The Skinny: Isles 5, Anaheim 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 31

Isles 5, Anaheim 2

Anders Lee scored two first period power play goals to become the 5th-leading goal scorer in club history and later added two assists for his third career four-point game and David Rittich made 31 saves for his seventh win of the season as the Isles defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 before 14,527 at UBS Arena.

Bo Horvat left the game after getting his skates tangled in the second period and did not return.

The Isles are 14-6-2 in their last 22 games; they will welcome Pat LaFontaine to the team's Hall of Fame when they face Tampa Bay at 3:30pm on Saturday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period 

Travis Mitchell (1) Simon Holmstrom (6), Scott Mayfield (4) 08:18 ANA 0,NYI 1

Anders Lee (7) Tony DeAngelo (11), Simon Holmstrom (7) 10:16 ANA 0,NYI 2 PPG

Anders Lee (8) Tony DeAngelo (12), Mathew Barzal (15) 19:06 ANA 0,NYI 3 PPG

2nd Period

Leo Carlsson (17) Troy Terry (24), Olen Zellweger (8) 05:34 ANA 1,NYI 3

3rd Period

Troy Terry (9) Ryan Poehling (6), Jackson LaCombe (14) 02:37 ANA 2,NYI 3 SHG

Simon Holmstrom (6) Anders Lee (11), Adam Pelech (3) 06:06 ANA 2,NYI 4 

Ryan Pulock (1) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7), Anders Lee (12) 14:46 ANA 2,NYI 5

The Skinny

The Isles are 18-8-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 39 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 2-4 on the power play and 1-1 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 7-25 on the power play in the last eight games and have killed 37 of the last 39 and 54 of the last 59; the 54-59 dates back to October 30th, and their 91.5% kill rate is the best in the NHL in that span… The Isles are 9-0-1 when leading after two periods (16-1-3 when leading or tied) …Simon Holmstrom had three points in a game for the first time this season…The Isles have won four straight at home for the first time since a six-game win streak before the Four Nations break last season…Leo Carlsson scored for the 17th time; Carlsson, teammate Cutter Gauthier (16) and Conor Berard (19) are the three youngest NHL players with at least sixteen goals…The Isles snapped Anaheim's three-game win streak…The Isles are a season-high seven games over NHL-.500 and remain in sole possession of 3rd place in both the Metro and the Eastern Conference; they are one point behind both Carolina and Washington; should the Isles beat Tampa Bay on Saturday they will skate off the ice with the most points in the Eastern Conference.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee moved past Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history with 297 goals.

• Lee played in his 873rd game with the Isles, passing Clark Gillies for 7th place.

• Lee recorded his 80th power play goal (passing Pat LaFontaine) and 81st power play goal (tying Derek King for 7th place.

• Lee recorded the first four-point game by an Islander this season, and his first since October 27, 2018, at Philadelphia (his ninth game as Islander Captain).

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 486th point, which is two behind Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Ryan Pulock scored for the first time in 41 games and tied Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list;  Pulock is two points behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.

First Times in a Long Time

• Anders Lee is the first Islander to score two power play goals in a game since Zach Parise (11-26-22 vs Philadelphia) and the first to do so in the first period since John Tavares (1-3-11 at Calgary).

• It was Lee's fifth career two power play goal game, and his first since October 23, 2022, at Florida.

• The Isles are 133 games over all-time NHL-.500 for the first time since November 7, 1995, when a 5-2 loss to Vancouver dropped their record to 849-716-260.

December to Remember

The Isles are 5-1-0 in the first six games this month, including four wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s.

Over 100%

The Isles power play (now 16.3%) and penalty kill (now 84.4%) combine for a special teams rating of 100.7%. They were an NHL-low 84.8% combined last season. The penalty kill is now ranked 5th in the NHL.

Mitchell's First

Travis Mitchell scored his first NHL goal in his seventh game; his father Jeff played seven games for Dallas in the 1990s without recording a point. Mitchell is the fourth Cornellian to score a goal for the Islanders, joining Matt Moulson (118), Mike Iggulden and Cole Bardreau (1 each).

