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The Skinny: Minnesota 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 55 Minnesota 6, Isles 3 The Wild scored the game's final five goals to erase a 3-1 Islander...

Thursday, January 30, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 3, Philadelphia 0

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 50
Isles 3, Philadelphia 0
Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Simon Holmstrom broke a scoreless tie with a goal midway through the game as the Isles blanked the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 before a crowd of 18,703 at Wells Fargo Center. 

The Isles extended the longest active win streak in the NHL to six games as they also got goals from Marc Gatcomb (his first in the NHL) and Kyle Palmieri (his first since December 23rd). 

The Isles have won four straight on the road, as well, and move to a season-high three games over NHL-500 (23-20-7). The Isles now head to Florida to begin a stretch of five games against current playoff teams, beginning with a back-to-back in Tampa Bay on Saturday and Florida on Sunday. - that stretch will take the Isles into the 4 Nations Cup break. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
Simon Holmstrom (13) Scott Perunovich (6), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (16) 10:02 NYI 1,PHI 0
Marc Gatcomb (1) Kyle MacLean (4), Maxim Tsyplakov (13) 17:08 NYI 2,PHI 0

3rd Period
Kyle Palmieri (13) Casey Cizikas (4), Adam Pelech (12) 09:53 NYI 3,PHI 0

The Skinny
The Isles have won six straight and are 9-2-0 in their last eleven games; it is the third time under Patrick Roy that the Isles have won at least six straight (also had two six-game streaks last season)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 21-7 during the six-game win streak…The Isles have outscored their opponents 84-78 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-52 in the third period and overtime; the Isles are much improved in third period and OT in the last eleven games, outscoring their opponents 15-6…The Isles have scored 99 goals and allowed 85 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 57-37 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 30 of the last 38 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 51-40 in the second period this season (including 10-2 in the last six games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 20 of 21 over their last eleven games (95.2%) and they have the best PK in the NHL in that span… The Isles went 0-2 on the power play; over the last twenty games, the Isles have been outscored 10-3 on the power play…The Isles improve to 17-2-2 when leading after two periods with their 11th straight win in that situation…Bo Horvat's point streak ended at six games…The Isles have been credited with 200 hits (33.3 per game) during their six-game win streak…Bo Horvat was successful on draws again, winning 12 of 19; he has won 132 of 198 during the 9-2-0 stretch, for an NHL-best 66.7% (minimum 50 face-offs)….Ilya Sorokin has now won four straight starts and five straight appearances (including his 2:03 of overtime outing on Saturday); it is the fourth time in his career that he has had a 5-game winning streak… The Isles have now played fourteen scoreless first periods this season (7-3-4)…The Flyers were shutout on both ends of their back-to-back…Isaiah George played only one shift after being hit by Anthony Richard midway through the first period…Kyle Palmieri's goal was the first scored in an Islander game this season by either team in a 4-on-4 situation…John Tortorella coached his 1,600th NHL game…Only Connor Hellebuyck (23) has more shutouts than Ilya Sorokin (21) since Ilya entered the NHL in 2021…Adam Pelech has five assists in the last six games, matching the most he has earned in any five-game span.

Howie's Stat
Former Isles broadcaster Howie Rose always liked this one: Marc Gatcomb is the 402nd player in Isles history (including Billy Smith) to score a goal. Gatcomb joins Lorne Henning, Ron Smith (both in 72-73), Andrei Vasiliyev (1995), and Robin Salo (2022) as Isles who have scored their first NHL goals in Philadelphia; Jeff Norton and Bob Bassen both scored their 1st NHL goals vs. the Flyers at the Coliseum.

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles finish January 9-3-0 (.750), completing their best January since the Stanley Cup Champion Islanders went 9-2-1 in January 1983.
The Isles have allowed seven goals in their six-game winning streak, matching the fewest goals they have allowed in any six-game span since 2019 (four overlapping streaks allowing 4 or 5 goals).
Scott Perunovich is the first Islander since Johnny Boychuk (10/10-11/2014) to have an assist in each of his first two games with the team.
The Isles are three games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season and they are also two games over .500 on the road for the first time since November 14th.

Blanking the Flyers
Ilya Sorokin now has four career shutouts against the Flyers; he is the seventh NHL goalie (third-active) with at least four shutouts of the Flyers. (Chico Resch and Garth Snow are the only other Isles with multiple shutouts vs. Philadelphia -both had 2). Sorokin has now blanked the Flyers in three straight seasons.

Most Winning Streaks of 6+ Games (Islander Coach)
1. Al Arbour 13  (although it took 365 games for his first one!)
2. Barry Trotz/Patrick Roy 3

What a Stretch
The Isles are 9-2-0 since January 5th. The nine wins are tied for the NHL lead in that span, and their .818-win percentage is the best in the NHL in that span. The Isles have outscored the opposition 35-19; their 3.18 goals per game rates 8th, while their 1.73 goals allowed trails only Washington (1.58). The Isles have won an NHL-best 55.8% of their draws over those eleven games.

