The Skinny: Calgary 2, Isles 1 (SO)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 19

Calgary 2, Isles 1 (SO)

Dustin Wolf made 25 saves during the game and was perfect in the shootout, stopping Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat, as the Calgary Flames rallied from a 1-0 third period deficit for a 2-1 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 16,565 at ScotiaBank Saddledome.

Pierre Engvall had given the Isles a lead with a second period tally, but Rasmus Andersson tied the game near the midpoint of the third with a power play tally.

The Isles are 7-7-5 on the season as they head to Detroit for the final game of the five-game road trip on Thursday.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

None

2nd Period

Pierre Engvall (3) Scott Mayfield (3), Dennis Cholowski (2) 01:32 NYI 1,CGY 0

3rd Period

Rasmus Andersson (5) Nazem Kadri (5), Martin Pospisil (5) 08:17 NYI 1,CGY 1 PPG

OT

None

The Shootout

Igor Sharongovich (NG)/ Kyle Palmieri (NG) 

Andrei Kuzmenko (G/GDG) / Bo Horvat (NG)

Justin Kirkland (G)

The Isles are 2-1 in the shootout while Calgary is also 2-1; it was only the 13th shootout in the NHL this season….Dustin Wolf improves to 2-0 in shootouts while Semyon Varlamov falls to 35-24 in his career…The Isles are 6-18 in their last 24 shootouts. Andrei Kuzmenko is now 5-12 in shootouts with four game deciding goals.

The Skinny

The Isles are 1-1-2 on this road trip; they are 4-2-3 in their last nine games…The Isles have allowed only 25 goals in the first and second periods but have allowed 31 goals in the third period and overtime… Pierre Engvall has goals in three straight games matching a career high done three times previously, including in March 2023 for the Isles… The Isles are 5-0-1 when leading after 40 minutes…. The Isles have allowed a tying goal in seven games this season, going 2-2-3 in those games…It was the first time this season that the Isles took a lead into the third period, but lost the game (5-0-1)… Dennis Cholowski has assists in consecutive games after going 30 months without one… Rasmus Andersson's power play goal was his first point in eight games…Semyon Varlamov has allowed only six goals in his last four starts…For the third time this season, the Isles allowed a goal each time they were shorthanded (2 vs. UTA, 1 vs. MTL)…Alex Romanov returned to the lineup for his 299th NHL game and led the Isles in hits with eight.

Milestones on Hold 

• Noah Dobson has 199 points.

• Ryan Pulock has 198 points.

• Anders Lee remains at 199 assists.

• Ilya Sorokin did not play and remains at 99 wins.

Chasing 200  

Two Islander defensemen are approaching 200 points; Noah Dobson has 199 and Ryan Pulock has 198. Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson and Tomas Jonsson are the only defensemen to record their first 200 points as Islanders.

Anders Lee has 199 assists; he will be the 21st player in club history to reach 200 assists.

The Road Ahead

The Isles are in a stretch where they play nine of eleven games on the road.  So far, the Isles are 4-3-3 (3-3-2 on the road and 1-0-1 at home):

• 30-Oct-24 @ Columbus  L 0-2 

• 1-Nov-24  @ Buffalo       W 4-3

• 3-Nov-24  @ New York  L 2-5

• 5-Nov-24  Vs Pittsburgh W 4-3 (SO)

• 7-Nov-24  @ Ottawa      W 4-2

• 9-Nov-24  Vs New Jersey L 3-4 (OT)

• 12-Nov-24 @ Edmonton L 3-4 (OT)

• 14-Nov-24 @ Vancouver W 5-2

• 16-Nov-24 @ Seattle       L 2-3

• 19-Nov-24 @ Calgary     L 1-2 (SO)

 21-Nov-24 @ Detroit

It's About to Change

Following Thursday's game in Detroit, the Isles will close November playing four of their next five games at home. Between Saturday and December 11th, the Isles will play eight out of eleven games at home and will not play consecutive road games during that stretch.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played an NHL-leading eight overtime games. They are 1-4 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-3 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-1 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 3 empty-net goals and allowed 5.

Killing Their Own PP

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

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 12 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 5 times

• Allowed the next goal: 6 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 1 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  7-7-5 for 19 points in 19 games

• 2023-24  8-6-5 for 21 points in 19 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 4-27-31

• 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 289 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 289

49. Jose Theodore 286

      Dan Bouchard 286

Home and Road

The Isles are 7-7-5 overall; they are 2-3-2 at home and 5-4-3 on the road.

