The Skinny: Isles 4, Ottawa 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 29

Isles 4, Ottawa 2

This time the Islander special teams helped win a game. Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri each scored power play goals as the Islanders earned a sweep of their weekend back-to-back with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators before a crowd of 15,878 at Canadian Tire Centre. 

Kyle MacLean and Bo Horvat, the latter into the empty net, also scored for the Isles; Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves as the Isles had only 13 shots on goal for the first time in over five years. 

The Isles regained NHL-.500 for the first time since November 23rd with a record of 11-11-7 on the season; they return home to face Los Angeles on Tuesday with a chance to go over .500 for the first time in nearly a month.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Adam Gaudette (13) Noah Gregor (2), Tim Stützle (23) 05:37 NYI 0,OTT 1

Anders Lee (12) Noah Dobson (12), Kyle Palmieri (11) 12:27 NYI 1,OTT 1 PPG

Kyle MacLean (2) Dennis Cholowski (5), Pierre Engvall (3) 14:48 NYI 2,OTT 1

2nd Period

Josh Norris (12) Drake Batherson (19), Tim Stützle (24) 00:37 NYI 2,OTT 2 PPG

3rd Period

Kyle Palmieri (11) Anders Lee (11), Noah Dobson (13) 13:46 NYI 3,OTT 2 PPG

Bo Horvat (7)EN 19:09 NYI 4,OTT 2

The Skinny

The Isles have won consecutive games for the second time this season; in both cases, the second win came in Ottawa…. The Isles are back to NHL-.500 for the first time since a 3-1 win over St. Louis on November 23rd left them with an 8-8-5 record…The Isles have outscored the opposition 49-40 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 46-26 in the third period and overtime…The 41 goals allowed in the third period are tied for the highest total in the NHL with Pittsburgh…The Isles have scored 52 goals and allowed 45 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 41-23 in all other situations…The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 15 of the last 16 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 28-19 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago…Ottawa went 1-3 on the power play; the Isles PK has allowed six goals in ten times short this month (40.0% PK) … The Isles went 2-2 on the power play; it is the first time this season the Isles have scored two power play goals and the first time that they had scored two power play goals in a road win since November 14, 2022, in Ottawa… Alex Romanov had five blocks, giving him 13 for the weekend; he has 44 in 18 games this season…Bo Horvat has scored in consecutive games; he is now +11 over the last six games…Tim Stutzle has points in nine of his last ten games (3-10-13)…Adam Gaudette scored his career-high 13th goal; he had 12 with the Canucks in 2019-20 but only scored ten total goals in the four seasons since then…Ilya Sorokin earned wins in both ends of the back-to-back; it is the first time since March 31-April 1, 2022, that an Isle goalie (Varlamov) had earned wins in consecutive days…Noah Dobson has a point in four straight games (1-4-5); he will have a chance to match his career-high five-game point streak on Tuesday...The Isles earned their first win in the last six road games (1-2-3).

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee scored his 272nd goal, tying John Tavares for 8th place on the Isles' all-time list.

• Kyle Palmieri earned his 500th and 501st career points. The last 146 of these points have come with the Isles.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time

The Isles won a game that they had thirteen or fewer shots on goal for the first time since October 31, 2000, vs. Boston. It is only the 4th time in club history that has happened, with two of the four happening in Ottawa:

• 10/17/98 @ St. Louis (W 1-0 with 12 shots on goal)

• 4/6/00 @ Ottawa (W 2-1 with 13 shots on goal)

• 10/31/00 Vs Boston (W 4-2 with 13 shots on goal)

• 12/8/24 @ Ottawa (W 4-2 with 13 shots on goal)

Overall, the Isles are 4-9-0 when held to 13 shots or fewer. The last time that the Isles were held to 13 or fewer was on March 19, 2019, when they had 13 shots in a 5-0 loss to Boston at Barclays Center.

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 and Anders Lee 272

Nowhere to Go But Up

The Isles started play with the lowest-ranked power play and penalty kill in the NHL. It was the first time since February 3, 2020, that a team (then Detroit) was last in both categories this late in the season

By going 2-2 on the power play, they improve to 11-80 (13.8%), leaving Boston (11.5%) with the lowest-ranked power play. The Isles killed 2 of 3 power plays, and still have the lowest-rated penalty kill (65.1%).

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 4-3-2 (3-3-0 at home and 1-0-2 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 W 4-2

• 10-Dec-24 Vs Los Angeles

• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago

Weekend Warriors

Since November 19th, the Isles 3-0-0 on Saturday and 1-0-0 on Sunday, but 0-4-3 on the other nights of the week.

Road Winners

The Isles are 6-5-5 on the road this season; it is the third consecutive season that they have earned exactly 17 points in their first sixteen road contests. Their 17 road points rank them tied-third in the East, behind only New Jersey (22) and Washington (22).

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 25, Opponents 40

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

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 7

Empty Net Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 8

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 22 of their 29 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 five 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 8.

Building on a Lead

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

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 9 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  11-11-7 for 29 points in 29 games

• 2023-24  14-7-8 for 36 points in 29 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 5-41-46

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

Ottawa is 12-13-2 overall; they are 8-6-1 at home and 4-7-1 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 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 1,455

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,455) and Patrick Roy (161) have combined for 1,616 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 6-8-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       5-5-3=13

Ottawa 12-7-12=31

 

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

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 8-7-4 this season and 4-0-1 vs. Ottawa. 

Anton Forsberg made nine saves; he is 4-6-0 this season and 2-8-0 vs the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-2 (1:04) on the power play; Ottawa was 1-3 (5:15) on the power play.

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-10-6 when they do not. The Isles are 7-4-6 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 11-2-4 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 3-3 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 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: Alexander Romanov (24:56); Ottawa: Thomas Chabot (23:02)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:58).

Face-offs

Isles 19, Ottawa 32 (37%)

Bo Horvat won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Claude Giroux won 7 of 10 for Ottawa. 

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Casey Cizikas -6)

Ottawa 16 (Nick Cousins -3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 21 (Alexander Romanov -5)

Ottawa 10 (Jake Sanderson -2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 36, Ottawa 67

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 27, Ottawa 55

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: No Isle was a +

Ottawa: Nick Jensen +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 5, Ottawa 11

5-on-5: Isles 2, Ottawa 11

Scratches

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

Games Lost to injury: 95.   (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 195 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (145) 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 ***

4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 869 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 844 *** 8. Matt Martin 840 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 788 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518 *** 31. Ryan Pulock 515 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 511 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 498

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 and Anders Lee 272 …

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 204…

28. Jean Potvin 167 *** 29. Jeff Norton 166 *** 30. Noah Dobson 164 *** 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 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 475 *** 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 164 *** 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 206 *** 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 211 *** 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 103 *** 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 5-14-2-2 on the season and 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 two 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 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). The teams will play again on January 14th at UBS Arena.

The Isles have points in six straight games (4-0-2) against Ottawa and are 9-2-0 over the last seven years in eleven trips to the Canadian capital. Overall, the Isles are 16-3-2 in the last 21 games against the Sens.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10th –LOS ANGELES AT ISLES 7:30pm

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

The Isles look for their first three-game winning streak of the season when they welcome the Los Angeles Kings to UBS Arena on Tuesday. 

It is the first meeting of the season between the teams; last season the Isles rallied for a 3-2 win in overtime at home, and then lost 3-0 in Los Angeles. The Isles are 6-2-0 in their last eight home games with the Kings but are only 1-7-0 in their last eight trips to Los Angeles.

The teams will meet March 11th at Crypto.com Arena 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