Individual Leaders:
Games:  Only 11 players have played all ten games, with Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech being the only defensemen.
Goals:  Horvat 8, Lee 6, Nelson 5
Assists: Barzal 7, Nelson 6, Palmieri 6, Pageau 6, Pelech 6
Points:  Nelson 11, Horvat 11, Barzal 10
+/-:  Lee +13, Pelech +12, Barzal +10
Shots: Horvat 35, Lee 28, Barzal 28
Faceoff Percentage: Horvat 66.7, Cizikas 57.6, Pageau 53.2
Goalies   Sorokin 7-1-0 .938 1.71 ;  Hogberg 2-1-0 .946 1.26

+129
The Isles are 129 games over all-time NHL-.500 over the first time since January 17, 1996, when a 6-3 loss to Hartford dropped them to 859-730-266.   

Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 332 minutes for the Isles, allowing eight goals on 151 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won eight straight Saturday games (six at home and two on the road). The Isles are 16-13-3 in their last 32 games (8-0-0 on Saturday; 8-13-3 on other days). 

Successive Saturday Successes
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games, matching the longest Saturday win streak (single season) in the Post-Cup era (Also in 2005-06); the last time the Isles had a longer Saturday win streak was December 19, 1981- February 20, 1982, when they won nine straight, with the final five games being games 2, 5, 8, 11, and 15 of the historic 15-game win streak.

Milestone Man
Mathew Barzal has 327 assists, just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 49, Opponents 57
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 8 (in 7 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 14

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 33 of their 50 games. In the 17 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-13-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have eleven come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win nine times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 3-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 10 empty-net goals and allowed 14.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 35 times this season:
Score the next goal: 14 times
Allowed the next goal: 16 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  23-20-7 for 53 points in 50 games
2023-24  21-17-12 for 54 points in 50 games 
(The Isles remain within one point of last season's pace after trailing by multiple points between games 19-48) 

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-2-2
Season: 17-74-91
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 13 goals in the last 24 games.

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
47. Mike Liut 293
48. Ed Giacomin 290
49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada
The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-3-3 so far (1-1-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played eight straight road games in November/December going 4-1-3. They went 0-1-0 in January; five of the six remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-3-3 in the last 14 games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Winnipeg on February 7th in the Isles' final game in Canada this season. 

Home and Road
The Isles are 23-20-7 overall; they are 12-11-2 at home and 11-9-5 on the road.
Philadelphia is 23-24-6 overall; they are 12-12-1 at home and 11-12-5 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 15-14-3 against the East (8-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-9-1 vs. Atlantic) and 8-6-4 against the West (5-2-2 vs. Central and 3-4-2 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,531
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,467
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,467) and Patrick Roy (173) have combined for 1,640 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 11-4-4 when scoring first and are 12-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles          10-8-10=28
Philadelphia 8-12-3=23
The Isles are 12-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves; he is 18-14-4 this season and 11-3-2 vs. Philadelphia. 
Ivan Fedotov made 25 saves; he is 4-7-3 this season and 0-2-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (4:00); Philadelphia was 0-3 (6:00).

The Isles are 9-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 22-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 9-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 3-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
The Isles are 4-1-1 on the front end and 3-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be February 1st-2nd when they visit Tampa bay and Florida.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Anthony DeAngelo (28:14); Philadelphia: Travis Konecny (23:45)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:29).

Face-offs
Isles 34, Philadelphia 33 (5`%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 19 for the Isles; Rodrigo Abols won 8 of 9 for Philadelphia. 

Hit Count
Isles 33 (Marc Gatcomb -18)
Philadelphia 20 (Garnet Hathaway -10)

Fights 
Max Tsyplakov fought Scott Laughton in the first period. Season total: 6 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 25 (Three with 5)
Philadelphia 9 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Philadelphia 68
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 38, Philadelphia 57
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Scott Perunovich and Bo Horvat +5
Philadelphia: Anthony Richard +14

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 7, Philadelphia 15
5-on-5: Isles 5, Philadelphia 13

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-IR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR),  (Ryan Pulock -IR), (Margus Hogberg -IR), Matt Martin,  Dennis Cholowski, Pierre Engvall
Games Lost to injury: 179. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 216 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (166) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11 
2. Brock Nelson 9 
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 16
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 21
3. Brock Nelson 19
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 42 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

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

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

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

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18
Opponent responses (6): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 
For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))
Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (7): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG)

OT Winners
For (3): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03)
Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***
4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 890 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 865 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 809 …
23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter 547 *** 25. Lorne Henning 543 *** 26. Claude Lapointe and Ryan Pulock 535 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine and Adam Pelech 530 *** 31. Kyle Okposo and Mathew Barzal 529 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Scott Mayfield 517

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 290 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 282 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 327…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 272…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 210…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Noah Dobson 169 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 157… 
35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Casey Cizikas 142

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 ***  9. Brock Nelson 562 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 491 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 461…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 253

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +84 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +62 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 ***  24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 51 *** 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742***  2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 169 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 126… 
17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 215 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 208…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 152…
18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 228 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177***  9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***
4. Ilya Sorokin 113 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

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

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 10-28-2-2 after a 9-2 loss to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 24 assists and 36 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories.

