The Skinny: Vegas 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 47

Vegas 3, Isles 2

Sheldon Rempal and Nicolas Roy scored 1:49 apart in the second period to break open a tie game and the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights edged the Isles 3-2 before a crowd of 16,077 at UBS Arena. 

Brock Nelson scored on a delayed penalty in the second period and Jean Gabriel scored a third period shorthanded goal for the Isles, who fell to 1-1-0 under Patrick Roy. 

The Isles are 2-6-1 in their last nine games and 20-16-11 overall as they remain in 5th place in the Metro; they are two points behind Detroit for the final playoff berth. The Isles head to Montreal on Thursday before hosting Florida on Saturday in their final game before their weeklong bye/All-Star Break. 

The Scoring:

1st Period

Ivan Barbashev (12) Alex Pietrangelo (18) 11:52 VGK 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (21) Alexander Romanov (8), Noah Dobson (42) 03:35 VGK 1,NYI 1

Sheldon Rempal (1) Nicolas Roy (14), Alex Pietrangelo (19) 07:18 VGK 2,NYI 1 PPG

Nicolas Roy (9) Jonathan Marchessault (15), Ivan Barbashev (14) 09:07 VGK 3,NYI 1

3rd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6) Simon Holmstrom (6), Adam Pelech (4) 09:26 VGK 3,NYI 2 SHG

The Skinny    

The Isles are 3-7-2 in their last twelve games and are 4-8-2 since the Christmas break… Brock Nelson's goal was his 500th point; he passed Derek King for 12th place on the club's all-time point list and became the 12th player with 500 points … Nelson is one of only 21 NHL players with at least 94 goals over the last 2 ½ seasons…Noah Dobson had another assist (five in the last three games) to give him 42 (tied-sixth in the NHL and third among defensemen).. The Isles' defense has 53 points in the last 23 games and have 30 points in the last fourteen games (8-22-30)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 39-28 in the first period but have been outscored 64-47 in the second period and 64-51 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 26-8 in the second period since the Christmas break …The Isles are 2-12-2 when trailing after two periods  …. Ilya Sorokin appeared in a career-high fifteenth straight game and started for a career-high 10th straight game… This was the 3,999th 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 had a season-high 43 shots; it was only the second time this season that they have had 40 or more shots on goal…This was only the Isles' second 1-goal in regulation this season (11/28 in New Jersey, 5-4)…Sheldon Rempal's goal, coming in his 14th NHL game, was his first in the NHL; he debuted in the League on October 18, 2018….The Isles scored on a delayed penalty in the second period; it was only their second 6-on-5 goal this season (October 20, 2023 vs. New Jersey)…Alex Pietrangelo is now 0-13-13 in 22 career games against the Isles…The Isles had 41 more attempts (82-41) than Vegas; it was their second-largest advantage of the season (98-49 vs. Washington on December 20th).

First Time in a Long Time

Noah Dobson is the first Islander since Pierre Turgeon in 1992-93 to have at least 42 assists in 47 games. Dobson is the only defenseman in Islander history to do so. 

Kings of the Shorty

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom combined on another shorthanded goal. Holmstrom, who is tied for the NHL lead with five shorthanded goals, now leads the league with seven shorthanded points while Pageau is only the 4th active player with 20 shorthanded goals (joining Brad Marchand-34, Andrew Cogliano-22, and Jeff Carter-20). 

Pageau is only the 87th player in league history to record 20 career shorties and is now tied for 75th in career shorties with twelve others. To put Pageau's shorty count in perspective, Rick Nash and Pavel Bure are tied for 75th in career goals (437), while Steve Shutt (424) is 87th.

The Isles now have nine shorthanded goals, including a league-leading six at home. It is the first time since 2014-15 (10) that the Isles have scored at least nine shorties.

The New Coach

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

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 47 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 fifteen 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 38 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. Only 11 of those 39 were at home; the Isles have already allowed 15 home power play goals this 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 3,891

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  20-16-11 for 51 points in 47 games

• 2022-23  23-19-5 for 51 points in 47 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-3-3

• Season: 18-75-93

• 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 1,081

• Juuse Saros 1,047

• 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 20

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 20-16-11 overall; they are 12-6-6 at home and 8-10-5 on the road.

Vegas is 28-14-6 overall; they are 18-5-2 at home and 10-9-4 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 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 6-13-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles    8-18-16=42

Vegas 7-9-11=27

The Isles are 6-4-4 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

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves; he is 14-12-9 on the season and 1-2-1 vs. Vegas.

Adin Hill made 40 saves; he is 11-2-2 on the season and 1-0-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:28); Vegas was 1-3 on the power play (4:32).

The Isles are 11-5-6 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-11-5 when they do not. The Isles are 7-10-7 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 18-3-9 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 13-2-11 in games decided by a single goal including 7-2 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 (27:57);  Vegas: Alex Pietrangelo (24:37)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with a season high 25:11 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (16-14-8), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Vegas 26 (51%)

Bo Horvat won 12 of 20 for the Isles; Nicolas Roy won 10 of 17 for Vegas. 

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Matt Martin -5)

Vegas 11 (Ivan Barbashev-3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 7 (Bo Horvat -2)

Vegas 15 (Brayden McNabb -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 82, Vegas 41

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 57, Vegas 33

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +22

Vegas: Jonathan Marchessault +4

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Vegas 6

5-on-5: Isles 10, Vegas 6

Scratches

(Ryan Pulock-LTIR), (Robert Bortuzzo -INJ), (Casey Cizikas-IR), (Pierre Engvall-INJ), Sam Bolduc, Oliver Wahlstrom

Games Lost to injury: 115

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 159 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (131) 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 (5): 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 @ NAS 19:52 (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 805 *** 8. Matt Martin 792*** 9. Casey Cizikas 784 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 725 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 683

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 …

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 293…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 238…

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

34. Steve Thomas 140 *** 35. Mark Streit 139 *** 36. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 37. Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson 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 410…

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. Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson 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 169… 

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

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 149

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 this weekend. 

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). 

The Baby Islanders play again in Providence on Friday and then host the Bruins on Saturday. 

Season Series Stats

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

The Isles are 3-2-1 all-time at home against Vegas, and 6-5-1 overall against the Golden Knights. In both seasons the Isles lost to Vegas at home, they were swept in the season series. 

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25th —ISLANDERS AT MONTREAL– 7:00pm

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles play their first road game of the Patrick Roy era on Thursday, but it will be a 'home' game for the coach, as the Isles head to Montreal.

It is the second of three meetings between the teams this season; Montreal defeated the Isles 5-3 back on December 16th in a game that they led 4-0 after two periods.

That is the only Islander regulation loss in their last seven meetings with Les Habitants (4-1-2) and their only regulation loss in their last four trips to La Belle Province (2-1-1). 

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