4=26

The Isles are 6-2-3 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

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves; he is 12-6-8 on the season and 4-2-0 vs. Arizona. 

Connor Ingram made 26 saves; he is 13-8-0 on the season and 0-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (2:11); Arizona was 1-2 on the power play (2:04, including :09 on a 5-on-3).

The Isles are 10-4-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-6-4 when they do not. The Isles are 7-5-7 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-5-3 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-3-8 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 51-9-12 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 (25:09);  Arizona: Sean Durzi (20:29)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 18:25 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (14-8-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 34, Arizona 17 (67%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 13 of 16 for the Isles; no Coyote who took multiple faceoffs won more than he lost.

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck -5)

Arizona 17 (Jack McBain -4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Bo Horvat -4)

Arizona 9 (Zach Sanford -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Arizona 53

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Arizona 49

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mike Reilly +10

Arizona: Clayton Keller +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Arizona 9

5-on-5: Isles 9, Arizona 8

Scratches

Adam Pelech (LTIR), (Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Semyon Varlamov -INJ), Hudson Fasching, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost to injury: 77

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 150 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (122) 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 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 (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 796 *** 8. Matt Martin 783 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 782 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 716 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 674

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 258 *** 9. Anders Lee 251 …

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 286…

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

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 495 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 432 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 401…

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 123…

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 159… 

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 162 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 149

Wins

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

6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 82 *** 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 9-19-2-0 on the season after a 3-2 loss to Hartford on Thursday. Ruslan Iskhakov now leads the team in goals (10), assists (15) and points (25). 

The Baby Isles host Charlotte on Saturday night and at 3pm on Sunday. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). 

The Isles are 3-3-2 in their last eight trips to the desert. The five goals that the Isles scored tonight matched their most in games played in Arizona (5-2 on February 13, 2004, vs. Phoenix).

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6 —ISLANDERS AT VEGAS – 10:00pm ET

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 9:30), MSGSN,  WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles will close out the road trip when they visit the Stanley Cup Champions on the Strip in Las Vegas.

The Isles swept the season series last year, winning in Vegas and 2-1 in overtime at UBS Arena to get the team to the All-Star Break. 

The Isles are 3-2-0 in Vegas and 6-3-1 all-time overall against the Golden Knights, who will visit UBS on January 23rd to conclude the season series.

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

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