The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3 (SO)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 13

Isles 4, Pittsburgh 3 (SO)

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 3:07 apart midway through the third period to tie the game, and Bo Horvat scored the only goal of the shootout as the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 before a crowd of 14,025 at UBS Arena. 

Ilya Sorokin, playing his 200th game, made 32 saves and then went a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout. 

The Isles are 5-6-2 on the season and visit Ottawa Thursday before returning home to face New Jersey in the final game before a five-game road trip. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Sidney Crosby (6) Evgeni Malkin (12), Rickard Rakell (4) 05:27 PIT 1,NYI 0

Kyle Palmieri (6) Bo Horvat (4), Maxim Tsyplakov (6) 12:21 PIT 1,NYI 1

Evgeni Malkin (4) Matt Grzelcyk (7), Rickard Rakell (5) 13:37 PIT 2,NYI 1 PPG

3rd Period

Michael Bunting (1) Jesse Puljujarvi (5), Noel Acciari (3) 07:44 PIT 3,NYI 1

Simon Holmstrom (1) Kyle Palmieri (5), Ryan Pulock (4) 09:41 PIT 3,NYI 2 PPG

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) Bo Horvat (5), Anders Lee (4) 12:48 PIT 3,NYI 3

OT

No Goals

The Shootout

Oliver Wahlstrom (NG)/Rickard Rakell (NG)

Bo Horvat (G/GDG) / Sidney Crosby (NG)

Kyle Palmieri (NG) / Kris Letang (NG)

The Isles are 2-0 in the shootout while Pittsburgh is 0-2; it was only the 7th shootout in the NHL this season….Ilya Sorokin improves to 7-13 in shootouts while Alex Nedeljkovic falls to 3-6 in his career…The Isles are 6-17 in their last 23 shootouts...It was Bo Horvat's 12th shootout goal …The Isles pass the Rangers for most shootout wins all-time (92) and have now won as many shootouts this season as they did in the last two seasons…The Isles have won consecutive shootouts for the first time since winning four straight shootouts March 3-April 8, 2021.

The Skinny

The Isles overcame a multiple-goal third period deficit to win for the first time since December 9, 2023, vs. Los Angeles; it was the sixth such comeback in the NHL this season… The Isles ended a three-game home losing streak (0-3-0)… Kyle Palmieri's second period goal was the first that the Isles have scored at home this season; five of their eight 2nd period goals have come in the last three games…The Isles scored twice in the second period for the second straight game; all seven of their middle period goals have been scored on the road… Noah Dobson played a season-high 30:02; it is the fourth time in his career he has played at least 30 minutes… Anders Lee has four assists in the last three games; Kyle Palmieri and Simon Holmstrom also extended their point streaks to three games.…Sidney Crosby, playing his 87th career game against the Isles scored his 598th NHL goal; Evgeni Malkin added his 502nd goal. It was the 124th time that they had scored in the same game (108-10-6)…Crosby now has five goals in the last three games, and eight points (5-3-8) in the last four games….Each team failed on a 4-on-3 power play in overtime…Only Utah (6) has played more overtime games than the Isles (5)....…Both Islander home wins have come in shootouts.

Milestone Men

• Ilya Sorokin played his 200th NHL game; he is the 5th goalie in Islander history to play 200 games, and the fourth to do so in his first 200 NHL games.

• Sorokin recorded his 99th NHL win.

• Ryan Pulock played his 499th game.

By George

Isaiah George made his NHL debut after playing four games in Bridgeport.  George played 15:41, including over six minutes in both the second and third periods as well as a 40 second shift in overtime (at 4-on-4). George is the 20th-youngest player in the NHL; he will not turn 21 until February 15th.  George (20 years, 264 days) is the youngest Islander to debut since Aatu Raty (20 years, 39 days) and the youngest defenseman since Noah Dobson (19 years, 274 days). George is the first "Isaiah" to play in the NHL

For the History Books

The Isles extended their franchise-record streak by winning the majority of draws for the 12th straight games. It is only the 36th time in the real time era that a team has had a streak of at least that length.

The Road Ahead

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

• 9-Nov-24  Vs New Jersey

• 12-Nov-24 @ Edmonton

• 14-Nov-24 @ Vancouver

• 16-Nov-24 @ Seattle

• 19-Nov-24 @ Calgary

• 21-Nov-24 @ Detroit

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 5 overtime games. They are 1-2 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-0 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-1 in overtime and 1-0 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 5.

Killing Their Own PP

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

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 7 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 3 times

• Allowed the next goal: 4 time

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 0 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  5-6-2 for 12 points in 13 games

• 2023-24  5-5-3 for 13 points in 13 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 1-17-18

• 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 5-6-2 overall; they are 2-3-1 at home and 3-3-1 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 5-7-2 overall; they are 3-3-0 at home and 2-4-2 on the road

East and West

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

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 128 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 1,449

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,449) and Patrick Roy (155) have combined for 1,604 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 2-1-1 when scoring first and are 3-5-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles          6-10-10-0=26

Pittsburgh 12-14-7-2=35

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

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 4-3-1 this season and 9-5-0 vs. Pittsburgh.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves; he is 2-2-2 this season and 3-1-2 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play (5:58); Pittsburgh was 1-4(6:16).

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 5-1-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-5-1 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 1-1 in regulation. They are 1-2 in games decided in overtime and are 2-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-2 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 (season-high 30:02); Pittsburgh: Erik Karlsson (25:47).

Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with 23:45.

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

Face-offs

Isles 31, Pittsburgh 30 (51%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 12 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 15 of 27 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Four with 3)

Pittsburgh 23 (Blake Lizotte-7)

Fights 

None. Season total: 2 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield -3)

Pittsburgh 10 (Noel Acciari -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 55, Pittsburgh 65

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, Pittsburgh 54

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Noah Dobson +5  

Pittsburgh: Drew O'Connor +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, Pittsburgh 16

5-on-5: Isles 6, Pittsburgh 15

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Alex Romanov-INJ), (Mike Reilly-INJ),Matt Martin

Games Lost to injury: 20.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 179 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (129) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (109) 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 0-1-0 in matinee games this season, with 10 games remaining. The next matinee will be on November 16th in Seattle. 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 13-14-10 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5)

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 (1): BUF 11/1

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

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

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, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

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 853 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 828 *** 8. Matt Martin 825 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 772 …

31. Dave Lewis 514 *** 32. Adam Pelech 511 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 34. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 36. Ryan Pulock 499 *** 37. Ed Westfall 493 *** 38. Scott Mayfield 481

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 280 *** John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 263 …

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 259 *** 17. Brock Nelson 258…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Nick Leddy 198 *** 22. Anders Lee 197…

30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 31. Noah Dobson 157 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 34. Ryan Pulock 147 *** 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 538 *** 12. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 460 *** 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 +54 *** 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 157 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 147…

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 197 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 195…

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 200 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 168

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 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 2-5-1-1 heading into a Wednesday morning game in Springfield. Brian Pinho will bring a five-game goal-scoring streak into the contest. Bridgeport hosts Providence on Saturday.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1); the teams will next meet in a home-and-home series December 28th at home and December 29th in Pittsburgh. 

The Isles have won three straight over Pittsburgh and is 7-2-0 in the last nine overall. At UBS Arena, the Isles are 5-1-0 in their last six games against the Penguins.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7th – PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 7:00pm

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles head to Ottawa on Thursday in the first of three meetings between the teams this season. Overall, the Isles are 14-3-2 in the last nineteen games against the Sens and are 7-2-0 in their last nine trips to Kanata. 

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