The Skinny: Isles 4, Toronto 1

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 8

Isles 4, Toronto 1

The Islanders lost two forwards to first period injuries, but they still earned their first road win of the season as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1, before a sellout crowd of 18,915 at Scotiabank Arena. Anthony Duclair scored in the first period and Bo Horvat scored on a rebound in the second session to build a 2-0 lead; Simon Holmstrom added a pair of third period goals, the latter into an empty net, after Colton Sissons scored on a deflection early in the period.

Both Cal Ritchie (on his first shift of the game) and Matias Maccelli left the game with lower-body injuries.

 

Ilya Sorokin earned his 158th win, passing Chico Resch for 2nd place on the club’s all-time list, lowering his season GAA to 1.68.

The Isles head home to host Anaheim on Tuesday and Los Angeles on Thursday.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anthony Duclair (2) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) 08:18 NYI 1,TOR 0

2nd Period

Bo Horvat (5) Kyle Palmieri (1) 18:33 NYI 2,TOR 0

3rd Period

Colton Sissons (2) Troy Stecher (1), Easton Cowan (4) 03:54 NYI 2,TOR 1

Simon Holmstrom (2) Bo Horvat (4), Matthew Schaefer (7) 14:08 NYI 3,TOR 1

Simon Holmstrom (3)EN 17:55 NYI 4,TOR 1

The Skinny

The Isles went 0-2 on the power play, but killed all three Leaf power plays… Mattias Maccelli’s injury ended his point streak at five games (2-4-6)… The Isles have scored four first period goals over the last three games after only scoring one first period goal in the first five games… The Isles, who have won every other game this season, now have a three-game point streak (2-0-1)…Both Islander goaltenders continue to have goals against averages under 2.00  (Sorokin 1.68 and Varlamov 1.94)… 22 of Bo Horvat’s 104 goals as an Islander have been game-winners; he has scored at least one game-winner in all 13 seasons of his NHL career…Both of Colton Sissons’ goals this season have come against the Isles; Easton Cowan has a point on all three Leaf goals this season vs. New York…The Isles stopped six-game point streaks for both Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko as the Leafs were held to one goal for the first time this season…Simon Holmstrom earned his 7th career multi-goal game…Ondrej Palat was on-ice for eighteen shot attempts (5-on-5) by the Isles and only one by Toronto…Matthew Schaefer, who entered the game leading all defensemen in shots on goal with 26, added five more to his total…Kyle Palmieri’s assist on Bo Horvat’s goal was his first helper since the play he suffered his season-ending injury last November.

The Injuries

Cal Ritchie and Matias Maccelli left the game with lower body injuries in the first period and did not return.

First Times in a Long Time

• It is the first time since 10/10/1975 that Billy Smith and Chico Resch are not 1-2 in either order in career Isles wins. Resch tied Gerry Desjardins on 10/11, and they have been 1-2 for the last 51 years!

• Excluding the shootout game deciding goal in Ottawa, the Isles have allowed only 17 goals in eight games (including three empty-netters). It is the fewest goals the Isles have allowed in their first eight games since 2001, when they also allowed 17 goals.

Milestone Men   

• Ilya Sorokin recorded his 158th win for the Islanders, passing Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Semyon Varlamov has played 175 games for the Isles, one fewer than Glenn Healy and two fewer than Jaroslav Halak, who sits 8th in club history.

• Bo Horvat scored his 104th goal, leaving him one behind Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall for 31st in club history.

·   Matthew Schaefer became the 2^nd-youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 250 career shots on goal, just behind Bobby Orr.

Fewest Goals Allowed by Isles in First Eight Games (excluding shootout)

• 16 in 1974-75 and 1976-77

• 17 in 1975-76, 1977-78, 2001-02 and 2025-26

Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman

1. Phil Housley 46

2. Bobby Orr 24

3. Matthew Schaefer and Ray Bourque 23

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 43

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Matthew Schaefer 66

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 253

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/31/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:29 10/15/2026 at OTT (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with five games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 78 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have zero come-from behind wins this season, including no times when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win one time this season, including zero times in the third period.

