The Skinny: Isles 6, Colorado 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 3

Isles 6, Colorado 2

Brock Nelson scored two goals in a 2:49 span to break open a 2-1 game and Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves in his season debut as the Isles defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,017 at Ball Arena. 

The Isles scored six of the last seven goals for their biggest offensive output in Colorado since 1978.

The Isles are 1-1-1 on the season and head to St. Louis on Thursday to conclude this three-game road trip. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Calum Ritchie (1) Josh Manson (2) 01:01 NYI 0,COL 1

Anders Lee (1) Simon Holmstrom (2), Scott Mayfield (1) 05:33 NYI 1,COL 1

Kyle Palmieri (1) 18:13 NYI 2,COL 1

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (1) Maxim Tsyplakov (1), Adam Pelech (1) 08:25 NYI 3,COL 1

Brock Nelson (2) 11:14 NYI 4,COL 1 SHG

3rd Period

Casey Mittelstadt (3) Nathan MacKinnon (4), Cale Makar (5) 00:39 NYI 4,COL 2

Anthony Duclair (2) Alexander Romanov (1), Bo Horvat (1) 06:48 NYI 5,COL 2

Mathew Barzal (1)EN Ryan Pulock (1) 18:48 NYI 6,COL 2

The Skinny    

The Isles earned the win in Patrick Roy's return to Denver, where he both played and coached…Calum Ritchie became the 9th teenage to record his first NHL goal in Avs team history, while Maxim Tsyplakov had his first NHL assist…It was Brock Nelson's 37th multi-goal game (one behind Anders Lee among current Isles)…Nelson recorded a shorthanded goal for the third time in his career…While Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both earned an assist on Casey Mittelstadt's third period goal, they both went -3…Mathew Barzal recorded his first goal against the Avs; other than Utah, he has now scored a goal against every opponent…Kyle MacLean won 12 of 15 draws and has won 25 of 35 (71.4%) to start the season…Through three games the Isles have scored more goals shorthanded (2) than while on the power play (1)…Anders Lee has nine goals in 19 career games against Colorado…Brock Nelson has eight goals in sixteen career games against Alexandar Georgiev.

Milestone Men

• Matthew Barzal's empty-netter was his 444th career point, passing Billy Harris for 16th place on the club's all-time list. 

• Ilya Sorokin played his 193rd game, tying Thomas Greiss for 5th place among Isles goalies

• Adam Pelech recorded his 141st point, tying Dave Lewis for 14th place among Isles defensemen

• Scott Mayfield recorded his 117th point, tying Thomas Hickey for 20th place among Isles defensemen

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

• The Isles had never scored five goals, let alone six goals against the Avalanche in Denver. It is the most goals that the Isles have scored in a road game versus the franchise since a 7-2 win in Quebec on December 15, 1990. The Isles had not scored five goals in Colorado since March 17, 1982 (against the Rockies) and had not scored at least six goals in Denver since a 7-1 win on November 21, 1978.

• The Avs are 0-3-0 for the first time since 2008-09.

Brock-Tober

Brock Nelson now has 38 October goals, tying Pat LaFontaine for 5th place in club history (Mike Bossy 80, Bryan Trottier 56, Brent Sutter 46, John Tavares 45).

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 1 overtime game. They are 0-1 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 0-0 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 0-0 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 1 empty-net goal and allowed 1.

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 0 times this season.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 2 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 2 times

• Allowed the next goal: 0 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 0 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  1-1-1 for 3 points in 3 games

• 2023-24  2-0-1 for 5 points in 3 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-4-4

• Season: 0-6-6

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The 137 assists were the most since 2006-07, when they also had 137.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 286 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

47. Ed Giacomin 290

48. Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

      Semyon Varlamov 286

Home and Road

The Isles are 1-1-1 overall; they are 0-0-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

Colorado is 0-3-0 overall; they are 0-2-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road

East and West

The Isles are 0-0-0 against the East (0-0-0 vs. Metropolitan and 0-0-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-1 against the West (1-1-1 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 123 games at UBS Arena and recorded 90 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 1,445

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,445) and Patrick Roy (151) have combined for 1,596 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 0-0-1 when scoring first and are 1-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles 17-11-10=38

Colorado 12-5-17=34

The Isles are 1-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-1 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 1-0-0 this season and 1-2-2 vs. Colorado.

Alexandar Georgiev made 32 saves; he is 0-3-0 this season and 11-5-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

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

The Isles are 1-0-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 1-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-1-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be: on October 25th in New Jersey and October 26th vs. Florida.

