"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 74
Tampa Bay 4, Isles 1
Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman scored 2:32 apart, midway through the second period, as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Isles 4-1, before a crowd of 14,827 at UBS Arena.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Bo Horvat traded first period goals; Nick Paul cemented matters with an early (16:29) empty-netter.
The Isles fall to 32-32-10 as they fall to NHL-.500 for the first time since February 25th; the Islanders are now 0-4-2 in their last six games. The Isles host Minnesota on Friday night and Washington on Sunday afternoon to conclude the homestand.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Oliver Bjorkstrand (20) Darren Raddysh (30), Brayden Point (36) 08:46 TBL 1,NYI 0
Bo Horvat (25) Ryan Pulock (16) 10:57 TBL 1,NYI 1 SHG
2nd Period
Jake Guentzel (38) Nikita Kucherov (77), Brayden Point (37) 08:09 TBL 2,NYI 1
Victor Hedman (14) Nikita Kucherov (78), Jake Guentzel (36) 10:41 TBL 3,NYI 1
3rd Period
Nick Paul (22)EN Anthony Cirelli (27), Erik Cernak (18) 16:29 TBL 4,NYI 1
The Skinny
The Isles are 3-4-3 in the last ten games and 7-7-3 in the last seventeen games …The Isles are 4-2-3 in their last nine home games and 10-4-3 in their last seventeen home games (which started with a 6-0-0 stretch)… The Isles have been outscored 91-79 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 42-34 in those periods over the last 31 games…The Isles were outscored 3-0 at 5-on-5 today….The Isles have scored 146 goals and allowed 141 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 86-55 in all other situations… The Isles went 0-4 on the power play; the Isles have been outscored 22-12 on the power play over the last 43 games… Ilya Sorokin has started nine of the last eleven and 22 of the last 26; he has appeared in 25 of the last 29 games…Sorokin is 7-5-2 in his last fourteen games, and his 27 wins are the second-highest total of his career… The Isles fall to 5-25-2 when trailing after two periods… The Isles allowed the first goal for an NHL-leading 47th time … The Isles scored their eighth shorthanded goal, matching the total that they have allowed; Tampa Bay has allowed twelve shorties this season…The Isles finish 11-12-1 vs. the Atlantic this season…Bo Horvat scored his 2nd shorthanded goal of the season, his 4th as an Islander, and the 15th of his career…Oliver Bjorkstrand's goal gave the Lightning an NHL-leading seven players with at least twenty goals…Nikita Kucherov's two assists gives him a one point lead over Nathan MacKinnon for the Art Ross Trophy (111-110).
Milestone Man
Anders Lee has 287 goals, tying Brent Sutter and Pat LaFontaine for 6th in club history.
The Playoff Chase (through Tuesday)
3rd Metro New Jersey 87 points (35 RW) in 76 games (SAT vs. Rangers)
1st WC Ottawa 84 points (30 RW) in 74 games (THU vs. Tampa Bay, SAT vs. Florida)
2nd WC Montreal 79 points (25 RW) in 74 games (THU vs. Boston, SAT vs. Philadelphia)
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3rd Columbus 77 points (24 RW) in 73 games (THU vs. Colorado, SAT at Toronto)
4th Rangers 77 points (32 RW) in 74 games (WED vs. Minnesota, SAT at New Jersey)
5th Detroit 75 points (26 RW) in 74 games (FRI vs. Tampa Bay)
6th ISLES 74 points (25 RW) in 74 games (FRI vs. Minnesota)
Maximum Points & Regulation Wins
• New Jersey 99/41 (3rd Metro)
• Ottawa 100/38 (WC 1)
• Montreal 95/33 (WC 2)
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• Columbus 95/33
• Rangers 93/40
• Detroit 91/34
• Isles 90/33
Wednesday's Game
Minnesota at Rangers
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 74, Opponents 84
Tying Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 16 (in 15 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 13 (in 12 games), Opponents 10
Empty Net Goals: Isles 13, Opponents 22
The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 42 of their 73 games. In the 31 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (5-25-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but eight of them.
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have fifteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win sixteen times this season, including nine times in the third period.
Overtime
The Isles are 5-8 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-2 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 5-5 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts, Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts, and Marcus Hogberg is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts
Sorokin has 36 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28).
Bo Knows Overtime
Bo Horvat has three overtime goals this season, six as an Islander, and eleven in his NHL career. All six of his overtime goals have come in the last two seasons; John Tavares is the only other Islander with multiple seasons with at least three overtime goals.
Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11
2. Brock Nelson 9
3. Bo Horvat, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey 6
6. Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5
Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Bo Horvat 3 (2024-25)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)
Swede 17
Simon Holmstrom is the first Swedish-born Islander to record 17 goals since the 1981-82 season, when Bobby Nystrom had 22 goals and Anders Kallur had 18 goals. Nystrom (8x) and Kallur (3x) are the only Swedes with more goals in a season than Holmstrom.
Empty Netters
The Isles have scored 13 empty-net goals and allowed 22.