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-1 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have not scored with the sixth attacker and allowed three empty net goals.

Opponents have scored one goal with the sixth attacker and allowed two empty-netters to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 4-3-1 for 9 points in 8 games

• 2025-26: 4-3-1 for 9 points in 8 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    0-1-1

• Season: 1-15-16

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 4-3-1 overall; they are 3-1-0 at home and 1-2-1 on the road.

Toronto is 3-4-2 overall; they are 2-3-1 at home and 1-1-1 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

The Isles are 4-0-1 when scoring first and 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       11-6-3=20

Toronto 10-6-13=29

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

In the Nets 

Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves; he is 4-2-0 this season and 9-6-0 vs. Toronto.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves; he is 1-3-2 this season and 20-13-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 (3:50, including a :10 5-on3); Toronto was 0-3 (6:00).

The Isles are 2-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 2-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 3-0-1 when they do not.

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 1-0-0 when they are outscored, and 2-2-1 when special team goals are equal. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles 4-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-1 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be on November 27th vs. Winnipeg and November 28th at Philadelphia.

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

Ice-time Leaders (and yes – they are all 24:21!)

Isles: Matthew Schaefer and Bo Horvat (24:21); Toronto: Darren Raddysh (24:21)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (24:21).

Shots on Goal

Isles 20 (Matthew Schaefer – 5)

Toronto 29 (Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic – 5)

Shot Attempts

Isles 53 (Matthew Schaefer – 10)

Toronto 45 (Kirill Marchenko and Gavin McKenna – 6)

Face-offs

Isles 22, Toronto 23 (48.9%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 11 of 17 for the Isles; Colton Sissons won 9 of 12 for Toronto.

Hit Count

Isles 29 (Emil Heineman – 6)

Toronto 18 (Zack MacEwen – 5)

Blocked Shots

Isles 4 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 2)

Toronto 18 (Auston Matthews – 4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Schenn, Pelech, Stanley)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Toronto 45

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Toronto 30

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ondrej Palat +17

Toronto: Brandon Duhaime +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 7, Toronto 14

5-on-5: Isles 4, Toronto 7

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Scott Mayfield, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 13. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 334th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures. OTT (Offside) 10/15.

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): Vs NJD 10/3, vs VAN 10/13

Vs (2): @ NYR 10/6, vs TB 10/10

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandon Hagel (GWG) 18:16 – 10/10 vs. TB

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Shane Pinto (OTT) 10/15

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 986…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 650 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 644  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 617 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

31. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 33. Bo Horvat 104

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 149

Points

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

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +85 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +67 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 650 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 644 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 617

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

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

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 314… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 175

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 158 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 1-3-0-1 this season following a 4-1 loss to Rochester on Friday. Hamilton will host Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. 

Team leaders:

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (4); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (6)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-1-1), Josh Kotai (0-2-0)

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). The teams will conclude the season series on November 23rd on Long Island.

The Isles are 9-3-0 in their last twelve meetings with Toronto.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20th –ANAHEIM AT ISLANDERS 7:00pm

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

The Isles return home for a pair of games, beginning on Tuesday with Anaheim. Matthew Schaefer will be looking to become the youngest player in NHL history to start the season with a five-game home assist steak; he is already the youngest defenseman in league history to start a season with a four-game home assist streak.

It will be the first game the Isles play this season against a team that won a playoff series last spring.

The Isles are 4-1-0 at UBS Arena against the Ducks and are 7-3-0 over the last five seasons against Anaheim. 

 

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

The Skinny: Ottawa 2, Isles 1 (SO)

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 7

Ottawa 2, Isles 1 (SO)

Mattias Maccelli extended his point streak to five games, but Ridley Greig tied the game in the second period and Shane Pinto scored the only goal in the shootout as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Islanders 2-1, before a crowd of 14,534 at Canadian Tire Centre. 

 

Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves in his second appearance since November 2024 and lowered his GAA to 1.94.

The Isles are 0-2-1 on the road this season as they head to Toronto for a rematch with the Leafs on Saturday.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Matias Maccelli (2) 19:48 NYI 1,OTT 0

2nd Period 

Ridly Greig (1) Warren Foegele (2), Artem Zub (1) 15:43 NYI 1,OTT 1

3rd Period 

No Goals

OT

No Goals

The Shootout

Drake Batherson (NG)/Brayden Schenn (NG)

Tim Stutzle (NG)/ Bo Horvat (NG)

Shane Pinto (G/GDG)/ Simon Holmstrom (NG)

The Isles are 0-1 in the shootout while Ottawa is 2-0… Semyon Varlamov falls to 35-25 in shootouts while Linus Ullmark improves to 17-9 … The Isles (96-95) remain second behind Buffalo (98-85) for the most shootout wins in NHL history… Only Florida (196) has contested more shootouts than the Isles (191) …Shano Pinto is now 4-6 in the shootout with three game-deciding goals…It was the first Islander shootout since January 8th in Nashville; the Isles contested nine shootouts last season, all in their first 44 games.

The Skinny

The Isles went 0-3 on the power play, but killed all four Senator power plays… Mattias Maccelli has points in the last five games (2-4-6)… The Isles have scored three first period goals over the last two games after only scoring one first period goal in the first five games… This was the first Islander game to go to overtime since March 11th in St. Louis… After outscoring the opposition 10-3 in the second period thru five games, the Isles have been outscored 3-0 in the middle period over the last two games…The Isles have not had a winning streak or a losing streak this season but now have a two-game point streak (2-0-1)…Linus Ullmark joins Ray Emery (2005-06) as the only Sens goalie to start a season 6-0-0; he has won ten straight since April 5, 2026 – establishing a new Sens record; Ullmark lowered his goals against average to 1.20…Both Islander goaltenders now had goals against averages under 2.00  (Sorokin 1.81 and Varlamov 1.94)…It is the first time in a decade (0-4-1 in 2016-17) that the Isles have not won one of their first three road games.

First Time in a Long Time

Excluding the shootout game deciding goal, the Isles have allowed only 16 goals in 7 games (including three empty-netters). It is the fewest goals the Isles have allowed in their first seven games since 2003, when they also allowed 16 goals.

Milestone Men   

• Ilya Sorokin has 157 wins for the Islanders, tied with Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Semyon Varlamov has played 175 games for the Isles, one fewer than Glenn Healy and two fewer than Jaroslav Halak, who sits 8th in club history.

Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:

1. Phil Housley 46

2. Bobby Orr 24

3. Matthew Schaefer and Ray Bourque 23

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 42

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Matthew Schaefer 65

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 247

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/31/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:29 10/15/2026 at OTT (SO)

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with five games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 77 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have zero come-from behind wins this season, including no times when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win one time this season, including zero times in the third period.

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-1 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have not scored with the sixth attacker and allowed three empty net goals.

Opponents have scored one goal with the sixth attacker and allowed one empty-netter to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 3-3-1 for 7 points in 7 games

• 2025-26: 4-3-0 for 8 points in 7 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    0-0-0

• Season: 1-14-15

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-3-1 overall; they are 3-1-0 at home and 0-2-1 on the road.

Ottawa is 6-2-0 overall; they are 3-1-0 at home and 3-1-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

The Isles are 3-0-1 when scoring first and 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       5-6-7-3=21

Ottawa 4-10-3-2=19

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

In the Nets 

Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves; he is 0-1-1 this season and 8-5-4 vs. Ottawa.

Linus Ullmark made 20 saves; he is 6-0-0 this season and 11-7-1 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 (4:59); Ottawa was 0-4 (8:00).

The Isles are 2-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-1 when they do not. The Isles are 1-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-1 when they do not.

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 1-0-0 when they are outscored, and 1-2-1 when special team goals are equal. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles 3-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-1 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be on November 27th vs. Winnipeg and November 28th at Philadelphia.

