The Skinny: St. Louis 2, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 22

St. Louis 2, Isles 1

Brayden Schenn gave the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game and the Isles could never catch them, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Blues before a sellout crowd of 17,515 on Hockey Fights Cancer Day at UBS Arena.

Pius Suter's second period goal turned out to be the winning goal; Anders Lee got the Isles back in the game with a 6th-attacker goal (the Isles' 4th this season) with 3:20 to play but an apparent tying goal was waved off for goalie interference with just over two minutes to play. The Isles ended the game on the power play but could not find the tying tally. 

The Isles are still 8-3-1 in their last twelve games; they will host Seattle at 5:00 on Sunday to conclude a stretch of seven games in eleven days. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Brayden Schenn (3) Pavel Buchnevich (6), Dalibor Dvorsky (1) 00:42 STL 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Pius Suter (6) Dylan Holloway (5), Jordan Kyrou (7) 17:51 STL 2,NYI 0

3rd Period

Anders Lee (4) Kyle Palmieri (11), Mathew Barzal (11) 16:40 STL 2,NYI 1

The Skinny

The Isles are 12-5-2 since they opened 0-3-0…The Isles killed the only St. Louis power play; they have killed 18 of the last 19, 23 of 25, and 36 of the last 39 … The Isles' power play is 0-17 over the last five games … Emil Heineman's point streak ended at five games (3-2-5)… The Blues stopped a four-game winless streak as they improved to 3-1-4 in their last eight games…Jordan Binnington started his 340th game for St. Louis, breaking Mike Liut's club record…Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal each earned their 11th assist, tying Bo Horvat and Jonathan Drouin for the club lead…Matthew Schaefer played 27:30; it was the 2nd-highest total of his career, and the 2nd-highest played by any 18-year-old in a game that ended in regulation (Drew Doughty 28:27 for LA vs ANA 11/16/2008)...The Isles were held to one goal for only the second time this season.

Milestone Men

• Mathew Barzal passed John Tonelli for 7th in club history with his 339th assist.

• Anders Lee moved within two goals of tying Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history.

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 5-2-1 (.938 and 1.74) since October 31st with two shutouts. 

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 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, Game

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

2. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL

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

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

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

6. 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.

Since ice-time became official, Drew Doughty is the only 18-year-old to play at 27 minutes three times while Victor Hedman (seven times) is the only 18-year-old to pay 26 minutes more often than Schaefer.

Most Goals 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 144 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 22 (7-8-15)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are 0-1-0 in their seven-game homestand that also starts a stretch where they will play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th.

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 3.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 10 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 3 times

• Allowed the next goal: 5 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26  12-8-2 for 26 points in 22 games

• 2024-25  8-9-5 for 21 points in 22 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 8-33-41

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 12-14-26

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

Home and Road

The Isles are 12-8-2 overall; they are 4-4-1 at home and 8-4-1 on the road.

St. Louis is 7-9-6 overall; they are 3-5-4 at home and 4-4-2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 7-4-2 against the East (4-3-1 vs. Metropolitan and 3-1-1 vs. Atlantic) and 5-4-0 against the West (2-4-0 vs. Central and 3-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 8-2-2 when scoring first and 4-6-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles        6-11-12=29  

St. Louis  6-11-5=22

The Isles are 1-7-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 10-1-0 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves; he is 7-6-2 this season and 4-2-1 vs. St. Louis.

Jordan Binnington made 28 saves; he is 5-5-4 this season and 4-3-2 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 (3:33); St. Louis was 0-1 (1:27).

The Isles are 6-2-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-6-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-3-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 7-5-0 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 2-4-1 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 12-2-2 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-6-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 7-2-2 in games decided by a single goal including 4-2 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     

Including today, the Isles are 1-3-0 on the front end and 3-0-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes on Sunday vs. Seattle. The next back-to-back will be on December 6-7 when they visit Tamp Bay and Florida. 

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 (27:30); St. Louis: Philip Broberg (27:58)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (21:30).

Face-offs

Isles 21, St. Louis 19 (53%)

Bo Horvat won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Dalibor Dvorsky won 6 of 12 for St. Louis. 

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Casey Cizikas -6)

St. Louis 22 (Dylan Holloway -6)

Fights 

None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, De Angelo)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Three with 2)

St. Louis 14 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 52, St. Louis 59

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 47, St. Louis 48

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech +14

St. Louis: Jordan Kyrou +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, St. Louis 9

5-on-5: Isles 10, St. Louis 9

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), Kyle MacLean,  Matthew Warren, Maxim Tsyplakov.

Games Lost to injury: 85. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 220 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (130) and Anders Lee (104) 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

Including today, the Isles are 1-2-1 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 4pm on Friday against Philadelphia. 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 16-19-13 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 919 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Anders Lee 863 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 582 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 555 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 551

Goals    

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Anders Lee 293 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 140…

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 …

5. Clark Gillies 359  *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 339…

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 170… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 152

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 519… 

15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 479…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 267

+/-

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 +64 *** 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 1709 … 

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 223…

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 268 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 132 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 24 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport improved to 6-8-1-1 on the season with a 5-4 win in Rochester on Friday; they played in Syracuse on Saturday.

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 8 (AHL rookie lead);  Assists: Matthew Maggio-11; Points:  Maggio-13

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 4-5-2, 2.92, .893;  Parker Gahagen  2-3-0, 3.45, .875

Season Series Stats

St. Louis leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 point to 0). The teams will meet again on March 10th in St. Louis to complete the season series.

This was only the second regulation loss in the last ten home games against the Blues (7-2-1).

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd   —SEATTLE AT ISLANDERS 5:00PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 4:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The homestand continues on Sunday as the Isles host the Kraken (who played on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

The Kraken have swept the season series each of the last two seasons, winning both games in regulation last season after sweeping a pair of shootouts the previous season.

Overall, the Isles are 2-4-2 all-time against the Kraken, who are now coached by former Islander coach Lane Lambert. 

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