Calgary is 10-6-3 overall; they are 7-3-0 at home and 3-3-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 5-4-1 against the East (2-2-1 vs. Metropolitan and 3-2-0 vs. Atlantic) and 2-3-4 against the West (1-1-2 vs. Central and 1-2-2 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 129 games at UBS Arena and recorded 91 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 1,451

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,451) and Patrick Roy (157) have combined for 1,608 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 3-1-3 when scoring first and are 4-6-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      7-8-13-1=29

Calgary 8-7-14-2=31

The Isles are 3-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 3-3-3 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves; he is 3-3-2 this season and 7-12-2 vs. Calgary.

Dustin Wolf made 28 saves; he is 7-2-1 this season and 1-0-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 (5:07) on the power play; Calgary was 1-1 (1:45).

The Isles are 5-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-6-4 when they do not. The Isles are 4-3-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-4-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 7-1-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-6-2 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-2-5 in games decided by a single goal including 1-2 in regulation. They are 1-4 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 1-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 1-1-0 on the front end and 0-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on November 29th in Washington and November 30th vs. Buffalo.

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 (24:56); Calgary: Rasmus Andersson (27:14)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (22:17)

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Noah Dobson (5-4-3), Alex Romanov (0-1-0), Ryan Pulock (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1)

Face-offs

Isles 42, Calgary 25 (63%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 7 of 10 for the Isles; No Flame won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Alex Romanov -8)

Calgary 18 (Rasmus Andersson -4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 24 (Noah Dobson -5)

Calgary 11 (Rasmus Andersson -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 51, Calgary 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Calgary 57

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +3

Calgary: Daniil Miromanov +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Calgary 14

5-on-5: Isles 7, Calgary 12

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR),Hudson Fasching, Travis Mitchell, Grant Hutton

Games Lost to injury: 49.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 185 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (135) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (115) have 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 Calgary. 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 0-2-0 in matinee games this season, with 9 games remaining. The next matinee will be on November 29th in Washington. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-15-10 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16)

Opponents: 1 successful, 1 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0):

Vs (0): 

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

Isles responses (1): BUF 11/1

Opponent responses (3): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (2): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))

Vs (1):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT))

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

For (2): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, go-ahead goal but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (4): 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); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT)

OT Winners

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

Vs (4): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

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 859 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 834 *** 8. Matt Martin 831 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 778 …

31. Dave Lewis 514 *** 32. Adam Pelech 511 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 34. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 36. Ryan Pulock 505 *** 37. Ed Westfall 493 *** 38. Scott Mayfield 487

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 282 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 267 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 130…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 108

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 and Brock Nelson 259…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 199…

30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 31. Noah Dobson 158 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski and Ryan Pulock 150 *** 35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Steve Thomas 140 *** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

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 541 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 466 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 447…

30. David Volek 249 *** 31. Casey Cizikas 247

+/-

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. 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. Noah Dobson 41…

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

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 158 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 150…

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

20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 94

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 199 *** Ryan Pulock 198…

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

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 120

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 203 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 171

Wins

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

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Ilya Sorokin 99 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

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 4-9-1-1 after sweeping games in Hershey and Wilkes Barre-Scranton last weekend. 

Brian Pinho leads the team and is tied for 3rd in the AHL with ten goals. His 16 points are tied for 7th in the AHL. Jakub Skarek is 3-5-0 with a 2.89 GAA and a .900 save percentage.

The Baby Isles are off until Friday, when they return to Wilkes Barre-Scranton to begin a 3-in-3 weekend.

Season Series Stats

Calgary leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1); the teams will meet again on March 22nd at UBS Arena. 

The Flames have earned points in the last nine games (7-0-2) with the Isles, with the only Islander wins coming in overtime at UBS in 2022 and in a shootout in Alberta last November.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21st – ISLES AT DETROIT 7:00pm

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

The Isles conclude the longest road trip of the season and return to the Eastern Time Zone when they face Detroit on Thursday night. 

It is the second meeting of the season. Alex Lyon made 30 saves in a 1-0 win at UBS Arena on October 22nd; the Isles held Detroit to only 11 shots on goal in the game. 

The Isles and Wings will conclude the season series on Monday at UBS Arena.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick