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The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

It was another good night for the Isles in the Playoff Chase, as they did not play but Montreal and Detroit both lost in regulation.  Ottawa...

Sunday, February 23, 2025

The Skinny: Dallas 4, Isles 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 56
Dallas 4, Isles 3
Jason Robertson scored three times in the second period, including twice when Casey Cizikas received a match penalty for a hit on Liam Bischel and the Dallas Stars made that hold up for a 4-3 win over the Isles before a crowd of 16,602 at UBS Arena. 

Pierre Engvall, Kyle Palmieri, and Anthony Duclair had the goals for the Isles, but they lost their third straight game and fourth in the last five (1-4-0); the loss also ended a six-game home winning streak for New York. 

The Isles fall to 8-4-0 in their last twelve games and 25-24-7 overall. The Isles host the Rangers on Tuesday night; it will be the Rangers' first trip to UBS Arena this season. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Sam Steel (5) Oskar Bäck (10), Cody Ceci (13) 02:10 DAL 1,NYI 0

2nd Period
Pierre Engvall (4) Kyle MacLean (5), Marc Gatcomb (1) 03:44 DAL 1,NYI 1
Jason Robertson (21) Roope Hintz (15), Mavrik Bourque (10) 08:48 DAL 2,NYI 1
Kyle Palmieri (17) Tony DeAngelo (4), Brock Nelson (19) 08:55 DAL 2,NYI 2
Jason Robertson (22) Roope Hintz (16), Matt Duchene (35) 15:53 DAL 3,NYI 2 PPG
Jason Robertson (23) Wyatt Johnston (33), Matt Duchene (36) 17:28 DAL 4,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period
Anthony Duclair (5) Bo Horvat (22) 09:17 DAL 4,NYI 3 

The Skinny
The Isles have lost three straight after going 8-1-0 in the prior nine games; they are 11-6-0 in their last seventeen games (Including 3-0 in OT)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 35-26 over the last eleven games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 96-95 in the first two periods but have been outscored 69-57 in the third period and overtime; the Isles are much improved in third period and OT in the last fourteen games, outscoring their opponents 20-12…The Isles have scored 114 goals and allowed 101 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 64-39 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 32 of the last 44 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 59-52 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… After killing 27 of 29 in a 13-game stretch, the Isles have allowed three goals in six times short over the last two games … The Isles went 0-2 on the power play; over the last 25 games, the Isles have been outscored 14-4 on the power play… Bo Horvat tied Anders Lee for the team lead with 41 points… Kyle Palmieri scored for the third straight game and the fifth time in the last seven games…Palmieri's goal came seven seconds after Dallas took the lead; it was the fastest response for any NHL team this season…It was the fourth career hat trick for Robertson, who became the 6th Star since the move to Texas to score three times in a period…Marc Gatcomb had his first career assist, coming on Pierre Engvall's first goal since November 19th in Seattle…Anthony Duclair scored his third goal in 22 games since returning from injury…Casey Cizikas fought Matt Dumba for his first fight since December 4, 2022 (against Chicago's Reese Johnson)…It was the 18th straight game that the Isles have been no worse than one goal behind at some point of the third period.

First Time in a Ridiculously Long Time
The Isles have lost four straight games in regulation that they have scored at least three goals (first time since November 1989) after going 23-4-4 prior to that this season.

Milestone Man
Anders Lee played his 815th Islander game, breaking a tie with Bob Bourne.

Brock Stands Alone
Brock Nelson passed Pat LaFontaine for 8th place on the club's point list (567), and for the lead among American-born players. LaFontaine had been the leader in this category since January 21, 1986, when he passed Dave Langevin.

Most Consecutive 20-Win Seasons (Isles)
Chico Resch 5 (1975-76-1979-80)
Rick DiPietro 4 (2003-04, 2005-06-2007-08)
Ilya Sorokin 4 (2021-22 to present)

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.