The Islanders head to Hershey for a pair of games this weekend.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2). The final meeting will be in Philadelphia on April 12th.

The Isles are 8-2-2 in their last 12 trips to Philadelphia.

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1st – ISLES AT TAMPA BAY 7:00pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look for their first seven-game winning streak in four seasons as they head to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning for the first time this season.

The Isles have dropped five straight games in Tampa Bay by a combined score of 21-6, since defeating the Bolts 5-1 on December 9, 2019.

Overall, the Isles are 2-8-0 in the last ten games against the Lightning.

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

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 5, Colorado 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 49
Isles 5, Colorado 2
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves, and Simon Holmstrom scored a goal and added two assists as the Isles used their biggest third period outburst since March 2023 to earn a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche before a crowd of 15,735 at UBS Arena. 

The Isles extended the longest active win streak in the NHL to five games as they scored four times in the period after the teams traded goals in the second period. 

The Isles finish the homestand 5-2-0 and are  two games over NHL-500 (22-20-7) for the first time this season. Five of the next six games are on the road, beginning Thursday in Philadelphia- that stretch will take the Isles into the 4 Nations Cup break. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
Anders Lee (22) Brock Nelson (17), Tony DeAngelo (1)  04:11 COL 0,NYI 1
Artturi Lehkonen (21) Nathan MacKinnon (59), Martin Necas (42) 13:00 COL 1,NYI 1

3rd Period
Simon Holmstrom (11) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (14) 01:54 COL 1,NYI 2
Bo Horvat (18) Anders Lee (17), Scott Perunovich (5) 11:23 COL 1,NYI 3
Jack Drury (5) Martin Necas (43), Josh Manson (12) 14:55 COL 2,NYI 3
Alexander Romanov (2) Simon Holmstrom (14), Casey Cizikas (3) 17:31 COL 2,NYI 4
Simon Holmstrom (12)EN Jean-Gabriel Pageau (15) 18:50 COL 2,NYI 5

The Skinny
The Isles have won five straight and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games; it is the third time under Patrick Roy that the Isles have won at least five straight (6, twice last season)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 18-7 during the five-game win streak…The Isles have outscored their opponents 82-78 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-51 in the third period and overtime; the Isles are much improved in third period and OT in the last ten games, outscoring their opponents 14-6…The Isles have scored 97 goals and allowed 85 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 57-36 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 29 of the last 37 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 49-40 in the second period this season (including 8-2 in the last five games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 17 of 18 over their last ten games (94.4%) and they have the best PK in the NHL in that span… The Isles did not have a power play; over the last nineteen games, the Isles have been outscored 10-3 on the power play…The Isles improve to 3-5-4 when tied after two periods…Bo Horvat had a point for the sixth straight game; he now has eight goals in the last 10 games… Adam Pelech saw his point streak end at a career-high four games… .The Isles have been credited with 182 hits (36.4 per game) during their four-game win streak…Alex Romanov scored for the second straight game after going 53 games without a goal; it is the first time in his career he has scored in consecutive games; he also matched his career-best three-game point steak…Noah Dobson is the other Islander defender to score in consecutive games this season....Bo Horvat was successful on draws again, winning 10 of 16….Scott Perunovich played 18:52 in his Islander debut, becoming the first mid-season defense acquisition to earn a point in his debut since Andy Greene in 2020; Tony DeAngelo also had his first point as an Islander…Brock Nelson is 5-6-11 in his last nine games…Ilya Sorokin has now won three straight starts and four straight appearances (including his 2:03 of overtime outing on Saturday)…Simon Holmstrom had his first three-point period, and second three-point game (12/12/2024 vs CHI) to give him a career-high 26 points (and extending his assist total to a career-high 14…Anders Lee has 10 goals in 20 games against Colorado, and has surpassed last season's total of 37 points; Lee is on pace for career highs in both assists and points, and needs eight goals for his second career 30+ goal season.

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles played seven consecutive home games for the first time since 2021-22 (twice) but that reflected games rescheduled due to COVID. The Isles all played seven straight at home in 2013 (lockout season), but this is the first time since February-March 2007 that seven straight were scheduled at home in an original schedule.
Bo Horvat is the first Islander with eight goals in a 10-game span since Brock Nelson (most recently 2/9-2/28/2023). While it is the first time he has done it as an Islander, Horvat had 25 (mostly overlapping) stretches as a Canuck when he scored at least eight goals.
The Isles are over NHL-.500 at home for the first time this season and they are also two games over .500 overall for the first time this season. 
The Isles scored four times in the third period for the first time since March 21, 2023, vs. Toronto.
The Isles won five consecutive games, all on a single homestand, for the first time since March 4-11, 2021.
The Isles are 8-3-0 in January and are guaranteed their best January since 2019 (8-2-1). If they should win on Thursday they would complete their best January since the Stanley Cup Champion Islanders went 9-2-1 in January 1983.

What a Stretch
The Isles are 8-2-0 since January 5th. The eight wins are tied for the NHL lead in that span, and only Washington (8-1-2, .818), has a better win percentage than the Isles. The Isles have outscored the opposition 32-19; their 3.20 goals per game rates 8th, while their 1.90 goals allowed trails only Washington (1.27). The Isles have won an NHL-best 56.4% of their draws over those ten games.

