The Skinny: Isles 3, Buffalo 0

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 25

Isles 3, Buffalo 0

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his 19th career shutout and Anders Lee scored the deciding goal on a second period power play and added an assist as the Isles blanked the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 before a crowd of 16,299 at UBS Arena. 

Simon Holmstrom scored twice, including an empty-netter, to give him four goals over back-to-back games. 

The Isles, who went 6-5-4 in November, are 9-10-6 on the season; they head to Montreal on Tuesday in their first of 13 games scheduled for December. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Anders Lee (10) Kyle Palmieri (10), Dennis Cholowski (4) 07:23 BUF 0,NYI 1 PPG

Simon Holmstrom (6) Anders Lee (9) 09:28 BUF 0,NYI 2

3rd Period

Simon Holmstrom (7)EN 19:52 BUF 0,NYI 3

The Skinny

The Isles are 2-4-2 in their last eight games…The Isles have outscored the opposition 42-31 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 43-22 in the third period and overtime…The 38 goals allowed in the third period are the most in the NHL…The Isles have scored 45 goals and allowed 42 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 32-19 in all other situations…The Isles are 7-2-2 when leading after 40 minutes as they improve to 2-2-2 in the last six games in that situation…The Isles have had a third period lead at some point in eight of their last nine games and have been tied or better in twelve straight home games …The Isles, who lead the NHL with a 56.1% faceoff percentage, have won the majority of draws in 23 of their first 25 games…Isaiah George's assist streak ended at three games, which matched the club record for under-21 defensemen….The Isles are 7-1-1 when they score on the power play; their nine power play goals have come in nine different games.… The Isles have outscored the opposition 23-14 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago…Their +11 differential through two periods is tied-8th in the NHL …The Isles scratched Pierre Engvall and dressed seven defensemen for the 2nd time under Patrick Roy (4-17-2024 vs. Pittsburgh)…Bo Horvat won 19 face-offs, matching his career high as an Islander (4-12-2023 vs. Montreal)…Anders Lee tied Kyle Palmieri for the team lead in points (identical 10-9-19 totals) and tied Palmieri and Brock Nelson for the team lead in goals…The Isles end November two points out of a playoff spot.

Big Night for Sorokin

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his 19th career shutout (and first in 58 games) and earned his 101st win, tying him with Thomas Greiss for 5th place on the club's all-time win list. Sorokin lowered his goals against average to 2.52 as he blanked the Sabres for the second time.

Two by Two for Holmstrom

Simon Holmstrom has consecutive multi-goal games. He is:

• The first Isle to do so since Anders Lee (3/7-3/10/2022)

• The first Isle to do so in back-to-back games since Mathew Barzal (12/28-12/29/2018)

• The youngest Isle to do so in back-to-back games since Barzal (12/28-12/29/2018)

Holmstrom remains the youngest forward on the Islander roster (only defenseman Isaiah George is younger).

Milestone Man

Anders Lee was credited with his 41st career game-winning goal, tying Clark Gillies for 6th place on the club's all-time list.

Correlation Does Not Imply Causation

The opponent was successful for the third time this season with a challenge; however, the challenges have come in the last three Islander wins (at Vancouver, vs. St. Louis, vs. Buffalo).

Club 200  

Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson, Tomas Jonsson and Noah Dobson are the only defensemen to record their first 200 points as Islanders. Ryan Pulock needs one point to join that club.

Home Cooking

The Isles are in the midst of playing eight of 11 games are at home; they do not play consecutive road games during that stretch. So far, the Isles are 2-2-1 (2-2-0 at home and 0-0-1 on road):

• 23-Nov-24 Vs St. Louis W 3-1

• 25-Nov-24 Vs Detroit     L 2-4

• 27-Nov-24 Vs Boston    L 3-6

• 29-Nov-24 @ Washington L 4-5ot

• 30-Nov-24 Vs Buffalo    W 3-0

• 3-Dec-24  @ Montreal

• 5-Dec-24  Vs Seattle

• 7-Dec-24  Vs Carolina

• 8-Dec-24  @ Ottawa

• 10-Dec-24 Vs Los Angeles

• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 21, Opponents 38

Tying Goals: Isles 3, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 5 (in 4 games), Opponents 7

Empty Net Goals: Isles 5, Opponents 7

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 19 of their 25 games; they are 1-4-1 in the six games that they trailed after forty minutes. In the four games that they trailed the entire third period, they have been within one goal at some point in all but one of them (10/12 @ DAL).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have four 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 nine overtime games, tied with PHI and CGY for most in NHL. They are 1-5 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-3 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 7.

Killing Their Own PP

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

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 16 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 8 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  9-10-6 for 24 points in 25 games

• 2023-24  11-7-7 for 29 points in 25 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 4-36-40

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The 137 assists were the most since 2006-07, when they also had 137.

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

46. Mike Liut 293

47. Ed Giacomin 290

      Connor Hellebuyck 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Home and Road

The Isles are 9-10-6 overall; they are 4-5-2 at home and 5-5-4 on the road.

Buffalo is 11-11-2 overall; they are 6-6-1 at home and 5-5-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 6-7-2 against the East (2-2-2 vs. Metropolitan and 4-5-0 vs. Atlantic) and 3-3-4 against the West (2-1-2 vs. Central and 1-2-2 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 133 games at UBS Arena and recorded 92 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,453

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,453) and Patrick Roy (159) have combined for 1,612 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 4-7-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    6-8-6=20

Buffalo  9-7-13=29

The Isles are 5-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 4-4-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 6-6-3 this season and 7-3-2 vs. Buffalo.

James Reimer made 17 saves; he is 1-3-0 this season and 9-3-3 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 (4:20) on the power play; Buffalo was 0-2 (4:00) on the power play.

The Isles are 7-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-9-5 when they do not. The Isles are 5-3-5 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-7-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 9-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-8-2 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 4-3-6 in games decided by a single goal including 1-3 in regulation. They are 1-5 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

Including today, the Isles are 1-1-1 on the front end and 1-2-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 7th vs Carolina and December 8th in Ottawa.

Fewest Wins on Back-end

0 1972-73 (0-22-3)

1 2023-24 (1-6-3)

2 2012-13 (1-5-1; 48-game schedule)

3 1994-95 (2-3-3; 48-game schedule)

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Bo Horvat (21:38); Buffalo: Rasmus Sandin (26:49)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:38)

Face-offs

Isles 32, Buffalo 24 (43%)

Bo Horvat won 19 of 26 for the Isles; Ryan MacLeod won 8 of 11 for Buffalo. 

Hit Count

Isles 30 (Matt Martin -7)

Buffalo 16 (Two with 3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Scott Mayfield -3)

Buffalo 13 (Alex Tuch -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Buffalo 63

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 33, Buffalo 52

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee +6

Buffalo: Peyton Krebs +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Buffalo 9

5-on-5: Isles 3, Buffalo 6

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Jean-Gabriel Pageau-INJ),  Pierre Engvall

Games Lost to injury: 76.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 191 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (141) 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 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with ten games remaining. The first national game will stream on December 5th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host Seattle. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles

Including today, the Isles are 0-2-1 in matinee games this season, with 8 games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 15th in Chicago. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-15-11 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, 1 failure (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0):

Vs (0): 

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

Isles responses (1): BUF 11/1

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

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (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 (5): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG)

OT Winners

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

Vs (5): 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)

Shootout Winners

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

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…

5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 865*** 7. Casey Cizikas 840 *** 8. Matt Martin 837 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 784 …

31. Dave Lewis 514 *** 32. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 511 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 494

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, John Tavares 272 *** 9. Anders Lee 270 …

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 263…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 202…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 31. Noah Dobson 160 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 151 *** 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 548 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 472 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 447…

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

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 *** 2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105  *** 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 ***17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +73 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Ryan Pulock +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 48 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Noah Dobson 41…

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

Defense Assists

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

6. Jean Potvin 167 *** 7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 160 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 151…

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 201 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 199…

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 207 *** 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. Thomas Greiss and Ilya Sorokin 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   

Marcus Hogberg made 33 saves, but Bridgeport fell to 5-11-1-2 with a 2-0 home-ice loss to Belleville on Saturday; the same teams will play again on Sunday afternoon. 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 11 goals and 17 points. Chris Terry's 14 assists continue to pace the Baby Isles in that category.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). The teams have only one meeting remaining, on December 23rd at UBS Arena. 

The Isles are 13-1-0 in their last fourteen home meetings with the Sabres, including 4-1-0 at UBS Arena.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3rd  –ISLES AT MONTREAL 7:00pm

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

Following their first consecutive days off in two weeks, the Isles will head to Montreal Tuesday night to face the Canadiens for the second time this season

The Isles defeated Montreal 4-3 at UBS Arena back on October 19th in a 9-round shootout; Noah Dobson had the deciding tally. This has been a series dominated by the home team in recent years; the Isles are 0-2-1 in their last three trips to La Belle Province but have won the last four meetings at UBS Arena. 

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

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