The Skinny: Chicago 5, Isles 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 32

Chicago 5, Isles 3

The day started well, as Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech both returned to the lineup, but it did not end that way, as Connor Bedard scored the tie-breaking goal with 54 seconds to play, and Connor Murphy added an empty-netter as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Isles 5-3 before a crowd of 19,264 at United Center. 

The Islanders had scored to tie the game three times but could not equalize Bedard's winner in his 100th NHL game.

The Isles once again fall below NHL-.500 with a record of 12-13-7 on the season as they drop to 3-2-0 in the last five games; the loss deprived the Isles of a chance to move into a playoff spot.  The Isles have only one game in the next five days, and it is on Tuesday in Carolina. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Ilya Mikheyev (3) Teuvo Teravainen (8), Nolan Allan (5) 09:08 NYI 0,CHI 1

Ryan Pulock (1) 18:43 NYI 1,CHI 1

Taylor Hall (7) Teuvo Teravainen (9), Alex Vlasic (13) 19:40 NYI 1,CHI 2

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (9) Pierre Engvall (4), Kyle MacLean (3) 02:25 NYI 2,CHI 2

Teuvo Teravainen (7) Connor Bedard (19), Alex Vlasic (14) 15:19 NYI 2,CHI 3 PPG

3rd Period

Noah Dobson (4) Brock Nelson (10), Maxim Tsyplakov (12) 00:47 NYI 3,CHI 3

Connor Bedard (7) Ryan Donato (7) 19:06 NYI 3,CHI 4

Connor Murphy (1)EN 19:49 NYI 3,CHI 5

The Skinny

The Isles have allowed the opening goal in seven straight games; they have outscored the opposition 54-46 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 52-30 in the third period and overtime…The 46 goals allowed in the third period are the highest total in the NHL…The Isles have scored 58 goals and allowed 49 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 44-23 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 17 of the last 19 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-21 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles finished with 33 shots on goal; it was their most shots in 20 games (37 at Rangers on 11/3)… The Isles are 1-7-1 when trailing after two periods…The loss ended the Isles 4-game weekend winning streak (Saturday/Sunday)…Noah Dobson had eight shots on goal, matching a career high; Bo Horvat (11/1 at Buffalo) is the only other Isles with eight shot in a game this season... Ryan Pulock scored on a shot measured at 101.3 mph; there have been seven shots of at least 100 mph in the NHL this season and Pulock has recorded three of them…Six of the Isles' nine goals by defensemen has come in just three games (at Vancouver, vs. Chicago, at Chicago); seven of the nine have come in games against Western Conference foes…Connor Bedard is the youngest player since Taylor Hall (11-25-10 for EDM vs COL) to score a go-ahead goal in the 60th minute and only the eighth teenager since expansion to do so…Bedard went 0-7 in the face-off circle and has won less than 30% of his draws this season.

Milestone Men

• Scott Mayfield played his 500th NHL game.

• Brock Nelson played his 872nd game, tying Clark Gillies for 5th place in club history.

• Simon Holmstrom is the 6th Swedish-born Islander to reach 30 career goals, passing Niklas Andersson (29). Bob Nystrom (born in Sweden, raised in Canada) had 235; Anders Kallur had 101.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

• The Isles dressed eight players who had played 500 or more games for the team; it is the 9th time in club history that it happened, but the first time since January 2, 1986. 

First Time for Everything

The Isles dressed three defensemen (Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield) with 500 games of experience as Islanders.

Other First Times in a Long Time

The Isles scored a tying goal three times for the first time since October 24, 2023, vs. Colorado; it last happened on the road on February 15, 2022, in Buffalo.

Moving On Up

Noah Dobson scored his 44th goal, passing Roman Hamrlik for 8th place on the defense goal scoring list. Dobson also scored for the second straight game; it is the seventh time that has happened, but he has never scored in three straight games.

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 

Road Winners

The Isles are 6-6-5 on the road this season. Their 17 road points rank them tied-fourth in the East, behind Washington (24), New Jersey (22) and Florida (19).

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 29, Opponents 46

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

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

Empty Net Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 23 of their 32 games. In the nine games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-7-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA). 

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, one fewer than Philadelphia 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 now has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 6 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 18 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 7 times

• Allowed the next goal: 10 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  12-13-7 for 31 points in 32 games

• 2023-24  15-8-9 for 39 points in 32 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-0-2

• Season: 9-44-53

• 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 4-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 3-0-3 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 (1-0-1 with two 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 ten straight games against Canadian teams; the next three Canadian opponents will all be Toronto with road games on December 21 and December 31, and a home game on January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-13-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 6-6-5 on the road.

Chicago is 10-18-2 overall; they are 5-8-0 at home and 5-10-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-7-3 against the East (3-2-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-5-1 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 1,456

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,456) and Patrick Roy (162) have combined for 1,618 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 5-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-10-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       6-14-13=33

Chicago 10-6-7=23

The Isles are 5-7-3 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 9-9-4 this season and 4-1-1 vs. Chicago. 

Arvid Soderblum made 30 saves; he is 2-8-1 this season and 1-3-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 (6:51) on the power play; Chicago was 1-2 (2:05) on the power play, and scored just 0:12 into a 5-on-3.

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-12-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-5-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-8-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-10-3 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 (24:26); Chicago: Alex Vlasic (23:56)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (20:56).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Chicago 22 (56%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 10 for the Isles; Ryan Donato won 4 of 7 for Chicago. 

Hit Count

Isles 27 (Adam Pelech and Matt Martin -4)

Chicago 22 (Two with 3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Three with 2)

Chicago 10 (Louis Crevier -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Chicago 41

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Chicago 36

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Noah Dobson +18

Chicago: Alex Vlasic +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, Chicago 7

5-on-5: Isles 13, Chicago 7

Scratches

(Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Bo Horvat-INJ), Grant Hutton, Isaiah George

Games Lost to injury: 110. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 198 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (148) 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 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with nine games remaining. The next national game will stream on December 17th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles visit Carolina. 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 (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. Clark Gillies and Brock Nelson 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 847 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 791 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy and Ryan Pulock 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 512 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 511 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 500

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 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. Brock Nelson 266…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 205…

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 477 *** 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 +74 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +60 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +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 45 *** 8. Noah Dobson 44…

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 96 *** 20. Dave Langevin, Thomas Hickey, and Scott Mayfield 95

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 209 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

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

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

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 214 *** 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 104 *** 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 5-17-2-2 on the season and 0-7-1-0 in their last eight games, following losses to Providence and Laval this weekend, 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category; the 18 helpers are just two behind the AHL lead. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Bridgeport heads to Charlotte for late afternoon games next Saturday and Sunday. 

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).  

The loss ends the Isles seven-game point streak against Chicago (5-0-2).

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17th –ISLES AT CAROLINA 3:000pm

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

The Isles head to Carolina for a nationally streamed game against the Hurricanes on Tuesday. 

The Isles scored four second period goals to beat Carolina at UBS Arena, 4-3 on December 7th.

The Isles won both regular season meetings in Carolina last season by identical 5-4 scores but went 0-3 in Raleigh in the opening round of the playoffs. 

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