The Skinny: Detroit 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 20

Detroit 2, Isles 1

In a game that the Isles led for nearly fifty minutes, Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond scored 3:54 apart late in the third period as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Isles 2-1 before a crowd of 19,013 at Little Caesars Arena.

Simon Holmstrom scored 5:51 into play but for the third straight game the Isles could not protect a third period lead. 

The Isles are 7-8-5 on the season as they head home to face St. Louis on Saturday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Simon Holmstrom (3) Scott Mayfield (4) 05:51 NYI 1,DET 0

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Jonatan Berggren (3) J.T. Compher (4) 15:14 NYI 1,DET 1

Lucas Raymond (3) Dylan Larkin (5), Simon Edvinsson (6) 19:08 NYI 1,DET 2

The Skinny

The Isles went 1-2-2 on their season-long road trip; they are 4-3-3 in their last ten games…The Isles have allowed only 25 goals in the first and second periods but have allowed 33 goals in the third period and overtime…The 29 goals allowed in the third period are the most in the NHL… The Isles are 5-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes…. The Isles have allowed a tying goal in eight games this season, going 2-3-3 in those games…It was the second straight game that the Isles took a lead into the third period, but lost the game (5-1-1) and the third straight game that they led at some point in the third period but did not win (0-2-1)…Alex Romanov played his 300th NHL game…It is the first time since November 26-December 2, 2021 that the Isles have allowed two goals or fewer in consecutive games but did not win either (0-1-1 in both sets)…Dylan Larkin earned his 299th assist on the winning goal…Alex Lyon is 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA against the Isles this season but is 1-4-0 with a 3.72 GAA against the rest of the NHL…Detroit is 1-8-0 when trailing after two periods.

Last Minute Issues

This is the third time in less than a calendar year that the Isles have allowed a go-ahead goal in the last minute of regulation (and the first time under Patrick Roy):

• Curtis Lazar 11/28/2023 at NJ 19:37

• Alexandre Carrier 1/13/2024 at NSH 19:52

• Lucas Raymond 11/21/2024 at DET 19:08

Ilya Sorokin was in goal for all three of these games.

Milestones on Hold 

• Noah Dobson has 199 points.

• Ryan Pulock has 198 points.

• Anders Lee remains at 199 assists.

• Ilya Sorokin 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.

Putting The Road Stretch in the Rearview Mirror

The Isles finished a stretch where they played nine of eleven games on the road. The Isles went 4-4-3 (3-4-2 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       L 1-2

Time for Some Home Cooking

Beginning on Saturday, the Isles will end November by playing four of their next five games at home. Eight of the next 11 games will be at home and the Isles will not play consecutive road games during that stretch.

• 23-Nov-24 Vs St. Louis

• 25-Nov-24 Vs Detroit

• 27-Nov-24 Vs Boston

• 29-Nov-24 @ Washington

• 30-Nov-24 Vs Buffalo

• 3-Dec-24  @ Montreal

• 5-Dec-24  Vs Seattle

• 7-Dec-24  Vs Carolina

• 8-Dec-24  @ Ottawa

• 10-Dec-24 Vs Los Angeles

• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago

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  7-8-5 for 19 points in 20 games

• 2023-24  8-6-6 for 22 points in 20 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 4-28-32

• 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 7-8-5 overall; they are 2-3-2 at home and 5-5-3 on the road.

Detroit is 8-9-2 overall; they are 4-4-1 at home and 4-5-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 5-5-1 against the East (2-2-1 vs. Metropolitan and 3-3-0 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 3-2-3 when scoring first and are 4-6-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      9-6-8=23

Detroit  11-11-9=31

The Isles are 3-3-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 3-4-3 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 4-5-3 this season and 4-4-2 vs. Detroit.

Alex Lyon made 22 saves; he is 3-4-0 this season and 2-1-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00) on the power play; Detroit was 0-3 (6:00).

The Isles are 5-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-7-4 when they do not. The Isles are 4-3-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-5-1 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 0-7-2 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-3-5 in games decided by a single goal including 1-3 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 (22:37); Detroit: Mo Seider (24:44)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau led Isles forwards (20:34)

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

Face-offs

Isles 26, Detroit 23 (53%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 7 of 12 for the Isles; Alex DeBrincat won 3 of 3 for Detroit. 

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Scott Mayfield -6)

Detroit 29 (Jeff Petry -6)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Noah Dobson -3)

Detroit 13 (Mo Seider -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Detroit 65

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, Detroit 55

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Oliver Wahlstrom +7

Detroit: Tyler Motte +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Detroit 8

5-on-5: Isles 9, Detroit 5

Scratches

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

Games Lost to injury: 53.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 186 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (136) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (116) 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 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 0-2-0 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, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT)

Vs (5): 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); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG)

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 860 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 835 *** 8. Matt Martin 832 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 779 …

31. Dave Lewis 514 *** 32. Adam Pelech 511 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 34. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 36. Ryan Pulock 506 *** 37. Ed Westfall 493 *** 38. Scott Mayfield 488

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 +55 *** 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… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk 96 *** 20. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey, and Scott Mayfield 95

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 204 *** 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 heading into their 3-in-3 weekend, which begins Friday in Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

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 will host Charlotte on Saturday and then play Sunday afternoon in Hartford. 

Season Series Stats

Detroit leads the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0); the teams will conclude the season series at UBS Arena on Monday. 

The Isles have now lost three straight games in regulation to the Red Wings; it is the first time that has happened since 2000.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd –ST. LOUIS AT ISLES 7:30pm

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

The Isles head home (finally!) and conclude their first season series when they face the St. Louis Blues.

The Blues blanked the Isles 1-0 in overtime on October 17th; Jake Neighbours scored the game's only goal as Joel Hofer earned the shutout. 

The Isles are 6-1-1 in the last eight home games against the Blues (2-1-0 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