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (29:29); Ottawa: Thomas Chabot (24:37)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (23:22).

Shots on Goal

Isles 21 (Bo Horvat – 4)

Ottawa 19 (Six with 2)

Shot Attempts

Isles 53 (Matthew Schaefer -10)

Ottawa 49 (Claude Giroux -8)

Face-offs

Isles 30, Ottawa 21 (58.8%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 14 of 20 for the Isles; Shane Pinto won 8 of 14 for Ottawa.

Hit Count

Isles 23 (Logan Stanley – 4)

Ottawa 22 (Claude Giroux – 4)

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Logan Stanley – 5)

Ottawa 15 (Artem Zub – 6)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Schenn, Pelech, Stanley)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Ottawa 49

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 46, Ottawa 30

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Jean-Gabriel Pageau +20

Ottawa: Ridley Greig +5

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 9, Ottawa 15

5-on-5: Isles 8, Ottawa 7

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Scott Mayfield, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 11. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 333rd consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures. OTT (Offside) 10/15.

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): Vs NJD 10/3, vs VAN 10/13

Vs (2): @ NYR 10/6, vs TB 10/10

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandon Hagel (GWG) 18:16 – 10/10 vs. TB

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Shane Pinto (OTT) 10/15

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 985…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 649 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 643  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 617 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

31. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 33. Bo Horvat 103

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 149

Points

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

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 649 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 643 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 617

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

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

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 313… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 175

Wins

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

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 1-3-0-0 this season heading into Friday’s home game against Rochester. 

Team leaders:

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (4); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (6)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-1-0), Josh Kotai (0-2-0)

Season Series Stats

Ottawa leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1). The teams will play on December 27th and April 2nd on Long Island.

The Isles are 5-3-2 in their last ten meetings with Ottawa, including 0-2-1 in the last three games.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17th – ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:00pm

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

The Isles play their final game this season in Ontario as they meet the Maple Leafs in Toronto for the second time in 18 days. The Leafs scored twice in the first period and held on for a 2-1 victory over the Isles to spoil the first September regular-season game in Islander history.

Despite that loss, the Isles are 8-3-0 in their last eleven meetings with Toronto.

AND FINALLY…

With the Dodgers loss tonight, there are no reigning repeat champions in any of the four major sports. This means that it will be at least until Super Bowl LXIII in 2029 before a team has a shot to match what the Islander Dynasty did from 1980-1983.

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

The Skinny: Isles 3, Vancouver 2

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 6

Isles 3, Vancouver 2

Kyle Palmieri scored his first two goals in nearly eleven months and the latter goal, with 14:22 to play proved to be the game-winner, as the Islanders defeated the Canucks 3-2 , before a crowd of 13,647 at UBS Arena. 

 

Mattias Maccelli capped a 2-goal in 53 second outburst in the first period for his first goal as an Islander. The Canucks scored twice in the middle period, including a Brock Boeser tying goal with 1:05 to play.

It was the Isles’ first win over Vancouver on the East Coast since 2018, and their first win in six tries against the Canucks at UBS (1-5-0).

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (1) Matthew Kessel (1), Bo Horvat (3) 14:57 VAN 0,NYI 1

Matias Maccelli (1) Matthew Schaefer (5) 15:50 VAN 0,NYI 2

2nd Period

Max Sasson (2) Arshdeep Bains (2), Jamie Oleksiak (3) 07:52 VAN 1,NYI 2

Brock Boeser (2) Elias Pettersson (7), Filip Hronek (6) 18:55 VAN 2,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