Individual Leaders:
Games:  Only 10 players have played all ten games, with Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech being the only defensemen.
Goals:  Horvat 8, Lee 6, Nelson 5
Assists: Barzal 7, Nelson 6, Palmieri 6
Points:  Nelson 11, Horvat 11, Barzal 10
+/-:  Lee +13, Pelech +11, Barzal +10
Shots: Horvat 32, Lee 28, Nelson/Barzal 24
Faceoff Percentage: Horvat 67.0, Cizikas 59.0, Pageau 53.2
Goalies   Sorokin 6-1-0 .930 1.99 ;  Hogberg 2-1-0 .946 1.26

+128
The Isles are 128 games over all-time NHL-.500 over the first time since January 22, 1996, when a 4-3 loss to the Avs dropped them to 859-731-266.  The Avs goaltender that night: Patrick Roy (in one of his 22 wins over the Isles).

Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 332 minutes for the Isles, allowing eight goals on 151 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won eight straight Saturday games (six at home and two on the road). The Isles are 15-13-3 in their last 31 games (8-0-0 on Saturday; 7-13-3 on other days). 

Successive Saturday Successes
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games, matching the longest Saturday win streak (single season) in the Post-Cup era (Also in 2005-06); the last time the Isles had a longer Saturday win streak was December 19, 1981- February 20, 1982 when they won nine straight, with the final five games being games 2, 5, 8, 11, and 15 of the historic 15-game win streak.

Milestone Man
Mathew Barzal has 327 assists, just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 48, Opponents 57
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 8 (in 7 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 14

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 32 of their 49 games. In the 17 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-13-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have eleven come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win nine times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 3-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 10 empty-net goals and allowed 14.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 34 times this season:
Score the next goal: 13 times
Allowed the next goal: 16 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  22-20-7 for 51 points in 49 games
2023-24  20-17-12 for 52 points in 49 games 
(It is the first time since game 18 that the Isles have been within one point of last season's pace.

Offense from Defense
Today:   1-2-3
Season: 17-72-89
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 13 goals in the last 23 games.

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
47. Mike Liut 293
48. Ed Giacomin 290
49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada
The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-3-3 so far (1-1-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played eight straight road games in November/December going 4-1-3. They went 0-1-0 in January; five of the six remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-3-3 in the last 14 games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Winnipeg on February 7th in the Isles' final game in Canada this season. 

Home and Road
The Isles are 22-20-7 overall; they are 12-11-2 at home and 10-9-5 on the road.
Colorado is 29-21-2 overall; they are 14-10-2 at home and 15-11-0 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 14-14-3 against the East (7-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-9-1 vs. Atlantic) and 8-6-4 against the West (5-2-2 vs. Central and 3-4-2 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,531
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,466
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,466) and Patrick Roy (172) have combined for 1,638 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 10-4-4 when scoring first and are 12-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles      11-7-10=28
Colorado 14-12-6=32
The Isles are 11-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves; he is 17-14-4 this season and 2-2-2 vs. Colorado. 
Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves; he is 16-14-5 this season and 4-5-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles did not have a power play; Colorado was 0-2 (4:00).

The Isles are 9-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 13-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 21-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 9-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 3-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-1-1 on the front end and 3-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be February 1st-2nd when they visit Tampa bay and Florida.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (25:16); Colorado: Cale Makar (25:24)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (19:15).

Face-offs
Isles 23, Colorado 29 (44%)
Bo Horvat won 10 of 16 for the Isles; Nathan MacKinnon won 14 of 21 for Colorado. 

Hit Count
Isles 33 (Alex Romanov -6)
Colorado 24 (Two with 6)

Fights 
None. Season total: 5 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 27 (Three with 4)
Colorado 14 (Josh Manson -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Colorado 87
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Colorado 75
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Scott Perunovich +10
Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 10, Colorado 20
5-on-5: Isles 10, Colorado 14

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-IR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR),  (Ryan Pulock -IR), Margus Hogberg -IR), Matt Martin,  Dennis Cholowski, Pierre Engvall
Games Lost to injury: 173. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 215 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (165) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11 
2. Brock Nelson 9 
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 16
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 21
3. Brock Nelson 19
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 42 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 1-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with six games remaining. The next national games will stream on January 30th on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles visit the Flyers. The remaining five national telecasts are all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

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

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18
Opponent responses (6): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 
For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))
Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (7): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG)

OT Winners
For (3): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03)
Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***
4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 889 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 864 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 808 …
26. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 27. Ryan Pulock 534 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 30. Kyle Okposo and Adam Pelech 529 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 528 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Scott Mayfield 516

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 290 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 282 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 327…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 272…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 210…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Noah Dobson 169 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 157… 
35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Casey Cizikas 141

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 ***  9. Brock Nelson 562 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 491 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 461…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 252

+/-
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 +62 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 ***  24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 51 *** 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742***  2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 169 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 125… 
17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 215 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 208…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 151…
18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 227 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177***  9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***
4. Ilya Sorokin 112 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 20 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 10-27-2-2 heading into a Wednesday home game with Lehigh Valley.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 24 assists and 36 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories.

