NYISkinny: Eric Hornick's Blog: 2025

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The Skinny: Detroit 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 34

Detroit 3, Isles 2

Alex DeBrincat scored two power play goals in the third period, the latter with just 2:17 to play, as the Detroit Red Wings rallied for a 3-2 win over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 19,515 at Little Caesars Arena.

Emil Heineman scored a career-high 11th goal 4:27 into play to give the Isles an early lead; Scott Mayfield's first goal of the season tied the game with 8:34 to play, but Mayfield was in the penalty box for the winning goal.

The Isles fall to 15-7-2 in their last 24 games; they return home for the front-end of a back-to-back as they face Vancouver on Friday,

The Scoring:

1st Period

Emil Heineman (11) Mathew Barzal (17), Jonathan Drouin (13) 04:27 NYI 1,DET 0

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Axel Sandin-Pellikka (4) Lucas Raymond (25) 02:03 NYI 1,DET 1

Alex DeBrincat (19) Moritz Seider (19), Lucas Raymond (26) 03:55 NYI 1,DET 2 PPG

Scott Mayfield (1) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8), Anders Lee (13) 11:26 NYI 2,DET 2

Alex DeBrincat (20) Moritz Seider (20), Lucas Raymond (27) 17:43 NYI 2,DET 3 PPG

The Skinny

The Isles are 19-9-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 41 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 0-1 on the power play and allowed goals both times they were short; the Isles are 8-30 on the power play in the last ten games and have allowed three goals in six times short over the last two games… The Isles lost in regulation for the first time this season when leading after two periods (10-1-1); they drop to 17-2-3 when leading or tied …Mathew Barzal earned an assist for the fourth straight game as he extended his point streak to five games … Scott Mayfield scored for the first time since April 8th in Nashville… Alex DeBrincat scored twice, including the game-winner, for the second straight game; he had only one goal in 18 previous games against the Isles… DeBrincat is the first Red Wing to score 20 goals in each of his first three seasons since Brendan Shanahan, who did so in his first nine seasons in Detroit…Lucas Raymond assisted on all three goals; it is the seventh time he has three assists in a game…John Gibson stretched his winning streak to six games, one shy of his career high…The Isles remain in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division; they remain three points behind Carolina and are one point ahead of Philadelphia and Washington.

Milestone Men

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 488th point, tying Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Anders Lee still needs three goals to become the fifth Islander with 300 goals.

• Ryan Pulock remains tied with Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list; Pulock is two points behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.

• Emil Heineman played his 100th NHL game.

• Matthew Schaefer played his 34th game, matching Dave Chyzowski for the second-highest total by an 18-year-old in club history; Tim Connolly holds the record – 81 games.

First Times in a Long Time

• Detroit scored multiple power play goals in a game against the Isles for the first time since January 31, 2015.

• The Isles were held to 18 shots on goal; it is their fewest in a game against the Red Wings since they had 17 shots at Joe Louis Arena on March 17, 1995.

• The Isles have been held to 18 shots on fewer in consecutive games for the first time since October 28-31, 2000 (at Montreal and vs. Boston).

December to Remember

The Isles are 6-2-0 in the first eight games this month, including five wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s. The Isles have twelve points in December and 88 points in calendar year 2025 (with six games to play); they had 11 points last December and finished calendar year 2024 with 86 points.

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 10-5-1 (.929 and 1.99) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season; Jeremy Swayman (11) is the only goalie with more than ten wins in that span.

In December, Sorokin is 5-0-0 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against average.

Detroit had only 21 shots on goal tonight. Sorokin has won each of his first nine games facing at least 30 shots; that breaks a tie with Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 7-3-1 on the season. In his last six games (4-1-1), he has stopped 144 of 156 shots for a 1.94 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG

3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL

5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)

A 20-year-old Islander has played more than 28:53 only twice (Bryan Berard -31:30; Travis Hamonic -28:54). The younger of these was Hamonic (vs PIT) on April 8, 2011, when he was 20 years, 235 days old; Schaefer will not hit that age until April 27, 2028.

Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game

1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)

2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes five times and at least 26 minutes nine times. He is the first 18-year-old to do either of these things since ice time became official.

Most Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman

1. Phil Housley (BUF) 17 (1982-83)

2. Bobby Orr (BOS) 13 (1966-67)

3. Matthew Schaefer 9 (2025-26)

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 9 (2018-19)

Zach Bogosian (ATL) 9 (2008-09)

Most Power Play Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman

1. Phil Housley (BUF) 10 (1982-83)

2. Matthew Schaefer 5 (2025-26)

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 5 (2018-19)

Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Matthew Schaefer 9

2. Bryan Berard 7

Only nine Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have scored at least nine goals, led by Bryan Trottier's 32 and Pat LaFontaine' 26.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Matthew Schaefer 14

Only eleven Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 14 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 95 and Tim Connolly's 75.

