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The Skinny: Minnesota 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 55 Minnesota 6, Isles 3 The Wild scored the game's final five goals to erase a 3-1 Islander...

Sunday, January 26, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 3, Carolina 2 (OT)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 48
Isles 3, Carolina 2 (OT)
On a night the Isles lost Ryan Pulock :15 into the game, trailed 2-0 before the first commercial break, and lost goaltender Marcus Hogberg before overtime, they still won. Brock Nelson scored 2:03 into the extra session to complete the comeback, and spoil the Carolina debuts of Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall, for a 3-2 win over the Hurricanes before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

The Isles have won four straight for the first time this season as they overcame two Carolina goals 72 seconds apart; Alex Romanov scored late in the first to get the Isles on the board and Anders Lee tied the game on a rebound in the third to set the stage for Nelson's ninth career overtime goal. 

The Isles improve to 4-2-0 on this homestand and 21-20-7 overall. It is the first time since November 14th  (7-6-4) that the Isles have been over NHL-.500. The final game of the seven-game homestand is Tuesday against Colorado, as the Isles look to go two games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season.

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Jack Roslovic (18) Jesperi Kotkaniemi (14), Dmitry Orlov (19) 05:18 CAR 1,NYI 0
Sebastian Aho (16) Jalen Chatfield (7) 06:30 CAR 2,NYI 0
Alexander Romanov (1) Casey Cizikas (2), Adam Pelech (11) 17:53 CAR 2,NYI 1

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Anders Lee (21) Bo Horvat (20), Alexander Romanov (11) 06:26 CAR 2,NYI 2

OT
Brock Nelson (15) Kyle Palmieri (20) 02:03 CAR 2,NYI 3 

The Skinny
The Isles have won four straight and are 7-2-0 in their last nine games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 81-77 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-47 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 93 goals and allowed 83 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 57-35 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 28 of the last 36 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 48-39 in the second period this season (including 7-1 in the last four games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 15 of 16 over their last nine games (93.8%) and they have the best PL in the NHL in that span… Over the last eighteen games, the Isles have been outscored 10-3 on the power play…The Isles improve to 3-13-1 when trailing after two periods…Bo Horvat had a point for the fifth straight game while Adam Pelech extended his point streak to four games for the first time in his NHL career... Ryan Pulock, injured in the opening seconds, is the only Islander defenseman to play every game this season… Mathew Barzal's point streak ended at four games… Islander goalies have allowed one goal or fewer six times in the last eight games…The Isles allowed the opening goal for the 31st  time this season, matching San Jose for the most in the NHL….The Isles have been credited with 149 hits (37.3 per game) during their four-game win streak…Alex Romanov scored for the first time since March 7, 2024, in San Jose (54 games)...Bo Horvat dominated the face-off circle, winning 19 of 26, matching his totals on November 30th vs. Buffalo…Sebastian Aho reached the 50-point mark for the eighth straight season; he is the fifth Finnish player to do so….Tony DeAngelo played 25:07 in his Islander debut, including 5:15 on the power play. (most since he played 25:14 on 12/23/22 for Philadelphia against Carolina)…Brock Nelson is 5-5-10 in last eight games.

The Injuries
Ryan Pelech suffered an upper body injury :15 into the game and did not return; Margus Hogberg left the game at the end of regulation with an upper body injury. 

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles are playing seven consecutive home games for the first time since 2021-22 (twice) but that reflected games rescheduled due to COVID. The Isles all played seven straight at home in 2013 (lockout season), but this is the first time since February-March 2007 that seven straight were scheduled at home in an original schedule.
It is the first time since Jan 21-Feb 18, 2012, that the Isles have beaten Carolina in consecutive home games.
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games in a single season for the first time since winning the final eight Saturday games of the 2005-06 season.
After sixteen consecutive home games ending in regulation, the Isles played overtime at UBS Arena for the first time since November 9th against New Jersey. It is the longest single-season streak of its sort since going 17 games from 1/16-3/14/2015.
The Isles are back to NHL-.500 at home for the first time since November 23 (3-3-2).
The Isles have not allowed a goal after the first period in three straight games for the first time since April 27-May 1, 2021.

Hogberg's Injury Generates its Own Skinny Section
By leaving the game after regulation, Marcus Hogberg's injury led to several strange facts:
Hogberg is the 2nd goalie in team history to play at least sixty minutes without getting a decision  (Evgeny Nabokov 64:45 on 10/27/2011 vs. Pittsburgh (SOL)
Sorokin played the fewest amount of time (2:03) to earn a win in club history; the previous record was 2:24 by Wade Dubielewicz on 1/4/2006 vs. Florida.
Sorokin is the first goalie in club history to earn a victory making one save (or fewer); the previous record was two saves  by Thomas Greiss (in 9:40 on 3/5/2019 vs. Ottawa).
...and technically Sorokin has now allowed one goal or fewer in three straight appearances.

Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 332 minutes for the Isles, allowing eight goals on 151 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Most Ice-Time in Isles Debut (Real-Time Era)
1. Roman Hamrlik 26:04  10/6/2000
2. Dallas Eakin 25:28       12/18/1999
3. Tony DeAngelo 25:07  1/25/2025

Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won eight straight Saturday games (six at home and two on the road). The Isles are 14-13-3 in their last 30 games (8-0-0 on Saturday; 6-13-3 on other days). Ten of their last fourteen wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Successive Saturday Successes
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games, matching the longest Saturday win streak (single season) in the Post-Cup era (Also in 2005-06); the last time the Isles had a longer Saturday win streak was December 19, 1981- February 20, 1982 when they won nine straight, with the final five games being games 2, 5, 8, 11, and 15 of the historic 15-game win streak.

Easy as 28-27-29
As pointed out by fellow Union College alum (and Islander season ticketholder) Ed Koval, the three goals scored tonight were scored by players wearing consecutive uniform numbers.

Milestone Men
Mathew Barzal has 327 assists, just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.
Pyotr Kotchetkov played his 100th NHL game

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 44, Opponents 57
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 7 (in 6 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 14

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 31 of their 48 games. In the 17 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-13-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have eleven come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win nine times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 3-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-4 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 9 empty-net goals and allowed 14.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season:
Score the next goal: 12 times
Allowed the next goal: 15 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  21-20-7 for 49 points in 48 games
2023-24  20-17-11 for 51 points in 48 games 

Offense from Defense
Today:   1-2-3
Season: 16-70-86
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 5-3-3 so far (1-1-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played eight straight road games in November/December going 4-1-3. They went 0-1-0 in January; five of the six remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-3-3 in the last 14 games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Winnipeg on February 7th in the Isles' final game in Canada this season. 

Home and Road
The Isles are 21-20-7 overall; they are 11-11-2 at home and 10-9-5 on the road.
Carolina is 30-16-4 overall; they are 19-5-1 at home and 11-11-3 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 14-14-3 against the East (7-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-9-1 vs. Atlantic) and 7-6-4 against the West (4-2-2 vs. Central and 3-4-2 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 1,465
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,465) and Patrick Roy (171) have combined for 1,636 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 9-4-4 when scoring first and are 12-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles      10-9-6-1=26
Carolina 9-8-9-1=27
The Isles are 10-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Marcus Hogberg made 24 saves in regulation. Ilya Sorokin made 1 overtime save; he is 16-14-4 this season and 5-6-1 vs. Carolina. 
Pyotr Kotchetkov made 23 saves; he is 18-9-3 this season and 4-2-2 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00); Carolina was 0-1 (2:00).

The Isles are 9-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 9-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 3-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-1-1 on the front end and 3-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be February 1st-2nd when they visit Tampa bay and Florida.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (season-high 26:41); Carolina: Jaccob Slavin (23:43)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (season-high 23:19).

Face-offs
Isles 45, Carolina 24 (65%)
Bo Horvat won 19 of 26 for the Isles; No Hurricane won more than he lost. 

Hit Count
Isles 38 (Casey Cizikas -7)
Carolina 19 (Two with 3)

Fights 
Jean-Gabriel Pageau fought Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period. Season total: 5 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 14 (Scott Mayfield -3)
Carolina 17 (Jaccob Slavin -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Carolina 67
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 51, Carolina 57
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Tony DeAngelo +8
Carolina: Shayne Gostisbehere +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Carolina 14
5-on-5: Isles 8, Carolina 11

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-IR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR),  Matt Martin, Max Tsyplakov, Dennis Cholowski
Games Lost to injury: 167. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 214 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (164) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11 
2. Brock Nelson 9 
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

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 19
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 42 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 0-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with seven games remaining. The next national games will stream on January 28th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Avs and January 30th on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles visit the Flyers. The remaining five national telecasts are all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. 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: 4 successful, 3 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14)

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (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, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18
Opponent responses (6): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5

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)), WSH 11/29 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 (3): 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); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (7): 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); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG)

OT Winners
For (3): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03)
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 888 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 863 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 807 …
26. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 27. Ryan Pulock 534 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 30. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 31. Adam Pelech 528 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 527 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Scott Mayfield 515

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 290 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 281 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 327…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 271…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 209…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Noah Dobson 169 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 157… 
35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Casey Cizikas 140

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 561 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 490 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 461…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 251

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +81 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +62 *** 21. 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 51 *** 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742***  2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 169 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 125… 
17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 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…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 215 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 208…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 151…
18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 226 *** 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. Ilya Sorokin 111 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 20 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 10-27-2-2 after a 2-1 loss in Lehigh Valley on Saturday; Chris Terry scored Bridgeport's only goal.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 24 assists and 36 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories.

Bridgeport hosts a rematch with Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. 

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3). The final meeting will be on March 30th in Carolina.

The home team has won all three games this season, after the road team won all four games last season. 

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28th  –COLORADO AT ISLES 7:30pm
[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look to extend the winning streak to five games as they welcome the Colorado Avalanche, with newly-acquired Martin Necas and Jack Drury, to UBS Arena for the only time this season. 

The Isles will look to sweep the season series with Colorado for the first time since 2018-19, having won 6-2 in Denver on October 14th. 

The teams have played three wild games at UBS Arena since the building opened, with the Isles losing 5-4, winning 5-4 and losing 7-4 (with two empty nets). It will be the first time Patrick Roy has faced his former team on Long Island.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 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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