Fewest Wins on Back-end

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

1 2023-24 (1-6-3)

2 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (23:08); Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon (23:00)

Brock Nelson led Islander forwards with 18:22 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Noah Dobson (0-0-1), Alex Romanov (0-1-0), Ryan Pulock (1-0-0)

Face-offs

Isles 42, Colorado 32 (57%)

Kyle MacLean won 12 of 15 for the Isles; No Av who took multiple draws won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 13 (Alexandar Romanov-5)

Colorado 21 (Ross Colton-4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Alex Romanov- 6)

Colorado 14 (Oliver Kylington-4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Colorado 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 51, Colorado 58

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mike Reilly +4

Colorado:  Nathan MacKinnon +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Colorado 17

5-on-5: Isles 12, Colorado 14

Scratches

Dennis Cholowski, Julien Gauthier

Games Lost to injury: 0.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 169 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (119) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (99) also played every game since the start of last 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

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 20 of the 39 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with ten games remaining. The first national game will stream on December 5th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host Seattle. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games this season, with 11 games remaining. The first matinee will be on November 3rd at MSG. 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 13-13-10 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (0):

Opponent responses (2): UTA 10/10 (2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (1): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, go-ahead goal but lost in OT)

Vs (1): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; Colorado won in OT)

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18)

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0): 

 

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 843 *** 7. Matt Martin 823 *** 8. Casey Cizikas 818 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 762 …

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech 503  *** 36. Ed Westfall 493 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 489 *** 38. Radek Martinek 479 *** 39. Gerry Hart 476 *** 40. Mariusz Czerkawski and Scott Mayfield 472

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 277 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 261 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 ***21. Mathew Barzal 129…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 107

Assists

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

9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 315…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 257…

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

31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Noah Dobson 153 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Ryan Pulock 144 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit 139 *** 38. Casey Cizikas and Greg Gilbert 138

Points

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

10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 534 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 454 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 444…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 245

+/-

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 +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  

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 and Noah Dobson 40

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 153 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 144…

12. Dave Lewis 117 *** 13. Adam Pelech 115… 

20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 92

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 193 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 192…

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

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

Goalie Games

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

5. Thomas Greiss and Ilya Sorokin 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 165

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 96 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 73

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 0-2-0 following a 3-0 loss to Charlotte on Sunday; former Islander Ken Appleby had the shutout. The Baby Isles host Hershey on Wednesday. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0); the teams will meet on January 28th at UBS Arena to complete the season series.

The win is the Isles' first in four games vs. the Avs (1-1-2) and their first in five games in Denver (1-2-2).

 

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17th—ISLANDERS AT ST. LOUIS 8:00pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The road trip concludes on Thursday in St. Louis as the Isles face the Blues . The teams have split the season series in each of the last four seasons that they have played.

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

The Skinny: Dallas 3, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Dallas 3, Isles 0   

Tyler Seguin scored two goals, the latter into an empty net, and Jake Oettinger stopped 34 shots for his 11th career shutout as the Dallas Stars blanked the Isles 3-0 before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center. 

Jamie Benn, playing his 299th consecutive game, had the other goal for the Stars.

The Isles are 0-1-1 on the season and head to Colorado on Monday in the middle game of this three-game road trip. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Tyler Seguin (1) Mason Marchment (1), Matt Duchene (2) 07:59 NYI 0,DAL 1

2nd Period

Jamie Benn (1) Wyatt Johnston (2) 10:58 NYI 0,DAL 2

3rd Period

Tyler Seguin (2)EN Mason Marchment (2), Sam Steel (1) 18:57 NYI 0,DAL 3

The Skinny     

Tyler Seguin now has scored 12 times on Semyon Varlamov; only Craig Smith (14) has more career goals against Varlamov…Seguin now has fifty multi-goal games as a Star, which ranks fourth in franchise history…The two Stars goal scorers have combined for 737 career goals.

The Injury

Matt Dumba collided with Casey Cizikas in the first period and did not return for the second period.

Correction (from Thursday)

Maxim Tsyplakov played 20:46 Thursday, most by an Islander in his first NHL game since John Tavares in 2009. The last five forwards to play at least 20 minutes in their debut were: Connor Bedard, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, Tavares, and Anze Kopitar.

Tsyplakov played 17:33 in tonight's game.

First Time in a Long Time

The last time that the Isles were shutout in Dallas was November 10, 2017, when Ben Bishop needed to make only 14 saves. The 34 shots the Isles had tonight were their most in a shutout loss ever to the Stars franchise.

The Road Openers

The Isles are 0-4-0 in their last four road openers, since blanking the Rangers on January 14, 2021, at Madison Square Garden. It is the first time since October 6, 2017, in Columbus (Sergei Bobrovsky) that the Isles were blanked in their first road game.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 1 overtime game. They are 0-1 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 0-0 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 0-0 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 0 empty-net goals and allowed 1.

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 0 times this season.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 0 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 0 times

• Allowed the next goal: 0 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 0 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  0-1-1 for 1 point in 2 games

• 2023-24  2-0-0 for 4 points in 2 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 0-2-2

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The 137 assists were the most since 2006-07, when they also had 137.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 286 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

47. Ed Giacomin 290

48. Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

      Semyon Varlamov 286

Home and Road

The Isles are 0-1-1 overall; they are 0-0-1 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.

Dallas is 2-0-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 1-0-0 on the road

East and West

The Isles are 0-0-0 against the East (0-0-0 vs. Metropolitan and 0-0-0 vs. Atlantic) and 0-1-1 against the West (0-1-1 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 123 games at UBS Arena and recorded 90 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 1,444

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,444) and Patrick Roy (150) have combined for 1,594 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 0-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles 12-7-15=34

Dallas 6-13-8=27

The Isles are 0-1-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-1 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves; he is 0-1-1 this season and 17-10-2 vs. Dallas.

Jake Oettinger made 34 saves; he is 2-0-0 this season and 4-1-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

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

The Isles are 0-0-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 0-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-1-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be: on October 25th in New Jersey and October 26th vs. Florida.

Fewest Wins on Back-end

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

1 2023-24 (1-6-3)

2 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Alex Romano (23:57); Dallas: Miro Heiskanen (25:28)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 19:29 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Noah Dobson (0-0-1), Alex Romanov (0-1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 29, Dallas 28 (51%)

Kyle MacLean won 8 of 11 for the Isles; Colin Blackwell won 6 of 6 for Dallas.

Hit Count

Isles 17 (Anders Lee and Kyle MacLean -3)

Dallas 18 (Two with 4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Noah Dobson and Alex Romanov- 4)

Dallas 13 (Ilya Lyubushkin-3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 67, Dallas 47

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 61, Dallas 39

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock +17

Dallas:  Oskar Back +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Dallas 8

5-on-5: Isles 11, Dallas 6

Scratches

Dennis Cholowski, Julien Gauthier

Games Lost to injury: 0.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 168 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (118) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (98) also played every game since the start of last 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

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 20 of the 39 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with ten games remaining. The first national game will stream on December 5th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host Seattle. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games this season, with 11 games remaining. The first matinee will be on November 3rd at MSG. 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 13-13-10 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (0):

Opponent responses (2): UTA 10/10 (2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (1): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, go-ahead goal but lost in OT)

Vs (1): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; Dallas won in OT)

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18)

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0): 

 

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 842 *** 7. Matt Martin 823 *** 8. Casey Cizikas 817 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 761 …

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech 502  *** 36. Ed Westfall 493 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 488 *** 38. Radek Martinek 479 *** 39. Gerry Hart 476 *** 40. Mariusz Czerkawski 472 *** 41. Scott Mayfield 471

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 275 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 260 …

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

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 107

Assists

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

9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 315…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 257…

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

31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Noah Dobson 153 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Ryan Pulock 143 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit 139 *** 38. Casey Cizikas and Greg Gilbert 138

Points

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

10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 532 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 453 *** 16. Billy Harris and Mathew Barzal 443…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 245

+/-

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 +74 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  

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 and Noah Dobson 40

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 153 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 143…

12. Dave Lewis 117 *** 13. Adam Pelech 114… 

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. Noah Dobson 193 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 191…

13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 140 *** 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 192 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 165

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 95 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 73

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport opened their season with a 3-2 loss to Providence on Saturday; Pierre Engvall and Brian Pinho scored for the Baby Isles, who host Charlotte at 3pm on Sunday. 

Season Series Stats

Dallas leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0); the teams will meet on February 23rd at UBS Arena in the first game after the Four Nations Cup break.

The Isles are 5-4-1 in their last ten games against Dallas.

 

UP NEXT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14th—ISLANDERS AT COLORADO 9:00pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 8:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The road trip continues on Monday in Denver as the Isles face the Avalanche. The Isles have lost three straight games to Colorado (including one in OT and one in a SO) and are 0-2-2 in their last four trips to Denver. 

It will be Patrick Roy's first trip to Denver as an Islander coach. Roy defeated the Isles nine times while in goal for the Avs, including six times in Colorado.

