"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 39
Columbus 4, Isles 2
For 55 minutes it looked like the Isles might win a third straight game while scoring only twice in each of them, but Ivan Provorov and Kirill Marchenko scored 74 seconds apart and Cole Sillinger added an empty-netter as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied for a 4-2 win over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 18,223 at Nationwide Arena.
Max Shabanov and Bo Horvat scored for the Isles, who played the final 38 minutes without Mathew Barzal; Barzal received a major for slashing and a game misconduct after Matthew Schaefer was tripped by Mason Marchment.
The Isles are 8-4-1 in December and 17-9-3 in their last 29 games; they head to Chicago on Tuesday to close out 2025.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Kirill Marchenko (12) Mason Marchment (10), Denton Mateychuk (9) 08:09 NYI 0,CBJ 1
Max Shabanov (4) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (9), Anthony Duclair (9) 17:16 NYI 1,CBJ 1
2nd Period
Bo Horvat (20) Ryan Pulock (16) 13:24 NYI 2,CBJ 1
3rd Period
Ivan Provorov (5) Denton Mateychuk (10), Sean Monahan (13) 15:27 NYI 2,CBJ 2
Kirill Marchenko (13) Adam Fantilli (12), Damon Severson (11) 16:41 NYI 2,CBJ 3
Cole Sillinger (4)EN Sean Monahan (14) 18:54 NYI 2,CBJ 4
The Skinny
The Isles are 21-10-4 since they opened 0-3-0; the 46 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 0-2 on the power play but killed all four Columbus power plays; the Isles are 9-44 on the power play in the last fifteen games and have killed 12-14 over the last five games…The Isles fall to 11-2-1 when leading after two periods while Columbus improved to 1-9-0 when trailing… The Isles have been held to two goals or fewer in six straight games, going 2-3-1 in that stretch…David Rittich (and the Isles) extended their shutout streak to 112:34 before Kirill Marchenko scored Columbus' first goal; it was the 14th-longest streak for an NHL goalie this season…Marchenko now has points in five straight games against the Isles (3-2-5)…Mathew Barzal was assessed a career high 17 penalty minutes, including the first game misconduct of his career…Bo Horvat reached the 20-goal mark for the ninth time in his career; he is now at 289 career goals…The Isles are 4-2-1 on the back-end of back-to-backs…Anders Lee's point streak ended at five games…The Blue Jackets have earned consecutive regulation wins for the first time since October 29-November 1.
The Standings
The Isles remain in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of Philadelphia and Washington; the Flyers had a later game in Seattle on Sunday that is not reflected.
Milestone Men
· Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock each played their 599th game, putting them in position to be the 3rd and 4th defenseman in club history to play 600 games as early as Tuesday.
· Ryan Pulock recorded his 231st point, passing Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list; Pulock is one point behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.
· Anders Lee still needs one goal to become the fifth Islander with 300 goals.
· Matthew Barzal remains at 347 assists, two behind John Tavares for 6th place.
First Time in a Long Time
The Isles have been held to two goals or fewer in six consecutive games; it is the first time that has happened since an eight-game streak (3-4-1) in January-February 2023.
December to Remember
The Isles are 8-4-1 in the first thirteen games this month, including five wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s. The Isles have seventeen points in December and 93 points in calendar year 2025 (with three games to play); they had 11 points last December and finished calendar year 2024 with 86 points.
The Isles went 7-1-0 at UBS Arena in December; the 14 points match the most in a home December in club history (also 1978, 2003, 2023); they will need a win in Chicago to end December with 19 points, which would match the most since December 2003 (21).
Return to Form
Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 10-6-1 (.927 and 2.06) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season; no goalie has more than eleven wins in that span.
Sorokin has won each of his first nine games facing at least 30 shots; that breaks a tie with Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.
Big Save Dave
David Rittich is 9-4-2 on the season. In his last nine games (6-1-2), he has stopped 263 of 281 shots for a 1.76 GAA and a .936 save percentage.