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 9-4-1 (.931 and 1.93) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season; Jeremy Swayman is the only goalie with ten wins in that span.

Sorokin has won each of his first eight games facing at least 30 shots; that ties 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 7-3-1 on the season. In his last six games (4-1-1), he has stopped 144 of 156 shots for a 1.94 GAA and a .923 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 26:04 10/11/2025 vs. WAS

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 five times and at least 26 minutes eight times. He is the first 18-year-old to do so since ice time became official.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Matthew Schaefer 8 

2. Bryan Berard 7

Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 32

2. Matthew Schaefer 14

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 134 Isles games.

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 32 (8-14-22)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 6-4-1 so far in this stretch (5-3-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road).

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

Overtime Is Our Time

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

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 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 11

Casey Cizikas 11

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 18 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 7 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26  18-11-3 for 39 points in 32 games

• 2024-25  12-13-7 for 31 points in 32 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   2-4-6

• Season: 12-52-64

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today:   1-0-1

• Season: 15-26-41

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 15 rookie goals are one behind Montreal for the NHL lead; the 41 points are 3rd in the NHL. 

Home and Road

The Isles are 18-11-3 overall; they are 9-6-2 at home and 9-5-1 on the road.

Anaheim is 19-11-1 overall; they are 11-4-0 at home and 8-7-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 9-7-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-3-1 vs. Atlantic) and 9-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 6-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 13-3-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles        13-15-9=37  

Anaheim  12-10-11=33

The Isles are 4-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 12-2-0 when the opposition has more shots. 

In the Nets

David Rittich made 31 saves; he is 7-3-1 this season and 4-1-1 vs. Anaheim.

Ville Husso made 32 saves; he is 5-3-0 this season and 2-1-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-4 (6:05) but allowed a shorthanded goal; Anaheim was 0-1 (0:39).

The Isles are 10-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 13-7-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 11-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 4-6-2 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 15-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 10-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-2 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games  decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo. 

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 (25:19); Anaheim: Jackson Lacombe (25:30)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (23:48).

Face-offs

Isles 38, Anaheim 32 (54%)

Casey Cizikas won 10 of 15 for the Isles; Ryan Poehling won 7 of 13 for Anaheim. 

Hit Count

Isles 20 (Marc Gatcomb -7)

Anaheim 15 (Chris Kreider -6)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 18 (Two with 3)

Anaheim 13 (Pavel Mintuyov -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 68, Anaheim 78

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Anaheim 66

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Matthew Schaefer +6

Anaheim: Jackson Lacombe and Jacob Trouba +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Anaheim 13  

5-on-5: Isles 9, Anaheim 9

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Jonathan Drouin -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 144. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 140 consecutive games. Anders Lee (114) 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 1-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:30pm on December 13th  against Tampa Bay. 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 16-20-14 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 (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 (2):  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

OT Winners

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

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (2): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9

Vs (3):  PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28

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 929 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 873 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 592 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 565 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 561

Goals    

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 297 …

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 143…

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 343…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 229…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25 Noah Dobson 180 *** 26. Ryan Pulock 176… 

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…

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 526… 

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 486…

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 +87 *** 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 54…

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

Defense Assists

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

5. Noah Dobson 180 *** 6. Ryan Pulock 176 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 138… 

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 and Ryan Pulock 230…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 165…

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 274 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 136 …

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 is 8-11-1-1 on the season and are just two points out of a playoff spot. They are off until they travel to Laval on Saturday and Belleville on Sunday.

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 9;  Assists: Matthew Maggio-12; Points: Maggio-16

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876;  Henrik Tikkanen  2-0-0, 1.92, .925

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will meet in Anaheim on March 4th to conclude the season series.

The Isles are 7-2-0 in their last nine games against Anaheim.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th  —TAMPA BAT AT ISLANDERS 3:30PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 3:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look for their five straight home win as they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning back to UBS Arena. 

It is the third and final meeting of the teams this season; the Isles have won the first two games (2-1 at UBS Arena and 2-1 in Tampa Bay). They will look to sweep the Lightning for only the 4th time (5-0-0 in 1997-98, 4-0-0 in 2001-02, 3-0-0 in 2013).

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