Kyle Palmieri (2) Matias Maccelli (4), Matthew Schaefer (6) 05:38 VAN 2,NYI 3

The Skinny

Matthew Kessel made his Islander debut and earned an assist in his 100th NHL game…The Isles went 0-3 with the power play, ending their four-game streak with a power play goal…Mattias Maccelli has three points in the last two games (1-2-3) …The Isles scored twice in the first period after only scoring one first period goal in the first five games… Brock Boeser scored his 80th career power play goal, passing Todd Bertuzzi for fifth place in Canuck history…This was the 23rd consecutive Islander game, going back to last season, to end in regulation…Kyle Palmieri recorded his 31st career multi-goal game…Matthew Schaefer’s two assists gives him the team lead with six…It was the first time since March 1st that the Isles won a game in which they lost the special teams battle…After outscoring the opposition 10-3 in the second period thru five games, Vancouver scored the only two goals of the middle session tonight…This was the 22nd regular season meeting of the Schenn brothers; Brayden has won 15 of them.  However, Luke’s Jets beat Brayden’s Blues in a 7-game series in the 2025 playoffs.

Milestone Men   

• Ilya Sorokin recorded his 157th win for the Islanders, tying Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Matthew Schaefer recorded his 64th and 65th career points, which tied and then passed Larry Murphy for 8th place among teenage defensemen. It was his 14th career multi-point game, which tied Bobby Orr for 6th among teenage defensemen.

• Schaefer is also the youngest defenseman (and third-youngest player) in NHL history with an assist in each of the season’s first four home games. Wayne Gretzky and Sam Gagner also did in four straight games, but neither earned an assist in their fifth game. The record for a teenager is ten games, set by Ron Francis.

First Time in a Long Time

Bo Horvat is the first Islander forward since Kyle Okposo in 2009 to start the season with a 6-game point streak (3-3-6).

Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:

1. Phil Housley 46

2. Bobby Orr 24

3. Matthew Schaefer and Ray Bourque 23

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 42

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Matthew Schaefer 65

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 244

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/3121/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with four games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 76 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have not scored with the sixth attacker and allowed three empty net goals.

Opponents have scored one goal with the sixth attacker and allowed one empty-netter to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 3-3-0 for 6 points in 6 games

• 2025-26: 3-3-0 for 6 points in 6 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    0-3-3

• Season: 1-14-15

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 3-3-0 overall; they are 3-1-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

Vancouver is 2-6-0 overall; they are 1-2-0 at home and 1-4-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

The Isles are 3-0-0 when scoring first and 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles        12-7-19=38

Vancouver 7-11-8=26

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

In the Nets 

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves; he is 3-2-0 this season and 4-4-1 vs. Vancouver.

Leevi Merilainen made 35 saves; he is 1-1-0 this season and 1-1-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 (5:22); Vancouver was 1-4 (7:27).

The Isles are 2-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 1-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 1-0-0 when they are outscored, and 1-2-0 when special team goals are equal. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles 3-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. 

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (25:23); Vancouver: Tom Willander (25:43)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (19:49).

Face-offs

Isles 30, Vancouver 20 (60.0%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 13 of 17 for the Isles; Brock Boeser won 3 of 4 for Vancouver.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Emil Heineman, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ondrej Palat – 3)

Vancouver 33 (Paul Cotter and Luke Schenn – 5)

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 3)

Vancouver 12 (Tom Willander – 3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Schenn, Pelech, Stanley)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 60, Vancouver 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 45, Vancouver 37

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom +9

Vancouver: Brock Boeser +5

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, Vancouver 11

5-on-5: Isles 11, Vancouver 8

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Scott Mayfield, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 9. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 332nd consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): Vs NJD 10/3, vs VAN 10/13

Vs (2): @ NYR 10/6, vs TB 10/10

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandon Hagel (GWG) 18:16 – 10/10 vs. TB

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 984…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 648 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 642  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 617 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

31. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 33. Bo Horvat 103

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 149

Points

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

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 648 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 642 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 617

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

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

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 313… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 174

Wins

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

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 0-2-0 in their new home after a 5-2 loss to Toronto on Sunday. Matt Luff had a pair of assists for Hamilton. The Hammers are off until Friday when they host Rochester.

Team leaders: 

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (4); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (6)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-1-0), Josh Kotai (0-2-0)

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on January 5th in British Columbia.