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 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)
2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG
3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)
4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL
5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)
6. Matthew Schaefer 27:03 12/27/2025 vs. NYR
A 20-year-old Islander has played more than 28:53 only twice (Bryan Berard -31:30; Travis Hamonic -28:54). The younger of these was Hamonic (vs PIT) on April 8, 2011, when he was 20 years, 235 days old; Schaefer will not hit that age until April 27, 2028.
Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game
1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)
2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)
3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)
Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes six times and at least 26 minutes ten times. He is the first 18-year-old to do either of these things since ice time became official.
Most Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman
1. Phil Housley (BUF) 17 (1982-83)
2. Bobby Orr (BOS) 13 (1966-67)
3. Matthew Schaefer 9 (2025-26), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 9 (2018-19), Zach Bogosian (ATL) 9 (2008-09)
Most Power Play Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman
1. Phil Housley (BUF) 10 (1982-83)
2. Matthew Schaefer 5 (2025-26) and Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 5 (2018-19)
Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Matthew Schaefer 9
2. Bryan Berard 7
Only nine Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have scored at least nine goals, led by Bryan Trottier's 32 and Pat LaFontaine' 26.
Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 32
2. Matthew Schaefer 15
Only ten Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 15 assists, led by Bryan Trottier's 63 and Tim Connolly's 51. Schaefer is tied with Dave Chyzowski and Anthony Beauvillier with those 15 assists.
Most Points by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 39
2. Matthew Schaefer 24
Only ten Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 24 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 95 and Tim Connolly's 75. Schaefer is tied with Anthony Beauvillier with those 24 points.
Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 129 Isles games.
Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)
1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)
2. Mathew Schaefer 39 (9-15-24)
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have ten come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including four times in the third period.
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 3-4 in shootouts.
The Sixth Attacker
The Isles have scored six goals with the 6th attacker (most in NHL) and allowed eight empty net goals.
Opponents have scored five goals with 6th attacker and allowed six empty-netters to the Isles.
Most Extra Attacker Goals, Isles (since 2009-10)
1. 2017-18 9
2. 2019-20 and 2023-24 7
4. Five years, including 2025-26 6
Most Career Empty Net Goals
1. Bryan Trottier 27
2. John Tavares 20
3. Mike Bossy 15
4. Brock Nelson 13
5. Jason Blake and Casey Cizikas 11
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 20 times this season:
· Score the next goal: 8 times
· Allowed the next goal: 8 times
· Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times
Last Year vs. This Year
· 2025-26 21-14-4 for 46 points in 39 games
· 2024-25 14-18-7 for 35 points in 39 games; they reached 46/47 points in their 47th game.
Offense from Defense
· Today: 0-1-1
· Season: 15-54-69
· Last Season (Final) 32-129-161
Rookie Scoring
· Today: 1-0-1
· Season: 18-28-46
· Last Season (Final) 19-30-49
The 18 rookie goals are 2nd in the NHL while the 46 points are 3rd.
Home and Road
The Isles are 21-14-4 overall; they are 12-7-2 at home and 9-7-2 on the road.
Columbus is 16-15-6 overall; they are 8-6-3 at home and 8-9-3 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 12-9-4 against the East (6-5-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-4-2 vs. Atlantic) and 9-5-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 6-1-0 vs. Pacific).
First Things First
The Isles are 15-4-2 when scoring first and 6-10-2 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 9-11-6=26
Columbus 15-6-14=35
The Isles are 4-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 16-5-0 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
David Rittich made 31 saves; he is 9-4-2 this season and 4-3-1 vs. Columbus.
Jet Greaves made 24 saves; he is 17-12-3 this season and 2-1-0 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (6:00); Columbus was 0-4 (6:54, including :06 of 5-on-3)
The Isles are 11-3-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 10-11-2 when they do not. The Isles are 6-6-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 15-8-0 when they do not.
