The Skinny: Montreal 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 48

Montreal 4, Isles 3

Sean Monahan scored the go-ahead goal with 2:12 to play as the Montreal Canadians overcame a 3-goal Islander comeback, all on power play goals, to defeat the Isles 4-3 before a crowd of 21,105 at Bell Centre. 

Trailing 3-0 after one period, the Isles rallied on power play tallies by Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri. Noah Dobson assisted on all three goals (giving him eight assists in four games), with the latter two coming 1:37 apart on a major power play.

The Isles, who fell to 1-2-0 under Patrick Roy, are 2-7-1 in their last ten games and 20-17-11 overall as they remain in 5th place in the Metro; they drop four points behind Detroit for the final playoff berth. The Isles return home to face Florida on Saturday in their final game before their weeklong bye/All-Star Break. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Nick Suzuki (13) Juraj Slafkovsky (13), Sean Monahan (21) 07:06 NYI 0,MTL 1 PPG

Cole Caufield (17) Nick Suzuki (28) 11:36 NYI 0,MTL 2

Sean Monahan (12) Mike Matheson (26), Sam Montembeault (2) 12:19 NYI 0,MTL 3 PPG

2nd Period

Bo Horvat (20) Mathew Barzal (37), Noah Dobson (43) 03:02 NYI 1,MTL 3 PPG

3rd Period

Mathew Barzal (13) Noah Dobson (44), Kyle Palmieri (15) 14:51 NYI 2,MTL 3 PPG

Kyle Palmieri (12) Noah Dobson (45), Bo Horvat (25) 16:28 NYI 3,MTL 3 PPG

Sean Monahan (13) Josh Anderson (6), Cole Caufield (21) 17:48  NYI 3,MTL 4

The Skinny    

The Isles are 3-7-2 in their last twelve games and are 4-8-2 since the Christmas break…Since Christmas the Isles are 3-2-0 at home and 1-6-2 on the road… Noah Dobson now has a career-high 45 assists (good for 5th in the NHL and third among defensemen) and has matched his career-high in points (51).. The Isles' defense has 52 points in the last 24 games and have 33 points in the last seventeen games (8-25-33)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 39-31 in the first period but have been outscored 64-48 in the second period and 65-53 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 26-9 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 2-13-2 when trailing after two periods  ….Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in his 150th game as an Islander, ending Ilya Sorokin's career-high 15- game appearance streak; it was his 598th NHL game, breaking a tie with Jean-Sebastian Giguere for 54th all-time.  They were together for three seasons (2011-12 to 2013-14) in Colorado, including Patrick Roy's first season. … This was the 4,000th regular season home game in Islander history… Vegas is 20-4-3 when scoring first and 19-1-2 when leading after two periods…The Isles set a season-high in shots for the second straight game; their 46 shots was the most that they have had since last Valentine's Day (48 vs. Ottawa) … ….The Isles scored on a 5-on-3 in the second period; it was their first 5-on-3 goal since November 29, 2022 at Philadelphia… The Isles had 45 more attempts (88-43) than Montreal; it was their second-largest advantage of the season (98-49 vs. Washington on December 20th)…Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas missed the same game for only the 13th time since Martin returned to the team in 2018… Bo Horvat scored his 20th goal for the first time as an Islander and the seventh time in his last eight seasons; Horvat is closing in on 500 points (228-252-480); he has played 698 NHL games. …The Isles have lost consecutive one-goal games in regulation after losing only one one-goal game in regulation in their first 46 games…Cole Caufield extended his point streak to eight games…The Canadiens lead the NHL with 15 one-goal wins (out of 20 total)…The Isles last came from three goals behind to win on October 29, 2022 vs. Colorado…The Canadiens allowed at least two goals for the 43rd straight game; it is the longest single-season streak in club history and longest since a 44-game streak over parts of three seasons from 1919-1921.

The Injuries

• Hudson Fasching left the game at 6:41 mark of the second period; he did not return.

• Adam Pelech left the game with 8 minutes to play after a check to the head by Brendan Gallagher resulted in a match penalty.

First Time in a Long Time

• Noah Dobson is the first Islander since Bryan Trottier in 1983-84 to have at least 45 assists in the team's first 48 games. Dobson is the only defenseman in Islander history to do so; Trottier did it five times, Clark Gillies and Mike Bossy did it once. 