Most Points by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 39

2. Matthew Schaefer 23

Only ten Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 23 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 63 and Tim Connolly's 51.

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 132 Isles games.

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)

2. Mathew Schaefer 34 (9-14-23)

Dave Chyzowski 34 (8-6-14)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 7-5-1 so far in this stretch (6-3-1 at home and 1-2-0 on the road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have nine come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win seven times this season, including three times in the third period.

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 3-3 in shootouts.

Empty Netters

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 6.

Most Career Empty Net Goals

1. Bryan Trottier 27

2. John Tavares 20

3. Mike Bossy 15

4. Brock Nelson 13

5. Jason Blake 11

Casey Cizikas 11

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 19 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 8 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26 19-12-3 for 41 points in 34 games

• 2024-25 13-14-7 for 33 points in 34 games; they did not reach 41 points until their 42nd game.

Offense from Defense

• Today: 1-0-1

• Season: 14-52-66

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today: 0-0-0

• Season: 17-26-43

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 17 rookie goals are tied for the most in the NHL while the 43 points trail only Chicago.

Home and Road

The Isles are 19-12-3 overall; they are 10-6-2 at home and 9-6-1 on the road.

Detroit is also 19-12-3 overall; they are 10-6-1 at home and 9-6-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-8-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-4-1 vs. Atlantic) and 9-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 6-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 14-4-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles 7-7-4=18

Detroit 8-5-8=21

The Isles are 4-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 13-3-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 12-9-2 this season and 5-5-2 vs. Detroit.

John Gibson made 16 saves; he is 10-7-1 this season and 5-5-1 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00); Detroit was 2-2 (1:31).

The Isles are 11-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-9-2 when they do not. The Isles are 6-5-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-7-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 11-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-5-1 when they are outscored, and 5-6-2 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-10-0 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-3-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo.

The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (25:56); Detroit: Simon Edvinsson (25:05)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (22:26).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Detroit 24 (55%)

Jonathan Drouin won 4 of 4 for the Isles; JT Compher won 9 of 16 for Detroit.

Hit Count

Isles 16 (Marc Gatcomb -7)

Detroit 14 (Michael Rasmussen -3)

Fights

None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, DeAngelo)

Blocked Shots

Isles 21 (Emil Heineman -5)

Detroit 19 (Jacob Bernard-Docker -3)

For the Analytics Crowd

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, Detroit 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 46, Detroit 57

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: No Isle was a "+"

Detroit: Max Crozier +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 5, Detroit 13

5-on-5: Isles 5, Detroit 12

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Bo Horvat -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 156. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 142 consecutive games. Anders Lee (116) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.

National TV Games

The Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 2-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:00pm on New Year's Day against Utah. 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 17-20-14 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)

Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)

Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2

Vs (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30

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

Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4

Opponent responses (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

For (0):

Vs (0):

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (5): Anders Lee, GWG(18:57)10/18 OTT, Matthew Schaefer, GTG (18:53) and Simon Holmstrom GWG (19:22) 11/2 CBJ, Kyle Palmieri GAG (17:07 11/10 NJ)- Isles won in OT, Mathew Barzal (17:23 11/13 VEG); Isles won in OT

Vs (3): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO; Alex DeBrincat GWG (17:43 12/16 DET)

OT Winners

For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA

Vs (0):

Shootout Winners

For (3): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9, TBL 12/13

Vs (3): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Casey Cizikas 931 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 875 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 594 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 567 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 563

Goals

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 297 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 143…

26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 117

Assists

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

5. Clark Gillies 359 *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 345…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, and Anders Lee 230…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 176…

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 153

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 527…

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 488

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 270

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +86 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +64 *** 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 54…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 29 *** 15. Adam Pelech and Vladimir Malakhov 27

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 176 …

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 138…

15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock 230…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 165…

16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Scott Mayfield 129

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 276 …

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 137 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm

Cole McWard scored 4:29 into overtime Sunday as Bridgeport improved to 10-11-1-1 on the season with a 4-3 win at Belleville to conclude a sweep of their Canadian road trip; Henrik Tikkanen made 24 saves for his fourth straight win.

Bridgeport is tied with Hartford for the final playoff spot; they host Syracuse on Wednesday.

Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 9; Assists: Matthew Maggio-13; Points: Maggio and Alex Jefferies-17

Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876; Henrik Tikkanen 4-0-0, 1.92, .919

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2).

The teams split a pair of games in Detroit; the Isles are 2-5-1 in their last eight visits to the Motor City.

UP NEXT

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19th —VANCOUVER AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles welcome the Vancouver Canucks to UBS Arena on Friday as they look to snap a four-game home losing streak, and five-game home winless streak against the Canucks. The last Islander home win against Vancouver came on November 13, 2018, at Barclays Center as Thomas Greiss made 22 saves in a 5-2 victory. Not including Utah, Vancouver is the only team to earn regulation wins in every game they have played at UBS.