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

It is the first time since 2018-19 that the Isles have swept the season series, the first time the Isles ever scored 11 goals in a two-game season series with the Avs, and the first time since December 15-31, 1990 that the Isles have beaten the Avs franchise (then in Quebec) by at least three goals in consecutive games.

UP NEXT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30th – ISLES AT PHILADELPHIA 7:30pm
[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look to match the longest winning streak in the Patrick Roy era (six games) as they visit the Flyers for the third meeting of the teams this month. 

The Flyers were the last team to beat the Isles, handing the Isles a 5-3 defeat on January 16th, but the Isles rebounded eight days later for a 3-1 victory. 

The Isles are 7-2-2 in their last 11 trips to Philadelphia (including 4-2 in OT/SO games).

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com



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

Sunday, January 26, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 3, Carolina 2 (OT)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 48
Isles 3, Carolina 2 (OT)
On a night the Isles lost Ryan Pulock :15 into the game, trailed 2-0 before the first commercial break, and lost goaltender Marcus Hogberg before overtime, they still won. Brock Nelson scored 2:03 into the extra session to complete the comeback, and spoil the Carolina debuts of Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall, for a 3-2 win over the Hurricanes before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

The Isles have won four straight for the first time this season as they overcame two Carolina goals 72 seconds apart; Alex Romanov scored late in the first to get the Isles on the board and Anders Lee tied the game on a rebound in the third to set the stage for Nelson's ninth career overtime goal. 

The Isles improve to 4-2-0 on this homestand and 21-20-7 overall. It is the first time since November 14th  (7-6-4) that the Isles have been over NHL-.500. The final game of the seven-game homestand is Tuesday against Colorado, as the Isles look to go two games over NHL-.500 for the first time this season.

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Jack Roslovic (18) Jesperi Kotkaniemi (14), Dmitry Orlov (19) 05:18 CAR 1,NYI 0
Sebastian Aho (16) Jalen Chatfield (7) 06:30 CAR 2,NYI 0
Alexander Romanov (1) Casey Cizikas (2), Adam Pelech (11) 17:53 CAR 2,NYI 1

2nd Period
No Goals

3rd Period
Anders Lee (21) Bo Horvat (20), Alexander Romanov (11) 06:26 CAR 2,NYI 2

OT
Brock Nelson (15) Kyle Palmieri (20) 02:03 CAR 2,NYI 3 

The Skinny
The Isles have won four straight and are 7-2-0 in their last nine games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 81-77 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-47 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 93 goals and allowed 83 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 57-35 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 28 of the last 36 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 48-39 in the second period this season (including 7-1 in the last four games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 15 of 16 over their last nine games (93.8%) and they have the best PL in the NHL in that span… Over the last eighteen games, the Isles have been outscored 10-3 on the power play…The Isles improve to 3-13-1 when trailing after two periods…Bo Horvat had a point for the fifth straight game while Adam Pelech extended his point streak to four games for the first time in his NHL career... Ryan Pulock, injured in the opening seconds, is the only Islander defenseman to play every game this season… Mathew Barzal's point streak ended at four games… Islander goalies have allowed one goal or fewer six times in the last eight games…The Isles allowed the opening goal for the 31st  time this season, matching San Jose for the most in the NHL….The Isles have been credited with 149 hits (37.3 per game) during their four-game win streak…Alex Romanov scored for the first time since March 7, 2024, in San Jose (54 games)...Bo Horvat dominated the face-off circle, winning 19 of 26, matching his totals on November 30th vs. Buffalo…Sebastian Aho reached the 50-point mark for the eighth straight season; he is the fifth Finnish player to do so….Tony DeAngelo played 25:07 in his Islander debut, including 5:15 on the power play. (most since he played 25:14 on 12/23/22 for Philadelphia against Carolina)…Brock Nelson is 5-5-10 in last eight games.

The Injuries
Ryan Pelech suffered an upper body injury :15 into the game and did not return; Margus Hogberg left the game at the end of regulation with an upper body injury. 

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles are playing seven consecutive home games for the first time since 2021-22 (twice) but that reflected games rescheduled due to COVID. The Isles all played seven straight at home in 2013 (lockout season), but this is the first time since February-March 2007 that seven straight were scheduled at home in an original schedule.
It is the first time since Jan 21-Feb 18, 2012, that the Isles have beaten Carolina in consecutive home games.
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games in a single season for the first time since winning the final eight Saturday games of the 2005-06 season.
After sixteen consecutive home games ending in regulation, the Isles played overtime at UBS Arena for the first time since November 9th against New Jersey. It is the longest single-season streak of its sort since going 17 games from 1/16-3/14/2015.
The Isles are back to NHL-.500 at home for the first time since November 23 (3-3-2).
The Isles have not allowed a goal after the first period in three straight games for the first time since April 27-May 1, 2021.

