The Skinny: Isles 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 58

Isles 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

Mathew Barzal set-up Bo Horvat for the overtime goal as the Islanders completed the season sweep with a 3-2 overtime win over the Dallas Stars before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center.

The Islanders, who got goals from both Ryan Pulock and Kyle MacLean as they twice had one goal leads only to have Dallas knot the score each time. However, the Stars would have no chance to equal after Horvat scored his third overtime goal of the season, including two against the Dallas Stars.

The Isles are 5-5-3 under Patrick Roy and 24-20-14 overall as they climb within five points of Philadelphia for third place in the Metro Division. The Isles head to Detroit in search of their first February 29th win in 40 years on Thursday.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Ryan Pulock (4) Simon Holmstrom (7), Casey Cizikas (7) 15:59 NYI 1,DAL 0

2nd Period

Matt Duchene (23) Thomas Harley (21), Logan Stankoven (1) 07:11 NYI 1,DAL 1 PPG

Kyle MacLean (2) Pierre Engvall (12), Ryan Pulock (6) 15:24 NYI 2,DAL 1

Logan Stankoven (1) Wyatt Johnston (22) 18:17 NYI 2,DAL 2

3rd Period

No Goals

OT

Bo Horvat (23) Mathew Barzal (44), Mike Reilly (10) 02:54 NYI 3,DAL 2

The Skinny     

The Isles are 4-3-2 since the All-Star Break and are 8-12-5 since the Christmas break… Since Christmas, the Isles are 4-4-3 at home and 4-7-2 on the road…The Isles scored the first goal in for the first time in seven games and only the tenth time in the last 25 games.… The Isles' defense has 76 points in the last 35 games and have 57 points in the last 27 games (14-43-57)…The Isles have outscored their opponents 47-38 in the first period but have been outscored 78-59 in the second period and 77-63 in the third period and overtime this season…The Isles have been outscored 40-22 in the second period since the Christmas break; they have allowed the most 2nd period goals over that span and have allowed at least two goals in 14 of the 25 games …The Isles are 17-3-9 when they score the opening goal….Bo Horvat scored his third overtime goal of the season and eighth of his career; he scored the winner in both games this season vs. Dallas… Horvat reached 50 points for the 6th time in his career…Mathew Barzal recorded his 301st career assist on the winning goal as he regained the team lead in points (61)…It was Barzal's 15th overtime assist, extending his club record (Tavares 12 is 2nd)… Barzal now has 33 primary assists while Noah Dobson had 31 primary assists; Dobson leads all NHL defensemen in that category…The Isles have allowed 14 power play goals under Patrick Roy; they have allowed only 20 goals at 5-on-5…The Isles regain the NHL lead in overtime games (22) from Boston (21); only Detroit (8) has more wins on an overtime goal this season than the Isles…Horvat's game-winner came on his 7th shot; it's the first time since Opening Night (8 vs BUF) that he has had at least seven shots on goal. …Logan Stankhoven, playing on his 21st birthday, scored his first NHL goal and added his first assist; he is the 4th player in franchise history to score on his 21st birthday (Dino Ciccarelli, Ken Solheim, Val Nichushkin)…Ryan Pulock had his first multiple point game of the season…Matt Duchene became the second member of the 2009 draft class to reach 800 points, joining John Tavares.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Islanders have won consecutive road games on an overtime goal for the first time since March 22-25, 2021, when Anthony Beauvillier scored them both. 

• Bo Horvat is the first Islander since Brock Nelson (2019-20 vs. Pittsburgh) to have two overtime goals in a season against the same opponent.

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20) 

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)

1. Mathew Barzal 15

2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 23

2. Mathew Barzal 20

Barzal has a point on 20 of the 37 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

Milestone Men

• Ryan Pulock scored his 47th goal, passing Jean Potvin for 5th place on the Isles defense goal list.

• Ilya Sorokin played in his 1787th game, passing Jaroslav Halak for 7th place in club history.

• Cal Clutterbuck played his 694th game, tying Brent Sutter for 13th place in club history.

Most OT/SO Losses in a Season (Isles Goalie)

1. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2023-24; CURRENT)

2. Rick DiPietro 9 (2006-07)

3. Ilya Sorokin 8 (2022-23)

    Evgeni Nabokov 8 (2013-14)

Most Career OT/SO Losses (Isles Goalie)

• Ilya Sorokin 29 (CURRENT)

• Rick DiPietro 28 

Woah Noah

Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 60 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 53 assists since 1983-84, when Denis Potvin also recorded 63.

Dobson is on pace for 75 assists; Denis Potvin holds the club record for assists by a defenseman (70 in 1978-79). Dobson is on pace for 85 points, which would trail only three seasons by Potvin.

