The Skinny: Toronto 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 38

Toronto 3, Isles 1

Steven Lorentz scored sixteen seconds after the Islanders tied the game in the second period and that turned out to be the game-winner as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Isles 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 18,933 at Scotiabank Arena.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the only goal for the Isles, who are 2-5-0 in their last seven games.

The Isles fall three games below .NHL-.500 for the first time since March 7, 2022 (21-24-8); they return home to host Toronto Thursday before heading out on a three-game road trip. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

David Kampf (2) William Nylander (19), Chris Tanev (10) 17:54 NYI 0,TOR 1

2nd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (9) Noah Dobson (15), Mathew Barzal (5) 11:59 NYI 1,TOR 1

Steven Lorentz (4) Ryan Reaves (2), Connor Dewar (2) 12:15 NYI 1,TOR 2

3rd Period

John Tavares (19)EN William Nylander (20), Mitch Marner (38) 19:27 NYI 1,TOR 3 PPG 

The Skinny

The Isles allowed the opening goal for the 11th time in thirteen games… The Isles have been outscored 57-37 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 73 goals and allowed 68 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 53-27 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 19 of the last 25 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 37-31 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin has started 13 of the last 14 games, going 6-6-1 …It took an empty net, but the Isles allowed a power play goal for the seventh straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-17 on the power play in the last nine games… The Isles are 1-11-1 when trailing after two periods…Jean-Gabriel Pageau received a misconduct penalty after the empty-net goal; he had only two minor penalties on the season…Brock Nelson was stopped on a breakaway and ends December without a goal (and only 18 shots on goal in 13 games)… The Isles lose on New Year's Eve for the second straight time (last year in Pittsburgh); despite that, the Isles are 12-3-1 since 2002 on 12/31…Toronto improves to 15-2-1 when scoring first, 13-1-0 when leading after one period, and 19-0-0 when leading after two periods…Each team had a goal disallowed in the second period; the Isle disallowed goal would have been Adam Pelech's first goal since an overtime winner in Pittsburgh on February 20th...With points on the empty-net goal, Mitch Marner extended his point streak to nine games and John Tavares extended his point streak to eight games.

First Times in a Long Time

The Isles lost to the Leafs for the first time in six games and lost a game in regulation to a Canadian opponent for the first time in twelve games (8-0-3).

Weekend Warriors

The Islanders have won five straight Saturday games (four at home, and one in Toronto). The Isles are 7-10-3 in their last twenty games (5-0-0 on Saturday; 2-10-3 on other days). Six of their last seven wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Milestone Men

• Mathew Barzal recorded his 450th career point with an assist on the JG Pageau goal.

• Noah Dobson recorded his 166th assist, tying Jeff Norton for 7th place among Isles defensemen, and one behind Jean Potvin for 6th.

• Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.

• Casey Cizikas' next point will be his 250th career point.

• Ilya Sorokin's next win will be his 107th, passing Kelly Hrudey for 4th place in club history.

2024 Calendar Year Leaders

The Isles went 36-34-14 in 84 games, for 86 points

Team Stats

• Goals For 2.81, Goals Against 3.13

• Power Play 35-228 15.4%  

• Penalty Kill 64-195 67.2% 

• Combined 82.6% 

• Shots For 29.5

• Shots Allowed 29.8

• Face-off % 53.6%  (2nd in NHL to Edmonton 53.8%)

Games 

1. Brock Nelson / Kyle Palmieri 84

3. Anders Lee / Bo Horvat  83

Goals

1. Palmieri 33

2. Horvat 29

3. Nelson 28

4. Lee 26

Assists

1. Noah Dobson 46

2. Mathew Barzal 36

3. Nelson 32

4. Horvat 31

Points

1. Horvat/Nelson 60

3. Palmieri 59

4. Dobson 55

+/-

1. Alex Romanov 16

2. Ryan Pulock 10

3. Max Tsyplakov 9

4. Scott Mayfield / Mike Reilly 7

Penalty Minutes

1. Lee 61

2. Mayfield 39

3. Matt Martin 36

4. Dobson 32

Power Play Goals

1. Palmieri 8

2. Nelson/Horvat 6

4. Lee 5

Shorthanded Goals

1. Nelson/ Jean-Gabriel Pageau 2

3. Horvat 1

Overtime Goals

1. Horvat 3

2. Palmieri/Nelson/ Adam Pelech/Barzal 1

Game-Winning Goals

1. Palmieri 7

2. Horvat 6

3. Nelson 3

Shots

1. Horvat 249

2. Nelson 226

3. Palmieri 222

4. Lee/Dobson 207

Shooting %  (minimum 50 games played)

1. Holmstrom 17.7%

2. Palmieri 14.9%

3  Pageau 12.9%

4. Lee 12.6%

Ice Time

1. Dobson 23:41

2. Pulock 22:24

3. Barzal 20:37

4. Pelech 20.27

Faceoffs

1. Horvat 58.4%

2. Pageau 57.0%

3. Cizikas 54.8%

Goalies

Sorokin 25-25-9  .902  2.93  1 shutout

Varlamov 11-8-5 .907  2.64  1 shutout

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 36, Opponents 51

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 8, Opponents 12

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 26 of their 38 games. In the twelve games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-10-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 8 empty-net goals and allowed 12.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 26 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 10 times

• Allowed the next goal: 13 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  14-17-7 for 35 points in 38 games

• 2023-24  18-10-10 for 46 points in 38 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 11-53-64

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Islander defensemen have earned 32.5% of the team's assists, which is tied-9th in the NHL. 

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. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-1-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and four in December (2-1-1). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-1-3 in the last twelve games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponents will be Toronto at UBS Arena on January 2nd .

Home and Road

The Isles are 14-17-7 overall; they are 7-8-2 at home and 7-9-5 on the road.

Toronto is 23-13-2 overall; they are 15-7-0 at home and 8-6-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-11-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-7-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,458

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,458) and Patrick Roy (164) have combined for 1,622 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 7-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-14-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      9-12-10=31

Toronto 7-13-5=25

The Isles are 7-10-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-6-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 11-12-4 this season and 6-4-0 vs. Toronto. 

Joseph Woll  made 30 saves; he is 11-6-0 this season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00) on the power play; Toronto was 1-4 (6:10) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-16-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-9-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 14-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-14-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-4 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (22:07); Toronto: Jake McCabe (25:36)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (19:30).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Toronto 25 (54%)

Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each won 9 of 15 for the Isles; John Tavares won 14 of 23 for Toronto. 

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -6)

Toronto 22 (Ryan Reaves -6)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Ryan Pulock -4)

Toronto 15 (Chris Tanev -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Toronto 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 48, Toronto 44

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee +14

Toronto: Jake McCabe +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, Toronto 10

5-on-5: Isles 10, Toronto 7

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Dennis Cholowski, (Simon Holmstrom – INJ)

Games Lost to injury: 124. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 204 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (154) has 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31)

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

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

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (5): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

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 (6): 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); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (6): 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); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 878 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 853 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 797 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 524 ***31. Nick Leddy and Adam Pelech  518 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 517 *** 34. Dave Lewis 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 506

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 276 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 110

Assists

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

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Mathew Barzal 319…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 267…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton and Noah Dobson 166 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek and Ryan Pulock 154 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 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…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 552 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 483 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 450…

28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 *** 30. David Volek and Casey Cizikas 249

+/-

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 +71 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton and Noah Dobson 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 154…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 119… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 211 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 203…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 145 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 219 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey and Ilya Sorokin 106 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 7-19-2-2 record, heading into their Saturday game with Rochester.

Brian Pinho leads the team with 15 goals and 24 points. Chris Terry's 19 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category.

Six of their first seven games in January are at home.

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). The teams will complete the season series on January 2nd at UBS Arena.

The Isles are 5-1-0 in the last six meetings with Toronto.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2025 –TORONTO AT ISLES 7:30pm

[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Islanders conclude the season series, and the home-and-home, as they welcome Toronto to UBS Arena for the only time this season.

The Isles are 9-7-0 against the Leafs in the sixteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has seven goals and six assists in those games against the Isles.

This game will stream nationally, with Bob Wischusen and Kevin Weekes on the call.

AND FINALLY…

89 games, 89 editions of The Skinny. A perfect 2024, at least in attendance. Happy New Year to all!

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: Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Pittsburgh 3, Isles 2

Former Islander Anthony Beauvillier scored an early goal, and the Penguins then added two power play tallies and survived a late Islander rally to earn a split of the weekend home-and-home series with a 3-2 victory over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 18,357 at PPG Paints Arena.

Marcus Hogberg made 38 saves in his first start as an Islander, including 19 in the second period, but received no support until Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored sixth attacker goals to draw the Isles within a goal with 3:50 to play. However, the Isles could not become the second team this season to score three sixth-attacker goals in a game.

The Isles fall two games below .NHL-.500, heading into Tuesday's New Year's Eve afternoon contest in Toronto.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anthony Beauvillier (9) Michael Bunting (10), Matt Grzelcyk (18) 03:54 NYI 0,PIT 1

2nd Period

Michael Bunting (11) Sidney Crosby (30), Philip Tomasino (3) 01:36 NYI 0,PIT 2 PPG

3rd Period

Evgeni Malkin (8) Philip Tomasino (4), Cody Glass (7) 06:57 NYI 0,PIT 3 PPG

Anders Lee (16) Alexander Romanov (6) 12:59 NYI 1,PIT 3

Bo Horvat (10) Ryan Pulock (11), Adam Pelech (5) 16:10 NYI 2,PIT 3

The Skinny

The Isles allowed the opening goal for the tenth time in twelve games… The Isles are even in the first two periods (62-62) but have been outscored 56-37 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 72 goals and allowed 66 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 52-27 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 19 of the last 24 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 36-30 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin had started the prior twelve games, going 6-5-1; it was the longest starting streak of his career.… Anthony Duclair was held pointless for the first time in four games since his return… The Isles allowed a power play goal for the sixth straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-16 on the power play in the last eight games…Anders Lee extended his team lead in goals (16) and points (30); he is seven points shy of last season's totals of 20-17-37…The Isles are 1-9-1 when trailing after two periods …Evgeni Malkin's third period power play goal was his 1,327 point, passing Gilbert Perreault for 35th place in NHL history …Pittsburgh went 2-2 on the power play; their 14 power play goals since November 30th is three more than the Isles have recorded this season…Nathan Clarman, 26, made his NHL debut for Pittsburgh…The Isles were blanked through 40 minutes for the eighth time this season (0-7-1, with the point coming in a 1-0 overtime loss in St. Louis)…The Isles allowed multiple power play goals for the sixth time this season, including three times where the opponent went 2-2 on the power play…The Isles matched their season total with two 6-on-5 goals…Pittsburgh improves to 398-90-48 when both Crosby and Malkin earn points.

First Time in a Long Time

It was the first time in 215 games that someone other than Ilya Sorokin or Semyon Varlamov started for the Isles; Cory Schnieder is the only other goalie to start for the Isles (1 game – April 3, 2022) since Sorokin joined the Isles for the shortened 2021 season.

About the New Guy

Jonas Hogberg made 38 saves in his first Isle start. He was selected 78th overall by Ottawa in 2013, one pick after Jake Guentzel (PIT) and two picks before the Rangers selected Anthony Duclair.

Weekend Warriors

The Islanders have won five straight Saturday games (four at home, and one in Toronto). The Isles are 7-9-3 in their last nineteen games (5-0-0 on Saturday; 2-9-3 on other nights). Six of their last seven wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Sid's Skinny

Sidney Crosby's assist was his 1,034th, breaking a tie with Mario Lemieux for the club record. He also moved into 4th place in NHL history for assists with one team (behind Ray Bourque-BOS, Wayne Gretzky-EDM, and Steve Yzerman-DET), and became the 9th player to record 900 points at home. Marcus Hogberg is the 201st goalie to allow a point (regular season/playoffs) to Crosby (6th all-time).

Milestone Men

• Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.

• Mathew Barzal's next point will be his 450th career point.

• Casey Cizikas' next point will be his 250th career point.

• Ilya Sorokin's next win will be his 107th, passing Kelly Hrudey for 4th place in club history.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 36, Opponents 50

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 8, Opponents 11

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 25 of their 36 games. In the eleven games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-10-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 8 empty-net goals and allowed 11.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 26 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 10 times

• Allowed the next goal: 13 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  14-16-7 for 35 points in 37 games

• 2023-24  17-10-10 for 44 points in 37 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-3-3

• Season: 11-52-63

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Islander defensemen have earned 32.3% of the team's assists, which is 10th in the NHL. 

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. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 14-16-7 overall; they are 7-8-2 at home and 7-8-5 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 17-16-5 overall; they are 11-7-2 at home and 6-9-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-10-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-6-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,458

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,458) and Patrick Roy (164) have combined for 1,622 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 7-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-13-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles         6-15-10=31

Pittsburgh 6-20-15=41

The Isles are 7-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-6-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Marcus Hedberg made 38 saves in his first start since April 28, 2021; he is 0-1-0 this season and 0-2-0 vs. Pittsburgh. 

Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves; he is 6-5-3 this season and 4-1-2 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 (4:00) on the power play; Pittsburgh was 2-2 (2:59) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-15-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-8-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 14-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-13-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-4-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-4 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 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 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (22:55); Pittsburgh: Erik Karlsson (26:51)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (20:31).

Face-offs

Isles 34, Pittsburgh 33 (51%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 11 of 17 for the Isles; Blake Lizotte won 8 of 12 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 12 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -3)

Pittsburgh 12 (Two with 3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 15 (Ryan Pulock -4)

Pittsburgh 21 (Erik Karlsson -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 66, Pittsburgh 71

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Pittsburgh 55

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Kyle Palmieri +11

Pittsburgh: Ryan Shea +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Pittsburgh 17

5-on-5: Isles 12, Pittsburgh 11

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 121. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 203 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (153) has 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 4 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

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

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

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 (6): 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); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (6): 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); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 877 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 852 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 796 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 523 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Adam Pelech  517 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 516 *** 34. Dave Lewis 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 505

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 276 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 110

Assists

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

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Mathew Barzal 318…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 267…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek and Ryan Pulock 154 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 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…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 552 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 483 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 449…

28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 *** 30. David Volek and Casey Cizikas 249

+/-

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 +71 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 154…

11. Travis Hamonic 120 *** 12. Adam Pelech 119… 

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 203…

11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Travis Hamonic 146 *** 13. Adam Pelech 145 …

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 218 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey and Ilya Sorokin 106 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport wrapped up the 2024 portion of their schedule with a 7-19-2-2 record.

Brian Pinho leads the team with 15 goals and 24 points. Chris Terry's 19 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category.

Bridgeport is back in action on January 4th when they host Rochester. Six of their first seven games in January are at home.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3). The teams will complete the season series on March 18th in Pittsburgh.

The Isles are 8-3-0 in the last eleven meetings with the Penguins.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31st – ISLES AT TORONTO 1:00pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 12:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

It is out with the old as the Islanders travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs to close out 2024. The Isles are 12-2-1 in their last fifteen games on New Year's Eve.

The Isles earned a 6-3 win in Toronto on December 21st, and they have won five straight games against Toronto for the first time since the mid-1980s; it is their longest active streak against any opponent.

The Isles are 9-6-0 against the Leafs in the fifteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has six goals and six assists in those games against the Isles.

This is the front-end of a multi-year home-and-home that concludes Thursday on Long Island.

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: Isles 6, Pittsburgh 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 36

Isles 6, Pittsburgh 3

Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee each scored twice as the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

The Isles scored three goals in a 4:00 span of the second period to grab a 4-1 lead, but Pittsburgh responded with two of their own before the period ended. Cizikas' second goal provided insurance in the third period before Lee hit the empty net for the final margin.

The Isles climbed back within one game of .NHL-.500 and will look to catch the Penguins in points on Sunday in the back-end of the home-and-home. Face-off is at 5:30.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) Mathew Barzal (4) 14:47 PIT 0,NYI 1

Michael Bunting (10) Rickard Rakell (14) 16:03 PIT 1,NYI 1 PPG

2nd Period

Anthony Duclair (3) Kyle Palmieri (14), Brock Nelson (11) 05:39  PIT 1,NYI 2

Anders Lee (14)OWN 08:36 PIT 1,NYI 3

Casey Cizikas (2) Alexander Romanov (5), Bo Horvat (17) 09:39 PIT 1,NYI 4

Noel Acciari (4) Matt Nieto (2), Erik Karlsson (22) 13:49 PIT 2,NYI 4

Rickard Rakell (17) Matt Grzelcyk (17), Evgeni Malkin (23) 19:56 PIT 3,NYI 4

3rd Period

Casey Cizikas (3) Simon Holmstrom (13) 14:43 PIT 3,NYI 5

Anders Lee (15)EN 19:38 PIT 3,NYI 6

The Skinny

The Isles scored the opening goal for only the second time in eleven games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 62-60 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 55-35 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 72 goals and allowed 65 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 50-25 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 19 of the last 23 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 36-29 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin made his career-high twelfth straight start (6-5-1).… Anthony Duclair has a point in all three games since his return… The Isles allowed a power play goal for the fifth straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-14 on the power play in the last seven games…Anders Lee extended his team lead in goals (15) and points (29); he is eight points shy of last season's totals of 20-17-37…The Isles are 11-2-2 when leading after two periods, and have won their last five games when leading through 40…Ryan Graves played his 400th NHL game…Evgeni Malkin's assist tied him with Gilbert Perreault for 35th place in NHL history with 1326 points…Pittsburgh went 1-4 on the power play; their 12 power play goals since November 30th is one more than the Isles have recorded this season…Michael Bunting's goal was his 200th career point.

