The Skinny: Isles 4, Vegas 0

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 41

Isles 4, Vegas 0

Anders Lee scored a first period goal in his 800th NHL game, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for his 20th career shutout as the Islanders blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0  before a sellout crowd of 17,713 at T-Mobile Arena. 

Brock Nelson scored for the first time in eighteen games and Bo Horvat scored for the third time in two games to build a 3-0 lead before Casey Cizikas' 250th point sealed matters with an empty-net goal.

The Isles have won consecutive games for the first time since December 7-8 and will look to sweep a road trip of at least three games for the first time in over six years on Saturday in Utah. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anders Lee (19) Brock Nelson (12) 17:04 NYI 1,VGK 0

2nd Period

Brock Nelson (11) Mathew Barzal (8), Alexander Romanov (8) 5:30 NYI 2,VGK 0

Bo Horvat (13) Kyle Palmieri (15), Alexander Romanov (9) 10:41 NYI 3,VGK 0

3rd Period

Casey Cizikas (4)EN Jean-Gabriel Pageau (12), Noah Dobson (16) 17:26 NYI 4,VGK 0 

The Skinny

The Isles scored the opening goal for only the 3rd time in the last 16 games…The Isles have outscored the opposition 60-57 thru two periods but have been outscored 60-40 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 80 goals and allowed 74 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 53-30 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 23 of the last 29 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 41-33 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin has started 16 of the last 17 games, going 8-7-1 …Brock Nelson had gone 17 games without a goal, one shy of his career-longest streak (done twice)..The Isles killed their only penalty (with help from video review) but did not score on their only power play opportunity, dropping them to 0-21 over the last twelve games. … Over the last twelve games, the Isles have been outscored 9-0 on the power play… Matthew Barzal has a four-game assist streak and five assists in the last six games…Bo Horvat has three goals in the last two games; he is the fifth player with at least eleven career goals against Vegas…Anders Lee is the first Islander to score a goal in his 800th NHL game…It was Lee's 42nd game-winning goal, tying John Tavares for 5th in club history…Alex Romanov and Noah Dobson combined for three assists while each went +3 in their first games since turning 25 a day apart earlier this week…Vegas has been shutout in three of their ten regulation losses…Despite being outscored 1-0 by the Isles, Vegas is a league-best +29 in the third period…The Isles won consecutive games for the third time this season, and consecutive road games for the first time this season.

Il-ya Sor-o-kin

Ilya Sorokin recorded his 20th career shutout. Since he debuted in January 2021, only Connor Hellebuyck (22) has more shutouts – and he has started 50 more games. It was Sorokin's 2nd  shutout at T-Mobile Arena and his 2nd shutout of the season; he is the sixth goal to have multiple shutouts in each of the last five seasons.

Shoot the Puck, Ryan, Shoot the Puck (Kids ask your parents)

Ryan Pulock had a shot in the first period registered at over 100 mph. He now has four of them this season, matching the total of every other defensemen in the NHL, combined!

Most Consecutive Games Without a Power Play Goal (Isles History, one season)

12 -  11/10-12/9/2010

12 -  11/26-12/20/1972

12 -  12/10/24-CURRENT

The 0-21 stretch leaves the Isles power play at 11-101 (10.9%) on the season.

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee

Playing his 800th game, Anders Lee extended his club lead in goals with goal 19.  Lee is 6-0-6 in six games since Christmas. At 19-14-33, Lee is on pace to set career highs in assists (23 - twice) and points (62 in 2017-18). Lee is the last Islander to score 40 goals (2017-18) and only Brock Nelson (3x), Bo Horvat (2023-24) and Kyle Palmieri (2023-24) have reached 30 goals in the interim. 

First Times in a Long Time

Four Islanders with 800 games of team experience appeared in the same game for the first time since April 6, 1986 (Potvin-Gillies-Trottier-Bourne). No NHL team has had that happen since Chicago (Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews) did so on November 29, 2019.

Weekend Warriors

The Islanders have won five straight Saturday games (four at home, and one in Toronto). The Isles are 9-11-3 in their last 23 games (5-0-0 on Saturday; 4-11-3 on other days). Seven of their last nine wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee played his 800th game.

• Casey Cizikas recorded his 250th career point.

• Noah Dobson's record his 167th assist, passing Jeff Norton and  tying Jean Potvin for 6th place on the club's assist list.

