"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 30
Los Angeles 3, Isles 1
Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala scored to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead and the Isles could never catch them, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Kings before a crowd of 15,402 at UBS Arena.
Anders Lee scored midway through the second period to get the Isles within one, and in doing so passed John Tavares for 8th place on the Isles' goal-scoring list, but the score stayed the same until the final seconds when Mikey Anderson scored Los Angeles' NHL-leading 13th empty net goal to cement the Kings' 6th straight win.
The Isles fall back below NHL-.500 with a record of 11-12-7 on the season as they failed to extend their winning streak to three games; the loss keep them tied with the Rangers in points, with both team now outside of the top eight in the East. The Isles host Chicago on Thursday in the front end of a home-and-home series.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Adrian Kempe (14) Anze Kopitar (24), Trevor Moore (12) 13:51 LAK 1,NYI 0
2nd Period
Kevin Fiala (10) Joel Edmundson (5), Alex Turcotte (7) 03:09 LAK 2,NYI 0
Anders Lee (13) Kyle Palmieri (12), Brock Nelson (8) 09:47 LAK 2,NYI 1
3rd Period
Mikey Anderson (4)EN Adrian Kempe (14) 19:46 LAK 3,NYI 1
The Skinny
The Isles have outscored the opposition 50-42 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 47-26 in the third period and overtime…The 41 goals allowed in the third period are the second-highest total in the NHL (Pittsburgh-44)…The Isles have scored 53 goals and allowed 47 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 42-23 in all other situations…The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 15 of the last 17 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 29-20 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… …Noah Dobson' point streak ended at four games and Bo Horvat's ended at three. ..Anze Kopitar, playing his 1401st NHL game, extended his assist streak to four games…The Isles finished with 20 shots on goal; it was the 13th straight game that they had 31 or fewer…The Isles have only 33 shots over the last two games; it is only the 8th time in club history that has happened and the first time since 2019.
Milestone Man
• Anders Lee scored his 273rd goal, passing John Tavares for 8th place on the Isles' all-time list.
First Times For Everything
• The Isles had only two shots on goal in the third period on Saturday, 5-5-3 shots over three periods on Sunday and three shots in the first period tonight. It marked the first time in Islander history that they had been held to five shots or fewer over five consecutive periods.
• Anders Lee is the first Islander aged 34 or older to score 13 goals in the first 30 games, breaking the record of 12, set by Ed Westfall (then 35) in the 1975-76 season.
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 are nearing the end of a stretch where they played eight of 11 games are at home; they do not play consecutive road games during that stretch. So far, the Isles are 4-4-2 (3-4-0 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 L 1-3
• 12-Dec-24 Vs Chicago
Weekend Warriors
Since November 19th, the Isles 3-0-0 on Saturday and 1-0-0 on Sunday, but 0-5-3 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-third in the East (pending Florida's late game in Seattle), behind only New Jersey (22) and Washington (22).
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 25, Opponents 41
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 22 of their 30 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 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 9.
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 11-12-7 for 29 points in 30 games
• 2023-24 14-8-8 for 36 points in 30 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-0-0
• Season: 5-41-46
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense is on pace for 14 goals, which would set a club record (currently 15).
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 11-12-7 overall; they are 5-7-2 at home and 6-5-5 on the road.
Los Angeles is 17-8-3 overall; they are 10-2-1 at home and 7-6-2 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 3-5-4 against the West (2-1-2 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 1,455
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 6-9-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 3-10-7=20
Los Angeles 12-13-5=30
The Isles are 5-6-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 6-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves; he is 8-8-4 this season and 1-4-0 vs. Los Angeles.
Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves; he is 6-2-3 this season and 7-6-2 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00) on the power play; Los Angeles was 0-1 (2:00) on the power play.
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-11-6 when they do not. The Isles are 7-4-6 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 11-2-4 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 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 3-4 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: Noah Dobson (26:31); Los Angeles: Mikey Anderson (26:56)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (21:36).
Face-offs
Isles 18, Los Angeles 20 (47%)
Casey Cizikas won 4 of 6 for the Isles; Anze Kopitar won 10 of 15 for Los Angeles.
Hit Count
Isles 16 (Maxim Tsyplakov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau -3)
Los Angeles 14 (Tanner Jeannot -4)
Fights
None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)
Blocked Shots
Isles 9 (Maxim Tsyplakov -3)
Los Angeles 12 (Phillip Danault -3)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Los Angeles 60
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 47, Los Angeles 57
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: No Isle was a + (for the 2nd straight game)
Los Angeles: Kevin Fiala +16
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 13, Los Angeles 17
5-on-5: Isles 8, Los Angeles 16
Scratches
(Mathew Barzal – LTIR), (Anthony Duclair-LTIR), (Adam Pelech – IR), (Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-INJ), (Scott Mayfield-ILL), Hudson Fasching
Games Lost to injury: 101. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 196 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (146) 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 870 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 845 *** 8. Matt Martin 841 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 789 …
28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Nick Leddy 518 *** 31. Ryan Pulock 516 *** 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, 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 264…
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 549 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 476 *** 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 +57 *** 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 212 *** 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, heading into a Wednesday home game with Providence.
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 will also play the Baby Bruins in Rhode Island on Friday.
Season Series Stats
Los Angeles leads the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play again on March 11th at Crypto.com Arena.
It was only the third loss (6-3-0) in the last nine home games with the Kings, who own points in seven straight games against the Isles (6-0-1).
UP NEXT
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12th –CHICAGO AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (Pre-Game at 7:00pm), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will play consecutive games with the Chicago Blackhawks beginning on Thursday in Connor Bedard's only visit to UBS Arena this season.
The Isles have gone 4-0-2 in the last three seasons vs. the Hawks. Last season the Isles dropped a 4-3 overtime decision in Chicago in Lane Lambert's last game as Islander Head Coach, and then earned a 2-1 victory on April 2nd for their only win on a back-end of a back-to-back last team.
The teams will meet on Sunday in Chicago to complete the season series, but 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