The Skinny: Isles 6, Colorado 3

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 28

Isles 6, Colorado 3

What a night at UBS Arena! 

Mathew Barzal scored a goal and added two assists, and Anders Lee scored his 295th goal as an Islander to match Brock Nelson's total as the Isles spoiled Nelson's return to Long Island by handing the Colorado Avalanche only their second regulation loss of the season, defeating the Avs 6-3 before a crowd of 14,497 at UBS Arena.

The Isles built a 4-0 lead midway through the second period and the Avs could never get closer than two goals the rest of the way as the Isles led for the final 54:04 (20% of how long the Avs trailed in their first 26 games combined). Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves as the Isles snapped Colorado's seventeen-game point streak.

The Isles improve to 11-5-2 in their last eighteen games and end the homestand 3-3-1 with wins over the two teams leading each Conference (Tampa Bay and Colorado). They head to the Sunshine State for the Dads and Mentors trip with games in Tampa Bay on Saturday and against the Stanley Cup Champion Panthers on Sunday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Kyle MacLean (1) Ryan Pulock (12), Marc Gatcomb (1) 05:56 COL 0,NYI 1

Anders Lee (6) Mathew Barzal (12) 18:20 COL 0,NYI 2

2nd Period

Bo Horvat (17) Matthew Schaefer (12), Ryan Pulock (13) 06:58 COL 0,NYI 3

Adam Pelech (1) Mathew Barzal (13), Anders Lee (9) 07:59 COL 0,NYI 4

Valeri Nichushkin (6) Sam Malinski (12), Brock Nelson (9) 08:39 COL 1,NYI 4

Martin Necas (14) Victor Olofsson (11), Brent Burns (10) 10:04 COL 2,NYI 4

Mathew Barzal (8) Max Shabanov (6), Bo Horvat (12) 18:46 COL 2,NYI 5 PPG

3rd Period

Artturi Lehkonen (10) Cale Makar (24), Martin Necas (21) 01:27 COL 3,NYI 5

Casey Cizikas (2)EN 18:45 COL 3,NYI 6 

The Skinny

The Isles are 15-7-3 since they opened 0-3-0…The Isles went 1-4 on the power play and killed all three Avs power plays; the Isles are 3-15 in the last four games and have killed 29 of the last 31 and 46 of the last 51 … Bo Horvat scored for the third straight game, and is now tied for 4th in the NHL in goals…Anthony Duclair had seven shots in the first period and finished with eight shots on goal …The Isles went over NHL-.500 at home (7-6-2)…Ilya Sorokin has won all six games this season that he faced at least 30 shots…The Isles allowed a season-high 38 shots, but outshot the Avs 42-38…The Isles stopped Nathan MacKinnon's four-game goal streak and Gabriel Landeskog's four-game point streak… Brock Nelson, who has recorded the most goals and points at UBS Arena, had an assist…Mathew Barzal's two assists makes him the all-time leader in the building's history, breaking a tie with Noah Dobson… The Isles are 7-0-1 when leading after two periods…The Isles moved into a tie with New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for 3rd to 6th in the Metro but remain in 9th place in the East due to games played…Five points separate the eight teams in the Metro, and three points separate 2nd-8th…Kyle MacLean scored for the first time since March 22nd; Marc Gatcomb, playing only his second NHL game of the season earned an assist on a goal that was confirmed after a lengthy video review…Anders Lee's goal presented the Avs with their first multi-goal deficit since October 26th…Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal now share the team lead in assists with 13; Bo Horvat extended his team lead in both goals (17) and points (29)…The Isles snapped an opponent's 17-game point streak for the first time; the previous club high was 16 (Pittsburgh in 2007 and Toronto in 2023)…Brent Burns played in his 952nd consecutive game; if he continues to extend his streak he will pass Keith Yandle (990) for the longest streak by a defenseman on March 14th...Former Islander Devon Toews played his 500th NHL game.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee ties Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history with 295 goals.

• Patrick Roy earned his 200th win as an NHL coach (70 with the Isles).

• Matthew Schaefer became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 20 points; Brian Bellows is the only other player since World War II to reach 20 points at a younger age.

• Adam Pelech's goal was his 27th career goal, tying Vladimir Malakhov for 15th place among Islander defensemen.

First Times in a Long Time

• Adam Pelech scored for the first time since an overtime goal in Pittsburgh on February 20, 2024, ending a 114-game scoreless streak.

• Ilya Sorokin is the first Islander goalie to win each of his first six games that he faced at least thirty shots since Chico Resch won eight straight in 1980-81. It also ties for the 4th-longest streak at any point of the season; Mark Fitzpatrick holds the record (10 in 1989-90).

• Anthony Duclair had seven shots in the first period, one shy of Kyle Okposo's record for a period (since 1997-98). The last Isles to have seven shots in a period was Brock Nelson on November 12, 2022.