• Dobson is the first Islander defenseman to have two distinct 4-game spans with at least eight assists in the same season since Denis Potvin did so in 1975-76.

• Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with three power play assists in a game since Chris Campoli (10/18/2007 @ Washington); Mathew Barzal is the only forward to do so in the interim (2/9/2018 vs Detroit).

• The Isles scored three power play goals for the first time since April 28, 2022, vs. Washington; they had not done it on the road since they did so in Washington on March 15, 2018.

• The Isles had eight power plays for the first time since January 14, 2021 at the Rangers; the Isles had won the last six games, and had points in the last nine games, that they had at least eight power play chances.

• The Isles trailed by three goals after one period for the first time this season.

Quite the Pace

Noah 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.

The New Coach

The Isles are 1-2-0 under Patrick Roy.

Games by the Chilliad  

This was the 4,000th regular season game in club history. Here is a look at the last game of each chiliad (a group of 1,000):

1,000 16-Jan-85 @ Edmonton 3 3 T

2,000 26-Nov-97 Vs NY Rangers 4 1 W

3,000 9-Jan-11 @ Chicago         0 5 L

4,000 25-Jan-24 @ Montreal 3 4 L

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 Our Time

The Isles have played 17 overtime games. They are 5-8 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 1-1 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 29 overtime games.

The Isles have won 16 of the last 41 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most OT/SO Losses Thru 48 Games (Since 1998-99)

• 11 (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 40 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 Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,895

2. Matt Martin 3,775

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  20-17-11 for 51 points in 48 games

• 2022-23  23-20-5 for 51 points in 48 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-3-3

• Season: 18-78-96

• 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 1,106

• Juuse Saros 1,071

• Thatcher Demko 1,032

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 20-17-11 overall; they are 12-6-6 at home and 8-11-5 on the road.

Montreal is 19-21-7 overall; they are 10-12-3 at home and 10-9-4 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 13-8-6 against the East (7-4-4 vs. Metropolitan and 6-4-2 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 106 games at UBS Arena and recorded 72 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 6-14-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles    12-18-16=46

Montreal 13-7-6=26

The Isles are 6-5-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-11-7 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves; he is 6-5-2 on the season and 6-3-2 vs. Montreal.

Sam Montembault made 43 saves; he is 11-7-4 on the season and 3-2-2 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 3-8 on the power play (12:09); Montreal was 2-5 on the power play (7:15).

The Isles are 11-6-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-11-5 when they do not. The Isles are 7-11-7 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-6-4 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 18-4-9 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-13-2 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 13-3-11 in games decided by a single goal including 7-3 in regulation. They are 5-8 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 (30:17);  Montreal: Mike Matheson (26:37)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with a career-high 26:31 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (16-15-8), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 26, Montreal 24 (52%)

Brock Nelson won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Jake Evans won 10 of 19 for Montreal. 

Hit Count

Isles 14 (Cal Clutterbuck -4)

Montreal 22 (Josh Anderson -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Scott Mayfield -3)

Montreal 18 (David Savard-4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 88, Montreal 43

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Montreal 25

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mathew Barzal +20

Montreal: No Canadien was a "+"

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 23, Montreal 10

5-on-5: Isles 6, Montreal 3

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Casey Cizikas-IR), (Matt Martin -ILL), Mike Reilly, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost to injury: 118

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 160 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (132) 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 (2): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG)

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 806 *** 8. Matt Martin 792 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 726 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 684

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 294…

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. Greg Gilbert and Noah Dobson 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 412…

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 136 *** 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 172… 

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 150

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 11-22-5-0 on the season heading into a home-and-home series with Providence.  They will play in Rhode Island on Friday and Connecticut on Saturday. 

All-Star Ruslan Iskhakov has points in 12 of the last 14 games and leads the team in goals (13), assists (20) and points (33). 

Season Series Stats

Montreal leads the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0).  The teams will meet on Long Island on April 11th to complete the season series.

The Isles are 2-2-1 in their last five trips to Bell Centre.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27th – FLORIDA AT ISLANDERS– 7:30pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles play their final game before their bye week and the All-Star Game as they welcome the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers to UBS Arena for the Alumni Weekend game. 

It is the second of three meetings between the teams this season; the Isles earned a 4-3 win in Florida on December 2nd.

The Isles have won two straight overall against Florida and are 6-4-1 in the last 11 meetings; they have gone 3-1-1 at home during that span.

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