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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, February 02, 2025

The Skinny: Florida 6, Isles 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 52
Florida 6, Isles 3
Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart scored 77 seconds apart late in the second period to erase an Islander comeback and Carter Verhaeghe earned his fourth career hat trick as the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers snapped the Isles' seven-game winning streak with a 6-3 win over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 19,721 at Amerant Bank Arena. 

Trailing 2-0, the Isles scored three straight goals in the second period to take the lead, only to have the Champs score the final four goals to spoil Jakub Skarek's NHL debut.  

The loss also snapped the Isles' five-game road winning streak as they fall to  24-21-7. The Isles head home to face Vegas on Tuesday before heading to Winnipeg and Minnesota to close out the pre- Four Nations Cup portion of the schedule. 

The Scoring:  
1st Period
Carter Verhaeghe (13) Sam Reinhart (28), Aleksander Barkov (33) 00:39 NYI 0,FLA 1
Carter Verhaeghe (14) Gustav Forsling (12) 12:52 NYI 0,FLA 2

2nd Period
Kyle MacLean (3) Tony DeAngelo (2), Dennis Cholowski (6) 03:10 NYI 1,FLA 2
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (10) Casey Cizikas (5), Dennis Cholowski (7) 10:00 NYI 2,FLA 2 PPG
Marc Gatcomb (2) Adam Pelech (13), Maxim Tsyplakov (15) 14:51 NYI 3,FLA 2
Evan Rodrigues (13) Anton Lundell (23), Eetu Luostarinen (12) 17:52 NYI 3,FLA 3
Sam Reinhart (31) Gustav Forsling (13), Aleksander Barkov (34) 19:09 NYI 3,FLA 4

3rd Period
Carter Verhaeghe (15) Matthew Tkachuk (32), Aleksander Barkov (35) 10:41 NYI 3,FLA 5 PPG
Matthew Tkachuk (18)EN 18:21 NYI 3,FLA 6

The Skinny
The Isles are 7-1-0 in their last eight games and are 10-3-0 in their last thirteen games (Including 3-0 in OT)…The Isles have outscored the opposition 27-15 over the last eight games…The Isles have outscored their opponents 88-83 in the first two periods but have been outscored 66-54 in the third period and overtime; the Isles are much improved in third period and OT in the last twelve games, outscoring their opponents 17-9…The Isles have scored 103 goals and allowed 90 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 60-39 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 31 of the last 40 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 55-43 in the second period this season (including 14-5 in the last eight games); they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles have killed 24 of 26 over their last twelve games (92.3%) … The Isles went 1-3 on the power play; over the last 22 games, the Isles have been outscored 11-4 on the power play…The Isles were credited with 226 hits (32.3 per game) during their seven-game win streak but had only 12 tonight…Bo Horvat won 10 of 16; he has won 154 of 236 during the 10-3-0 stretch, for an NHL-best 65.3% (minimum 50 face-offs)…. Florida scored in the opening minute for the 5th time this season; Isles allowed an opening minute goal for the second time…Dennis Cholowski had two assists for the first time as an Islander and third time in his career…Casey Cizikas has four assists in the last five games after having just one in first 47 games…Max Tsyplakov has a three-game point streak for the first time in his career…Evan Rodrigues has 6 goals in 19 games against the Isles; Carter Verhaeghe now has six in 13 games after his hat trick today….It was the fourth time in five games that a player made his Islander debut...The Isles allowed the first goal for an NHL-high 33rd time.

First Times in a Long Time
The Isles lost a road game for the first time in 33 days.
The Isles used a fourth goaltender for the first time since 2015-16 (Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss, J-F Berube, and Christopher Gibson).

What a Stretch
The Isles are 10-3-0 since January 5th. The ten wins are tied for the NHL lead in that span, and their .769-win percentage is tied for the 2nd-best in the NHL in that span. The Isles have outscored the opposition 41-27; their 3.15 goals per game rates tied-10th, while their 2.07 goals allowed is tied-2nd in the NHL. The Isles have won an NHL-best 56.1% of their draws over those 13 games.

Individual Leaders:
Games:  Only seven players have played all 13 games, with Adam Pelech being the only defenseman.
Goals:  Horvat 8, Lee 6, Nelson 5
Assists: Barzal 8, Pelech 7, Nelson 6, Palmieri 6, Pageau 6
Points:  Horvat 12, Nelson 11, Barzal 11
+/-:  Lee +12, Barzal +11, Pelech +8
Shots: Horvat 40, Lee 37, Nelson 35
Faceoff Percentage: Horvat 65.3, Cizikas 57.7, Pageau 56.5
Goalies   Sorokin 8-1-0 .938 1.74;  Hogberg 2-1-0 .946 1.26; Skarek 0-1-0 .844 5.29

Streaking Ilya
Ilya Sorokin has now won five straight starts and six straight appearances (including his 2:03 overtime outing last Saturday); it is the second time in his career that he has had a winning streak of at least six games (8 in 2021)

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 nine straight Saturday games (six at home and three on the road). The Isles are 17-14-3 in their last 33 games (9-0-0 on Saturday; 8-14-3 on other days). 

Successive Saturday Successes
The Isles have won nine straight Saturday games, matching the longest Saturday win streak (single season) in franchise history; the Isles also won straight Saturday games from December 19, 1981- February 20, 1982, 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 328 assists, tied with Patrick Flatley for 8th place in club history.

Third Periods
Goals:  Isles 50, Opponents 61
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 12 (in 11 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 9 (in 8 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 15

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 34 of their 52 games. In the 18 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-14-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but five 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 twelve come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win ten times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime
The Isles are 4-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-4 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 15.

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  24-21-7 for 55 points in 52 games
2023-24  22-18-12 for 56 points in 52 games 
 
Offense from Defense
Today:   0-4-4
Season: 19-78-97
Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 15 goals in the last 25 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 24-21-7 overall; they are 12-11-2 at home and 12-10-5 on the road.
Florida is 32-19-3 overall; they are 16-9-2 at home and 16-10-1 on the road.

East and West
The Isles are 16-15-3 against the East (8-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 8-10-1 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 1,468
3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,468) and Patrick Roy (174) have combined for 1,642 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 13-17-3 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots
Isles    5-16-13=34
Florida 14-12-7=33
The Isles are 12-13-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 11-7-4 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets
Jakub Skarek made 27 saves in his NHL debut; he is 0-1-0 this season and 0-1-0 vs. Florida. 
Spencer Knight made 27 saves; he is 10-8-1 this season and 3-0-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams
The Isles were 1-3 (5:55); Florida was 1-2 (2:12).

The Isles are 9-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 15-18-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-11-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-10-1 when they do not.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles are 23-5-4 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 10-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 4-6 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 5-1-1 on the front end and 3-4-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be February 7th-8th  when they visit Winnipeg and Minnesota.

Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (23:27); Florida: Gustav Forsling (22:29)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:00).

Face-offs
Isles 41, Florida 21 (66%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 12 for the Isles; Tomas Nosek won 5 of 9 for Florida. 

Hit Count
Isles 12 (Bo Horvat -4)
Florida 28 (Jonah Gadjovich -5)

Fights 
None. Season total: 7 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb)
 
Blocked Shots
Isles 16 (Alex Romanov -4)
Florida 12 (Aaron Ekblad -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 
Corsi: All situations: Isles 64, Florida 63
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Florida 50
 
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alex Romanov +8
Florida: Two with +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 21, Florida 10
5-on-5: Isles 14, Florida 9

Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Noah Dobson-LTIR),  (Ryan Pulock -IR), (Margus Hogberg -IR), Matt Martin,  (Scott Mayfield-INJ), (Mathew Barzal – INJ)
Games Lost to injury: 190. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 218 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (168) 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 43 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 will 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 (8): 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); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32)
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 892 *** 6. Clark Gillies 872 *** 7. Casey Cizikas 867 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Bob Bourne 814 *** 10. Anders Lee 811 …
23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter 547 *** 25. Lorne Henning 543 *** 26. Claude Lapointe and Ryan Pulock 535 *** 28.Tomas Jonsson and Adam Pelech 532 *** 30. Pat LaFontaine and Mathew Barzal 530 ***  32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 519

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 and Mathew Barzal 328…
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 143

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 462…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 254

+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467  ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +80 *** 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 127… 
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 and Adam Pelech 153…
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 229 *** 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 114 …
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 10-30-2-2 as they hit the AHL All-Star break. 

Brian Pinho, who will play in the AHL All-Star Classic on Monday, leads the team (and is tied for 10th in the AHL) with 18 goals. Chris Terry's 26 assists and 40 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories; Terry is tied for 4th in the AHL in points.

The Islanders are off until Friday when they visit Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

Season Series Stats
Florida leads the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 0). The teams will meet March 16th at UBS Arena to conclude the season series. 

The Isles are 0-2 this season against Florida after going 3-0-1 in the prior four games. 

UP NEXT
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5th  – VEGAS AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
Three games separate the Isles from the Four Nations Cup break, and the only home game in that stretch will be on Tuesday as the Isles look to sweep the season series from the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The Isles are 7-5-1 all-time vs. Vegas and are looking for their third sweep in the seven years the rivalry has been played.

Ilya Sorokin has beaten Vegas twice in his career, with both wins by shutout, including a 30-save shutout on January 8th on The Strip.

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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