Weekend Warriors

The Islanders have won five straight Saturday games (four at home, and one in Toronto). The Isles are 7-8-3 in their last eighteen games (5-0-0 on Saturday; 2-8-3 on other nights). Six of their last seven wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Stopping Sid

An intermission scoring change left Sidney Crosby pointless, and minus 3 on the night. Crosby remains tied with Mario Lemieux for the Penguin club record of 1,033 assists. It was the first time in 88 career games against the Isles that Crosby was -3  (he has been +3 or better eight times against the Isles.)

Moving on Up

• Ilya Sorokin earned his 106th win, tying Kelly Hrudey for 4th place in club history.

• Casey Cizikas now has 249 points, tying David Volek for 30th place in club history.

Milestone Men

• Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.

• Mathew Barzal's next point will be his 450th career point.

One For the Record Books

For the first time in NHL history, a referee shared the same name as one of the head coaches – Mike Sullivan.

Auld Lang Syne

This was the final home game of 2024. The Isles went 18-14-6 (plus 1-1 in the playoffs) on UBS ice this year. For the calendar year, the power play was 19.4% at home, while the penalty kill was at 61.2%.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Nelson had a goal disallowed by video review in the first period; it would have been his first goal in thirteen games.

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal (318) passed Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history. (A second assist was taken away when Lee's first goal was ruled an 'own goal' in a post-game scoring change)

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 34, Opponents 49

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 8, Opponents 11

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 25 of their 36 games. In the eleven games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-9-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 8 empty-net goals and allowed 11.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 26 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 10 times

• Allowed the next goal: 13 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  14-15-7 for 35 points in 36 games

• 2023-24  17-10-9 for 43 points in 36 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 11-49-60

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

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. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 14-15-7 overall; they are 7-8-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 16-16-5 overall; they are 10-7-2 at home and 6-9-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-9-3 against the East (4-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-6-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,458

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,458) and Patrick Roy (164) have combined for 1,622 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 7-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-12-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles        11-15-8=34

Pittsburgh  9-12-4=25

The Isles are 7-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 10-11-4 this season and 10-5-0 vs. Pittsburgh. 

Tristan Jarry made 28 saves; he is 8-6-2 this season and 11-4-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 (4:00) on the power play; Pittsburgh was 1-4 (7:04) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-14-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-7-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 14-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-12-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 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 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes Sunday in Pittsburgh. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Alex Romanov (23:36); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (25:04)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (19:07).

Face-offs

Isles 34, Pittsburgh 28 (55%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 14 for the Isles; Noel Acciari won 3 of 5 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Casey Cizikas -4)

Pittsburgh 27 (Matt Nieto -4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 7 (Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov -2)

Pittsburgh 15 (Kris Letang -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 66, Pittsburgh 46

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Pittsburgh 29

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jean-Gabriel Pageau +18

Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin +1

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, Pittsburgh 11

5-on-5: Isles 13, Pittsburgh 5

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 119. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 202 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (152) has 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 4 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

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

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

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 (6): 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); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (6): 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); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 876 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 851 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 795 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 522 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Adam Pelech  516 *** 33. Mathew Barzal 515 *** 34. Dave Lewis 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 504

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 275 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 110

Assists

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

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Mathew Barzal 318…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 267…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 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…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 552 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 482 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 449…

28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 *** 30. David Volek and Casey Cizikas 249

+/-

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. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

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

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

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

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 218 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey and Ilya Sorokin 106 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 7-19-2-2 on the season after splitting games this weekend; they dropped a 4-1 decision to Providence on Friday but rebounded for a 7-5 win in Springfield on Saturday. 

Liam Foudy had Bridgeport's only goal Friday and scored twice on Saturday. Matthew Maggio also scored twice and had a pair of assists on Saturday.

Brian Pinho continues to lead the team with 15 goals. Chris Terry's 19 assists and 23 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.

Bridgeport is back in action on January 4th when they host Rochester. Six of their first seven games in January are at home.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1). The teams will play again on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

The Isles are 8-2-0 in the last ten meetings with the Penguins.

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29th –PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 5:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 5:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles look to sweep the home-and-home series with the Penguins as the teams play at 5:30 on Sunday; the starting time is 22 hours after Saturday's, game, which is the minimum allowed by the CBA. The Isles will be looking to sweep consecutive games, both against Pittsburgh, for the first time since November 19-21, 2019, which were the 15th and 16th games in their club-record 17-game point streak.

The teams will also play March 18th in Pittsburgh to conclude the season series.

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: Buffalo 7, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Buffalo 7, Isles 1

Beck Melenstyn scored 2:07 into the first period and the Sabres outscored the Isles by two goals in each period, defeating the Isles 7-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Rasmus Dahlin had four assists as Buffalo snapped a 13-game winless streak (0-10-3). Kyle Palmieri scored the only goal for the Isles, who fell two games under NHL .500 at the holiday break.

The Isles return to play on Saturday as they host the Penguins in the front-end of a back-to-back home-and-home. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Beck Malenstyn (3) Jacob Bryson (3), Ryan McLeod (10) 02:07 BUF 1,NYI 0

Jiri Kulich (5) Dylan Cozens (9), Rasmus Dahlin (14) 16:49 BUF 2,NYI 0

2nd Period

Jason Zucker (9) Jack Quinn (5), Rasmus Dahlin (15) 06:53 BUF 3,NYI 0 PPG

Zach Benson (5) Rasmus Dahlin (16), Jiri Kulich (2) 15:45 BUF 4,NYI 0

Jack Quinn (4) Dylan Cozens (10), JJ Peterka (15) 18:21 BUF 5,NYI 0

Kyle Palmieri (12) Anthony Duclair (3), Isaiah George (4) 19:05 BUF 5,NYI 1

3rd Period

Tage Thompson (17)EN Rasmus Dahlin (17) 10:07 BUF 6,NYI 1

Jiri Kulich (6) 15:49 BUF 7,NYI 1

The Skinny

The Isles allowed the opening goal for the ninth time in ten games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 58-57 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 55-33 in the third period and overtime…The 49 goals allowed in the third period match the highest total in the NHL …The Isles have scored 67 goals and allowed 63 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 49-24 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 18 of the last 22 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 33-27 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin made his career-high eleventh straight start (5-5-1) he has allowed 21 goals in his last five games.… Anthony Duclair has assists in both games since his return… Tage Thompson's goal was the 2nd-earliest end-of-game empty-netter allowed in Isles history; Pavel Buchnevich scored at 9:21 of the 3rd period earlier this year (February 22nd)…The Isles have played more games (36) and earned more standings points (42) on December 23rd than any other day in their history…Zach Benson scored a goal for Buffalo in his 100th NHL game; Benson will not turn 20 years old until May…Both Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin were +4; Ryan Pulock was -4 after going -3 on Saturday…The Isles allowed a power play goal for the fourth straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-12 on the power play in the last six games.

One for The Record Books

This is the first time in Islander history that they have been outscored by multiple goals in each period in a home game. It has happened nine previous times (most recently February 25, 2017, in Columbus), all on the road.

 

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal remains tied with Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 32, Opponents 49

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 7, Opponents 11

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 24 of their 35 games. In the eleven games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-9-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, two fewer than Calgary for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 7 empty-net goals and allowed 11.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 23 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 12 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  13-15-7 for 33 points in 35 games

• 2023-24  17-9-9 for 43 points in 35 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 11-48-59

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

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. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-15-7 overall; they are 6-8-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Buffalo is 12-19-4 overall; they are 6-10-3mat home and 6-9-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-9-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-6-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,457

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,457) and Patrick Roy (163) have combined for 1,620 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 6-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-12-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles      5-11-12=28

Buffalo  8-12-5=25

The Isles are 6-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 10-11-4 this season and 7-4-2 vs. Buffalo. 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves; he is 9-11-3 this season and 3-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00) on the power play; Buffalo was 1-3 (4:53) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-14-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-7-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-12-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (26:28); Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin (23:11)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:02).

Face-offs

Isles 37, Buffalo 27 (58%)

Bo Horvat won 12 of 18 for the Isles; Ryan Mc Leod won 8 of 14 for Buffalo. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau -4)

Buffalo 17 (Peyton Krebs -4)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 9 (Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson -3)

Buffalo 30 (Alex Tuch -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 78, Buffalo 44

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 59, Buffalo 30

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Maxim Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson +14

Buffalo: No Sabre was +

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Buffalo 9

5-on-5: Isles 5, Buffalo 8

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 117. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 201 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (151) has 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

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

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

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 (6): 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); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (6): 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); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 875 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 850 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 794 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 521 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Adam Pelech  515 *** 33. Dave Lewis and Mathew Barzal 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 503

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

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. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 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…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 480 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 448…

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. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +68 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 24. Ryan Pulock +53 *** 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

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

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

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

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 217 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 105 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 6-18-2-2 on the season after a 4-1 win in Charlotte on Sunday. 

Brian Pinho leads the team (and is tied-4th in the AHL) with 15 goals. Chris Terry's 19 assists  (just three off of the AHL lead) and 23 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.

Bridgeport is back in action on Friday when they host Providence.

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). 

This was only the second loss in the last fifteen home games for the Isles against Buffalo (13-2-0).

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28th –PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 7:30pm

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

Following the holiday break the Isles the Isles get back in action as they host Pittsburgh in the final home game of 2024.

It is the second meeting of the teams this season; the Isles rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 shootout win on November 5th at UBS Arena.

The teams will meet again on Sunday in The Steel City and will also play there on March 18th to conclude the season series.

AND FINALLY...

Happy Holidays to all!  Thanks so much for reading and commenting on The Skinny all season long!

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: Isles 6, Toronto 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Isles 6, Toronto 3

The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:48 and the Maple Leafs could not catch them. Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists, and Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal as the Isles beat Toronto 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,912 at Scotiabank Arena.

William Nylander twice brought the Leafs within a goal, but George and Noah Dobson scored 5:13 apart in the third period to help secure the victory in the first game the Isles played since November 3rd with fewer than three players on the injured list. 

 

The Isles improve to one game below NHL-.500 with a record of 13-14-7 on the season. They can get back to NHL-.500 with a win over Buffalo on Monday at UBS Arena. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Maxim Tsyplakov (7) Bo Horvat (15), Simon Holmstrom (11) 01:49 NYI 1,TOR 0

Bo Horvat (9) Alexander Romanov (3) 04:48 NYI 2,TOR 0

William Nylander (22) John Tavares (17), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (11) 12:29 NYI 2,TOR 1

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) Anders Lee (13), Alexander Romanov (4) 16:08 NYI 3,TOR 1

2nd Period

William Nylander (23) David Kampf (4), Matthew Knies (8) 05:43 NYI 3,TOR 2

3rd Period

Isaiah George (1) Anthony Duclair (2), Scott Mayfield (5) 05:23 NYI 4,TOR 2

Noah Dobson (5) Simon Holmstrom (12), Bo Horvat (16) 10:36 NYI 5,TOR 2

Bobby McMann (9) Mitch Marner (35), Jake McCabe (8) 13:49 NYI 5,TOR 3

Mathew Barzal (3)EN Anders Lee (14) 17:40 NYI 6,TOR 3

The Skinny

The Isles scored the opening goal, ending a streak of eight games where they allowed the opening tally… The Isles have outscored the opposition 57-52 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 53-33 in the third period and overtime…The 47 goals allowed in the third period match the highest total in the NHL …The Isles have scored 66 goals and allowed 58 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 47-24 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 18 of the last 21 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-24 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles are 10-2-2 when leading after two periods…Ilya Sorokin made his tenth straight start (5-4-1)… The Isles are 4-5-3 in their last twelve road games (4-0-3 in Canada and 0-5-0 in the US)…Mathew Barzal won all four of his face-offs; it is the most draws that he has won without a loss…Scott Mayfield went +5 for the second time in his career (10/18/2018 at Los Angeles)…The Isles defense has scored seven goals in the last eight games after tallying only four times in the first 26 games…Bo Horvat is 4-4-8 in his last seven games played; he now leads the team with sixteen assists…Anders Lee is now 13-14-27 on the season, leaving him just three assists shy of last season's total; Lee has not finished a season with more assists than goals since 2019-20….Isaiah George's first goal is a game-winner; he is the youngest Islander defenseman with a game-winner since Mathieu Biron (2-13-2000 at Rangers)…Anthony Duclair, playing his first game in nine weeks, earned an assist on George's goal; he is 2-2-4 in six games with the Isles…The Isles have scored 19 goals in the six games Duclair has played…William Nylander scored two goals for the fifth time this season…John Tavares had an assist but failed to score his 200th goal as a Maple Leaf; when he does he will be the fifth player with 200 goals for multiple NHL teams…Alex Romanov matched his season total with two assists…Since the start of last season, the Isles are 21-1-3 when scoring multiple first period goals (5-1-0 this season)…The Isles tied a season high with their six goals (also at Colorado on October 14) while the Leafs allowed six for only the second time (first time at home).

Milestone Men

• Brock Nelson played his 200th consecutive game.

• Kyle Palmieri played his 150th consecutive game. 

• Noah Dobson scored his 45th goal, tying Nick Leddy for 7th among defensemen

• Scott Mayfield earned his 96th assist, tying Johnny Boychuk for 19th among defensemen and breaking a tie with Thomas Hickey and Dave Langevin.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles scored three first period goals for the second time this season but the first time they have done so against Toronto since December 29, 2015.

• The Isles scored twice in the opening five minutes for the first time since February 9, 2022, in Vancouver.

• It was the first penalty-free Isles game since November 1, 2015, vs. Buffalo.

By George, He Did It!

Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal, and it was a game-winner. He is the youngest defenseman in Islander history (20 years, 310 days) to score a game-winning first NHL goal (replacing Samuel Bolduc- 22 years, 60 days), and the youngest Islander to do so since Kyle Okposo (19 years, 340 days) did so on March 21, 2008, at New Jersey.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal remains tied with Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 32, Opponents 47

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8

Empty Net Goals: Isles 7, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 24 of their 34 games. In the ten games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-8-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR). 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles have played ten overtime games, two fewer than Calgary for the NHL lead. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 7 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 23 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 12 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  13-14-7 for 33 points in 34 games

• 2023-24  16-9-9 for 41 points in 34 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-3-5

• Season: 11-47-58

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

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. Mike Liut 293

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-14-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Toronto is 21-11-2 overall; they are 14-5-0 at home and 7-6-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-8-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 vs. Pacific).

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 1,457

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,457) and Patrick Roy (163) have combined for 1,620 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 6-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-11-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       9-12-13=34

Toronto  6-10-13=29

The Isles are 6-8-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 10-10-4 this season and 6-3-0 vs. Toronto. 

Joseph Woll made 28 saves; he is 9-5-0 this season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-0 (0:00) on the power play; Toronto was 0-0 (0:00) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-13-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-6-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-11-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 28-29th vs. Pittsburgh with the first game occurring at UBS Arena and the second in Pittsburgh.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (23:02); Toronto: Morgan Rielly (22:13)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (18:04).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Toronto 18 (65%)

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; no Maple Leaf won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 10 (Four with 2)

Toronto 34 (Two with 5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Ryan Pulock -3)

Toronto 15 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 69, Toronto 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, Toronto 48

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Five players were +14

Toronto: Two with +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 18, Toronto 12

5-on-5: Isles 18, Toronto 11

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 115. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 200 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (150) has 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 2 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

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

Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

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

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

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 (6): 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); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (6): 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); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 874 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 849 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 793 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 520 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis and Adam Pelech 514 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 513 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 502

Goals    

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

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 285 *** 8. Anders Lee 273 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

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. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 165 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 153 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 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…

7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 9. Brock Nelson 551 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 480 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 448…

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. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +69 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 22. Ryan Pulock +57 *** 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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…

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 165 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…

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

18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

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

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 216 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 106 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 105 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-18-2-2 on the season and 0-8-1-0 in their last nine games, after dropping a 6-2 decision in Charlotte on Saturday. John Leonard had a hat trick for the Checkers. They will also play in North Toronto on Sunday at 4pm. 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). 

The Isles have won five straight games against Toronto since the first time since the mid-1980s; it is their longest active streak against any opponent.

The Isles are 9-6-0 against the Leafs in the fifteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has gone 6-6-12 in those games against the Isles.

The team will meet again on New Year's Eve afternoon in Toronto before wrapping up the series at UBS Arena two nights later.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23rd –BUFFALO AT ISLES 7:30pm

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

The Isles look to sweep the season series as they host the Sabres in the final game before the Christmas break. The Isles earned two wins over Buffalo in November, winning 4-3 in Western New York and 3-0 at UBS Arena, with Ilya Sorokin earning both victories. 

The Isles are 13-1-0 in their last 14 home games against the Sabres, including 4-1-0 at UBS Arena. 

The Sabres opened the season 4-7-1, then won seven of their next nine (7-2-0), but are 0-9-3 since Thanksgiving Eve.

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