Hogberg's Injury Generates its Own Skinny Section
By leaving the game after regulation, Marcus Hogberg's injury led to several strange facts:
Hogberg is the 2nd goalie in team history to play at least sixty minutes without getting a decision  (Evgeny Nabokov 64:45 on 10/27/2011 vs. Pittsburgh (SOL)
Sorokin played the fewest amount of time (2:03) to earn a win in club history; the previous record was 2:24 by Wade Dubielewicz on 1/4/2006 vs. Florida.
Sorokin is the first goalie in club history to earn a victory making one save (or fewer); the previous record was two saves  by Thomas Greiss (in 9:40 on 3/5/2019 vs. Ottawa).
...and technically Sorokin has now allowed one goal or fewer in three straight appearances.

Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 332 minutes for the Isles, allowing eight goals on 151 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Most Ice-Time in Isles Debut (Real-Time Era)
1. Roman Hamrlik 26:04  10/6/2000
2. Dallas Eakin 25:28       12/18/1999
3. Tony DeAngelo 25:07  1/25/2025

Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won eight straight Saturday games (six at home and two on the road). The Isles are 14-13-3 in their last 30 games (8-0-0 on Saturday; 6-13-3 on other days). Ten of their last fourteen wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Successive Saturday Successes
The Isles have won eight straight Saturday games, matching the longest Saturday win streak (single season) in the Post-Cup era (Also in 2005-06); the last time the Isles had a longer Saturday win streak was December 19, 1981- February 20, 1982 when they won nine straight, with the final five games being games 2, 5, 8, 11, and 15 of the historic 15-game win streak.

Easy as 28-27-29
As pointed out by fellow Union College alum (and Islander season ticketholder) Ed Koval, the three goals scored tonight were scored by players wearing consecutive uniform numbers.

Milestone Men
Mathew Barzal has 327 assists, just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.
Pyotr Kotchetkov played his 100th NHL game

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 44, Opponents 57
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 7 (in 6 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 14

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 31 of their 48 games. In the 17 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-13-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have eleven come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win nine times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 3-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 3-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 9 empty-net goals and allowed 14.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season:
Score the next goal: 12 times
Allowed the next goal: 15 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  21-20-7 for 49 points in 48 games
2023-24  20-17-11 for 51 points in 48 games 

Offense from Defense
Today:   1-2-3
Season: 16-70-86
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
47. Mike Liut 293
48. Ed Giacomin 290
49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada
The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-3-3 so far (1-1-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played eight straight road games in November/December going 4-1-3. They went 0-1-0 in January; five of the six remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-3-3 in the last 14 games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Winnipeg on February 7th in the Isles' final game in Canada this season. 

Home and Road
The Isles are 21-20-7 overall; they are 11-11-2 at home and 10-9-5 on the road.
Carolina is 30-16-4 overall; they are 19-5-1 at home and 11-11-3 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 14-14-3 against the East (7-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-9-1 vs. Atlantic) and 7-6-4 against the West (4-2-2 vs. Central and 3-4-2 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,531
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,465
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,465) and Patrick Roy (171) have combined for 1,636 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 9-4-4 when scoring first and are 12-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles      10-9-6-1=26
Carolina 9-8-9-1=27
The Isles are 10-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 10-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Marcus Hogberg made 24 saves in regulation. Ilya Sorokin made 1 overtime save; he is 16-14-4 this season and 5-6-1 vs. Carolina. 
Pyotr Kotchetkov made 23 saves; he is 18-9-3 this season and 4-2-2 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00); Carolina was 0-1 (2:00).

The Isles are 9-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 12-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 11-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 9-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 3-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-1-1 on the front end and 3-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be February 1st-2nd when they visit Tampa bay and Florida.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (season-high 26:41); Carolina: Jaccob Slavin (23:43)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (season-high 23:19).

Face-offs
Isles 45, Carolina 24 (65%)
Bo Horvat won 19 of 26 for the Isles; No Hurricane won more than he lost. 

Hit Count
Isles 38 (Casey Cizikas -7)
Carolina 19 (Two with 3)

Fights 
Jean-Gabriel Pageau fought Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period. Season total: 5 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 14 (Scott Mayfield -3)
Carolina 17 (Jaccob Slavin -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Carolina 67
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 51, Carolina 57
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Tony DeAngelo +8
Carolina: Shayne Gostisbehere +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Carolina 14
5-on-5: Isles 8, Carolina 11

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Hudson Fasching-IR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR),  Matt Martin, Max Tsyplakov, Dennis Cholowski
Games Lost to injury: 167. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 214 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (164) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11 
2. Brock Nelson 9 
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 16
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 21
3. Brock Nelson 19
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 42 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 0-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with seven games remaining. The next national games will stream on January 28th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Avs and January 30th on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles visit the Flyers. The remaining five national telecasts are all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges
Isles: 4 successful, 3 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14)

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18
Opponent responses (6): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 
For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))
Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (7): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG)

OT Winners
For (3): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03)
Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***
4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 888 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 863 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 807 …
26. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 27. Ryan Pulock 534 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 30. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 31. Adam Pelech 528 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 527 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Scott Mayfield 515

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 290 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 281 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 327…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 271…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 209…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Noah Dobson 169 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 157… 
35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Casey Cizikas 140

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 ***  9. Brock Nelson 561 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 490 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 461…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 251

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +81 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +62 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 ***  24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 51 *** 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742***  2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 169 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 125… 
17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 215 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 208…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 151…
18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 226 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177***  9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***
4. Ilya Sorokin 111 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 20 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 10-27-2-2 after a 2-1 loss in Lehigh Valley on Saturday; Chris Terry scored Bridgeport's only goal.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 24 assists and 36 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories.