• Each team had at least fifteen shots in the first period; that had not happened in an Islander home game since they left the Coliseum the first time (February 19, 2015, vs. Nashville).

Longest Goal-less Streaks (Isles)

1. Bruno Gervais 160

2. Rich Pilon 154

3. Bert Marshall 130

4. Adam Pelech 114

Return to Form

Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 7-4-1 (.929 and 1.93) since October 31st with two shutouts. 

This was his third win of the season at UBS Arena (3-5-1).

Big Save Dave

David Rittich is 6-2-1 on the season. In his last four games (3-0-1, all by one goal), he has stopped 86 of 93 shots for a 1.68 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Rittich is also 4-1-1 this season at UBS Arena.

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 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)

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

4. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)

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

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

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

8. Matthew Schaefer 26:12 11/30/2025 vs. WAS

9. 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 is the first 18-year-old to play at least 27 minutes four times since ice-time became official; Victor Hedman (also seven times) is the only 18-year-old to pay 26 minutes as often as Schaefer.

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 12

The Isles will play 138 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 28 (8-12-20)

Home for the Holidays

The Isles went 3-3-1 in their seven-game homestand that also started 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 six 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 1-3 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 4 empty-net goals and allowed 5.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 14 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 6 times

• Allowed the next goal: 6 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 2 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26  15-10-3 for 33 points in 28 games

• 2024-25  11-11-6 for 28 points in 28 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-3-4

• Season: 10-43-53

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today:   0-2-2

• Season: 13-22-35

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 13 rookie goals trail only Montreal  (14); the 35 points are tied with Montreal for 2nd in the NHL. 

Home and Road

The Isles are 15-10-3 overall; they are 7-6-2 at home and 8-4-1 on the road.

Colorado is 19-2-6 overall; they are 11-0-2 at home and 8-2-4 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 8-6-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 4-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 7-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 4-0-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles are 11-3-2 when scoring first and 4-7-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles        16-16-10=42  

Colorado 19-7-12=38

The Isles are 3-9-2 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 35 saves; he is 9-8-2-this season and 3-3-2 vs. Colorado.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves; he is 6-1-1 this season and 4-6-1 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 (5:05); Colorado was 0-3 (4:31).

The Isles are 7-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-7-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 10-6-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 8-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 4-5-2 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 13-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-8-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 9-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-2 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games  decided in overtime and are 1-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 2-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 1-3-0 on the front end and 4-0-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be on December 6-7 when they visit Tampa Bay and Florida. 

The Isles are 4-2-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-0-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (25:43); Colorado: Cale Makar (23:08)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (20:40).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Colorado 30 (45%)

Bo Horvat won 13 of 24 for the Isles; Brock Nelson won 10 of 14 for Colorado. 

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Marc Gatcomb -4)

Colorado 26 (Josh Manson -5)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Ryan Pulock -5)

Colorado 12 (Three with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 65, Colorado 72

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 49, Colorado 62

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Mathew Barzal +7

Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon +16

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, Colorado 17

5-on-5: Isles 10, Colorado 16

Scratches

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

Games Lost to injury: 119. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 136 consecutive games. Anders Lee (110) is the only other Isle 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 1-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:30pm on December 13th  against the Lightning. 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 (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 (1): SEA 11/23

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 925 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Anders Lee 869 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 588 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 561 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 557

Goals    

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

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

19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 *** 20. Mathew Barzal 142…

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

Assists

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

5. Clark Gillies 359  *** 6. John Tavares 349 *** 7. Mathew Barzal 341…

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 227…

26. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 27. Ryan Pulock 174… 

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 522… 

15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 483…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 268

+/-

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. 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. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 7. Ryan Pulock 174 … 

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 227…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 164…

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 272 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 134 …

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 is 7-10-1-1 on the season  heading into Friday's game in Utica; they will then host Hartford in the Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday.

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 8;  Assists: Matthew Maggio-11; Points: Matthew Highmore and Matthew Maggio-14

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 4-6-2, 3.10, .885;  Henrik Tikkanen  1-0-0, 1.85, .939

Season Series Stats

The teams split the season series, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2). 

The Isles improve to 3-2-0 in five games played all-time against Colorado at UBS Arena. There have been 45 goals scored in the five games, 24 by the Isles.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6th   —ISLANDERS AT TAMPA BAY 7:00PM

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

The Isles head to Florida for the middle meeting of three games in twelve days with the Lightning. The Isles edges Tampa Bay 2-1 on Tuesday; the teams will also meet a week from Saturday at UBS Arena. 

The Isles are 1-6-0 in their last seven trips to Tampa Bay, winning 3-2 in overtime this past February 1st on a Tony DeAngelo goal.

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