The Skinny: Isles 3, Dallas 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 20

Isles 3, Dallas 2

David Rittich made 24 saves, and Kyle Palmieri's first shorthanded goal as an Islander proved to be the difference as the Islanders defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2, before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center.

Calum Ritchie opened the scoring with his first goal as an Islander; Jason Robertson evened the score less than two minutes later. Bo Horvat put the Isles ahead 2-1 early in the third but  then sat out most of the rest of the game after being assessed a double minor and misconduct penalty; that led to Palmieri scoring the Isles' leagues-leading 5th shorty. Robertson's second goal (on a 6-on-5) brought Dallas back within one and, after Mikko Rantanen was ejected for boarding Alex Romanov, Robertson thought he had tied the game with 0.2 seconds remaining, but the NHL reversed the goal due to goalie interference. 

The Isles are 5-1-0 on the road trip, and 7-2-1 in their last ten games as they move within three points of both Carolina and New Jersey for the division and conference lead. The team heads to Detroit for the final game of the trip on Thursday.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Scoring 

2nd Period

Calum Ritchie (1) Anthony Duclair (4), Ryan Pulock (8) 10:31 NYI 1,DAL 0

Jason Robertson (10) Tyler Seguin (4), Miro Heiskanen (15) 12:26 NYI 1,DAL 1

3rd Period

Bo Horvat (13) Kyle Palmieri (10), Emil Heineman (5) 03:12 NYI 2,DAL 1

Kyle Palmieri (6) 07:38 NYI 3,DAL 1 SHG

Jason Robertson (11) Tyler Seguin (5), Mikko Rantanen (18) 18:01 NYI 3,DAL 2

The Skinny

The Isles are 11-4-2 since they opened 0-3-0; the 24 points since October 16th match Colorado for the most in the NHL in that span…Cal Ritchie opened the scoring; he is the 410th Islander to score a goal, and the youngest Islander forward to do so since Aatu Raty scored in January 2023 (his 2nd goal as an Islander)…Bo Horvat is 7-5-12 in the last ten games....The Isles killed all three Dallas power plays; they have killed 34 of the last 37….The Isles PK is 21-23 on the road trip, and 16-17 in the four games out west… The Isles' power play is 0-10 over the last three games … Emil Heineman extended his point streak to four games (3-1-4) and led all Isles forwards in ice-time with a career-high 21:05 ..Kyle Palmieri's shorthanded goal was the third of his career (1/31/17 at Detroit,  2/18/21 at Boston – both with Devils); he also reached 10 assists in the first 20 games for the first time in his career…The Isles lead the NHL in both shorthanded goals (5) and road shorthanded goals (4)… Jason Robertson now has eight goals in nine career games against the Isles; every other opponent who has scored at least eight goals against the Isles has done so playing at least twelve games…Robertson has eight goals in his last four games overall…Dallas saw their five-game winning streak end; it was only their second regulation loss since October 21st (9-2-3)…The Isles' also ended Dallas' eight-game streak of scoring at least one power play goal….The Isles have scored first eleven times this season; they did so only 32 times all last season…There were 35 penalty minutes assessed; all of them in the final 13:12.

The Injury

Alexander Romanov left the game with 27.3 seconds to play, after a hit from Mikko Rantanen; Rantanen was ejected.

Road Warriors

The Isles are 5-1-0 on this road trip. It is only the fifth time in franchise history that they have won at least five road games on a single trip.

• 2/19-3/6/2016 (6-1-0)

• 11/8-11/20/2025 (5-1-0, with one to play)

• 10/14-11/16/2021 (5-6-2)

• 2/21-3/11/2017 (5-3-1) 

• 12/31/2014-1/13/2015 (5-2-0)

Milestone Men

• Mathew Barzal remains tied with John Tonelli for 7th in club history with his 338th assist.

• Barzal remains tied with Kyle Okposo for 20th in club history with his 139 goals.

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 4-1-1 (.931 and 1.96) since October 30th .

Big Save Dave

David Rittich improves to 5-2-0 on the season. Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Gam

1. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

2. Eric Brewer 26:57 4/3/1999 vs ANA (OT)

3. John Tavares 26:46 4/11/2010 vs. PIT (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 26:35 10/13/2025 vs. WPG

5. Matthew Schaefer 26:04 10/11/2025 vs. WAS

A 20-year-old Islander has played more than 27:40 seven times (Bryan Berard – four times; Travis Hamonic -3 times). The youngest of these was Hamonic (at MTL) on February 10, 2011, when he was 20 years, 178 days old; Schaefer will not hit that age until March 1, 2028.

Most Goal by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 7

    Matthew Schaefer 7

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Gerald Diduck 8

    Matthew Schaefer 8

The Isles will play 146 more games before Schaefer is no longer a Teenager

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81     (14-20-34)

2. Dave Chyzowski 34   (8-6-14)

3. Mathew Schaefer 20 (7-8-15)

Lots of Travel

The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing 11 of 14 games on the road. They are 7-4-2 in this stretch (1-1-1 home, 6-3-1 road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have eight come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win five times this season, including three in the third period.