The Isles have had much more success against the Canucks on the West Coast; they are 6-0-3 in their last nine trips to Vancouver. The teams will play at Rogers Arena on January 19th.

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

Sunday, December 14, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 33

Isles 3, Tampa Bay 2 (SO)

On a day that the Isles celebrated their past and welcomed Pat LaFontaine to the club's Hall of Fame, three important parts of their future scored goals.

Matthew Schaefer and Cal Ritchie scored in the first period, and Emil Heineman scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the Isles completed the season sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves for his fifth straight win (and third in that stretch over the Lightning).

The Isles are 15-6-2 in their last 23 games; they head to Detroit on Tuesday in their only game in a five-day period.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Matthew Schaefer (9) Anthony Duclair (7), Mathew Barzal (16) 03:05 TBL 0,NYI 1 PPG

Calum Ritchie (4) Anthony Duclair (8) 10:16 TBL 0,NYI 2

2nd Period

Darren Raddysh (7) Nikita Kucherov (28), Jake Guentzel (18) 10:13 TBL 1,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

J.J. Moser (2) Nikita Kucherov (29), Brayden Point (11) 03:20 TBL 2,NYI 2

No Goals

The Shootout

Jake Guentzel (NG) / Mathew Barzal (G)

Brayden Point (G) / Simon Holmstrom (NG)

Nikita Kucherov (NG) / Emil Heineman (G/ GDG)

The Isles are 3-3 in the shootout while Tampa Bay is 0-1… Ilya Sorokin improves to 9-16 in shootouts while Jonas Johansson falls to 0-6 …The Isles are 6-11 in shootouts all-time at UBS Arena, including 5-3 since the start of last season…. The Isles are 95-92 all-time in shootouts, tying Buffalo for the most shootout wins… Emil Heineman has scored on all three of his career attempts; this was his second game-deciding goal on this homestand…Ilya Sorokin has won consecutive shootouts; he had gone 4-16 in his prior 20 shootouts after winning his first three…. Heineman is the first Islander to score the deciding goal in consecutive Islander shootouts since Kyle Okposo did so in three straight shootouts in November 2014, and is currently the only player in NHL history to take at least three shootout attempts and score on all of them…Johansson (0-6) is the only goalie in NHL history to participate in at least four shootouts and lose them all.

The Skinny

The Isles are 19-8-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 41 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 1-4 on the power play and 1-4 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 8-29 on the power play in the last nine games and have killed 40 of the last 43 and 57 of the last 63; the 57-63 dates back to October 30th, and their 90.5% kill rate is the best in the NHL in that span… The Isles are 10-0-1 when leading after two periods (17-1-3 when leading or tied) …Anthony Duclair had two points in a game for the second time this season (November 8 at NYR)…The Isles have won five straight at home for the first time since a six-game win streak before the Four Nations break last season… The Isles are a season-high eight games over NHL-.500 and move into 2nd place in both the Metro and the Eastern Conference; they are one point behind Carolina; the Isles held first place for about three hours after their victory and before Carolina's….The Isles last held first place in the Eastern Conference at the end of a day's play (this late in the season) on January 28, 2015.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee still needs three goals to become the fifth Islander with 300 goals.

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 487th point, which is one behind Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Ryan Pulock remains tied with Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list; Pulock is two points behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.

For the Record Books

• Ilya Sorokin has won each of his first nine games facing at least 30 shots; that breaks a tie with Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.

• Matthew Schaefer is the first 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history to score nine goals in his first 33 games.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles have won consecutive shootouts for the first time since October 19-November 4, 2024, and have gone 3-1 in their last four shootouts for the first time since March 9-April 8, 2021 (4-0), which included Ilya Sorokin's first three shootout wins.

• Sorokin is the first goalie to beat the Lightning at least three times in one season with a goals against average of 0.97 or less and a save percentage of at least .969 since Sean Burke did so for Florida in 1998-99 (4-0-0, .0.67, .970). The only other to do is the Isles' Wade Flaherty who blanked Tampa Bay three times in 1997-98 (4-0-0, 0.25, .990).

• The Isles are (at least) four games over NHL. 500 both at home and on the road for the first time since February 15, 2020, when a loss in Nashville dropped their road record to 15-11-2.

• The Isles are (at least) eight games over NHL .500 for the first time since ending 2022-23 with a 39-27-16 record.

• The Isles are 134 games over all-time NHL-.500 for the first time since November 4, 1995, when a 3-2 loss to Washington dropped their record to 849-715-260.

December to Remember

The Isles are 6-1-0 in the first seven games this month, including five wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s. The Isles have twelve points in December and 88 points in calendar year 2025 (with seven games to play); they had 11 points last December and finished calendar year 2024 with 86 points.

