The Skinny: Isles 4, New Jersey 3 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 7

Isles 4, New Jersey 3 (OT)

This time the Devils could not tie it. Bo Horvat scored 1:08 into overtime as the Islanders earned a 4-3 win over New Jersey before a crowd of 14,870 at Prudential Center.

Three times the Isles took one-goal leads only to have New Jersey to tie it, but Horvat's 9th overtime goal (4th for the Isles) decided matters.

The Isles are 3-2-2 on the season and host Florida on Saturday to conclude the first back-to-back set of the season.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Brock Nelson (3) Adam Pelech (4), Kyle Palmieri (2) 01:23 NYI 1,NJD 0

Nico Hischier (8) Jesper Bratt (9) Brendan Dillon (3) 11:36 NYI 1,NJD 1

Anders Lee (3) Noah Dobson (5), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) 14:03 NYI 2,NJD 1 PPG

2nd Period

Curtis Lazar (1) Paul Cotter (2), Jonas Siegenthaler (2) 05:31 NYI 2,NJD 2

Kyle Palmieri (3) Alexander Romanov (2), Brock Nelson (2) 11:28 NYI 3,NJD 2

3rd Period  

Jesper Bratt (2) 18:31 NYI 3,NJD 3

OT

Bo Horvat (3) Mathew Barzal (3) Ryan Pulock (2) 01:08 NYI 4,NJD 3 

The Skinny

The Isles have points in three straight road games (2-0-1)… Including shootout winner, the Isles have scored either 0 goals, or 4+ goals in every game this season …The Isles were shorthanded only twice, and killed both penalties; they have been shorthanded two times or fewer in every game this season (it is the longest streak to start an Islander season since PK opportunities became official in 1977-78).…The Isles were out-shot 35-30; they had been the only team in the NHL to outshoot their opponent in every game this season… Simon Holmstrom played a career-high 20:10, breaking his previous high of 18:56, that was set on Tuesday… The Isles have allowed a tying goal in the final three minutes three times this season but have gone 2-0-1 in those games…The Isles had four defense assists, giving them 14 on the season; the defense has 48.3% of the club's assists, which leads the NHL…A defenseman has earned an assist on the last nine Islander goals (ten assists total)…Brock Nelson's early goal was the first that the Isles scored with Ilya Sorokin in goal in 124:39…Bo Horvat is the 11th player in Isles history with at least four overtime goal; among current Isles only Brock Nelson (8) and Mathew Barzal (5) have more…Nico Hischier's goal tied him for the NHL lead (8) with Nikita Kucherov…The Isles ended four-game point streaks for both Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton…Oliver Wahlstrom played in his 199th NHL game.

First Time in a Long Time

Nico Hischier (7 of 27) is the first opponent to lose 20 or more faceoffs to the Isles since Sidney Crosby had identical totals on April 2, 2016, at Barclays Center.  Viktor Kozlov (won 11 of 31 on January 12, 2000, in Sunrise, FLA) was the last opponent to do so in an Islander road game.

Milestone Men

• Mathew Barzal's assist on the winning goal was his 317th, tying Stefan Persson for 10th place on the club list.  It was also his 16th overtime assist, extending his club record.

• Noah Dobson's assist was his 196th point, passing Butch Goring for 48th place in club history.

• Brock Nelson scored his 39th October goal, passing Pat LaFontaine for 5th place in club history.

What a Start

Ilya Sorokin has allowed only seven goals in his first four games (1.74 GAA, .936 save percentage). It is the first time he has allowed fewer than eleven goals over his first four games.

Three for Four

All four Islander goal scorers tallied for the third time this season, which represents the team lead (Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Kyle Palmieri, Bo Horvat).

Chasing History

The Isles are only the 2nd team since penalty killing opportunities became official in 1977-78 to not be shorthanded three times in any of their first seven games.  The longest streak (10 games) belongs to the 2019-20 Winnipeg Jets.

It is only the 4th time in that span that the Isles have had a 7-game streak at any point; the club record of 15 was set in 2022:

• 15  1/21/2022 – 2/24/2022

• 9    3/27/2023-10/14/2023  (single season streak – 8)

• 8   12/31/2019-1/14/2020

• 8    4/17/2024-CURRENT  (single season streak -7)

Brock-Tober

Brock Nelson scored his 39th October goal, passing 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 4 overtime games. They are 1-2 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-0 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-1 in overtime and 1-0 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 3 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 2 times

• Allowed the next goal: 1 time

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 0 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  3-2-2 for 8 points in 7 games

• 2023-24  4-2-1 for 9 points in 7 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-4-4

• Season: 0-14-14

• 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 287 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 287

49. Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-2-2 overall; they are 1-1-1 at home and 2-1-1 on the road.

New Jersey is 5-4-2 overall; they are 2-2-2 at home and 3-2-0 on the road

East and West

The Isles are 2-1-0 against the East (1-0-0 vs. Metropolitan and 1-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-1-2 against the West (1-1-2 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 125 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 1,447

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,447) and Patrick Roy (153) have combined for 1,600 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 2-0-1 when scoring first and are 1-2-1 when allowing the opening goal.  

The Shots

Isles            13-12-4-1=30

New Jersey 8-14-11-2=35

The Isles are 2-2-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0 when the shots are even and 1-0-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 2-1-1 this season and 7-5-1 vs. New Jersey.

Jake Allen made 26 saves; he is 2-1-1 this season and 2-5-1 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (7:58); New Jersey was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).

The Isles are 2-0-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-2-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-2-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 3-0-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-1 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 2-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 0-1 in regulation. They are 1-2 in games decided in overtime and are 1-0 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     

Including tonight, the Isles are 1-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season.  This back-to-back concludes on Saturday vs. Florida. The next back-to-back will be on October 29th vs. Columbus and October 30th in Columbus.

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 (25:08); New Jersey: Brett Pesce (23:53)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 20:27.

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

Face-offs

Isles 35, New Jersey 21 (63%)

Bo Horvat won 9 of 12 for the Isles; Curtis Lazar won 3 of 5 for New Jersey. 

Hit Count

Isles 32 (Alexander Romanov -5)

New Jersey 27 (Five with 3)

Fights 

Scott Mayfield fought Kurtis MacDermid in the second period. Season total: 1 (Mayfield)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Alexander Romanov- 3)

New Jersey 11 (Brenden Dillon -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 56, New Jersey 67

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, New Jersey 52

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Mike Reilly +6  

New Jersey:  Timo Meier +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, New Jersey 20

5-on-5: Isles 8, New Jersey 14

Scratches

Dennis Cholowski, (Anthony Duclair-INJ)

Games Lost to injury: 2.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 173 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (123) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (103) 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 16

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 21

3. Brock Nelson 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 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 (3): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners

For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)

Vs (2): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04)

Shootout Winners

For (1): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL

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 847 *** 7. Matt Martin 823 *** 8. Casey Cizikas 822 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 766 …

31. Dave Lewis 514 *** 32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech 507  *** 36. Ed Westfall and Ryan Pulock 493 *** 38. Radek Martinek 479 *** 39. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 476

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 278 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 263 …

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 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Stefan Persson and Mathew Barzal 317…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 258…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Pierre Turgeon and Anders Lee 193…

30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 31. Noah Dobson 156 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Travis Green and Ryan Pulock 145 *** 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…

9. John Tonelli 544 *** 10. Bob Bourne 542 *** 11. Brock Nelson 536 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 456 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 446…

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  *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Ryan Pulock +56 *** 24. Greg Gilbert 54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

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…

14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 15. Adam Pelech and four others 26 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 25

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 156 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 145…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 118… 

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 196 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 193…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 144 …

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 …

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 196 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 166

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 97 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 74

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 1-4-1 following an 8-2 loss in Charlotte on Friday night.  Hudson Fasching scored one of the goals for Bridgeport, who also play in Charlotte on Saturday night.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1); the teams will meet on November 9th at UBS Arena and April 13th in Newark to complete the season series.

The Isles are 18-7-1 in their last 26 games against the Devils and are 10-3-0 in their last thirteen trips to Prudential Center. 

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26th -FLORIDA AT  ISLES 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look to do something that took them until April last season- win a game on the back-half of the back-to-back – as they welcome the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers to UBS Arena. 

The road team won all three meetings last season, with Florida's win on Long Island coming in overtime.  The Isles are 3-0-1 in their last four games against the Cats, after going 0-4-1 in the five games before that.

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