The (1000th Consecutive) Skinny: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 73

Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1

Darren Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli scored 35 seconds apart in the first period to erase a 1-0 Islander lead and the Lightning went on to defeat the Isles 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 19,092 at Amalie Arena. 

Kyle Palmieri scored on the Isles' first shot of the game; Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves but lost for the first time in regulation over his last five starts (3-1-1). The Isles are 12-12-4 under Patrick Roy and 31-27-15 overall as they now trail both the Capitals (for 3rd place in the Metro) and Flyers(for the 2nd Wild Card) by five points.

The Isles make their only trip to Philadelphia this season on Monday as they begin their final back-to-back of the season.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (24) Ryan Pulock (11), Mike Reilly (14) 02:25 NYI 1,TBL 0

Darren Raddysh (6) Nikita Kucherov (83), Anthony Cirelli (22) 14:25 NYI 1,TBL 1 PPG

Anthony Cirelli (17) Nick Perbix (22), Brandon Hagel (42) 15:00 NYI 1,TBL 2

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Steven Stamkos (30) Emil Lilleberg (5), Brandon Hagel (43) 00:21 NYI 1,TBL 3

Anthony Cirelli (18)EN Nikita Kucherov (84), Victor Hedman (59) 17:14 NYI 1,TBL 4 

The Skinny     

The Isles are 11-10-3 since the All-Star Break … Since Christmas, the Isles are 7-7-4 at home and 8-12-2 on the road… The Isles' defense has 62 points under Patrick Roy (12-50-62) and have 52 points in the last 23 games (11-41-52)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 64-45 in the first period (fewest allowed in NHL), but have been outscored 100-75 in the second period (most allowed in NHL); the 55 goal difference would be the second-highest between any two periods in club history (56 in 1984-85, 41 in 1995-96)…The Isles have been outscored 95-76 in the third period and overtime this season, but that reflects a 20-2 difference in empty-net goals…The Isles have been outscored 62-36 in the second period since the Christmas break and have allowed at least two goals in 20 of the 40 games; the goals allowed are the most in the NHL over that span …The Isles are 22-5-10 when they score the first goal …Mathew Barzal is 23-51-74; he has set a career high in goals while his assist and point totals are the highest since his rookie season (22-63-85 in 2017-18)....The Isles are 2-7-1 in the ten games since their six-game winning streak… One game after drawing six power plays for only the second time this season, the Isles did not have a power play until the final minute of the game …The Isles went 6-7-1 in March…It was the 366th consecutive home sellout for the Lightning…Steven Stamkos' third period deflection was his 545th NHL goal, passing Maurice Richard for 32nd place on the NHL list.  Richard held the NHL record for goals from November 8, 1852 (when he scored his 325th) until November 10, 1963, when he was passed by Gordie Howe…Stamkos now has nine career 30-goal seasons; among actives only Alex Ovechkin (17) and Sidney Crosby (12) have done so more often…Anthony Cirelli had his sixth career three-point game…Victor  Hedman moved ahead of Noah Dobson into 3rd place in the NHL assist race among defenders with an assist on the empty-netter…Nikita Kucherov had two assists; he is just two points shy of the club record of 128 points that he set in 2018-19…The Lightning went 9-1-1 in March….Kyle Palmieri went 9-1-10 in March; it is only the 24th time in club history an Islander has scored nine goals in March…Ryan Pulock went +10 in March; Matt Martin was second on the team with a +4 rating.…The Isles allowed 40 shots for the 15th time this season (7-8-0).

 

First Time in a Long Time 

• The Isles allowed at least 20 first period shots for the first time since March 7, 2022, vs. Colorado.

Playoff Chase

Metro Division

3rd  Washington  82 points in 73 games  (Tuesday at Buffalo)

4th  Philadelphia 82 points in 75 games  (Monday vs. Isles)

5th  Isles 77 points in 73 games  (Monday at Philadelphia)

Wild Card

1st WC Tampa Bay  89 points in 73 games  (Monday vs. Detroit)

2nd WC  Philadelphia 82 points in 75 games  (Monday vs. Isles)

3rd      Detroit         80 points in 74 games  (Monday at Tampa Bay)

4th      Isles            77 points in 73 games  (Monday at Philadelphia)

5th       New Jersey 76 points in 74 games  (Tuesday vs. Pittsburgh)

6th      Pittsburgh    75 points in 73 games  (Monday at Rangers)

7th      Buffalo         75 points in 75 games  (Tuesday vs. Washington)

Milestone Men    

• Mike Reilly recorded his 100th career assist.

• Anders Lee played his 751st game; he is one game behind Mike Bossy for 10th place.

• Brock Nelson has 270 goals, two behind John Tavares for 7th in club history.

