The Skinny: Isles 4, Carolina 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 28

Isles 4, Carolina 3

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored a goal and added two assists as part of a four-goal second period as the Isles rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits for a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes before a crowd of 15,619 at UBS Arena. 

Andrei Svechnikov scored twice on the power play for Carolina, who also got a 6-on-5 goal in the final minute, however the Isles outscored the Canes 4-0 at 5-on-5. Bo Horvat's goal with 1:05 to play in the second period would eventually be credited as the game-winner and was Bo's first goal in 14 games.

The Isles, who moved within one point of a playoff spot, are 10-11-7 on the season; they play Ottawa at 5:00 Sunday with a chance to get back to NHL-.500.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Andrei Svechnikov (10) Sebastian Aho (22), Shayne Gostisbehere (17) 15:43 CAR 1,NYI 0 PPG

2nd Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6) Noah Dobson (11), Maxim Tsyplakov (11) 06:05 CAR 1,NYI 1

Andrei Svechnikov (11) Seth Jarvis (10), Shayne Gostisbehere (18) 09:23 CAR 2,NYI 1 PPG

Oliver Wahlstrom (2) 10:06 CAR 2,NYI 2

Maxim Tsyplakov (5) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6), Bo Horvat (14) 16:16 CAR 2,NYI 3

Bo Horvat (6) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) 18:55 CAR 2,NYI 4

3rd Period

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4) Shayne Gostisbehere (19), Martin Necas (28) 19:11 CAR 3,NYI 4

The Skinny

The Isles are 3-5-3 in their last eleven games…The Isles have outscored the opposition 47-38 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 46-24 in the third period and overtime…The 40 goals allowed in the third period are the second-highest total in the NHL (Pittsburgh has allowed 41)…The Isles have scored 51 goals and allowed 44 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 40-20 in all other situations…The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 14 of the last 15 games…The Isles, who lead the NHL with a 55.5% faceoff percentage, won 45% tonight; they have won the majority of draws in 24 of their first 28 games.… The Isles have outscored the opposition 28-18 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago…The Isles are 5th in 2nd period goal differential (+10)…Carolina went 2-3 on the power play; the Isles PK has allowed five goals in times short this month (28.6% PK) and are now 50% on the season at home (13-26)… It is the fifth time this season the Isles have allowed two power play goals (1-2-2) … Maxim Tsyplakov now has 16 points, which is the most by an Islander rookie since Oliver Wahlstrom had 21 points in 2020-21…Tsyplakov leads NHL rookies with 78 hits; it is the most by an Islander rookie since 2017-18, when Ryan Pulock had 113 and Ross Johnston had 89…Kyle Palmieri was pointless for a third-straight game; his next point will be the 500th of his career…Alex Romanov had eight blocks, his most since October 13, 2022 vs. Florida…Isaiah George became the first NHL rookie with six blocked shots this season; it is the most blocks by an Islander rookie since Scott Mayfield had eight on April 9, 2016…The Isles scored four goals in a period for the first time this season; they have won 33 straight games that they scored four or more goals in a period… Shayne Gostisbehere matched a career high with 3 assists, and then met with about 60 Union College alumni (including me) on the ice after the game.  Gostisbehere went +7 in Union's national championship win over Minnesota in 2014.

Milestone Man

Ilya Sorokin earned his 102nd victory, passing Thomas Greiss for 5th place on the Isles' all-time win list.

Top 10 Goal Scorers 

Both Brock Nelson and Anders Lee are looking to rearrange the top-10 goal scoring list in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 285 

• 8. John Tavares 272 

• 9. Anders Lee 271

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 3-3-2 (3-3-0 at home and 0-0-2 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 4-5 OT

• 30-Nov-24 Vs Buffalo    W 3-0

• 3-Dec-24  @ Montreal L 1-2 OT

• 5-Dec-24  Vs Seattle   L 2-5

• 7-Dec-24  Vs Carolina W 4-3

• 8-Dec-24  @ Ottawa

• 10-Dec-24 Vs Los Angeles

• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago

Saturday Night Isles

Since November 19th, the Isles 3-0-0 on Saturday, but 0-4-3 on the other nights of the week.

Set of 5s

The Isles are 5-5-5 on the road this season. Their 15 road points rank them tied-four in the East, behind only New Jersey (22), Washington (22), and Florida (17).

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 23, Opponents 40

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 8

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 21 of their 28 games; they are 1-5-1 in the seven games that they trailed after forty minutes. In the five games that they trailed the entire third period, 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 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 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 5 empty-net goals and allowed 8.

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 17 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 9 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  10-11-7 for 27 points in 28 games

• 2023-24  14-7-7 for 35 points in 28 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 5-39-44

• 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. Connor Hellebuyck 292

48. Ed Giacomin 290

49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada

The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 3-0-3 through six games. 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 (0-0-1 with three 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 nine straight games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Ottawa, a road game on Sunday.

Home and Road

The Isles are 10-11-7 overall; they are 5-6-2 at home and 5-5-5 on the road.

Carolina is 17-9-1 overall; they are 10-3-0 at home and 7-6-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 7-7-3 against the East (3-2-2 vs. Metropolitan and 4-5-1 vs. Atlantic) and 3-4-4 against the West (2-1-2 vs. Central and 1-3-2 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 1,454

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,454) and Patrick Roy (160) have combined for 1,614 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 5-8-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       11-12-2=25

Carolina 10-2-19=31

 

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

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves; he is 7-7-4 this season and 4-5-1 vs. Carolina. 

Pyotr Kochetkov made 21 saves; he is 11-4-0 this season and 3-2-1 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 (4:00) on the power play; Carolina was 2-3 (4:39) on the power play.

The Isles are 7-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-10-6 when they do not. The Isles are 6-4-6 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 10-2-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-9-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 5-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 2-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 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 2-1-1 on the front end and 1-2-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes Sunday in Ottawa. 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.

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: Alexander Romanov (25:06); Carolina: Brent Burns (22:35)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (21:25)

Face-offs

Isles 26, Carolina 32 (55%)

Bo Horvat won 7 of 10 for the Isles; Sebastian Aho won 8 of 13 for Carolina. 

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau -4)

Carolina 17 (William Carrier -7)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 32 (Alexander Romanov -8)

Carolina 8 (Jaccob Slavin -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 48, Carolina 82

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 40, Carolina 56

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Dennis Cholowski +3

Carolina: Andrei  Svechnikov +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Carolina 7

5-on-5: Isles 10, Carolina 5

Scratches

(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-INJ), Grant Hutton, Pierre Engvall

Games Lost to injury: 90.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 194 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (144) 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 0-2-1 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 (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7

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 (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…

5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 868 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 843 *** 8. Matt Martin 839 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 787 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518 *** 31. Dave Lewis and Ryan Pulock 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 511 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 497

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 271 …

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 203…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 31. Noah Dobson 162 *** 32. David Volek 154 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 152 *** 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 473 *** 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. Ryan Pulock +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 48 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Noah Dobson 42…

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 162 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 152…

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 204 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 200…

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 210 *** 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 102 *** 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 fell to 5-14-2-2 with an overtime loss in Springfield on Friday and a 6-3 loss in Providence on Saturday. The B-Islanders are 0-4-1-0 in their last five games.

Brian Pinho leads the team with 12 goals. Chris Terry's 17 assists and 20 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories; the 17 helpers are just one behind the AHL lead.

Bridgeport play Providence again at home on Wednesday and in Rhode Island on Friday. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play again on December 17th in Raleigh.

It is the first Islander regular season home win from Carolina at UBS Arena, raising their record to 1-4-1;  the win ends a regular season seven-game home winless streak (0-5-2) vs. the Canes. 

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8th –ISLES AT OTTAWA 5:00pm

[MSGSN (Pre-Game at 4:30pm), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles look for a four-point weekend as they face the Sens in Ottawa for the second time in just over a month; the Isles won 4-2 on November 7th

The Isles have points in five straight games (3-0-2) against Ottawa and are 8-2-0 over the last seven years in ten trips to the Canadian capital. Overall, the Isles are 15-3-2 in the last 20 games against the Sens.

The teams will meet at UBS Arena on January 14th to complete 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