Over 100%

The Isles power play (now 16.7%) and penalty kill (now 84.0%) combine for a special teams rating of 100.7%. They were an NHL-low 84.8% combined last season. The penalty kill is now ranked 6th in the NHL.

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 10-4-1 (.932 and 1.92) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season; no goalie has more than ten wins in that span.

In December, Sorokin is 5-0-0 with a .942 save percentage and a 1.94 goals-against average.

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 7-3-1 on the season. In his last six games (4-1-1), he has stopped 144 of 156 shots for a 1.94 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG

3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL

5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)

Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game

1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)

2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes five times and at least 26 minutes nine times. He is the first 18-year-old to do either of these things since ice time became official.

Most Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman, Season

1. Phil Housley (BUF) 17 (1982-83)

2. Bobby Orr (BOS) 13 (1966-67)

3. Matthew Schaefer 9 (2025-26)

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 9 (2018-19)

Zach Bogosian (ATL) 9 (2008-09)

Most Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman, Season

1. Phil Housley (BUF) 10 (1982-83)

2. Matthew Schaefer 5 (2025-26)

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 5 (2018-19)

Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Matthew Schaefer 9

2. Bryan Berard 7

Only nine Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have scored at least nine goals, led by Bryan Trottier's 32 and Pat LaFontaine' 26.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Matthew Schaefer 14

Only eleven Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 14 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 95 and Tim Connolly's 75.

Most Points by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 39

2. Matthew Schaefer 23

Only ten Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 23 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 63 and Tim Connolly's 51.

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 133 Isles games.

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)

2. Dave Chyzowski 34 (8-6-14)

3. Mathew Schaefer 33 (9-14-23)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 7-4-1 so far in this stretch (6-3-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have nine come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win six times this season, including twice in the third period.

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 3-3 in shootouts.

Empty Netters

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 6.

Most Career Empty Net Goals

1. Bryan Trottier 27

2. John Tavares 20

3. Mike Bossy 15

4. Brock Nelson 13

5. Jason Blake 11

Casey Cizikas 11

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 19 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 8 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26 19-11-3 for 41 points in 33 games

• 2024-25 12-14-7 for 31 points in 33 games; they did not reach 41 points until their 42nd game.

Offense from Defense

• Today: 1-0-1

• Season: 13-52-65

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today: 2-0-2

• Season: 17-26-43

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 17 rookie goals are the most in the NHL while the 43 points trail only Chicago.

Home and Road

The Isles are 19-11-3 overall; they are 10-6-2 at home and 9-5-1 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 18-11-3 overall; they are 8-7-0 at home and 10-4-3 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-7-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-3-1 vs. Atlantic) and 9-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 6-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 14-3-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles 9-1-6-1=17

Tampa Bay 8-17-8-1=34

The Isles are 4-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 13-2-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves; he is 12-8-2 this season and 6-7-0 vs. Tampa Bay.

Jonas Johansson made 15 saves; he is 7-5-1 this season and 1-4-1 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 (5:15); Tampa Bay was 1-4 (6:25), converting after 0:53 of 5-on-3.

The Isles are 11-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-2 when they do not. The Isles are 6-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-7-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 11-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 5-6-2 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-0 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-2 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo.

The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (26:16); Tampa Bay: Darren Raddysh (28:22)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (24:58).

Face-offs

Isles 34, Tampa Bay 35 (49%)

Mathew Barzal won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Yanni Gourde won 10 of 15 for Tampa Bay.

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Four with 3)

Tampa Bay 27 (Scott Sabourin -5)

Fights

None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, DeAngelo)

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Adam Pelech and Tony DeAngelo -3)

Tampa Bay 10 (JJ Moser -4)

For the Analytics Crowd

Corsi: All situations: Isles 41, Tampa Bay 72

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 30, Tampa Bay 54

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: No Isle was a "+"

Tampa Bay: Max Crozier +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, Tampa Bay 19

5-on-5: Isles 7, Tampa Bay 10

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Bo Horvat -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 150. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 141 consecutive games. Anders Lee (115) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.

National TV Games

The Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.

Matinee Isles

Including today, the Isles are 2-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:00pm on New Year's Day against Utah. 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 17-20-14 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)

Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)

Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2

Vs (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30

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

Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4

Opponent responses (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

For (0):

Vs (0):

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

Vs (2): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO

OT Winners

For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA

Vs (0):

Shootout Winners

For (3): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9, TBL 12/13

Vs (3): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Casey Cizikas 930 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 874 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 593 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 566 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 562

Goals

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 297 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 143…

26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 117

Assists

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

5. Clark Gillies 359 *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 344…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 229…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 176…

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 153

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 526…

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 487…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 270

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +86 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 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 54…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 28 *** 15. Adam Pelech and Vladimir Malakhov 27

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 176 …

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 138…

15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock 230…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 165…

16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 128

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 275 …

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 137 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm

Alex Jefferies scored a goal and added an assist as Bridgeport improved to 9-11-1-1 on the season with a 2-1 win at Lavel on Saturday night; Henrik Tikkanen made 18 saves for his third straight win as the Islanders beat the North Division-leading Rocket.