• Brock Nelson is one goal away from his third consecutive 30-goal season, a feat last accomplished for the Islanders by Matt Moulson.

• Bo Horvat has 499 career points.

• Bo Horvat has tied his career high in assists (34)

• Matt Martin played his 814th  Islander games, tying Bob Bourne for 7th place. 

• You are reading the 1,000th consecutive edition of The Skinny.

Woah Noah

Noah Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 66 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 58 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Dobson has recorded only the fifth season in club history with at least 58 assists by a defenseman:  

1. Denis Potvin 70 (1978-79)

2. Denis Potvin 67 (1975-76)

3. Denis Potvin 64 (1977-78)

4. Denis Potvin 63 (1983-84)

5. Noah Dobson 58 (2023-24)

Dobson is tied-21st overall for assists in a season by an Islander.

Most assists (Islanders, last 35 years)

1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93

2. Mathew Barzal 63 in  2017-18

3. Noah Dobson 58 in 2023-24

Career Year?

Bo Horvat is 29-34-63 on the season. His 29 goals trail only 2022-23 (38) and 2021-22 (31) while his 63 points are his 2nd- highest total behind last season's 70. Horvat has tied his career-high of 34 assists which he set in 2018-19.

Coach Roy

The Isles are 12-12-4 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals or fewer in nine of their twelve wins. Ilya Sorokin is 9-8-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 3-4-2.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy

1. Mathew Barzal 11-17-28

2. Brock Nelson 9-15-24

3. Bo Horvat 11-10-21 (4 GWG)

4. Noah Dobson 2-19-21

5. Kyle Palmieri 13-5-18

Since the Break

The Isles are 11-10-3 since the all-star break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles have out-shot their opponents 30.4-29.0 (+1.4) since the break.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 23 overtime games, two behind Boston for the NHL lead. They are 7-11 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-4 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The Isles have won 18 of the last 46 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 

• 15 (2023-24; CURRENT)

• 13 (2010-11)

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)

1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)

2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)

3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)

Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)

• Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)

• Rick DiPietro 28 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 2 empty-net goals and allowed 20.

Most Empty-Net Goals Allowed (Isles):

1. 20  2023-24 (CURRENT)

2. 18  2021-22

3. 17  2022-23

4. 14  2011-12

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 21 times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down

The Isles have scored 42 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 58 power play goals (most since they allowed 63 in 2017-18); they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 14-85 (16.5%) and the Penalty Kill is 21-68 (69.1%). 

 

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 49 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 14 times

• Allowed the next goal: 31 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times 

Heavy Hitters

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

1. Cal Clutterbuck 4,006

2. Matt Martin 3,838

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. 

The 25-Goal Club

Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:

• Bryan Trottier 12

• Mike Bossy 10

• John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7

• Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2023-24  31-27-15 for 77 points in 73 games

• 2022-23  37-27-9 for 83 points in 73 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 29-120-149

• 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 1,688

• Juuse Saros 1,647

• Connor Hellebuyck 1,637

• Alexandar Georgiev 1,620

• Jordan Binnington 1,604

• Petr Mrazek 1,579

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 ten times this season and 27 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

    Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)

1. John Gibson 34

2. Ilya Sorokin 27

3. Darcy Kuemper 23

4. Sam Montembault 21

    Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)

1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)

2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)

    Ilya Sorokin 27 (187 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 281 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

50. Tiny Thompson 284

51. Semyon Varlamov 281

52. Brian Elliott 279

Home and Road

The Isles are 31-27-15 overall; they are 16-10-10 at home and 15-17-5 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 41-25-7 overall; they are 23-9-4 at home and 18-16-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 19-15-9 against the East (8-7-5 vs. Metropolitan and 11-8-4 vs. Atlantic) and 12-12-6 against the West (6-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 117 games at UBS Arena and recorded 84 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 1,436

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,436) and Patrick Roy (142) have combined for 1,578 career 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 22-5-10 when scoring first and are 9-22-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 9-2-1 when they score first and are 3-10-3 when they do not.

The Shots

Isles       6-15-8=29

Tampa Bay 21-8-12=41

The Isles are 12-10-6 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 18-16-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves; he is 9-8-4 on the season and 10-9-2 vs. Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves; he is 28-16-2 on the season and 13-4-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 on the power play (0:55); Tampa Bay was 1-1 on the power play (1:53).

The Isles are 16-8-9 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-19-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-18-10 when they allow at least one power play goal and 20-9-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-5-11 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-22-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 17-3-15 in games decided by a single goal including 9-3 in regulation. They are 7-11 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 4-1-4 in the front end and 0-6-3 in the back end this season. The final back-to-back set will be on April 1st in Philadelphia and April 2nd vs. Chicago. 