Dobson has recorded the 14th 60-point season by an Islander defenseman (Denis Potvin 10, Stefan Persson 2, Jean Potvin 1) and he needs just four assists to record only the fifth 57 assist season by an Islander defensemen (Denis Potvin has the other 4).

The New Coach

The Isles are 5-5-3 under Patrick Roy and have allowed only two goals in four of their five wins. Ilya Sorokin is 5-2-2 under Roy while Semyon Varlamov is 0-3-1.

Inter-Division Games

Tonight was the third of eleven consecutive inter-division games; the Isles are 1-2-0 in that stretch. The next divisional opponent will be the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.

 

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles have played 22 overtime games. They are 7-10 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-4 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 6-7 in overtime and 1-3 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 1-3 in overtime and 0-1 in shootouts. 

The NHL record for overtime games is 30, played by Boston in 2003-04. The Isles are on pace to play 31 overtime games.

The Isles have won 18 of the last 45 games decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).

Most Islander OT/SO Losses 

• 14 (2023-24; CURRENT)

• 13 (2010-11)

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 0 empty-net goals (10:17) and allowed 14 (10:04); they have scored six overtime goals and allowed ten.

This is the latest that the Islanders have gone into a season without scoring an empty net goal. They have now gone 64 consecutive games dating back to last season without an ENG. The club record of 76 games was set between December 2, 1997, and November 21, 1998. 

Killing Their Own PP

The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play eighteen times this season.

Power Play Up; Penalty Killing Down

The Isles have scored 36 power play goals; they scored 35 all last season.

The Isles have allowed 51 power play goals; they allowed 39 all last season. 

Under Patrick Roy, the Isles Power Play is 8-39 (20.5%) and the Penalty Kill is 14-39 (64.1%). The PK has the lowest percentage in the NHL over that span.

 

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 38 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 9 times

• Allowed the next goal: 27 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: twice 

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:

1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,955

2. Matt Martin 3,817

Martin (7) and Clutterbuck (3) have combined for the 10-biggest hits seasons in Isles history in the Real-Time era, which began in 2005-06. 

The 25-Goal Club

Brock Nelson is the 8th player in club history to have at least six seasons of at least 25 goals:

• Bryan Trottier 12

• Mike Bossy 10

• John Tavares/ Clark Gillies 7

• Pat LaFontaine/ Brent Sutter/ Anders Lee/ Brock Nelson 6

Anders Lee needs ten more goals this season for his 7th season with at least 25 goals.

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2023-24  24-20-14 for 62 points in 58 games

• 2022-23  28-23-7 for 63 points in 58 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-2-3

• Season: 24-96-120

• Last Season (Final) 41-132-173

The Islander defense scored 41 goals last season, which was the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04. The 173 points were their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.

Lots of Work for Sorokin

Most shots against:

• Ilya Sorokin 1,414

• Alexandar Georgiev 1,342 

• Juuse Saros 1,314

• Thatcher Demko 1,300

No goalie has ever played the full season for the Islanders and led the NHL in this category; Kelly Hrudey led the NHL in 1988-89; he was traded at the deadline to Los Angeles.

Facing 40

Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots ten times this season and 27 times in his career. 

Most Games, 40+ Shots in a Season vs Isles Goalie

1. Jaroslav Halak 11  2017-18

2. Gerry Desjardins 10 1972-73

Ilya Sorokin 10 2023-24

No other NHL goalie has faced 40+ shots more than six times this season.

Most games, 40+ Shots (Since 2021-22)

1. John Gibson 34

2. Ilya Sorokin 27

3. Darcy Kuemper 23

4. Sam Montembault 21

Karel Vejmelka 21

Most Games, 40+ Shots (Islander History)

1. Billy Smith 46    (674 games)

2. Kelly Hrudey 27 (241 games)

Ilya Sorokin 27 (177 games)

Sorokin has made at least 40 saves six times this season and a franchise-record 16 times in his career. 

Varly, Varly

Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 278 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is sixth in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins

50. Brian Elliott 279

51. Semyon Varlamov 278

52. Marty Turco 275

Home and Road

The Isles are 24-20-14 overall; they are 13-8-9 at home and 11-12-5 on the road.

Dallas is 35-16-9 overall; they are 17-8-4 at home and 18-8-5 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 16-9-8 against the East (8-4-5 vs. Metropolitan and 8-5-3 vs. Atlantic) and 8-11-6 against the West (4-6-2 vs. Central and 4-5-4 vs. Pacific).

Home is Where the Fans Are

The Isles have played 111 games at UBS Arena and recorded 77 sellouts of 17,255. 