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

The Skinny: Utah 5, Isles 4 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Utah 5, Isles 4 (OT)   

Dylan Guenther became the first player in 107 years to record consecutive multi-goal games in the first two games of a franchise history as he scored 2:18 into overtime to give Utah a 5-4 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

The overtime loss spoiled the NHL debut of Maxim Tsyplakov, who scored with 2:07 to play to give the Isles the lead, only to have Josh Doan tie the score thirteen seconds later. Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist in his Islander debut.

The Isles are 0-0-1 on the season and head to Dallas on Saturday to begin a three-game road trip. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anthony Duclair (1) Noah Dobson (1), Mathew Barzal (1) 11:10 UTA 0,NYI 1 PPG

Lawson Crouse (2) Matias Maccelli (1), Logan Cooley (3) 19:01 UTA 1,NYI 1 PPG

2nd Period

Barrett Hayton (2) Mikhail Sergachev (2), Clayton Keller (1) 13:07 UTA 2,NYI 1

3rd Period

Bo Horvat (1) Anthony Duclair (1), Noah Dobson (2) 01:03 UTA 2,NYI 2

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Simon Holmstrom (1) 06:52 UTA 2,NYI 3 SHG

Dylan Guenther (3) Clayton Keller (2), Mikhail Sergachev (3) 07:37 UTA 3,NYI 3 PPG

Maxim Tsyplakov (1) Brock Nelson (1), Kyle Palmieri (1) 17:53 UTA 3,NYI 4

Josh Doan (1) Alex Kerfoot (1), Lawson Crouse (1) 18:06 UTA 4,NYI 4

OT

Dylan Guenther (4) Sean Durzi (2), Logan Cooley (4) 02:18 UTA 5,NYI 4

The Skinny     

The Isles had the lead three separate times but allowed tying goals 7:51, 0:45 and 0:13 later…The Isles 14-26-12 (.385) Opening Night record is the second-worst among current teams who have played more than three openers (Seattle is 0-3-1). Anaheim has the worst record on opening night of any other team: 10-19-0 (.345), pending their game tomorrow. This was Patrick Roy's first Opening Night as the Isles' head coach; he went 1-2-0 in three Openers with Colorado…Maxim Tsyplakov is the 22nd Islander to score in his first NHL game; Duane Sutter and AHL President Scott Howson are the only ones to score twice…Jean-Gabriel Pageau has scored at least one shorthanded goal in every full season as an Islander and in six straight seasons overall; among active players only Brad Marchand (36) has more career shorthanded goals than Pageau (21)…Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist in his Islander debut…Brock Nelson has 13 points in season-openers, one shy of Bryan Trottier's club record (14).

Record-Setter   First Since JT

Maxim Tsyplakov played 20:46, most by an Islander in his first NHL game since John Tavares in 2009; only seven rookie forward leaguewide have played more in their debut contest in the Real Time Era.

First Time in a Long Time

Utah's ten goals through two games are the most by an expansion team since the 1967-68 Oakland Seals scored eleven.

The Openers

The Isles are 2-4-1 in their last seven home openers, including 1-2-1 at UBS Arena. 

Milestone Men     

Mathew Barzal recorded his 443 points, tying Billy Harris for 16th place in club history.

Coach Roy

Since Patrick Roy took over the Islanders on January 20, 2024, the Isles are 20-12-6 and have allowed only two goals or fewer in 15 of their 20 wins. Ilya Sorokin is 11-8-3 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 9-4-3.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 1 overtime game. They are 0-1 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 0-0 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 0-0 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 0 empty-net goals and allowed 0.

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play 0 times this season.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 0 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 0 times

• Allowed the next goal: 0 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 0 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  0-0-1 for 1 point in 1 game

• 2023-24  1-0-0 for 2 points in 1 game

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 0-2-2

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The 137 assists are the most since 2006-07, when they also had 137.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 286 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

47. Ed Giacomin 290

48. Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

      Semyon Varlamov 286

Home and Road

The Isles are 0-0-1 overall; they are 0-0-1 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.

Utah is 2-0-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 1-0-0 on the road

East and West

The Isles are 0-0-0 against the East (0-0-0 vs. Metropolitan and 0-0-0 vs. Atlantic) and 0-0-1 against the West (0-0-1 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 123 games at UBS Arena and recorded 90 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 1,444

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,444) and Patrick Roy (150) have combined for 1,594 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 0-0-1 when scoring first and are 0-0-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles 10-6-9-0=25

Utah 6-9-8-3=26

The Isles are 0-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-1 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves; he is 0-0-1 on the season and 0-0-1 vs. Utah.

Connor Ingram made 21 saves; he is 2-0-0 on the season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-6 on the power play (10:56); Utah was 2-2 on the power play (1:40), allowing a shorthanded goal to J-G Pageau.

The Isles are 0-0-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 0-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-0-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-1 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-1 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be: on October 25th in New Jersey and October 26th vs. Florida.

Fewest Wins on Back-end

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

1 2023-24 (1-6-3)

2 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (24:39); Utah: Sean Durzi (25:14)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 22:48 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Noah Dobson (0-0-1).

Face-offs

Isles 32, Utah 37 (46%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 13 for the Isles; Kevin Stenlund won 14 of 20 for Utah.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Maxim Tsyplakov-6)

Utah 13 (Five with 2)

Fights 

None. Season total: 0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Two with 4)

Utah 19 (Sean Durzi -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Utah 58

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, Utah 53

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Scott Mayfield +7

Utah:  Three with +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Utah 14

5-on-5: Isles 4, Utah 13

Scratches

Dennis Cholowski, Julien Gauthier

Games Lost to injury: 0.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 167 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (117) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (97) also played every game since the start of last 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

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 20 of the 39 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with ten games remaining. The first national game will be streamed December 5th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host Seattle. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games this season, with 11 games remaining. The first matinee will be on November 3rd at MSG. 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 13-13-10 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failures (No Goalie Interference -Utah 10/11)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (0):

Opponent responses (2): Utah 10/11 (2)

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (0):

Vs (0): 

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (1): Maxim  Tsyplakov 10/12 vs. Utah (17:53, go-ahead goal but lost in OT)

Vs (1): Josh Doan 10/12 vs. Utah (18:06- GTG; Utah won in OT)

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Dylan Guenther 10/12 vs. Utah (2:18)

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0): 

 

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 841 *** 7. Matt Martin 823 *** 8. Casey Cizikas 816 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 760 …

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech 501  *** 36. Ed Westfall 493 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 487 *** 38. Radek Martinek 479 *** 39. Gerry Hart 476 *** 40. Mariusz Czerkawski 472 *** 41. Scott Mayfield 470 

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 275 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 260 …

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

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 107

Assists

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

9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 315…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 257…

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

31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Noah Dobson 153 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Ryan Pulock 143 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit 139 *** 38. Casey Cizikas and Greg Gilbert 138

Points

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

10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 532 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 453 *** 16. Billy Harris and Mathew Barzal 443…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 245

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Adam Pelech +75  ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  

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 and Noah Dobson 40

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 153 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 143…

12. Dave Lewis 117 *** 13. Adam Pelech 114… 

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. Noah Dobson 193 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 191…

13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 140 *** 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 192 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 164

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 95 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 73

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport opens their season with home games on Saturday at 7:00 against Providence and Sunday at 3:00 against Charlotte.

Season Series Stats

Utah leads the season series, 1 game to 0; the teams will meet on January 11th in Salt Lake City. 

 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12th—ISLANDERS AT DALLAS 8:00pm,

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 7:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles begin a three-game road trip on Saturday in Dallas. The Isles swept the Stars last season, winning both games by 3-2 scores in overtime. Bo Horvat had both overtime goals, and Ilya Sorokin earned both wins. The games were the first and thirteenth games the Isles played under Patrick Roy. 

The Isles are 5-3-1 in their last nine games against Dallas.

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

The Skinny on the Season Opener

"The Skinny" on the Opener

By Eric Hornick

It has been nearly 5 ½ months since the Carolina Hurricanes ended the Islanders' season in a five-game playoff series. It all starts up again on Thursday as the Isles begin their fourth season at UBS Arena.

UP FIRST

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10th— UTAH AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

[MSGSN (expanded pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Islanders begin their 52nd season by hosting Utah HC for the first time. While Utah acquired all of the players that were on Arizona's reserve list, the NHL considered them an expansion franchise. 

Opening Night Skinny Notes

The Isles are 3-5-0 on Opening Night over the last eight years and they are only 6-12-3 in their last 21 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 14-26-11 on Opening Night (11-20-8 on the road and 3-6-3 at home). Only four teams (all Original Six teams) have opened their season on the road more often than the Isles.

The NHL considers Utah HC to be an expansion franchise so this will be the second time that the Isles will open their season against an expansion team. The Atlanta Flames defeated the Isles, 3-2, on October 7, 1972, in the first-ever game for both teams. Utah will be playing the second game in their history, having opened the season at home on Tuesday.

The Isles defeated Buffalo 3-2 in last year's season-opener; it was the first home-ice win on Opening Night since January 21, 1995. Overall, the Isles are 2-4-0 in their last six home openers, including 1-2-0 at UBS Arena. In their history, the Isles have gone 29-16-6 in their first home game of season. 

The Isles 14-26-11 (.382) Opening Night record is the second-worst among current teams who have played more than three openers (Seattle is 0-2-1). Anaheim has the worst record on opening night of any other team: 10-19-0 (.345). This will be Patrick Roy's first Opening Night as the Isles' head coach; he went 1-2-0 in three Openers with Colorado. Lou Lamoriello (20-11-5 in 36 games) has more wins on Opening Night as a General Manager than any other GM has games (Doug Armstrong -19).

The Isles have been involved in five shutouts on Opening Night. Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976, and Semyon Varlamov had a clean sheet against the Rangers in January 2021, while the Kings (Stephane Fiset in 1996), Panthers (Jose Theodore in 2011), and Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky in 2017) turned the trick on the Isles.

The Islander club record for the fastest goal on Opening Night is 1:01, set by Dave Scatchard on October 10, 2002, in Buffalo. The NHL record for the fastest Opening Night goal is 0:10, set by Kent Nilsson of Minnesota (10/11/86 @ Quebec).

No Islander has ever had an opening night hat trick; twelve Isles have scored twice in an Opener, with Brock Nelson (2014) and Anders Lee (January 2021) being the two players on the current roster to have done so.

Schedule Skinny:

Schedule Format

For the fourth straight season, the Isles will play only 26 games against the Metro this season. The Isles will host New Jersey only once (November 9th) and visit Washington only once (November 29th) while facing the other division foes four teams. The Isles will play each of the eight teams in the Atlantic Division three times and will play a home and home series with each Western Conference foe. Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, and Montreal are the four Atlantic Division teams that will visit UBS Arena twice: the Isles will play twice in Boston, Ottawa, Toronto, and Tampa Bay.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play twelve sets of back-to-backs including five sets on the road and six home/road splits. The Isles will host Philadelphia and Carolina on January 24-25 in their only home set of back-to-backs. 

Every Day's a Home Game

The Isles will play eleven home games on both Saturday and Tuesday, and seven times on Thursday. They will play four times on Monday, three times on Sunday and Friday, and twice on Wednesday. 

Schedule by Month

October (10), November (15), December (13), January (12), February (8), March (15), April (9). The Isles will complete the regular season in Columbus on Thursday, April 17th.

The Isles will reach the midway point of their schedule on January 9th, when they visit Vegas. 

Schedule Streaks

The Isles will open the season by playing 13 of their first 20 games on the road, capped by a five-game trip November 12th November 21st. That will be the only time all season that the Isles play more than three consecutive road games.

After splitting their next 22 games (11 at home and 11 on the road) the Isles will have a seven-game homestand January 14th-28th; the first five of those games are against teams that missed the playoffs last season. Ten of the following 15 games are on the road, before the Isles finish the season by playing 11 of the final 18 at home. 

Overall, 23 of the first 41 are on the road while 23 of the final 41 are at home. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles will play eleven afternoon games this season, including three at UBS Arena (March 1st vs. Nashville at 12:30, March 22nd vs. Calgary at 4:00, and April 6th vs Washington at 12:30). The  Isles will play one 5:00 home game (December 7th vs. Carolina), two 7:00 home games, one 7:45 home game and one 8:00 home game, with the other 33 home games all scheduled for 7:30pm.

Four Nations Cup Break

The Four Nations Cup tournament replaces the All-Star Break this season. As a result, the Isles will play in Minnesota on February 8th and not play again until February 23rd, when they host Dallas. 

The 2024-25 Islanders:

Coach Roy

Patrick Roy begins his first full season as the Islander head coach after leading the team to a playoff berth in 2023-24.

Active Roster

The Isles have 22 players on their active roster, as submitted to the NHL on Monday:

 

FORWARDS (13)

Mathew Barzal

Casey Cizikas

Anthony Duclair

Julien Gauthier

Simon Holmstrom

Bo Horvat

Anders Lee

Kyle MacLean

Brock Nelson

Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Kyle Palmieri

Max Tsyplakov

Oliver Wahlstrom

DEFENSEMEN (7)

Dennis Cholowski

Noah Dobson

Scott Mayfield

Adam Pelech

Ryan Pulock

Mike Reilly

Alexander Romanov

GOALTENDERS (2)

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

There are five (or six) changes from last season's season opening roster.

Anthony Duclair, Kyle MacLean, Max Tsyplakov, Dennis Cholowski and Mike Reilly are newcomers on the Isles roster from last October, replacing Cal Clutterbuck, Pierre Engvall, Ross Johnston, Matt Martin, Samuel Bolduc, and Sebastian Aho. Note that Anaheim claimed Johnston before the Isles played a game last season after being on the original 23-man roster;  Simon Holmstrom replaced him on the roster.

The twenty-two active players represent four nationalities: American (Lee, MacLean, Mayfield, Nelson, Palmieri, Reilly and Wahlstrom), Canadian (ten players), Swedish (Holmstrom), and Russian (Romanov, Sorokin, Tsyplakov, and Varlamov).

Old and Young

Semyon Varlamov (April 27, 1988) is the only player born in the 1980s, with Anders Lee (July 3, 1990) being the oldest skater. Simon Holmstrom (5-24-2001) remains the youngest Islander and the only one born in 2001; Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson (who are born one day apart) and Oliver Wahlstrom   are the only other Isles born in the 2000s.

Of the twenty-two active players, Bo Horvat is the 11th oldest (and 12th youngest) while Ilya Sorokin is the 12th oldest (and 11th youngest) .  Horvat, turns 30 late in the regular season while Sorokin will turn 30 next summer. The average Islander is 29.26 years old, making the Isles the 5th-oldest team in the NHL, behind Edmonton, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Toronto.

Big and Small

Scott Mayfield is the tallest (6' 5") while Anders Lee is the heaviest (231 pounds). Casey Cizikas, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri are the only Isles under six feet tall (all at 5' 11") while Mathew Barzal (190 pounds) is the lightest. The average Isle is 6'1" and 206 pounds.

Brock-tober

Brock Nelson has been a fast starter during his NHL career, including on Opening Night. Nelson has six Opening Night goals, which is second in club history, behind Mike Bossy (7).

Isles Opening Night Leaders:

Goals:   Bossy 7,  Nelson 6, Trottier/Harris 5

Assists: Trottier 9, Gillies 7, Nelson 6

Points: Trottier 14, Nelson 12, Bossy 11

Penalty Minutes: Rich Pilon 39, Ray Schultz 23 (in 1 game!), Duane Sutter 21

Nelson also shares the club record for Opening Night power play goals (2) with five others.

Captain, My Captain

Anders Lee will serve as the Isles' captain for the seventh straight season. He joins Denis Potvin as the only player to start seven consecutive seasons as Captain.  Sidney Crosby (18), Alexander Ovechkin (16), Gabriel Landeskog (13), Jamie Benn (12), Anze Kopitar and Connor Mc David (9), and Roman Josi (8) are the only longer tenured captains.

Mighty Max

Max Tsyplakov will be the only rookie on the Islanders' roster and one of only eighteen players leaguewide with no NHL experience on season-opening rosters. Tsyplakov is already 26; he qualified for rookie status by four days and is actually older than the average player on both Buffalo and Montreal. Tsyplakov scored 31 foals and added 16 assists in 65 games for Moscow Spartak last season.

A Look Back

The Isles finished the 2022-23 regular season with a 39-27-16 record, earning the top wild card seeding in the Eastern Conference for the second straight season.

The Isles went 21-10-10 on UBS ice and 18-17-6 on the road.

Tale of Three Seasons

Isles were 14-7-7 in their first 28 games, 9-13-7 in their next 29 games, and 16-7-2 in their final 25 games.

Woah Noah

Noah Dobson (10-60-70) is the first Islander defenseman with at least 70 points since 1983-84 when Denis Potvin had 85, and the first with at least 60 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63.

Most Assists (Islanders, last 35 years)

1. Pierre Turgeon 74 in 1992-93

2. Mathew Barzal 63 in 2017-18

3. Noah Dobson 60 in 2023-24

4. Mathew Barzal 57 in 2023-24

Most Points (Islanders in the 2000s)

1. John Tavares   86 (2014-15)

2. Mathew Barzal 85 (2017-18)

3. John Tavares   84 (2017-18)

4. John Tavares   81 (2011-12)

5. Mathew Barzal 80 (2023-24) 

Bo Knows Points

Bo Horvat went 33-35-68 last season. His 33 goals are the second-highest total of his career and trail only 2022-23 (38), while his 68 points are his 2nd- highest total behind last season's 70. Horvat set a career-high with 35 assists.

Career Year?

Kyle Palmieri scored 30 goals last season, matching his career high of 30 that was set in 2015-16. His 54 points are the 2nd-highest of his career (2016-17). Palmieri scored 15 goals in the final 23 games, matching the best single season 23-game span of his career.

Coach Roy

The Isles were 20-12-5 under Patrick Roy and allowed only two goals or fewer in 15 of their 20 wins. Ilya Sorokin was 11-8-3 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov was 9-4-2.

