The Skinny: Isles 6, Toronto 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Isles 6, Toronto 3

The Isles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:48 and the Maple Leafs could not catch them. Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists, and Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal as the Isles beat Toronto 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 18,912 at Scotiabank Arena.

William Nylander twice brought the Leafs within a goal, but George and Noah Dobson scored 5:13 apart in the third period to help secure the victory in the first game the Isles played since November 3rd with fewer than three players on the injured list. 

 

The Isles improve to one game below NHL-.500 with a record of 13-14-7 on the season. They can get back to NHL-.500 with a win over Buffalo on Monday at UBS Arena. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Maxim Tsyplakov (7) Bo Horvat (15), Simon Holmstrom (11) 01:49 NYI 1,TOR 0

Bo Horvat (9) Alexander Romanov (3) 04:48 NYI 2,TOR 0

William Nylander (22) John Tavares (17), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (11) 12:29 NYI 2,TOR 1

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) Anders Lee (13), Alexander Romanov (4) 16:08 NYI 3,TOR 1

2nd Period

William Nylander (23) David Kampf (4), Matthew Knies (8) 05:43 NYI 3,TOR 2

3rd Period

Isaiah George (1) Anthony Duclair (2), Scott Mayfield (5) 05:23 NYI 4,TOR 2

Noah Dobson (5) Simon Holmstrom (12), Bo Horvat (16) 10:36 NYI 5,TOR 2

Bobby McMann (9) Mitch Marner (35), Jake McCabe (8) 13:49 NYI 5,TOR 3

Mathew Barzal (3)EN Anders Lee (14) 17:40 NYI 6,TOR 3

The Skinny

The Isles scored the opening goal, ending a streak of eight games where they allowed the opening tally… The Isles have outscored the opposition 57-52 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 53-33 in the third period and overtime…The 47 goals allowed in the third period match the highest total in the NHL …The Isles have scored 66 goals and allowed 58 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 47-24 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 18 of the last 21 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-24 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles are 10-2-2 when leading after two periods…Ilya Sorokin made his tenth straight start (5-4-1)… The Isles are 4-5-3 in their last twelve road games (4-0-3 in Canada and 0-5-0 in the US)…Mathew Barzal won all four of his face-offs; it is the most draws that he has won without a loss…Scott Mayfield went +5 for the second time in his career (10/18/2018 at Los Angeles)…The Isles defense has scored seven goals in the last eight games after tallying only four times in the first 26 games…Bo Horvat is 4-4-8 in his last seven games played; he now leads the team with sixteen assists…Anders Lee is now 13-14-27 on the season, leaving him just three assists shy of last season's total; Lee has not finished a season with more assists than goals since 2019-20….Isaiah George's first goal is a game-winner; he is the youngest Islander defenseman with a game-winner since Mathieu Biron (2-13-2000 at Rangers)…Anthony Duclair, playing his first game in nine weeks, earned an assist on George's goal; he is 2-2-4 in six games with the Isles…The Isles have scored 19 goals in the six games Duclair has played…William Nylander scored two goals for the fifth time this season…John Tavares had an assist but failed to score his 200th goal as a Maple Leaf; when he does he will be the fifth player with 200 goals for multiple NHL teams…Alex Romanov matched his season total with two assists…Since the start of last season, the Isles are 21-1-3 when scoring multiple first period goals (5-1-0 this season)…The Isles tied a season high with their six goals (also at Colorado on October 14) while the Leafs allowed six for only the second time (first time at home).

Milestone Men

• Brock Nelson played his 200th consecutive game.

• Kyle Palmieri played his 150th consecutive game. 

• Noah Dobson scored his 45th goal, tying Nick Leddy for 7th among defensemen

• Scott Mayfield earned his 96th assist, tying Johnny Boychuk for 19th among defensemen and breaking a tie with Thomas Hickey and Dave Langevin.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles scored three first period goals for the second time this season but the first time they have done so against Toronto since December 29, 2015.

• The Isles scored twice in the opening five minutes for the first time since February 9, 2022, in Vancouver.

• It was the first penalty-free Isles game since November 1, 2015, vs. Buffalo.

By George, He Did It!

Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal, and it was a game-winner. He is the youngest defenseman in Islander history (20 years, 310 days) to score a game-winning first NHL goal (replacing Samuel Bolduc- 22 years, 60 days), and the youngest Islander to do so since Kyle Okposo (19 years, 340 days) did so on March 21, 2008, at New Jersey.

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 

Top 10 Assist Leaders

Mathew Barzal remains tied with Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 32, Opponents 47

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

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

Empty Net Goals: Isles 7, Opponents 10

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 24 of their 34 games. In the ten games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-8-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but two of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR). 

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

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 7 empty-net goals and allowed 10.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 23 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 12 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  13-14-7 for 33 points in 34 games

• 2023-24  16-9-9 for 41 points in 34 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-3-5

• Season: 11-47-58

• 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 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 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 (2-0-1 with one 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 eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.

Home and Road

The Isles are 13-14-7 overall; they are 6-7-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.

Toronto is 21-11-2 overall; they are 14-5-0 at home and 7-6-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-8-3 against the East (3-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-5-1 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 1,457

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,457) and Patrick Roy (163) have combined for 1,620 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 6-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-11-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       9-12-13=34

Toronto  6-10-13=29

The Isles are 6-8-3 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 10-10-4 this season and 6-3-0 vs. Toronto. 

Joseph Woll made 28 saves; he is 9-5-0 this season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-0 (0:00) on the power play; Toronto was 0-0 (0:00) on the power play. 

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-13-6 when they do not. The Isles are 8-6-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-11-3 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 (23:02); Toronto: Morgan Rielly (22:13)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (18:04).

Face-offs

Isles 33, Toronto 18 (65%)

Casey Cizikas won 7 of 10 for the Isles; no Maple Leaf won more than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 10 (Four with 2)

Toronto 34 (Two with 5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Ryan Pulock -3)

Toronto 15 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 69, Toronto 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, Toronto 48

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Five players were +14

Toronto: Two with +8

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 18, Toronto 12

5-on-5: Isles 18, Toronto 11

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

Games Lost to injury: 115. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 200 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (150) 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 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. 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 12/3 @ MTL (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. Brock Nelson 874 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 849 *** 8. Matt Martin 843 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 793 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 520 ***31. Nick Leddy 518 *** 32. Dave Lewis and Adam Pelech 514 *** 34. Mathew Barzal 513 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 37. Scott Mayfield 502

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 131…

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 207…

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 480 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 448…

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. Pat Price +70 *** 19. Adam Pelech +69 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 22. 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 49 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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 and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 210 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 202…

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

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 122

Goalie Games

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

4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 216 *** 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 105 *** 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 5-18-2-2 on the season and 0-8-1-0 in their last nine games, after dropping a 6-2 decision in Charlotte on Saturday. John Leonard had a hat trick for the Checkers. They will also play in North Toronto on Sunday at 4pm. 

Brian Pinho leads the team with 14 goals. Chris Terry's 18 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category. Pinho and Terry share the team lead with 21 points.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). 

The Isles have won five straight games against Toronto since the first time since the mid-1980s; it is their longest active streak against any opponent.

The Isles are 9-6-0 against the Leafs in the fifteen games since John Tavares switched teams; Tavares has gone 6-6-12 in those games against the Isles.

The team will meet again on New Year's Eve afternoon in Toronto before wrapping up the series at UBS Arena two nights later.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23rd –BUFFALO AT ISLES 7:30pm

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

The Isles look to sweep the season series as they host the Sabres in the final game before the Christmas break. The Isles earned two wins over Buffalo in November, winning 4-3 in Western New York and 3-0 at UBS Arena, with Ilya Sorokin earning both victories. 

The Isles are 13-1-0 in their last 14 home games against the Sabres, including 4-1-0 at UBS Arena. 

The Sabres opened the season 4-7-1, then won seven of their next nine (7-2-0), but are 0-9-3 since Thanksgiving Eve.

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