This was the Isles’ first win at home against the Canucks since a 5-2 win at Barclay’s Center on November 13, 2018. They had gone 0-5-0 at UBS Arena, and 0-5-1 at home overall since then.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15th – ISLANDERS AT OTTAWA 7:00pm

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

The Isles head to Ontario for a two-game trip beginning on Thursday in Kanata, ONT against the Ottawa Senators.

The Isles are 5-3-1 in the past three seasons against the Sens, including 4-1-0 on the road. However, the Sens’ home win (by a 3-2 score) was in a key game late last season.

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

The Skinny: Tampa Bay 5, Isles 3

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 5

Tampa Bay 5, Isles 3

Brandon Hagel broke a 3-3 tie with 1:44 to play and then completed his hat trick with an empty net goal 21 seconds later as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Isles 5-3, before a sell-out crowd of 17,345 at UBS Arena. 

The Isles scored three goals in the middle period to erase 2-0 and 3-1 deficits; Jean-Gabriel Pageau was credited with his first goal of the season in a post-game scoring change, taking a goal away from Matthew Schaefer.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Jake Guentzel (2) 05:45 TBL 1,NYI 0

Brandon Hagel (2) Victor Hedman (1), Max Crozier (1) 15:42 TBL 2,NYI 0

2nd Period

Tony DeAngelo (1) Ondrej Palat (1) 06:27 TBL 2,NYI 1

Jake Guentzel (3) Nikita Kucherov (6), Brandon Hagel (4) 07:54 TBL 3,NYI 1 PPG

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Matthew Schaefer (1) Tony DeAngelo (1) 11:41 TBL 3,NYI 2

Brayden Schenn (2) Bo Horvat (2), Matias Maccelli (3) 19:53 TBL 3,NYI 3 PPG

3rd Period

Brandon Hagel (3) Max Crozier (2), Ryan McDonagh (1) 18:16 TBL 4,NYI 3

Brandon Hagel (4)EN Anthony Cirelli (1), Nikita Kucherov (7) 18:37 TBL 5,NYI 3

The Skinny

Tony DeAngelo became the first Islander defenseman to score a goal and then assisted on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s goal…Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Bolts, giving him eleven goals against Ilya Sorokin, more than any other player; Jack Hughes has beaten Ilya ten times…Only Artemi Panarin (18) has scored more goals against the Isles than Guentzel (16) since Guentzel joined the NHL in 2016-16...…All three Islander losses have been by one goal (or one plus empty nets)… Bo Horvat is the first Islander forward since Brock Nelson in 2016 to start the season with a 5-game point streak (3-2-5)…The Isles have scored power play goals in four straight games for the first time since a five-game streak from November 28 to December 7, 2023…Mattias Maccelli earned an assist in his 300th NHL game…Nikita Kucherov extended his point streak to five games with an assist on the empty-netter… Hagel joins Alexis Lafreniere as opponents who have completed hat tricks against the Isles this season with an EN goal…The Isles have been outscored 5-1 in first periods, but had outscored the opposition 10-2 in the second frame...Matthew Schaefer matched a career high with eight shots on goal; no Isle d-man has had nine shots since Ryan Pulock in March 2018, also against Tampa Bay.

Milestone Men   

• Ilya Sorokin has 156 wins for the Islanders, leaving him one behind Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Matthew Schaefer recorded his 63rd point, passing Pat LaFontaine for third place among Isles teenagers.

Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:

1. Phil Housley 46

2. Bobby Orr 24

3. Matthew Schaefer and Ray Bourque 23

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

4. Matthew Schaefer and Brent Sutter 23

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 40

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Matthew Schaefer 63

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 241

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/3121/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with four games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 75 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have not scored with the sixth attacker and allowed three empty net goals.

Opponents have scored one goal with the sixth attacker and allowed one empty-netter to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 2-3-0 for 4 points in 5 games

• 2025-26: 2-3-0 for 4 points in 5 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    1-2-3

• Season: 1-11-12

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 2-3-0 overall; they are 2-1-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

Tampa Bay is 1-4-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 0-4-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

The Isles are 2-0-0 when scoring first and 0-3-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles              4-10-9=23

Tampa Bay 10-8-8=26

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

In the Nets 

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

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves; he is 3-1-0 this season and 15-5-1 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 (3:41); Tampa Bay was 1-4 (7:09).