Bridgeport remains just two points out of a playoff spot as they head to Belleville for a game on Sunday.

Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 9; Assists: Matthew Maggio-12; Points: Maggio-16

Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876; Henrik Tikkanen 3-0-0, 1.62, .931

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series, 3 games to 0 (and 6 points to 1).

It is the fourth time that the Isles have swept the season series from Tampa Bay (5-0-0 in 1997-98, 4-0-0 in 2001-02, 3-0-0 in 2013).

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16th —ISLANDERS AT DETROIT 7:00PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

After having consecutive days without a game for the first time since November 24-25, the Isles will look to extend the winning streak to four games as look to sweep the season series from the Detroit Red Wings.

The Isles, who scored only three goals last season against the Red Wings, already hold a pair of five-goal wins over the Red Wings this season (7-2 at UBS Arena and 5-0 in Detroit). They will look to sweep Detroit for the first time since 2019-20.

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

Friday, December 12, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 5, Anaheim 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 31

Isles 5, Anaheim 2

Anders Lee scored two first period power play goals to become the 5th-leading goal scorer in club history and later added two assists for his third career four-point game and David Rittich made 31 saves for his seventh win of the season as the Isles defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 before 14,527 at UBS Arena.

Bo Horvat left the game after getting his skates tangled in the second period and did not return.

The Isles are 14-6-2 in their last 22 games; they will welcome Pat LaFontaine to the team's Hall of Fame when they face Tampa Bay at 3:30pm on Saturday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Travis Mitchell (1) Simon Holmstrom (6), Scott Mayfield (4) 08:18 ANA 0,NYI 1

Anders Lee (7) Tony DeAngelo (11), Simon Holmstrom (7) 10:16 ANA 0,NYI 2 PPG

Anders Lee (8) Tony DeAngelo (12), Mathew Barzal (15) 19:06 ANA 0,NYI 3 PPG

2nd Period

Leo Carlsson (17) Troy Terry (24), Olen Zellweger (8) 05:34 ANA 1,NYI 3

3rd Period

Troy Terry (9) Ryan Poehling (6), Jackson LaCombe (14) 02:37 ANA 2,NYI 3 SHG

Simon Holmstrom (6) Anders Lee (11), Adam Pelech (3) 06:06 ANA 2,NYI 4

Ryan Pulock (1) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7), Anders Lee (12) 14:46 ANA 2,NYI 5

The Skinny

The Isles are 18-8-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 39 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 2-4 on the power play and 1-1 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 7-25 on the power play in the last eight games and have killed 37 of the last 39 and 54 of the last 59; the 54-59 dates back to October 30th, and their 91.5% kill rate is the best in the NHL in that span… The Isles are 9-0-1 when leading after two periods (16-1-3 when leading or tied) …Simon Holmstrom had three points in a game for the first time this season…The Isles have won four straight at home for the first time since a six-game win streak before the Four Nations break last season…Leo Carlsson scored for the 17th time; Carlsson, teammate Cutter Gauthier (16) and Conor Berard (19) are the three youngest NHL players with at least sixteen goals…The Isles snapped Anaheim's three-game win streak…The Isles are a season-high seven games over NHL-.500 and remain in sole possession of 3rd place in both the Metro and the Eastern Conference; they are one point behind both Carolina and Washington; should the Isles beat Tampa Bay on Saturday they will skate off the ice with the most points in the Eastern Conference.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee moved past Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history with 297 goals.

• Lee played in his 873rd game with the Isles, passing Clark Gillies for 7th place.

• Lee recorded his 80th power play goal (passing Pat LaFontaine) and 81st power play goal (tying Derek King for 7th place.

• Lee recorded the first four-point game by an Islander this season, and his first since October 27, 2018, at Philadelphia (his ninth game as Islander Captain).

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 486th point, which is two behind Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Ryan Pulock scored for the first time in 41 games and tied Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list; Pulock is two points behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.

First Times in a Long Time

• Anders Lee is the first Islander to score two power play goals in a game since Zach Parise (11-26-22 vs Philadelphia) and the first to do so in the first period since John Tavares (1-3-11 at Calgary).

• It was Lee's fifth career two power play goal game, and his first since October 23, 2022, at Florida.

• The Isles are 133 games over all-time NHL-.500 for the first time since November 7, 1995, when a 5-2 loss to Vancouver dropped their record to 849-716-260.

December to Remember

The Isles are 5-1-0 in the first six games this month, including four wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s.

Over 100%

The Isles power play (now 16.3%) and penalty kill (now 84.4%) combine for a special teams rating of 100.7%. They were an NHL-low 84.8% combined last season. The penalty kill is now ranked 5th in the NHL.

Mitchell's First

Travis Mitchell scored his first NHL goal in his seventh game; his father Jeff played seven games for Dallas in the 1990s without recording a point. Mitchell is the fourth Cornellian to score a goal for the Islanders, joining Matt Moulson (118), Mike Iggulden and Cole Bardreau (1 each).

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 9-4-1 (.931 and 1.93) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season; Jeremy Swayman is the only goalie with ten wins in that span.

Sorokin has won each of his first eight games facing at least 30 shots; that ties Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 7-3-1 on the season. In his last six games (4-1-1), he has stopped 144 of 156 shots for a 1.94 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG

3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL

5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)

6. Matthew Schaefer 26:04 10/11/2025 vs. WAS

Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game

1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)

2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes five times and at least 26 minutes eight times. He is the first 18-year-old to do so since ice time became official.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Matthew Schaefer 8

2. Bryan Berard 7

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Matthew Schaefer 14

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 134 Isles games.

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)

2. Dave Chyzowski 34 (8-6-14)

3. Mathew Schaefer 32 (8-14-22)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 6-4-1 so far in this stretch (5-3-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-3 in shootouts.

Empty Netters

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 6.

Most Career Empty Net Goals

1. Bryan Trottier 27

2. John Tavares 20

3. Mike Bossy 15

4. Brock Nelson 13

5. Jason Blake 11

Casey Cizikas 11

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 18 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 7 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26 18-11-3 for 39 points in 32 games

• 2024-25 12-13-7 for 31 points in 32 games

Offense from Defense

• Today: 2-4-6

• Season: 12-52-64

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today: 1-0-1

• Season: 15-26-41

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 15 rookie goals are one behind Montreal for the NHL lead; the 41 points are 3rd in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Isles are 18-11-3 overall; they are 9-6-2 at home and 9-5-1 on the road.

Anaheim is 19-11-1 overall; they are 11-4-0 at home and 8-7-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-7-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-3-1 vs. Atlantic) and 9-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 6-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 13-3-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles 13-15-9=37

Anaheim 12-10-11=33

The Isles are 4-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 12-2-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

David Rittich made 31 saves; he is 7-3-1 this season and 4-1-1 vs. Anaheim.

Ville Husso made 32 saves; he is 5-3-0 this season and 2-1-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-4 (6:05) but allowed a shorthanded goal; Anaheim was 0-1 (0:39).

The Isles are 10-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-7-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 11-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 4-6-2 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 15-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-0 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 10-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-2 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo.

The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (25:19); Anaheim: Jackson Lacombe (25:30)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (23:48).

Face-offs

Isles 38, Anaheim 32 (54%)

Casey Cizikas won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Ryan Poehling won 7 of 13 for Anaheim.

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Marc Gatcomb -7)

Anaheim 15 (Chris Kreider -6)

Fights

None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, De Angelo)

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Two with 3)

Anaheim 13 (Pavel Mintuyov -3)

For the Analytics Crowd

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Anaheim 78

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Anaheim 66

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Matthew Schaefer +6

Anaheim: Jackson Lacombe and Jacob Trouba +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Anaheim 13

5-on-5: Isles 9, Anaheim 9

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Jonathan Drouin -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 144. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 140 consecutive games. Anders Lee (114) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.

National TV Games

The Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:30pm on December 13th against Tampa Bay. 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 16-20-14 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)

Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)

Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2

Vs (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30

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

Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4

Opponent responses (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

For (0):

Vs (0):

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

Vs (2): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO

OT Winners

For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA

Vs (0):

Shootout Winners

For (2): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9

Vs (3): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Casey Cizikas 929 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 873 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 592 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 565 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 561

Goals

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 297 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 143…

26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 117

Assists

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

5. Clark Gillies 359 *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 343…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 229…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 176…

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 153

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 526…

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 486…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 270

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +87 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +64 *** 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 54…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 28 *** 15. Adam Pelech and Vladimir Malakhov 27

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 176 …

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 138…

15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock 230…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 165…

16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 128

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 274 …

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 136 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 8-11-1-1 on the season and are just two points out of a playoff spot. They are off until they travel to Laval on Saturday and Belleville on Sunday.

Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 9; Assists: Matthew Maggio-12; Points: Maggio-16

Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876; Henrik Tikkanen 2-0-0, 1.92, .925

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet in Anaheim on March 4th to conclude the season series.

The Isles are 7-2-0 in their last nine games against Anaheim.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th —TAMPA BAT AT ISLANDERS 3:30PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 3:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look for their five straight home win as they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning back to UBS Arena.

It is the third and final meeting of the teams this season; the Isles have won the first two games (2-1 at UBS Arena and 2-1 in Tampa Bay). They will look to sweep the Lightning for only the 4th time (5-0-0 in 1997-98, 4-0-0 in 2001-02, 3-0-0 in 2013).