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 0-2 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 3 empty-net goals and allowed 2.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 9 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 2 times

• Allowed the next goal: 5 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26  11-7-2 for 24 points in 20 games

• 2024-25  7-8-5 for 19 points in 20 games

It matches the Isles' best point total through twenty games since 2019-20 (16-3-1).

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 8-31-39

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Home and Road

The Isles are 11-7-2 overall; they are 4-3-1 at home and 7-4-1 on the road.

Dallas is 12-5-3 overall; they are 6-4-1 at home and 6-1-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 6-4-2 against the East (4-3-1 vs. Metropolitan and 2-1-1 vs. Atlantic) and 5-3-0 against the West (2-3-0 vs. Central and 3-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 7-2-2 when scoring first and 4-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles     10-5-7=22

Dallas  10-5-9=24

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

In the Nets

David Rittich made 22 saves; he is 5-2-0 this season and 5-3-1 vs. Dallas.

Jake Oettinger made 21 saves; he is 9-3-2 this season and 5-2-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-2 (1:49); Dallas was 0-3 (4:00) and allowed a shorthanded, and eventual game-winning goal.

The Isles are 6-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-5-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-4-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 7-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-3-1 when they are outscored, and 1-3-1 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 11-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-5-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 1-2-0 on the front end and 3-0-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on November 22-23 when they host St. Louis and Seattle. 

The Isles are 3-2-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 1-0-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (21:38); Dallas: Miro Heiskanen (27:21)

Emil Heineman led Isles forwards (career-high 20:10).

Face-offs

Isles 19, Dallas 33 (37%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 16 for the Isles; Roope Hintz won 5 of 6 for Dallas. 

Hit Count

Isles 17 (Casey Cizikas -4)

Dallas 16 (Three with 4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, McLean, Lee)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Three with 3)

Dallas 6 (Six with 1)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 39, Dallas 57

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 35, Dallas 46

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Ryan Pulock +4

Dallas: Two with +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 6, Dallas 14

5-on-5: Isles 6, Dallas 11

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Simon Holmstrom-ILL), Kyle MacLean,  Adam Boqvist.

Games Lost to injury: 78. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 218 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (128) and Anders Lee (102) are the only other Isles to have also played every game since the start of last season.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 1-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on TNT on December 9th vs Vegas.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-1-1 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:30pm on November 22nd against St. Louis. 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 16-18-13 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure  (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)

Opponents: 0 successful, 3 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31)

Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2

Vs (2): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)

Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4

Opponent responses (2): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (5): Anders Lee, GWG(18:57)10/18 OTT, Matthew Schaefer, GTG (18:53) and Simon Holmstrom GWG (19:22) 11/2 CBJ, Kyle Palmieri GAG (17:07 11/10 NJ)- Isles won in OT, Mathew Barzal (17:23 11/13 VEG); Isles won in OT

Vs (1):  Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT

OT Winners

For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (2):  PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

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

4. Casey Cizikas 917 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Anders Lee 861 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 580 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 553 *** 26. Ken Morrow 550 *** 27. Mathew Barzal 549

Goals    

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Anders Lee 292 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Kyle Okposo and Mathew Barzal 139…

26. Three with 118 *** 29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 115

Assists

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

6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. John Tonelli and Mathew Barzal 338…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 226…

26. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Ryan Pulock 169… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Mariusz Czerkawski and Casey Cizikas 150

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 518… 

15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 477…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 265

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +88 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +61 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57  ***  24. Greg Gilbert +54  

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 53…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 28 *** 15. Vladimir Malakhov 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists

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

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 169 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 137… 

15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100

Defense Points

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 230 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 222…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 163…

16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 128

Goalie Games

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

4. Ilya Sorokin 266 … 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177***  9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 131 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 ***  8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts 

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 23 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 5-8-1-1 on the season; they are off until Friday when they visit Rochester.

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 7 (tied for AHL rookie lead);  Assists: Matthew Maggio-10; Points: Cole McWard and Maggio-11

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 3-5-2 2.81, .899;  Parker Gahagen  2-3-0 3.45, .875

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet again on March 26th at UBS Arena to complete the season series.

The Isles improve to 5-4-1 in their last ten games against the Stars, as they win in regulation in Dallas for the first time since December 23, 2018 (2-4-0 in last 6).

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20th   —ISLANDERS AT DETROIT 7:00pm

[MSGSN2 (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The final game of this seven-game trip is in Detroit on Thursday as the Isles face the Red Wings at Little Caesar's Arena.

The Isles defeated the Red Wings 7-2 at UBS Arena on October 23rd to snap a four-game losing streak against Detroit.  Detroit has not been an easy stop for the Isles in the last few seasons, going 1-4-1 in their last visits.

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