Bridgeport hosts a rematch with Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. 

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 3). The final meeting will be on March 30th in Carolina.

The home team has won all three games this season, after the road team won all four games last season. 

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28th  –COLORADO AT ISLES 7:30pm
[ESPN+/Hulu, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look to extend the winning streak to five games as they welcome the Colorado Avalanche, with newly-acquired Martin Necas and Jack Drury, to UBS Arena for the only time this season. 

The Isles will look to sweep the season series with Colorado for the first time since 2018-19, having won 6-2 in Denver on October 14th. 

The teams have played three wild games at UBS Arena since the building opened, with the Isles losing 5-4, winning 5-4 and losing 7-4 (with two empty nets). It will be the first time Patrick Roy has faced his former team on Long Island.

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

Saturday, January 25, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 3, Philadelphia 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 47
Isles 3, Philadelphia 1
Anthony Duclair and Bo Horvat scored 55 seconds apart, late in the first period, as the Islanders rallied from a 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves, yielding only a first period goal to Tyson Foerster, as the Isles earned their third straight win, all at home. Brock Nelson added some insurance for the Isles in the second period with his 14th goal of the season.

The Isles improve to 3-2-0 on this homestand and 20-20-7 overall. It is the first time since December 12th (12-12-7) that the Isles have been at NHL-.500. The sixth game of the seven-game homestand is Saturday against Carolina, when the Isles look to go over NHL-.500 for the first time since November 14th.

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Tyson Foerster (13) Travis Konecny (35), Erik Johnson (2) 14:14 PHI 1,NYI 0
Anthony Duclair (4)  Brock Nelson (16), Kyle Palmieri (18) 17:08 PHI 1,NYI 1
Bo Horvat (17) Mathew Barzal (13), Alexander Romanov (10) 18:03 PHI 1,NYI 2

2nd Period
Brock Nelson (14) Kyle Palmieri (19), Adam Pelech (10)  13:56 PHI 1,NYI 3
 
3rd Period
No Goals
 
The Skinny
The Isles have outscored their opponents 80-75 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-45 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 91 goals and allowed 81 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 57-34 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 27 of the last 35 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 48-39 in the second period this season (including 7-1 in the last three games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 14 of 15 over their last eight games (93.3%) and they have the best PL in the NHL in that span… Over the last eighteen games, the Isles have been outscored 10-3 on the power play…The Isles improve to 16-2-2 when leading after two periods…Bo Horvat scored for the third time in two games and the seventh time in eight games.... Ryan Pulock is the only Islander defenseman to play every game this season…Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, each extended their point streaks to four games while Adam Pelech matched a career-high with an assist in three straight games…The Isles are 12-2-1 this season when Horvat scores a goal… Islander goalies have allowed one goal or fewer six times in the last seven games…The Isles allowed the opening goal for the 30th time this season, matching Seattle and San Jose for the most in the NHL….The Isles have been credited with 111 hits (37 per game) during their three-game win streak.. The two Islander goals 55 seconds apart were the fastest scored by the team since April 1, 2024, in Philadelphia, when Matt Martin (12:03) and Bo Horvat (12:21) scored eighteen seconds apart in the first period.

The Injury
Cam York left the game after a check from Alexander Romanov in the first period; he returned in the second period. 

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles are playing seven consecutive home games for the first time since 2021-22 (twice) but that reflected games rescheduled due to COVID. The Isles all played seven straight at home in 2013 (lockout season), but this is the first time since February-March 2007 that seven straight were scheduled at home in an original schedule.
It is the first time since Feb 26- Mar 4, 2023, that the Isles have allowed one goal or fewer in three consecutive games (not including shootout goals).

Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 272 minutes for the Isles, allowing six goals on 125 shots for a 1.32 GAA and a .952 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won seven straight Saturday games (five at home and two on the road). The Isles are 13-13-3 in their last 29 games (7-0-0 on Saturday; 6-13-3 on other days). Nine of their last thirteen wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Milestone Men
Mathew Barzal had an assist to give him 327, just one assist behind Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.
Anthony Duclair recorded his 150th career goal while Adam Pelech added his 150th career point.

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 43, Opponents 57
Tying Goals: Isles 5, Opponents 11 (in 10 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 7 (in 6 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 14

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 32 of their 47 games. In the 15 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (2-12-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 12/31 @TOR) 

Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have ten come-from behind wins this season, including two when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win nine times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 2-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 2-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 
The Isles have scored 9 empty-net goals and allowed 14.

Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 31 times this season:
Score the next goal: 12 times
Allowed the next goal: 15 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  20-20-7 for 47 points in 47 games
2023-24  20-16-11 for 51 points in 47 games 

Offense from Defense
Today:   0-3-3
Season: 15-68-83
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.

