"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 17
Isles 4, Vegas 3 (OT)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau's 23rd career shorthanded goal will long be remembered, as it came 3:01 into overtime as the Isles railed for a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, before a sellout crowd of 17,733 at T-Mobile Arena.
The Isles grabbed a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Emil Heineman and Matthew Schaefer but the Knights stormed back with a late second period goal and a pair of tallies 2:22 apart midway through the third to take a 3-2 lead. However, Mathew Barzal, who had the OT winner on Monday, forced the extra session with a sixth-attacker goal with 2:37 to play. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves to improve to 6-1-2 in his last nine games.
The Isles have won four straight road games and are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, as they have won the first three games of a seven-game road trip to move into the top wild card spot. The team heads to Utah for the back-end of this back-to-back on Friday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Emil Heineman (7) Bo Horvat (9), Tony DeAngelo (5) 14:03 NYI 1,VGK 0
Matthew Schaefer (6) Jonathan Drouin (10), Bo Horvat (10) 17:59 NYI 2,VGK 0 PPG
2nd Period
Shea Theodore (1) Keegan Kolesar (3) 18:56 NYI 2,VGK 1
3rd Period
Tomas Hertl (7) Jeremy Lauzon (4), Jack Eichel (15) 08:23 NYI 2,VGK 2
Reilly Smith (2) Brandon Saad (3), Brett Howden (1) 10:45 NYI 2,VGK 3
Mathew Barzal (5) Matthew Schaefer (8), Jonathan Drouin (11) 17:23 NYI 3,VGK 3
OT
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6) 03:01 NYI 4,VGK 3
The Skinny
The Isles are 9-3-2 since they opened 0-3-0…Bo Horvat extended his point streak to seven games (6-4-10);only four NHL players have longer active streaks.... The Isles killed all five Vegas power plays; they have killed 23 of the last 25… The Isles scored once on five power play attempts (now 3 for last 8, after 2 of prior 26; they have scored PP goals in three straight games for first time since 5-game stretch from November 28- December 7, 2023... Matthew Schaefer now has 14 points, tying David Chyzowski for second among 18-year-olds in club history, trailing only Tim Connolly (34); he tied Gerald Diduck for the second-highest assist total (8) among Islander teenage defensemen…he is now tied for the NHL lead in goals among all defensemen as well as all rookies, while leading all rookies and all defensemen, with four power play goals … Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to five games (2-3-5) with his game-tying goal…Reilly Smith recorded his 300th point as a Golden Knight while Brayden McNabb became the first player to appear in 600 games for Vegas…Tomas Hertl now 7-7-14 in 18 games against the Isles.
Milestone Men
• Ilya Sorokin earned his 131st win, passing Rick DiPietro for 3rd in club history.
• Mathew Barzal is one assist behind John Tonelli for 7th in club history.
• Barzal scored his 139th goal as an Islander, tying Kyle Okposo for 20th in club history.
First Times in A Long Time
• Jonathan Drouin is the first Islander since James Wisniewski (2010) to record eleven assists in his first sixteen games as an Isle.
• Matthew Schaefer is the first Islander since Bryan Trottier (1975) to record four power play goals in his first 17 NHL games. (Miro Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Mats Lindgren also did it to start their Islander careers, but not their NHL careers)
Excuse Me, Mr. Orr, I'm Matthew
Matthew Schaefer improved to 6-8-14 in his first seventeen NHL games; Bobby Orr is the only other 18-year-old defenseman to score six times prior to his 20th game. Schaefer also passed Orr (and tied Ray Bourque) for 2nd-highest point total among 18-year-old defensemen before his 20th game, training only Phil Housley (2-14-16).
Pageau, Pageau, Pageau, J-G Pageau!
Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded his fourth career overtime goal, and his second as an Islander (December 9, 2023, vs. Los Angeles). That was the front-end of the last time the Isles won consecutive games, both in overtime (December 11, 2023, vs. Toronto).
Pageau now is 2-2-4 shorthanded this season (most points shorthanded in the NHL); among active players, only Brad Marchand (36) has more career shorthanded goals.
Return to Form
Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 4-0-1 (.939 and 1.75) since October 30th .
Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game
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 Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 32
2. Gerald Diduck 8
Matthew Schaefer 8
The Isles will play 149 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 17 (6-8-14)
Lots of Travel
The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing 11 of 14 games on the road. They are 5-3-2 in this stretch (1-1-1 home, 4-2-1 road).
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have seven come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win four times this season, including three in the third period.
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 2-0 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 8 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 2 times
• Allowed the next goal: 4 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2025-26 9-6-2 for 20 points in 17 games
• 2024-25 7-6-4 for 18 points in 17 games
It is the Isles' best record through seventeen games since 2022-23 (11-6-0).
Offense from Defense
• Today: 1-2-3
• Season: 7-27-34
• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161
Home and Road
The Isles are 9-6-2 overall; they are 4-3-1 at home and 5-3-1 on the road.
Vegas is 7-4-5 overall; they are 4-3-3 at home and 3-1-2 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 3-2-0 against the West (0-2-0 vs. Central and 3-0-0 vs. Pacific).
First Things First
The Isles are 5-1-2 when scoring first and 4-5-0 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 6-10-5-3=24
Vegas 10-8-8-3=29
The Isles are 1-5-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 7-1-0 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 6-4-2 this season and 4-2-1 vs. Vegas.
Akira Schmid made 20 saves; he is 4-2-2 this season and 2-2-1 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-5 (6:53); Vegas was 0-5 (6:21) and allowed the OT shorthanded winner.
The Isles are 6-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-2 when they do not. The Isles are 4-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-3-0 when they do not.
The Isles are 6-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 2-3-1 when they are outscored, and 1-2-1 when special team goals are equal.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 9-1-2 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 5-1-2 in games decided by a single goal including 3-1 in regulation. They are 2-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-2 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-0 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 1-2-0 on the front end and 2-0-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes Friday in Utah. 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: Matthew Schaefer (25:59); Vegas: Jack Eichel (24:35)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (22:50).
Face-offs
Isles 30, Vegas 23 (57%)
Matthew Barzal won 5 of 8 for the Isles; No Golden Knight who took multiple draws won more than he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 9 (Two with 2)
Vegas 22 (Keegan Kolesar -6)
Fights
None. Season total: 2 (Mayfield, McLean)
Blocked Shots
Isles 14 (Adam Pelech-4)
Vegas 12 (Three with 3)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Vegas 62
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 30, Vegas 41
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech +6
Vegas: Shea Theodore +13
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 9, Vegas 21
5-on-5: Isles 4, Vegas 9
Scratches
(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Max Shabonov-INJ), Scott Mayfield – non-roster, Kyle MacLean, Travis Mitchell.
Games Lost to injury: 67. (Last season's total: 304)
The Ironmen
Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 215 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (125) and Anders Lee (108) 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 VEG.
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: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2
Vs (1): BOS 10/28
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 (2): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG
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 914 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Anders Lee 858 …
20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 577 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 552 *** 26. Ken Morrow 550 *** 27. Duane Sutter 547 *** 28. Mathew Barzal 546
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 338 *** 8. Mathew Barzal 337…
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 168…
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 476…
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 168 …
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 221…
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 265 …
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 got a last-minute goal from Joey Larson to earn a point but fell to 5-6-1-1 with a 5-4 shootout loss to Wilkes-Barre Scranton on Wednesday; there is a rematch in Pennsylvania with the Penguins on Friday.
Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 7 (tied for AHL rookie lead); Assists: Matthew Maggio-9; Points: Cole McWard and Maggio-10
Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 3-4-2 2.68, .900; Parker Gahagen 2-2-0 3.29, .883
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1). The teams will meet again on December 9th at UBS Arena to complete the season series.
The Isles have won three straight over Vegas and are 6-2-1 in the last nine games between the teams. In Las Vegas, the Isles are 4-1-0 in the last five meetings.
UP NEXT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th —ISLANDERS AT UTAH 9:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 8:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The middle game of seven straight away from UBS Arena is on Friday night in Salt Lake City as the Isles meet the newly-rechristened Utah Mammoth. Utah is off to a 10-7-0 start, including a 5-1-0 record at the Delta Center.
The Isles and Utah HC split two games last season with Utah spoiling the Isles' home opener with a come-from-behind 5-4 OT win and the Isles earning a 2-1 win in SLC on a Mathew Barzal goal at 18:35 of the third period.
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
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