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 53, Opponents 64
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 13 (in 12 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 10 (in 9 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 16

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 35 of their 56 games. In the 21 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-17-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but five 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 twelve come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 4-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-4 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 10 empty-net goals and allowed 16.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 36 times this season:
Score the next goal: 14 times
Allowed the next goal: 17 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  25-24-7 for 57 points in 56 games
2023-24  23-19-14 for 60 points in 56 games 
 
Offense from Defense
Today:   0-1-1
Season: 19-83-102
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 15 goals in the last 30 games.

Home and Road
The Isles are 25-24-7 overall; they are 13-12-2 at home and 12-12-5 on the road.
Dallas is 37-18-2 overall; they are 21-7-1 at home and 16-11-1 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 16-15-3 against the East (8-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 8-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 9-9-4 against the West (5-5-2 vs. Central and 4-4-2 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 1,469
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,469) and Patrick Roy (175) have combined for 1,644 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 12-5-4 when scoring first and are 13-19-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles    8-18-11=37
Dallas   9-15-5=29
The Isles are 12-16-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 12-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves; he is 20-17-4 this season and 2-1-1 vs. Dallas. 
Jake Oettinger made 35 saves; he is 23-11-3 this season and 5-1-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (4:00); Dallas was 2-4 (5:00).

The Isles are 9-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 16-21-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-13-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-11-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 23-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 11-7-7 in games decided by a single goal including 5-7 in regulation. They are 4-6 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     
The Isles are 5-2-1 on the front end and 3-5-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 3rd -4th when they visit the Rangers and host the Jets.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Anthony DeAngelo (24:37); Dallas: Thomas Harley (season-high 27:54)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (season-high 24:22).

Face-offs
Isles 32, Dallas 33 (49%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 14 for the Isles; Colin Blackwell won 7 of 9 for Dallas. 

Hit Count
Isles 28 (Marc Gatcomb -6)
Dallas 10 (Lian Bischel -3)

Fights 
Casey Cizikas fought Matt Dumba in the second period. Season total: 8 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 15 (Adam Pelech -5)
Dallas 13 (Mathew Dumba -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Dallas 70
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 58, Dallas 55
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Simon Holmstrom +21
Dallas: Three with +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 11, Dallas 21
5-on-5: Isles 9, Dallas 13

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR), (Mathew Barzal – IR), (Margus Hogberg -IR), Matt Martin, Hudson Fasching, Adam Boqvist
Games Lost to injury: 216. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 222 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (172) 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 43 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with five games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; five of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. 

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: 6 successful, 3 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30)

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 (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (6): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23
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 (8): 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); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32)
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 896 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 871 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Anders Lee 815 …
23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter 547 *** 25. Lorne Henning 543 *** 26. Adam Pelech 536 *** 28. Ryan Pulock and Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal 531 *** 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 520

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 292 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 283 …
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 and Mathew Barzal 328…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 275…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 211…
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 143

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Brock Nelson 567 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 493 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 254

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +78 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +63 *** 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 128… 
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. Adam Pelech 154…
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 233 *** 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 115 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 12-33-3-3 after a 3-2 shootout loss to Springfield on Sunday. 

Brian Pinho continues to lead the team with 19 goals, two ahead of Liam Foudy. Chris Terry's 32 assists and 48 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories (he is tied for 2nd in the AHL in points).

The Islanders host Providence on Wednesday.

Season Series Stats
Dallas sweeps the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). 

It was the first regulation win for the Stars ever at UBS Arena; the Isles had gone 3-0-1 in their last four home games with the Stars, who last beat the Islanders in regulation in New York on November 18, 2018. 

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25th – RANGERS AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles conclude the brief homestand when they host the Rangers on Tuesday in the first of two meetings in seven days between the rivals.

This is the fourth season of action at UBS Arena, and only the fifth time the teams have met in Belmont Park. 

The Rangers won the first meeting this season, 5-2, at Madison Square Garden in early November.

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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