All-time Goalie Wins
47. Mike Liut 293
48. Ed Giacomin 290
49. Semyon Varlamov 289

Oh Canada
The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-3-3 so far (1-1-0 at home and 4-1-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played eight straight road games in November/December going 4-1-3. They went 0-1-0 in January; five of the six remaining games will be at home. 

Going back to last season the Isles are 8-3-3 in the last 14 games against Canadian teams; the next Canadian opponent will be Winnipeg on February 7th in the Isles' final game in Canada this season. 

Home and Road
The Isles are 20-20-7 overall; they are 10-11-2 at home and 10-9-5 on the road.
Philadelphia is 22-22-6 overall; they are 11-11-1 at home and 11-11-5 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 13-14-3 against the East (6-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-9-1 vs. Atlantic) and 7-6-4 against the West (4-2-2 vs. Central and 3-4-2 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,531
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,464
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,464) and Patrick Roy (170) have combined for 1,634 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First
The Isles are 9-4-4 when scoring first and are 11-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles            6-13-8=27
Philadelphia 7-7-16=30
The Isles are 10-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves; he is 15-14-4 this season and 10-3-2 vs. Philadelphia. 
Ivan Fedotov made 24 saves; he is 4-6-3 this season and 0-1-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00); Philadelphia was 0-1 (2:00).

The Isles are 9-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 11-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 19-4-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-16-3 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games
The Isles are 8-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 2-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-1-1 on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes on Saturday vs. Carolina. The next back-to-back will be February 1st-2nd when they visit Tampa bay and Florida.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (23:41); Philadelphia: Travis Sanheim (24:07)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:34).

Face-offs
Isles 32, Philadelphia 20 (62%)
Bo Horvat won 10 of 11 for the Isles; Morgan Frost won 6 of 9 for Philadelphia. 

Hit Count
Isles 34 (Alex Romanov -7)
Philadelphia 25 (Four with 3)

Fights 
None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Alex Romanov -4)
Philadelphia 11 (Jamie Drysdale -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 57, Philadelphia 65
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 47, Philadelphia 55
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech and Mathew Barzal +14
Philadelphia: Two with +4

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Philadelphia 14
5-on-5: Isles 5, Philadelphia 13.

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Hudson Fasching-IR), (Noah Dobson-IR),  Matt Martin, (Max Tsyplakov-SUSP)
Games Lost to injury: 163. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 213 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (163) has also played every game since the start of last season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11 
2. Brock Nelson 8 
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 16
2. John Tavares 12

Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 21
3. Brock Nelson 18
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 41 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.

National TV Games 
The Isles are 0-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with seven games remaining. The next national games will stream on January 28th on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Avs and January 30th on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles visit the Flyers. The remaining five national telecasts are all scheduled in April.

Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-4-1 in matinee games this season, with six games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 1st vs Nashville. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges
Isles: 4 successful, 3 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14)

Opponents: 5 successful, 2 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (1): CHI 12/15

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18
Opponent responses (6): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 
For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))
Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (7): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG)

OT Winners
For (2): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10)
Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)

Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 
 
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***
4. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 5. Brock Nelson 887 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 862 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 806 …
26. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 27. Ryan Pulock 533 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 30. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 31. Adam Pelech 527 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 526 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Dave Lewis and Scott Mayfield 514

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 289 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 280 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 111

Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 327…
13. Derek King 288 *** 14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 271…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 209…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 28. Noah Dobson 169 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 157… 
35. Travis Green 145 *** 36. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139

Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 *** 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 ***  9. Brock Nelson 560 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 489 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 461…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 250

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +79 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +62 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 ***  24. Greg Gilbert +54 *** 25. Gord Lane +48

Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Stefan Persson 52 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 51 *** 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742***  2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 169 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 124… 
17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 215 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 208…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 150…
18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 *** 5. Ilya Sorokin 225 *** 6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Jaroslav Halak 177***  9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins
1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***
4. Ilya Sorokin 110 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 20 *** 
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   
Bridgeport is 10-26-2-2 as they rebounded from a 7-1 loss in Utica on Wednesday with a 5-2 win in Syracuse on Friday. Chris Terry scored twice and added an assist in Friday's win, which featured 43 saves from Jakub Skarek. Liam Foudy scored in both games, giving him five goals in the last four games.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 24 assists and 35 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.

Bridgeport concluded their road trip in Lehigh Valley on Saturday. 

Season Series Stats
The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). The next meeting will be on Thursday in Philadelphia.

The Isles are 9-1-1 in their last eleven home games against the Flyers.

UP NEXT
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25th  –CAROLINA AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look to extend the winning streak to four games as they welcome the Carolina Hurricanes, potentially with newly-acquired Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall to UBS Arena for the second time this season. 

The teams have split two meetings with the home team winning both games  The Isles used a four-goal second period to beat Carolina at UBS on December 7th but were blanked in Raleigh ten nights later.

The home win was their first in the last eight regular season home games (1-5-2) against the Canes; the Isles do hold a pair of playoff victories over Carolina at UBS Arena during that span. 

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