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,429

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,429) and Patrick Roy (135) have combined for 1,564 wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combos by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 17-3-9 when scoring first and are 7-17-5 when allowing the opening goal. Under Patrick Roy, the Isles are 4-0-0 when they score first and are 1-5-3 when they do not.

The Shots

Isles   10-13-4-1=28

Dallas 13-9-9-1=32

The Isles are 7-7-5 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 16-12-9 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves; he is 18-13-11 on the season and 2-0-1 vs. Dallas.

Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves; he is 13-6-5 on the season and 1-2-3 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (5:31, including :29 of 5-on-3); Dallas was 1-1 on the power play (1:50).

The Isles are 12-7-8 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-13-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-14-9 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-6-5 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 22-4-10 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-16-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 16-3-14 in games decided by a single goal including 8-3 in regulation. They are 7-10 in games decided in overtime and are 1-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-6 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-1-3 in the front end and 0-3-3 in the back end this season. The next back-to-back set will be on March 10th in Anaheim and March 11th in Los Angeles. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Noah Dobson (26:05); Dallas: Thomas Harley (26:56)

Mathew Barzal led Islander forwards with 25:17 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (19-18-9), Alex Romanov (2-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-2), Matthew Barzal (0-0-1), Bo Horvat (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 28, Dallas 30 (48%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 18 for the Isles; Matt Duchene won 10 of 12 for Dallas.

Hit Count

Isles 35 (Cal Clutterbuck -7)

Dallas 27 (Logan Stankoven -5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 7 (Martin 3, Pelech 1, Lee 1, Mayfield 1, Horvat 1)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 26 (Ryan Pulock -5)

Dallas 19 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 61, Dallas 70

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 51, Dallas 62

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Sebastian Aho +10

Dallas: Thomas Harley +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, Dallas 12

5-on-5: Isles 11, Dallas 8

Scratches

(Robert Bortuzzo -LTIR), Oliver Wahlstrom, (Scott Mayfield – INJ)

Games Lost to injury: 142

The Ironmen

Anders Lee is the Islanders' ironman, having played 170 consecutive games. Brock Nelson (142) is the only other Islander to have played at least 100 consecutive games. Four other Islanders (Noah Dobson, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Palmieri, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) have played every game this season.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 4-0-3 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on March 5th (ESPN+) vs. the Blues.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-2-1 in matinee games (all at home, including an OT loss at Met Life). The remaining matinee games are March 16th vs OTT, March 17th at NYR, March 23rd vs WPG, and April 13th at NYR.

The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon games.

Challenges

Isles: 2 successful, 3 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24), LA no goalie interference (12/9), VGK no goalie interference (1/6), PIT no hand pass (2/20)

Opponents: 3 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offsides (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30); ANA goalie interference (12/13), CGY offside (2/10), TB offside (2/24)

Quickies

The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute six times this season (four times at home – CBJ 12/7 x2, WSH 12/29, NYR 2/18-MetLife and twice on road-@OTT 11/24, @ARI 1/4) and allowed two in the same span eight times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8, @MTL 12/16, PIT 12/27, @NAS 1/13, @PIT 2/20, @STL 2/22 (3 in :32))

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins

The Isles have come from at least two goals behind in the third period to win one time this season and have allowed the opposition to do so five times.

For (1): LA 12/9 (trailed 0-2, won 3-2 in OT)

Vs (5): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; @ NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation); SJ 12/5 (trailed 1-4; won 5-3 in OT); NYR 2/18 (trailed 3-5, won 6-5 in OT)

Last Minute Heroes:

The Isles have scored four goals and have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:

For (4): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT); Simon Holmstrom 12/13 vs ANA 18:27 (GWG); Kyle Palmieri 1/27 vs FLA 18:31 (Isles lost in OT); Pierre Engvall 2/5 @ TOR 17:58 (GWG)

Vs (7): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG); Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT); Tomas Hertl vs SJ 18:30 (SJ won in OT); Morgan Rielly 12/11 vs TOR 19:53 (Isles won in OT); Alexandre Carrier 1/13 @ NAS 19:52 (GWG); Sean Monahan 1/25 @ MTL 17:48 (GWG); Mika Zibanejad vs NYR – Met Life 18:31 (NYR won in OT)

OT Winners

For (7):   Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30, Jean Gabriel Pageau (vs LA) 12/9, Bo Horvat (vs TOR) 12/11, Mathew Barzal (vs TOR) 1/11, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 1/21, Adam Pelech (vs PIT) 2/20, Bo Horvat (vs DAL) 2/26

Vs (10):   Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15; William Eklund (SJ) 12/5; Dylan Strome (WAS) 12/20; Nathan MacKinnon (COL) 1/2; Seth Jones (CHI) 1/19, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) 1/27; Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2/18