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

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 5, Vegas 4 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 31

Isles 5, Vegas 4 (SO)

Bo Horvat scored twice and Emil Heineman scored the only goal of the shootout as the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit and overcame a Pavel Dorofeyev tying goal with 14 seconds to play to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 before 13,554 at UBS Arena.

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves and did not allow a shootout goal on four attempts to improve to 4-0-0 in December.

The Isles are 13-6-2 in their last 21 games; they will host Anaheim on Thursday before welcoming Pat LaFontaine to the team's Hall of Fame when they face Tampa Bay at 3:30pm on Saturday.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Noah Hanifin (2) Jack Eichel (25), Shea Theodore (15) 12:02 VGK 1,NYI 0

Mitch Marner (6) Kaedan Korczak (2), Mark Stone (17) 16:01 VGK 2,NYI 0

Bo Horvat (18) Ryan Pulock (15), Matthew Schaefer (14) 19:33 VGK 2,NYI 1

2nd Period

Marc Gatcomb (1) Casey Cizikas (5), Kyle MacLean (2) 03:56 VGK 2,NYI 2

Simon Holmstrom (5) Calum Ritchie (3), Anthony Duclair (6) 13:30 VGK 2,NYI 3

3rd Period

Ivan Barbashev (11) Braeden Bowman (5), Jack Eichel (26) 01:27 VGK 3,NYI 3

Bo Horvat (19) Mathew Barzal (14), Max Shabanov (7) 10:15 VGK 3,NYI 4 PPG

Pavel Dorofeyev (12) Mitch Marner (23), Mark Stone (18) 19:46 VGK 4,NYI 4

No Goals

The Shootout

Pavel Dorofeyev (NG) / Mathew Barzal (NG)

Mitch Marner (NG) / Simon Holmstrom (NG)

Jack Eichel (NG) / Bo Horvat (NG)

Shea Theodore (NG) / Emil Heineman (G/GDG)

The Isles are 2-3 in the shootout while Vegas is 1-3… Ilya Sorokin improves to 8-16 in shootouts while Carter Hart falls to 8-14 …The Isles are 5-11 in shootouts all-time at UBS Arena, including 4-3 since the start of last season…. The Isles are 94-92 all-time in shootouts; only Buffalo (95) has more wins… Emil Heineman has scored on both of his career attempts; this was his first game-deciding goal…Ilya Sorokin had lost his last three shootouts, and seven of his last eight (defeating Pittsburgh on November 5, 2024)…Sorkin had gone 4-16 in his last 20 shootouts after winning his first three.

The Skinny

The Isles are 17-8-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 37 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 1-2 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 5-21 on the power play in the last seven games and have killed 36 of the last 38 and 53 of the last 58; The 53-58 dates back to October 30th, and their 91.4% kill rate is the best in the NHL in that span… The Isles are 8-0-1 when leading after two periods (15-1-3 when leading or tied) …Matthew Schaefer recorded his 14th assist on the first goal, which would have tied for the club lead had Ryan Pulock not earned his 15th assist on the same play; it is the second straight game that has happened.… Marc Gatcomb had nine hits – the most by an Islander since Casey Cizkas also has nine on January 18, 2025, vs. San Jose; no Islander other than Matt Martin (5x) and Cal Clutterbuck (once) has had more than nine hits since Johnny Boychuk had ten on October 10, 2015, in Chicago…Mark Stone had two assists to become the sixth active player to have a point in his first 13 games played in a season…Shea Theodore earned his 300th assist on the opening goal…It is the second time this season that the Isles have erased a multiple-goal deficit to win (the first was in Ottawa in October); Vegas suffered their fourth loss when leading by multiple goals…Max Shabonov's assist on the Bo Horvat power play goal was the NHL-leading 14th power play point for an Islander rookie…Horvat joins Anders Lee (2017-18) as the only Islanders in the 2000s with 19 goals in the first 31 games…Horvat has scored in four straight games at UBS Arena; Kyle Palmieri (March 2024) is the only player to score in five straight games at UBS…The Isles have regained sole possession of 3rd place in both the Metro and the Eastern Conference; they are one point behind Carolina and two points behind Washington.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee remains tied with Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history with 295 goals.

• Lee played in his 872nd game with the Isles, tying Clark Gillies for 7th place.

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 485th point, which is three behind Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Ryan Pulock recorded his 176th assist, passing Kenny Jonsson for 6th among Isles defensemen, and 26th overall; Pulock is now one point behind Noah Dobson for 6th and three points behind Kenny Jonsson.

• Matthew Schaefer is the first 18-year-old NHL defenseman to play at least 26 minutes eight times, breaking a tie with Victor Hedman.

• Ilya Sorokin has won each of his first eight games facing at least 30 shots; that ties Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.

Beating the Best

The Isles just completed a stretch of five consecutive games against a team that won the Stanley Cup at least once in the last six years; the Isles went 4-1-0 in the five games.