• Mathew Barzal's next assist will be his 323rd, tying Brent Sutter for 9th place in club history.

• Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.

Top 5 Goal Scorers 

Brock Nelson needs just two more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:

• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 

• 7. Brock Nelson 286 

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 38, Opponents 54

Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 9

Empty Net Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 12

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 29 of their 41 games. In the twelve games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-10-1), 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 seven 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

Ten of the first 26 Islanders games went to overtime; 14 of the last 15 have been decided in regulation. They are 2-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 2-4 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 12.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 29 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 11 times

• Allowed the next goal: 15 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  16-18-7 for 39 points in 41 games

• 2023-24  19-12-10 for 48 points in 41 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-3-3

• Season: 13-61-74

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Islander defensemen have earned 34.3% of the team's assists, which is tied-5th in the NHL, and 25.7% of the team's points, which is 7th.

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 5-2-3 so far (1-0-0 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). Six of the seven remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-2-3 in the last thirteen games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponents will be Ottawa at UBS Arena on January 14th.

Home and Road

The Isles are 16-18-7 overall; they are 7-9-2 at home and 9-9-5 on the road.

Vegas is 28-10-3 overall; they are 17-5-0 at home and 11-5-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 11-12-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-8-1 vs. Atlantic) and 5-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 2-4-2 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 1,460

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,460) and Patrick Roy (166) have combined for 1,626 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 8-3-4 when scoring first and are 8-15-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles     6-6-9=21

Vegas  8-11-11=30

The Isles are 8-11-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 8-6-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves; he is 13-13-4 this season and 2-2-1 vs. Vegas. 

Adin Hill made 17 saves; he is 17-7-2 this season and 2-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00); Vegas was 0-1 (2:00),

The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-17-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-8-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-15-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (24:37); Vegas: Alex Pietrangelo (23:23)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (20:21).

Face-offs

Isles 27, Vegas 17 (61%)

Bo Horvat won 11 of 14 for the Isles; Brett Howden won 5 of 9 for Vegas. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Casey Cizikas -4)

Vegas 12 (Keegan Kolesar -3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 21 (Three with 3)

Vegas 8 (Zach Whitecloud-2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Vegas 72

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 41, Vegas 63

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: No Isle was a +

Vegas: Victor Olofsson +15

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Vegas 8

5-on-5: Isles 6, Vegas 5

Scratches

(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Hudson Fasching-INJ), (Isaish George -INJ), (Simon Holmstrom – IR), Grant Hutton

Games Lost to injury: 136. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 207 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (157) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 11 

2. Brock Nelson 8 

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 18

Barzal has a point on 21 of the 41 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: 3 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)

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 (1): CHI 12/12

Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (3): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5

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 (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 (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 (2): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10)

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 881 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 856 *** 8. Matt Martin 845 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 800 …

28. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 29. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 30. Ryan Pulock 527 *** 31. Adam Pelech  521 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 520 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Dave Lewis 514 *** 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 ***  37. Scott Mayfield 508

Goals    

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 …

5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 *** 7. Brock Nelson 286  *** 8. Anders Lee 279 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 131…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …

8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Brent Sutter 323 *** 10. Mathew Barzal 322…

14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 268…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 207…

26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 156… 

35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. 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 554 …

13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Anders Lee 486 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 453…

28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 250

+/-

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 +74 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +58 *** 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 50 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…

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. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 156 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 121… 

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…

6. Jean Potvin 213 *** 7. Noah Dobson 212 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 206…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 147…

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 222 *** 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 108 …

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 7-21-2-2 as they head to Providence on Friday.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 16 goals. Chris Terry's 21 assists pace the Baby Isles in that category and is tied with Pinho for the team point lead with 25.

The Islanders open a four-game homestand Sunday.

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet at UBS Arena on February 4th to wrap up the season series. 

The Isles have now recorded two shutouts in their seven trips to Vegas (both by Sorokin). They are 4-3-0 in Vegas all-time, allowing only three total goals in their four wins.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11th –ISLES AT UTAH 9:00pm

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 8:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles look to sweep the road trip as they make their first-ever trip to Salt Lake City to face Utah HC.

Utah rallied for a 5-4 overtime win in the Isles' home opener back in October in the only meeting between the teams.

The Isles have not swept a road trip of at least three games since October 27-28-30, 2018, when they defeated Philadelphia, Carolina, and Pittsburgh.

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