Fewest Wins on Back-end:

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

0 2023-24 (0-6-3, with one remaining)

1 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

2 1994-95 (2-3-3; 48-game schedule)

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:34); Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (23:00)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 19:00 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (6-2-2), Noah Dobson (22-22-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-1-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Tampa Bay 36 (43%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 7 of 9 for the Isles; Anthony Cirelli won 8 of 9 for Tampa Bay.

Hit Count

Isles 34 (Cal Clutterbuck -6)

Tampa Bay 27 (Tanner Jenannot -5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 11 (Martin 4, Lee 3, Pelech 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1, MacLean 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Six with 2)

Tampa Bay 17 (Six with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 63, Tampa Bay 73

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 63, Tampa Bay 67

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +15

Tampa Bay: Darren Raddysh +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 11

5-on-5: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 10

Scratches

(Scott Mayfield – LTIR), Sebastian Aho, Oliver Wahlstrom, Simon Holmstrom, Samuel Bolduc

Games Lost to injury: 169

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 185 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (157), Kyle Palmieri (107), and Noah Dobson (103) are the only other Islanders to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Two other Islanders: Cal Clutterbuck (88) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (87) have played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 15

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 20

Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 5-2-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on April 13 (ABC) at the Rangers.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-4-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The final matinee game is April 13th at NYR.

The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-13-9 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 4 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20) , BUF no goalie interference (3/14)

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24), FLA goalie interference (3/28); FLA no goalie interference (3/28)

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute seven times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and three time on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4, @SJ 3/7)  and allowed two in the same span nine times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32), @ TB 3/30)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.

For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)

Vs (5): 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); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:

For (5): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG); Bo Horvat 3/16 vs OTT 19:22 (Isles lost in OT).

Vs (7): 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); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners

For (7): 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, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26

Vs (11): 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; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18; Brady Tkachuk 3/16

Shootout Winners

For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18

Vs (4): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…

5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 831 *** 7. Bob Bourne and Matt Martin 814 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 806 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 751 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Cal Clutterbuck 709…

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Mathew Barzal 492 *** 36. Adam Pelech 491 *** 37. Radek Martinek 479 **** 38. Ryan Pulock 476 *** 39. Gerry Hart 476 *** 40. Mariusz Czerkawski 472 *** 41. Scott Mayfield 469 

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 270 *** 9. Anders Lee 258 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Mathew Barzal 128…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Benoit Hogue, Ed Westfall, and Casey Cizikas 105

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 308…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 252…

21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 190…

31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 33. Noah Dobson 148 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Steve Thomas 140 and Ryan Pulock 139

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 522 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 448  *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 436…

31. Nick Leddy 243 *** 32. Casey Cizikas 241

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***  17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +73  *** 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…

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 48 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 38

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742 *** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 149 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 140…

12. Dave Lewis 117 *** 13. Adam Pelech 112… 

20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 188 *** 9. Noah Dobson 187…

13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 138 *** 15. Tom Kurvers 134 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 …

5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 188 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 158

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 92 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 68

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 23-34-6-1 on the season after splitting a pair of home games with Charlotte this weekend. Matthew Maggio had the only goal in a 4-1 loss on Friday, while Dennis Cholowski scored the only goal of the game on an overtime power play on Saturday. Ken Appleby made 36 saves for his first shutout in two seasons; he also assisted on the overtime goal.

Ruslan Iskhakov continues to lead the team in goals (17), assists (28) and points (45).

Bridgeport hosts Utica on Tuesday at 10:30am in a School Day matinee.

 

Season Series Stats

Tampa Bay wins the season series 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). 

The Isles have lost five straight regular season games at Amalie Arena since a 5-1 win on December 9, 2019.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, APRIL 2nd –ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIA– 7:00pm

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

The Isles make their only trip this season to Philadelphia on Monday; the Isles have a chance to get within three points of the Flyers (and still have two games in hand). 

It has been over four months since the division rivals played at all; the teams split a pair of games over Thanksgiving weekend at UBS Arena with the Isles winning 3-2 on Wednesday and dropping a 1-0 decision in a shootout on Saturday.

That shootout loss was the Isles' fourth shutout of the season (and Ilya Sorokin's second). The Isles do not have a shutout in the 53 games that they have played since then.

It is the Isles' first game in Philadelphia since February 6, 2023 – the game Bo Horvat made his Islander debut. The Isles are 7-2-2 in their last 11 trips to Philadelphia.

AND FINALLY…

You are reading the 1,000th consecutive edition of The Skinny. Thanks to my family for their continuous support, my MSG teammates, and to all of you who read and comment on The Skinny!

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