Shootout Winners

For (1):  Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18

Vs (4):  Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25, David Pastrnak (BOS) 12/15, Tomas Tatar (SEA) 2/13

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

5. Clark Gillies 872 *** 6. Brock Nelson 816 *** 7. Bob Bourne 814 *** 8. Matt Martin 802 *** 9. Casey Cizikas 791 *** 10. Mike Bossy 752 *** 11. Anders Lee 736 *** Patrick Flatley 712 *** 13. Brent Sutter and Cal Clutterbuck 694…

32. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 34. Ed Westfall 493 *** 35. Radek Martinek 479 *** 36. Gerry Hart and Mathew Barzal 476 *** 38. Adam Pelech 475 *** 39. Mariusz Czerkawski 470 *** 40. Scott Mayfield 468 *** 41. Ryan Pulock 461

Goals    

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

7. John Tavares 272 *** 8. Brock Nelson 266 *** 9. Anders Lee 255 …

21. Jason Blake 127 *** 22. Duane Sutter 121 *** 23. Mathew Barzal 122…

30. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 32. Casey Cizikas 103

Assists

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

10. Stefan Persson 317 *** 11. Bob Bourne 304 *** 12. Mathew Barzal 301…

16. Billy Harris 259 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson 249  *** 18. Brock Nelson 242…

22. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 23. Anders Lee 184…

33. Travis Green 145 *** 34. Noah Dobson 144 ***35. Steve Thomas 140 *** 36. Mark Streit 139 *** 37. Greg Gilbert 136 *** 38. Ryan Pulock 135

Points

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

11. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 12. Brock Nelson 507 *** 13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 15. Billy Harris 443 *** 16. Anders Lee 439 *** 17. Mathew Barzal 423…

32. Ray Ferraro 238 *** 33. Travis Green 237 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 235

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105  ***  16. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Garry Howatt +75 *** 18. Adam Pelech +72 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 22. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 23. Greg Gilbert +54  

Defense Goals

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

4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 47 *** 6. Jean Potvin 46 *** 7. Nick Leddy 45 *** 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 *** 9. Mark Streit 40 *** 10. Noah Dobson 37

Defense Assists

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

7. Jeff Norton 166 *** 8. Noah Dobson 144 *** 9. Mark Streit 139 *** 10. Ryan Pulock 135…

13. Roman Hamrlik 110 *** 14. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 109 *** 16. Adam Pelech 106… 

20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 *** 22. Scott Mayfield 91

Defense Points

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

7. Jeff Norton 188 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 182 *** 9. Noah Dobson 181 … 

13. Dave Lewis 141 *** 14. Tom Kurvers 134 *** 15. Adam Pelech 132…

19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Thomas Hickey 117 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 116

Goalie Games

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

5. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 6. Tommy Salo 187 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 178 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177 *** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 153

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130…

5. Thomas Greiss 101 *** 6. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 7. Ilya Sorokin 87 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Glenn Healy 66 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 65

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 5. Semyon Varlamov 15

On the Farm  

Bridgeport split a pair of games over the weekend to move to 16-28-6-1 on the season. On Saturday, they dropped a 4-1 decision at Wilkes Barre-Scranton and then on Sunday they beat Springfield 5-3 at Total Mortgage Arena. In Sunday's win Ruslan Iskhakov scored a pair of goals to tie the game 1:56 apart to tie the game in the second period; Samuel Bolduc scored the winner midway through the third before Hudson Fasching scored an empty-net goal. 

The Baby Isles will host Laval on Wednesday.

Season Series Stats

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

The Isles also defeated the Stars 3-2 in Patrick Roy's debut and swept the season series from Dallas for the first time since 2016-17 (ironically the first meeting that season was Doug Weight's coaching debut).

While the Isles are 3-0-1 in their last four home games with the Stars, this was their first win in their last four trips to Dallas.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29th –ISLANDERS AT DETROIT– 7:00pm

[MSGSN(pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].

The Isles look to sweep the road trip on Thursday as they make their first trip to Detroit since November 5, 2022.

The teams have met once this season, back on October 30th at UBS Arena. The Red Wings trailed 2-0 in the third period,  then scored three straight before Bo Horvat's power play goal forced overtime. Lucas Raymond scored the winning goal in the extra session. 

While that overtime loss broke a 7-game Isles home winning streak vs. the Red Wings, the are 0-2-1 in their last three trips to Detroit where they will return on March 21st.

This will be only the 6th Leap Day game in Isles history – they have won only once, in the debut of Patrick Flatley and Pat LaFontaine, in 1984.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick