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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...

Sunday, January 19, 2025

The Skinny: Isles 4, San Jose 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 45
Isles 4, San Jose 1
On the night the Isles welcomed Brent Sutter into their Hall of Fames, a pair of long-term Islanders helped lead the way to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena. 

Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal each had a goal and an assist, as they passed Sutter on the goals and assists lists, respectively, and Marcus Hogberg made 19 saves for the victory. The Isles had a pair of two-goal outbursts (1:55 and 1:30 apart) as they also got goals from Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock. 

The Isles improve to 1-2-0 on this homestand and 18-20-7 overall. The middle game of the seven-game homestand is Monday against Columbus.

The Scoring:  
1st Period
No Goals

2nd Period
Mathew Barzal (6) 08:47 SJS 0,NYI 1
Barclay Goodrow (3) Jan Rutta (6) 10:02 SJS 1,NYI 1
Brock Nelson (13) Kyle Palmieri (17), Adam Pelech (8) 10:42 SJS 1,NYI 2
Noah Dobson (6) Mathew Barzal (10), Bo Horvat (19) 19:33 SJS 1,NYI 3

3rd Period
Ryan Pulock (3) Anthony Duclair (4), Brock Nelson (15) 01:03 SJS 1,NYI 4

The Skinny
The Isles have scored the opening goal in consecutive games for the first time since November 29-30… The Isles have outscored their opponents 74-73 in the first two periods but have been outscored 63-45 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 87 goals and allowed 80 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 56-32 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 25 of the last 33 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 44-39 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles killed the only Shark power play, improving to a perfect 10-for-10 in the last six games; it is the first time since October 13-28, 2022 (8 games), that they have been perfect in six straight games on the PK in a single season… Over the last sixteen games, the Isles have been outscored 9-2 on the power play…After scoring four goals in the first 26 games, Islander defensemen had scored 11 times in the last 19 games...Casey Cizikas had a career-high nine hits- most by any Islander since Matt Martin had 10 in Toronto on January 23, 2023…Carl Grundstrom had 11 hits, tying the real-time record for an Islander opponent that was set by Michael Del Zotto (3/20/17 for Philadelphia) and equaled by Jeff Petry (3/9/23 for Pittsburgh); it was the most hits ever for an opponent in an Islander home game…The Isles improve to 14-2-2 when leading after two periods...Anthony Duclair earned his first point in nine games with an assist on the final goal.

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee
Lee is 7-2-9 in ten games since Christmas. At 20-16-36, Lee is on pace to set career highs in assists (23 - twice) and points (62 in 2017-18). Lee is the last Islander to score 40 goals (2017-18) and only Brock Nelson (3x), Bo Horvat (2023-24) and Kyle Palmieri (2023-24) have reached 30 goals in the interim. 

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.
Brent Sutter is no longer tied-5th on the Isles' all-time goal list, a position he had held since his trade to Chicago in October 1991.
Marcus Hogberg is the first Islander goalie to allow one goal or fewer in three consecutive games since Ilya Sorokin did so December 22-29, 2022.
The Isles have won seven straight Saturday games in one season for the first time since opening the 2017-18 season with seven straight Saturday wins.

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 11-13-3 in their last 26 games (7-0-0 on Saturday; 4-13-3 on other days). Nine of their last eleven wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.

Milestone Men
Brock Nelson scored his 288th goal, passing Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter for 5th place in club history as well as the most of any player without four Stanley Cups.
Nelson also recorded his 44th game-winning goal, tying Denis Potvin for 3rd place in club history, behind Mike Bossy (80) and Bryan Trottier (69).
Mathew Barzal recorded his 324th  assist, passing Brent Sutter for 9th place in club history.
Noah Dobson scored his 46th goal, passing Nick Leddy and tying Jean Potvin for 6th place on the club's goal list among defensemen. It was his 214th point, passing Potvin for 6th on the club's defensemen point list.
Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.

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 30 of their 45 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 eight 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 30 times this season:
Score the next goal: 12 times
Allowed the next goal: 15 times
Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times 

Last Year vs. This Year
2024-25  18-20-7 for 43 points in 45 games
2023-24  19-15-11 for 49 points in 45 games (which was the last game coached by Lane Lambert)

Offense from Defense
Today:   2-1-3
Season: 15-63-78
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 18-20-7 overall; they are 8-11-2 at home and 10-9-5 on the road.
San Jose is 14-28-6 overall; they are 8-14-1 at home and 6-14-5 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 11-14-3 against the East (4-5-2 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 1,462
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,462) and Patrick Roy (168) have combined for 1,630 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 9-16-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles       10-14-7=31
San Jose 4-7-8=19
The Isles are 10-12-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 8-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Marcus Hogberg made 18 saves; he is 2-2-0 this season and 1-0-0 vs. San Jose. 
Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves; he is 10-15-0 this season and 10-6-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 0-1 (2:00); San Jose was 0-1 (2:00).

The Isles are 8-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-10-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 9-10-1 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 17-4-4 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     
The Isles are 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Noah Dobson (24:30); San Jose: Mario Ferraro (23:51)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (18:38).

Face-offs
Isles 26, San Jose 25 (51%)
Casey Cizikas won 4 of 5 for the Isles; Macklin Celebrini won 8 of 12 for San Jose. 

Hit Count
Isles 33 (Casey Cizikas -Career-High 9)
San Jose 39 (Carl Grundstrom -11)

Fights 
None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 20 (Alexander Romanov -5)
San Jose 17 (Alexander Wennberg -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 75, San Jose 55
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, San Jose 54
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov +13
San Jose: Mario Ferraro +10

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 13, San Jose 6
5-on-5: Isles 10, San Jose 6

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Hudson Fasching-INJ),  Matt Martin, (Max Tsyplakov-SUSP)
Games Lost to injury: 156. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 211 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (161) 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 (1): CHI 12/12
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 885 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 860 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 804 …
26. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 27. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 28. Ryan Pulock 531 *** 29. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 30. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 31. Adam Pelech 525 *** 32. Mathew Barzal 524 *** 33. Nick Leddy 518 ***  34. Dave Lewis 514 *** 35. Scott Mayfield 512

Goals    
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 ***  3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 288 *** 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 …
8. Patrick Flatley 328 *** 9. Mathew Barzal 324…
14. Pat LaFontaine 279 *** 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 *** 16. Brock Nelson 270…
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 168 *** 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 558 …
13. Derek King 499 *** 14. Anders Lee 489 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 458…
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. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 17. Adam Pelech +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +60 *** 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…
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 168 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 156 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 122… 
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 214 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 207…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Roman Hamrlik 153 *** 12. Adam Pelech 148…
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 223 *** 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 108 …
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 8-25-2-2 following a 4-1 loss to Syracuse on Friday and a 6-4 loss to Springfield on Saturday.

Brian Pinho, the team's All-Star selection, leads the team with 17 goals. Chris Terry's 23 assists and 31 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.

Bridgeport begins a four-game road trip in Springfield on Monday afternoon.

Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The rematch be on March 8th in San Jose.

The Isles are 5-0-4 in their last nine games overall and 5-0-2 in their last seven home games with the Sharks.
 
UP NEXT
MONDAY, JANUARY 20th  –COLUMBUS AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will face their fourth straight opponent that they have had a lot of recent success on Monday as they entertain Columbus. 

The Isles are 11-2-2 in their last fifteen games overall and have won all five UBS Arena meetings against the Jackets, who blanked the Isles 2-0 in Columbus on October 30th. 

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



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

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