The Skinny: Vegas 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 39

Vegas 5, Isles 2

Jack Eichel and Nicolas Roy each scored twice as the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights scored four times in a 7:09 span and defeated the Islanders 5-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,312 at T-Mobile Arena. 

Mathew Barzal and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders, who end their four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 record.

The Isles fall to 18-11-10 on the season; they are tied with Philadelphia for third place in the Metro but technically fall into the first wild card spot. he Isles now return home to host Vancouver on Tuesday and Toronto on Thursday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Jack Eichel (17) Jonathan Marchessault (11), Alex Pietrangelo (15) 06:25 NYI 0,VGK 1

Mathew Barzal (11) Bo Horvat (23), Anders Lee (6) 11:13 NYI 1,VGK 1

2nd Period

Pavel Dorofeyev (5) Chandler Stephenson (13), Mark Stone (27) 17:11 NYI 1,VGK 2

Nicolas Roy (6) Brett Howden (7), Keegan Kolesar (5) 18:41 NYI 1,VGK 3

3rd Period

Jack Eichel (18) Lukas Cormier (1) 00:31 NYI 1,VGK 4 PPG

Matt Martin (2) Casey Cizikas (6) 02:42 NYI 2,VGK 4

Nicolas Roy (7) Keegan Kolesar (6) 04:20 NYI 2,VGK 5

The Skinny    

Mathew Barzal scored for the first time in 11 games… Noah Dobson played 26:01 and went +1; it was the 21st 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 25:52, which is 2nd in the NHL to Los Angeles' Drew Doughty (26:01) ... The Isles' defense has 36 points in the last sixteen games and have 13 points in the last seven games (6-7-13)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 35-22 in the first period; only Los Angeles(21) has allowed fewer goals…The Isles  have been outscored 50-43 in the second period and 55-42 in the third period and overtime this season …The Isles are 1-8-1 when they trail after two periods …. Ilya Sorokin has appeared in a season-high seventh straight game; he appeared in ten straight games last season….Sorokin allowed at least five goals for the sixth time this season (only seven times all last season).

Beasts of the East

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

• Isles 13-5-7  (33 points; .660)

• Rangers 15-8-1 (31 points; .646)

• Philadelphia 13-6-5 (31 points; .646)

• Carolina 13-7-5 (31 points; .620)

The All-Star

Mathew Barzal extended his latest point streak to three games. Barzal and Pittsburgh's Bryan Rust are the only NHL regulars to not have gone pointless in consecutive games this season (although Rust was held pointless December 6 and January 2 while missing all games in between).

Barzal joins Alexei Yashin (37 games in 2001-02), Josh Bailey and John Tavares (both 33 games in 2017-18) as the only Isles in the last 25 years to record his 40th point in 38 or fewer games. (In his Calder Trophy season, Barzal reached 40 points in game 44.)

 

Woah Noah

Noah Dobson is now 6-32-38 and +20 on the season. He is only the 23rd player since ice-time became official to play at least 25 minutes in 21 straight games.

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 1-2-1 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

• 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 39 Games (Post-Cup era)

• 10 (2020-21; 25-10-4)

• 11 (2023-24; 18-11-10) 

• 11 (2019-20; 25-11-3)

• 12 (2014-15; 26-12-1)

• 12 (2001-02; 20-12-5-2)

• 13 (2015-16; 21-13-5)

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 29 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 39 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 39 Games (since 2000) in NHL

• Dallas 11 (2009-10)

• Isles 10 (2023-24)

• Dallas 10 (2021)

• 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 25 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.

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,862

2. Matt Martin 3,743

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  18-11-10 for 46 points in 39 games

• 2022-23  22-15-2 for 46 points in 39 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• 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 936  

• Alexandar Georgiev 897

• Jusse Saros 867

By comparison, the Kings goalies have faced only 934 shots.

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 18-11-10 overall; they are 10-4-6 at home and 8-7-4 on the road.

Vegas is 23-12-5 overall; they are 14-4-2 at home and 9-8-3 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 6-4-4 against the West (2-2-1 vs. Central and 4-2-3 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 6-9-1 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.

The Shots

Isles      15-6-9=30

Vegas    9-11-9=29

The Isles are 6-3-3 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 24 saves; he is 12-7-8 on the season and 1-1-1 vs. Vegas. 

Logan Thompson made 28 saves; he is 12-8-3 on the season and 1-1-1 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 on the power play (4:00); Vegas was 1-1 on the power play (1:50).

The Isles are 10-4-6 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 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 2-8-2 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 (26:24);  Vegas: Brayden McNabb (22:02)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 18:42 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (14-9-7), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Vegas 29 (50%)

Brock Nelson won 10 of 14 for the Isles; Chandler Stephenson won 11 of 19 for Vegas. 

Hit Count

Isles 30 (Julien Gauthier and Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Vegas 19 (Two with 4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Scott Mayfield and Casey Cizikas -3)

Vegas 18 (Two with 4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 60, Vegas 61

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Vegas 58

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall +11

Vegas: Grigori Denisenko +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Vegas 12

5-on-5: Isles 11, Vegas 12

Scratches

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

Games Lost to injury: 81

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 151 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (123) 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 (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 797 *** 8. Matt Martin 784 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 783 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 717 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter 694 *** 14. Cal Clutterbuck 675

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 and Mathew Barzal 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. Derek King 288 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 286…

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 495 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 ***  16. Anders Lee 433 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 402…

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 +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 163 *** 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 9-19-3-0 on the season after a 4-3 overtime loss to Charlotte on Saturday. Robin Salo had a goal and assist for Bridgeport, who allowed the tying goal with two seconds to play. Ruslan Iskhakov now leads the team in goals (10), assists (16) and points (26). 

The Baby Isles host Charlotte again at 3pm on Sunday. 

Season Series Stats

Vegas leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet at UBS Arena on January 23rd to complete the season series

The Isles are 3-3-0 in Vegas and 6-4-1 all-time overall against the Golden Knights, who will visit UBS on January 23rd to conclude the season series.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8th —VANCOUVER AT ISLANDERS  – 7:30pm ET

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

The Isles return home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

The Canucks rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits for a 4-3 overtime win at Rogers Arena back on November 15th.

The Isles are 2-3-2 in their last seven games against Vancouver, including a pair of one-goal regulation losses in games at UBS Arena.

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