The Isles are 2-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-3-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 0-0-0 when they are outscored, and 1-2-0 when special team goals are equal. 

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles 2-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. 

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (27:07); Tampa Bay: Brandon Hagel (21:32)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:09).

Face-offs

Isles 26, Tampa Bay 25 (51.0%)

Casey Cizikas won 4 of 6 for the Isles; Zemgus Girgensons won 10 of 12 for Tampa Bay.

Hit Count

Isles 30 (Bo Horvat, Victor Eklund and Brayden Schenn – 4)

Tampa Bay 18 (Brandon Hagel and Erik Cernak – 3)

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Ryan Pulock and Ondrej Palat – 3)

Tampa Bay 14 (Brandon Hagel – 4)

Fights 

Logan Stanley fought Scott Sabourin in the 2nd period. Season total: 3 (Schenn, Pelech Stanley)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 46, Tampa Bay 48

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 37

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Matthew Schaefer +19

Tampa Bay: Max Crozier +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 10, Tampa Bay 9

5-on-5: Isles 8, Tampa Bay 5

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Matt Kessel, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 7. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 331st consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): Vs NJD 10/3

Vs (2): @ NYR 10/6, vs TB 10/10

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandon Hagel (GWG) 18:16 – 10/10 vs. TB

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 983…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 647 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 641  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 617 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

31. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 33. Bo Horvat 103

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 198

Points

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

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 647 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 641 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 617

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

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

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 312… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 174

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 156 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Cole Eiserman scored the first home goal in Hamilton Hammers history and Mitchell Chaffee added a goal and an assist, but the Hammers dropped a 5-4 shootout decision to Toronto in their home opener on Friday. They will also host the Marlies on Sunday afternoon at 3.

Team leaders: 

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (4); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (6)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-1-0), Josh Kotai (0-1-0)

Season Series Stats

Tampa Bay leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on January 30th in Tampa.

The Isles had swept last season’s series but fall to 6-5-0 in the last 11 meetings with the Hawks.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13th – VANCOUVER AT ISLANDERS 7:45pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles conclude the home stand as they entertain the Vancouver Canucks; note the slightly later start due to the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy.

Vancouver is 5-0-0 at UBS Arena, and they have outscored the Isles 24-11 in this building. They are the only opponent that has been the Isles in regulation in every meeting in their current rink. Going back to an overtime loss at Barclay’s Center on February 1, 2020, the Isles are 0-5-1 in their last six home games with the Canucks.

The Isles’ last home victory over the Canucks was a 5-2 win at Barclays Center on November 13, 2018; however, they have an even longer point streak in Vancouver, having gone 5-0-3 since a loss in 2015. 

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Chicago 1

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 4

Isles 4, Chicago 1

Bo Horvat connected on the power play for the third straight game and added an empty-netter while Logan Stanley earned his second two-assist game of the season as the Isles defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1, before 13,946 at UBS Arena. 

Ilya Sorokin set a career high with a 165:31 shutout streak before allowing a late 6th-attacker goal; it was the first he allowed in 117:26 at home, breaking Chico Resch’s club record for a shutout streak to start the season.

Emil Heineman and Anthony Duclair scored 2:54 apart for the Isles.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Bo Horvat (3) Matthew Schaefer (3) 19:01 CHI 0,NYI 1 PPG

2nd Period

Emil Heineman (2) Matias Maccelli (2), Adam Pelech (2) 06:44 CHI 0,NYI 2

Anthony Duclair (1) Logan Stanley (3), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) 09:38 CHI 0,NYI 3

3rd Period

Frank Nazar (2) Patrick Kane (1), Sam Rinzel (1) 17:26 CHI 1,NYI 3

Bo Horvat (4)EN Logan Stanley (4) 18:27 CHI 1,NYI 4

The Skinny

Logan Stanley had his second consecutive two-assist game on home-ice and now leads the team in assists (4)… The Isles have scored thirteen goals; in the last twelve seasons, they have scored more times thru four games only once (14 in 2022-23)… Bo Horvat is the first Islander to score power play goals in three consecutive games since Anders Lee did so in 2018…Horvat recorded his 41st multi-goal game, including 13 for the Isles…Anthony Duclair scored for the first time since January 21st in Seattle…Logan Stanley matched career highs in assists (8th time) and points (10th time) with his two assists.

The Injury

Bo Horvat left the game after his empty-net goal; Frank Nazar received a match penalty for an illegal hit to the head on the play.

Milestone Men  

• Bo Horvat scored his 102nd and 103rd goals as an Islander, passing Anders Kallur (101) and Anthony Beauvillier (102) for 33rd place in club history.

• Sorokin recorded his 156th win for the Islanders, leaving him one behind Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Matthew Schaefer recorded his 62nd point, tying Pat LaFontaine for third place among Isles teenagers.

• Adam Pelech tied Mark Streit for 10th place on the Isles defensemen point list (179).

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 39

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Pat LaFontaine and Matthew Schaefer 62

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 232

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/3121/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with four games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 74 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have scored no goals with the sixth attacker and allowed two empty net goals.

Opponents have scored one goal with the sixth attacker and allowed one empty-netter to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 2-2-0 for 4 points in 4 games

• 2025-26: 1-3-0 for 2 points in 4 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    0-4-4

• Season: 0-9-9

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 2-2-0 overall; they are 2-0-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

Chicago is 1-4-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 0-4-0 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 1-2-0 against the East (1-1-0 vs. Metropolitan and 0-1-0 vs. Atlantic) and 1-0-0 against the West (1-0-0 vs. Central and 0-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 2-0-0 when scoring first and 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles     6-7-6=19

Chicago 5-11-7=23

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

In the Nets 

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 2-1-0 this season and 5-2-1 vs. Chicago.

Arvid Soderstrom made 17 saves; he is 0-2-0 this season and 2-4-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 (3:36); Chicago was 0-3 (6:00).

The Isles are 2-1-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not. The Isles are 0-2-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 2-0-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 0-0-0 when they are outscored, and 1-1-0 when special team goals are equal. 

Three is a Magic Number

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

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. 

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

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (26:45); Chicago: Bowen Byram (26:35)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (17:53).

Face-offs

Isles 29, Chicago 20 (59.2%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 17 for the Isles; Roman Kantserov won 3 of 5 for Chicago.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Bo Horvat – 5)

Chicago 15 (Jordan Greenway – 4)

Blocked Shots

Isles 17 (Logan Stanley – 3)

Chicago 10 (Bowen Byram and Patrick Kane – 2)

Fights 

None. Season total: 2 (Schenn, Pelech)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 37, Chicago 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 29, Chicago 43

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Bo Horvat +7

Chicago: Three with +11

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Chicago 9

5-on-5: Isles 9, Chicago 8

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Matt Kessel, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 5. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 330th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): Vs NJD 10/3

Vs (1): @ NYR 10/6

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0): 

Vs (0):  

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 982…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 646 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 640  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 616 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

33. Bo Horvat 103

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 198

Points

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

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +85 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +66 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 646 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 640 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 616

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

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

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 311… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 174

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 156 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 1-1-0-0 heading into their home opener on Friday against Toronto. They will also host the Marlies on Sunday afternoon at 3.

Team leaders: 

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (3); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (5)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-0-0), Josh Kotai (0-1-0)

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on February 23rd at United Center.

The Isles are 7-2-2 in the last 11 meetings with the Hawks.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10th – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look to improve to 3-0-0 at home for only the third time this century (2003-04 and 2021) and first time at UBS Arena as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. It is the first of three meetings between the teams this season. 

The Isles are 6-4-0 in the last ten meetings after sweeping three low-scoring games (one in a shootout) last season. 

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