Return to Form

Sorokin was named the First Star of the Week for the week ending Sunday, having gone 3-0-0 (.960 and 1.33) by beating Tampa Bay twice and Colorado once, while allowing only four goals. He won the First Star last season for the week ending February 1st, going 3-0-0 (.953, 1.33) and is the only goaltender to win the First Star twice in 2025.

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 6-3-1 on the season. In his last five games (3-1-1), he has stopped 112 of 122 shots for a 2.12 GAA and a .918 save percentage.

Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG

3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL

5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)

6. Matthew Schaefer 26:04 10/11/2025 vs. WAS

Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game

1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)

2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)

Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes five times and at least 26 minutes eight times. He is the first 18-year-old to do so since ice time became official.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Matthew Schaefer 8

2. Bryan Berard 7

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Matthew Schaefer 14

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 135 Isles games.

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)

2. Dave Chyzowski 34 (8-6-14)

3. Mathew Schaefer 31 (8-14-22)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 5-4-1 so far in this stretch (4-3-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-3 in shootouts.

Empty Netters

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 6.

Most Career Empty Net Goals

1. Bryan Trottier 27

2. John Tavares 20

3. Mike Bossy 15

4. Brock Nelson 13

5. Jason Blake 11

Casey Cizikas 11

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 15 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 6 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26 17-11-3 for 37 points in 31 games

• 2024-25 12-12-7 for 31 points in 31 games

Offense from Defense

• Today: 0-2-2

• Season: 10-48-58

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today: 0-3-3

• Season: 14-26-40

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 14 rookie goals are tied with Montreal for the NHL lead; the 40 points are 2nd in the NHL.

Home and Road

The Isles are 17-11-3 overall; they are 8-6-2 at home and 9-5-1 on the road.

Vegas is 14-6-9 overall; they are 7-4-4 at home and 7-2-5 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-7-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-3-1 vs. Atlantic) and 8-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 5-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 12-3-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal.

The Shots

Isles 13-6-8-0=27

Vegas 12-9-10-5=36

The Isles are 3-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 12-2-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 11-8-2 this season and 5-2-1 vs. Vegas.

Carter Hart made 23 saves; he is 2-0-1 this season and 4-6-4 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 (3:31); Vegas was 0-4 (6:00).

The Isles are 9-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-7-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 10-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 4-6-2 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 14-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-0 when they do not.

One-Goal Games

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo.

The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Ryan Pulock (29:12); Vegas: Jack Eichel (24:30)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (22:19).

Face-offs

Isles 39, Vegas 36 (52%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 18 of 27 for the Isles; Colton Sissons won 6 of 8 for Vegas.

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Marc Gatcomb -9)

Vegas 18 (Pavel Dorofeyev -3)

Fights

None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, De Angelo)

Blocked Shots

Isles 10 (Adam Pelech -3)

Vegas 12 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Vegas 61

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Vegas 41

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman +7

Vegas: Ben Hutton +5

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Vegas 14

5-on-5: Isles 6, Vegas 5

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Jonathan Drouin -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 138. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 139 consecutive games. Anders Lee (113) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.

National TV Games

Including tonight, the Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.

Matinee Isles

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)

Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)

Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2

Vs (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30

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

Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4

Opponent responses (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

For (0):

Vs (0):

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

Vs (2): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO

OT Winners

For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA

Vs (0):

Shootout Winners

For (2): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9

Vs (3): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Casey Cizikas 928 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Clark Gillies and Anders Lee 872 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 591 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 564 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 560

Goals

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson and Anders Lee 295 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 143…

26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 117

Assists

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

5. Clark Gillies 359 *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 342…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 227…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 176…

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 153

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 522…

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 485…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 270

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***

4. Ryan Pulock 53…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 28 *** 15. Adam Pelech and Vladimir Malakhov 27

Defense Assists

1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 176 …

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 137…

15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 230 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 229…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 164…

16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 128

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 274 …

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 136 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts

1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm

Bridgeport is 8-11-1-1 on the season and are just two points out of a playoff spot. They are off until they travel to Laval on Saturday and Belleville on Sunday.

Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 9; Assists: Matthew Maggio-12; Points: Maggio-16

Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876; Henrik Tikkanen 2-0-0, 1.92, .925

Season Series Stats

The Isles sweep the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2).

The Isles are 10-5-1 all-time against Vegas, including 5-2-1 at home. They won all four games against Vegas in calendar year 2025 and have won both games in the season series for the fourth time.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11th —ANAHEIM AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look for their fourth straight home win as they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to UBS Arena.

It is the first meeting of the teams this season; the Ducks won both games last season by a combined 7-2 score. However, the Isles had won the six previous games by a combined 31-11 score.

The teams will conclude the season series on March 4th in Anaheim; it is the fourth straight season that the Isles' California trip will be in March.

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