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 51 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 19 times
• Allowed the next goal: 24 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 8 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2024-25 32-32-10 for 74 points in 74 games
• 2023-24 32-27-15 for 79 points in 74 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-1-1
• Season: 29-117-146
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 25 goals in the last 48 games
Home and Road
The Isles are 32-32-10 overall; they are 17-15-5 at home and 15-17-5 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 44-25-5 overall; they are 27-8-2 at home and 17-17-3 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 20-20-4 against the East (9-8-3 vs. Metropolitan and 11-12-1 vs. Atlantic) and 12-12-6 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 5-7-4 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 1,476
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,476) and Patrick Roy (182) have combined for 1,658 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 17-5-5 when scoring first and are 15-27-5 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 10-9-10=29
Tampa Bay 11-6-7=24
The Isles are 16-23-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-8-6 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves; he is 27-23-6 this season and 3-7-0 vs. Tampa Bay.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves; he is 36-19-3 this season and 14-4-1 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-4 (5:38, including a 0:13 5-on-3); Tampa Bay was 0-4 (5:51), but allowed a shorthanded goal.
The Isles are 13-5-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-27-9 when they do not. The Isles are 14-15-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-17-4 when they do not.
The Isles are 9-5-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 6-16-6 when they are outscored, and 17-11-4 when special team goals are equal.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 29-10-6 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-22-4 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 14-7-10 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 5-8 in games decided in overtime and are 2-2 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-9 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 6-4-1 on the front end and 4-7-0 on the back end this season. The final back-to-back will be April 12th-13th in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
The Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (22:14); Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman (23:10)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (18:37).
Face-offs
Isles 29, Tampa Bay 23 (56%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 17 for the Isles; no Lightning won more than he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 25 (Kyle MacLean-5)
Tampa Bay 14 (Mitchell Chaffee -4)
Fights
Casey Cizikas fought Yanni Gourde in the third period. Season total: 10 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas-2, Lee)
Blocked Shots
Isles 13 (Casey Cizikas -3)
Tampa Bay 21 (Six with 2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Tampa Bay 53
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Tampa Bay 31
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech +14
Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman +7
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 14, Tampa Bay 11
5-on-5: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 5
Scratches
(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Mathew Barzal – IR), Matt Martin, Scott Mayfield, Scott Perunovich, Mike Reilly)
Games Lost to injury: 284. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 190 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (100) and Anders Lee (74) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.
National TV Games
Including tonight, the Isles are 2-4-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with three games remaining. The next national game will be on TNT on April 6th as the Isles host the Caps; three of the last eight games will be nationally-televised.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 1-5-2 in matinee games this season, with three games remaining. The next matinee will be April 6 vs. the Caps. 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 13-17-12 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 7 successful, 5 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, no goalie interference – PIT 3/18, offside -MTL 3/20, no goalie interference – MTL 3/20)
Opponents: 8 successful, 4 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, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11, No goalie interference – CBJ 3/24)
Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 1 unfavorable (Goalie interference – CBJ 3/24)
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16
Vs (3): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8, CAR 3/30
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1
Opponent responses (9): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11, CGY 3/22
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
For (3): PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2), PIT 3/18 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2).
Vs (2): 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 (4): 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 @ UTA (18:35-GAG), Kyle MacLean 3/22 vs. CGY (17:09, GAG, but lost in OT)
Vs (9): 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); Jonathan Huberdeau 3/22 vs. CGY (17:38- GTG; CGY won in OT)
OT Winners
For (5): 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), Bo Horvat 3/20 vs MTL (3:37)
Vs (8): 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); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52); Nazem Kadri 3/22 vs CGY (3:51)
Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (2): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY, Adam Fantilli 3/24 vs CBJ
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***
4. Brock Nelson 901 *** 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 6. Casey Cizikas 889 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 847 *** 9. Anders Lee 833 …
22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 553 *** 25. Ken Morrow 550 *** 26. Duane Sutter 547 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal and Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 527
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine, Brent Sutter, and Anders Lee 287 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 113
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 216…
24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25. Noah Dobson 178 *** 26. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 159…
34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Casey Cizikas 146
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 502…
15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…
27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 259
+/-
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 +60 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Ryan Pulock 53 *** 5. Stefan Persson 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 48…
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 ***
4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Noah Dobson 178…
7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 159 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 133…
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 226 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 212…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 159…
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. Ilya Sorokin 248 …
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 122 …
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 15-42-4-3 heading into their School Day Matinee at 10:30AM Wednesday against Lehigh Valley.
Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 23 goals, three ahead of Liam Foudy. Terry's 43 assists and 62 points both lead the team and are tied-2nd and fourth in the AHL, respectively.
The Baby Isles will host Charlotte on Saturday in game 2 of their five-game homestand.
Season Series Stats
Tampa Bay wins the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 2).
The Isles are 3-10-0 in their last 13 games against the Bolts.
UP NEXT
FRIDAY, APRIL 4th – MINNESOTA AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles host Minnesota on Friday night, as they look to end a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1) against the Wild.
Minnesota beat the Isles 6-3 in St. Paul on February 8th in the final game before the Four Nations Cup break. The Wild have won all seven straight against the Isles, including all three games at UBS Arena. The last Islander victory came on December 29, 2019, in St. Paul, by a 3-1 score; the last Isles win over the Wild in New York was on February 10, 2019, at Barclays Center; Devon Toews had the winning goal in a 2-1 win.
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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