Scoring Leaders Under Patrick Roy

1. Mathew Barzal 11-23-34

2. Brock Nelson 14-19-33

3. Kyle Palmieri 19-10-29 (6 GWG)

4. Bo Horvat 15-11-26 (4 GWG)

5. Noah Dobson 4-21-25

Since the Break

The Isles went 19-10-4 after the all-star break. While they were outshot 34.9-30.0 per game (-4.9) prior to the break, the Isles out-shot their opponents 30.8-30.0 (+0.8) after the break.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles played 26 overtime games, tied with Boston and Montreal for the NHL lead. They were 9-11 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-5 in shootouts  The 16 combined OT/SO losses were a franchise record. 

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 

• 16 (2023-24)

• 13 (2010-11)

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

1. Ilya Sorokin 12 (2023-24)

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 30 (CURRENT)

• Rick DiPietro 28 

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down

Last season, the Isles scored 47 power play goals (most since they scored 58 in 2017-18) and allowed 63 power play goals (most since they also allowed 63 in 2017-18). 

The 25-Goal Club

Last season, Brock Nelson became 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

Offense from Defense

The Islander defense contributed 33 goals and 137 assists for 170 points last season. The 137 assists are the most since 2006-07, when they also had 137.

Facing 40

Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots twelve times this season and 29 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie

1. Ilya Sorokin 12 2023-24

2. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18

3. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73

No other NHL goalie faced 40+ shots more than eight times last season.

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

1. John Gibson 34

2. Ilya Sorokin 28

3. Darcy Kuemper 24

4. Sam Montembault 22

    Karel Vejmelka 22

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)

1. Billy Smith 46   (674 games)

2. Ilya Sorokin 29 (192 games)

3. Kelly Hrudey 27(241 games)

Sorokin made at least 40 saves eight times last season and 18 times in his career. Both are franchise records.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 286 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

47. Ed Giacomin 290

48. Semyon Varlamov 286

      Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

East and West

Last season, the Isles went 25-15-10 against the East (13-7-6 vs. Metropolitan and 12-8-4 vs. Atlantic) and 14-12-6 against the West (8-6-2 vs. Central and 6-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 122 games at UBS Arena and recorded 89 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 1,444

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,444) and Patrick Roy (150) have combined for 1,594 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 were 27-5-10 when scoring first and were 12-22-6 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 14-2-1 when they score first and are 6-10-4 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles were 35-5-11 when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners) last season and are 4-22-5 when they did not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles were 21-3-16 in games decided by a single goal including 11-3 in regulation. They were 9-11 in games decided in overtime and are 1-5 in shootouts. The Isles were 5-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Most One-Goal Wins

• 26 2014-15 

• 23 2007-08 

• 21 2023-24 

• 21 2015-16 

• 21 2005-06 

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles went 5-1-4 in the front end and 1-6-3 in the back end last season. 

Fewest Wins on Back-end

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

1 2023-24 (1-6-3)

2 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

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

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 166 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (116), the since departed Cal Clutterbuck (97) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (96) also played every game last season.

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 840 *** 7. Matt Martin 823 *** 8. Casey Cizikas 815 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 759 …

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech 500  *** 36. Ed Westfall 493 *** 37. Ryan Pulock 486 *** 38. Radek Martinek 479 *** 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. Brock Nelson 275 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 260 …

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

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 107

Assists

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

9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Mathew Barzal 314…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 256…

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

31. David Volek 154 *** 32. Noah Dobson 151 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Travis Green 145 *** 35. Ryan Pulock 143 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit 139 *** 38. Casey Cizikas and Greg Gilbert 138

Points

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

10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 531 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 453 *** 16. Billy Harris 443 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 442…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 245

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Adam Pelech +75  ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  

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 and Noah Dobson 40

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 151 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 143…

12. Dave Lewis 117 *** 13. Adam Pelech 114… 

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. Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock 191…

13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Adam Pelech 140 *** 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 192 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 163

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 95 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 73

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

Same Voices, Same Places

MSG Networks will carry 72 of the Isles' 82 games this season (TNT will carry two games, ABC will air one game, ESPN will carry one game, while ESPN+/Hulu will exclusively stream six games). All MSG broadcasts will also be streamed.

Brendan Burke and Butch Goring partner for the ninth season; Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for her eleventh season and Thomas Hickey returns for his third year. It is Butch's 15th season in the Isles booth; he has broadcast more than twice as many Isles games than he played and coached, combined.

On radio, Chris King, and Greg Picker team up for the ninth straight season. All games will air on WRHU (88.7FM) and on WRCN (103.9FM), and stream on the Isles + UBS Arena App, as well as the NHL App and on Satellite Radio. 

And Finally…

We begin the 15th consecutive season of The Skinny as I begin my 44th season on Islander telecasts. The Skinny streak stands at 1,014 consecutive games, including playoffs. 

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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