The Isles are 11-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-6-1 when they are outscored, and 7-7-3 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 16-1-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 5-13-1 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 12-3-4 in games decided by a single goal including 6-3 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games decided in overtime and are 3-4 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-3 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 3-4-0 on the front end and 4-2-1 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be January 28-29 when they face the Columbus in a home-and-home series.
The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Matthew Schaefer (25:00); Columbus: Denton Mateychuk (26:06)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:25).
Face-offs
Isles 34, Columbus 25 (58%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 19 for the Isles; Adam Fantilli won 6 of 11 for Columbus.
Hit Count
Isles 15 (Emil Heineman -5)
Columbus 24 (Mathieu Olivier -6)
Fights
None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, DeAngelo)
Blocked Shots
Isles 20 (Ryan Pulock -8 – most by an Isle since Scott Mayfield had 10 on 11/23/2024 vs. STL)
Columbus 18 (Two with 3)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 49, Columbus 55
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 57, Columbus 77
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Anthony Duclair +8
Columbus: Mason Marchment +17
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 6, Columbus 18
5-on-5: Isles 5, Columbus 11
Scratches
(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Ilya Sorokin -IR), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov, Calum Ritchie
Games Lost to injury: 187. (Last season's total: 304)
The Ironmen
Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 147 consecutive games. Anders Lee (121) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.
National TV Games
The Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 2-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:00pm on New Year's Day against Utah. 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 17-20-14 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)
Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)
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 (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30
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 (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4
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 (7): 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 GTG (17:23 11/13 VEG)- Isles won in OT; Emil Heineman GTG (19:31 12/20 BUF)- Isles lost in OT; Adam Pelech (18:45 12/23 NJD)
Vs (3): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO; Alex DeBrincat GWG (17:43 12/16 DET)
OT Winners
For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA
Vs (0):
Shootout Winners
For (3): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9, TBL 12/13
Vs (4): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28, BUF 12/20
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 936 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 880 …
19. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 20. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 599 *** 22. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 23. Garry Howatt 596 *** 24. John Tonelli 594 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 572 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 568
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 ***
4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 299 …
18. Pierre Tugeon 147 ***19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 144…
24. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 *** 26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 *** 29. Casey Cizikas 117
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
5. Clark Gillies 359 *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 347…
18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Anders Lee 233…
24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 177…
32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. David Volek 154 *** 34. Casey Cizikas 153
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
10. John Tonelli 544 *** 11. Bob Bourne 542 *** 12. Anders Lee 532 *** 13. Bob Nystrom 513 ***
14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 491
27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 270
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +86 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 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 54…
13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield 29 *** 15. Adam Pelech 28
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***
4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 177 …
9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 138…
15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 *** 17. Scott Mayfield 101
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333 ***
4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 231…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 166…
15. Tom Kurvers 134 *** 16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 *** 18. Scott Mayfield 130
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***
4. Ilya Sorokin 277 …
8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 173
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 137 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76
Shutouts
1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16
On the Farm
Bridgeport fell 4-3 in overtime on Sunday in Springfield to fall to 11-14-2-1; Joey Larson scored his team-leading 11th goal for the Islanders, who out-shot Springfield 40-19.
Bridgeport closes out 2025 with a 3:30 game on New Years Eve afternoon in Hartford.
Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 11 (one of six AHL rookies with at least 11); Assists: Matthew Maggio-15; Points: Maggio 20.
Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 5-7-2, 3.08, .881; Henrik Tikkanen 4-2-1, 2.93, .879
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). The teams will play again on February 28th in Columbus and March 22nd at UBS Arena.
Each team has rallied for a third period comeback win in the first two games.
The Isles have dropped three straight games in Columbus.
UP NEXT
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30th —ISLANDERS AT CHICAGO 8:30PM
[MSGSN (pre-game at 8:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
It will be out with the old as the Isles close out 2025 with their only visit of the season to the United Center.
This will be the first meeting of the teams in 54 weeks. They split a pair of games three days apart last December, with the home team winning both matchups.
The Isles are 5-1-2 in the last eight games with the Hawks.
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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