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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...

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

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