"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 31
Isles 5, Chicago 4
Simon Holmstrom scored a goal and added two assists, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau contributed three helpers as the Islanders built a 5-1 lead midway through the third period and then held on for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks before a crowd of 16,170 at UBS Arena.
Conor Bedard had a first period power play goal and then added two assists in the final nine minutes for the Hawks. The Isles broke the game open with three goals in a 2:19 span of the third only to have Chicago respond with three goals of their own, including twice in the final 70 seconds.
The Isles regain NHL-.500 with a record of 121-12-7 on the season as they improve to 3-1-0 in the last four games, the win ties the Islanders with the Rangers in points, but both teams trail Tampa Bay by one point for the final playoff spot. The Isles head to Chicago on Sunday afternoon to complete the home-and-home series.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Connor Bedard (6) Ryan Donato (6), Alex Vlasic (11) 16:47 CHI 1,NYI 0 PPG
2nd Period
Dennis Cholowski (3) Simon Holmstrom (9), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) 06:59 CHI 1,NYI 1
Simon Holmstrom (8) Ryan Pulock (10), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (9) 14:06 CHI 1,NYI 2
3rd Period
Noah Dobson (3) Brock Nelson (9), Anders Lee (12) 05:39 CHI 1,NYI 3
Bo Horvat (8) Simon Holmstrom (10), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (10) 06:36 CHI 1,NYI 4
Maxim Tsyplakov (6) Kyle Palmieri (13), Noah Dobson (14) 07:58 CHI 1,NYI 5
TJ Brodie (1) Connor Bedard (17), Nick Foligno (5) 11:04 CHI 2,NYI 5
Tyler Bertuzzi (7) Taylor Hall (7) 18:50 CHI 3,NYI 5
Tyler Bertuzzi (8) Alex Vlasic (12), Connor Bedard (18) 19:50 CHI 4,NYI 5
The Skinny
Simon Holmstrom recorded his first career three-point game, raising his total to 52 career points (29-23-52)… Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded his first three-assist game as an Islander, hitting that mark for only the second time in his career (March 12, 2016, vs. Toronto)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 52-43 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 5-29 in the third period and overtime…The 44 goals allowed in the third period are tied with Pittsburgh for 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 16 of the last 18 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 31-20 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles finished with 21 shots on goal; it was the 14th straight game that they had 31 or fewer…Each team scored three times in the third period, marking the first time that has happened (3+ for each team) since December 6, 2022, when the Blues outscored the Isles 4-3 in the 3rd period of a 7-4 win…The Isles defense scored twice, after tallying only five times in the first 30 games; four of the seven goals have come in just two games (11/14 at Vancouver)…Dennis Cholowski scored his 3rd goal of the season; it is the most goals that he has scored since he was a rookie (8 in 2018-19)…It is the first time this season that the Isles have scored three times in the third period…The three goals in 2:19 were the fastest by the Isles since February 9, 2022 in Vancouver (three in :31, which is the 2nd-fastest in club history)…Ilya Sorokin improves 8-35-15 when allowing at least four goals; only four of the eight wins have been in regulation…TJ Brodie scored his first goal as a Blackhawk and only his second in his last 137 games…Chicago is 1-6-0 in their last seven games, beating only the Rangers on Monday…Maxim Tsyplakov's goal tied him for 4th among rookies with six; he leads all rookies with a +9 rating; thirteen of his 17 points have come at home, where he is +10…The Hawk rally gave Tsyplakov his first game-winning goal….Chicago is 1-14-0 when leading after two periods.
On The Cusp
• Bo Horvat's third period goal was the 249th of his NHL career
• Scott Mayfield played his 499th NHL game.
First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time
• The Isles have only 54 shots over the last three games; it is only the 3rd time in club history that has happened and the first time since a three-game stretch that ended exactly 23 years earlier: December 12, 2001.
Moving On Up
Noah Dobson scored his 43rd goal, matching Roman Hamrlik for 8th place.
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
Home Cooking
The Isles end a stretch where they played eight of 11 games are at home; they did not play consecutive road games during that stretch. The Isles went 5-4-2 (4-4-0 at home and 1-0-2 on road) in that stretch:
• 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 L 1-3
• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago W 5-4
Weekend Warriors
Since November 19th, the Isles 3-0-0 on Saturday and 1-0-0 on Sunday, but 1-5-3 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-fourth in the East, behind Washington (24), New Jersey (22) and Florida (19).
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 28, Opponents 44
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 9
The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 23 of their 31 games; they are 1-6-1 in the seven games that they trailed after forty minutes. In the six 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 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 9.
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 12-12-7 for 31 points in 31 games
• 2023-24 15-8-8 for 38 points in 31 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 2-2-4
• Season: 7-43-50
• 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
46. Connor Hellebuyck 293
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 12-12-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 6-5-5 on the road.
Chicago is 9-18-2 overall; they are 4-8-0 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 4-5-4 against the West (3-1-2 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 7-9-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 6-8-7=21
Chicago 11-5-14=30
The Isles are 5-6-3 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 8-8-4 this season and 1-4-0 vs. Chicago.
Arvid Soderblum made 14 saves before being replaced after the Isles' 5th goal; he is 2-7-1 this season and 0-3-0 vs the Isles. Drew Commesso stopped the only two shots he faced in his NHL debut.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00) on the power play; Chicago was 1-2 (3:37) on the power play.
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-11-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-4-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 4-8-1 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 12-2-4 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 3-4 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: Brock Nelson (22:50); Chicago: Alex Vlasic (25:23)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (22:50).
Face-offs
Isles 40, Chicago 15 (73%)
Casey Cizikas won 12 of 15 for the Isles; no Hawk won more than he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 22 (Alex Romanov and Casey Cizikas -4)
Chicago 15 (Nick Foligno -3)
Fights
None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Six with 3)
Chicago 15 (Connor Murphy -4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Chicago 61
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, Chicago 53
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Max Tsyplakov +11
Chicago: Connor Murphy +11
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Chicago 13
5-on-5: Isles 5, Chicago 10
Scratches
(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-INJ), Hudson Fasching, Grant Hutton
Games Lost to injury: 106. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 197 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (147) 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 (1): CHI 12/12
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 871 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 846 *** 8. Matt Martin 842 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 790 …
28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518 *** 31. Ryan Pulock 517 *** 32. Dave Lewis 514 *** 33. Adam Pelech 511 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 510 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 499
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 265…
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 5509 …
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 +73 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +59 *** 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 48 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik and Noah Dobson 43…
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 208 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 201…
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 213 *** 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 5-15-2-2 on the season and 0-5-1-0 in their last six games, following a 4-2 home loss on Wednesday to Providence. Justin Gill scored his first professional goal while Brian Pinho scored his team-leading 13th.
Brian Pinho leads the team with 13 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists and 21 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories; the 18 helpers are just one behind the AHL lead.
Bridgeport will also play the Baby Bruins 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 Sunday in Chicago to complete the season series.
UP NEXT
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th –CHICAGO AT ISLES 3:000pm
[MSGSN (Pre-Game at 2:30pm), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will complete the home-and home with a game in Chicago against the Blackhawks.
The Isles have gone 5-0-2 in the last seven games vs. the Hawks. The were in Chicago last January 19th and the Isles dropped a 4-3 overtime decision in Chicago in Lane Lambert's last game as Islander Head Coach.
The Hawks will play in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon before heading home.
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
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