The Skinny: Isles 2, New Jersey 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 37

Isles 2, New Jersey 1

All I wanted for Christmas is an Adam Pelech game-winning goal.

Pelech broke a 1-1 tie with 75 seconds to play as the Islanders rallied from a 1-0 deficit and snapped a three-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Brett Pesce scored for the Devils in the first period; Simon Holmstrom scored a second period goal off a Jacob Markstrom give away.

The Isles are 16-8-3 in their last 27 games; they host the Rangers Saturday in the first game after the Christmas break. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Brett Pesce (1) Nico Hischier (19), Dawson Mercer (14) 15:35 NJD 1,NYI 0

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (7) 12:10 NJD 1,NYI 1

3rd Period

Adam Pelech (2) Anders Lee (15), Simon Holmstrom (9) 18:45 NJD 1,NYI 2

The Skinny

The Isles are 20-10-4 since they opened 0-3-0; the 44 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…There were no penalties in the game; the Isles are 9-37 on the power play in the last thirteen games and have allowed five goals in 13 times short over the last five games… The Isles are 18-2-3 when ahead or tied after two periods …Mathew Barzal saw his assist streak end at a career-high six games and his point streak end at seven games …Anders Lee earned his 15th assist as he continues on a career-high pace (25 last season); he now has a four-game point streak and is 3-5-8 in his last six games…Simon Holmstrom's goal was the 13,000th in club history…Each of Adam Pelech's last three goals have been game-winners….Pelech is the third Islander defenseman to score a go-ahead goal in the last two minutes of regulation, joining Ryan Pulock (19:19 on 2-11-2020 vs. Philadelphia) and Denis Potvin (18:08 on 2-18-1976 in Detroit)…The Isles now lead the NHL with three go-ahead goals this season in the final two minutes of regulation; they scored only three such goals in the prior four seasons, combined…The Isles reached 20 wins in only 37 games this season; it took them 47 games last season to win 20 games…Simon Holmstrom had a goal and an assist, matching his totals in nine previous games against New Jersey; he is 3-4-7 in his last seven games overall….The Isles earned their 10th comeback win of the season; only Philadelphia (13) and Anaheim (11) have more…Tonight marked only the fourth time since the 2020-21 season that neither Ilya Sorokin nor Semyon Varlamov dressed for the Isles; the other three all occurred last season.

The Standings

The Isles move into 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division; they climb within three points of Carolina and remain one point behind Philadelphia.

Milestone Men

• Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock each played their 597th game, tying Kenny Jonsson for 3rd place among Islander defensemen

• Matthew Barzal remains at 347 assists, two behind John Tavares for 6th place.

• Anders Lee still needs two goals to become the fifth Islander with 300 goals.

• Ryan Pulock remains tied with Noah Dobson (230) for 6th on the club's defenseman point list; Pulock is two points behind Kenny Jonsson for 5th.

December to Remember

The Isles are 7-3-1 in the first eleven games this month, including five wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s. The Isles have fifteen points in December and 91 points in calendar year 2025 (with three games to play); they had 11 points last December and finished calendar year 2024 with 86 points.

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 8-3-2 on the season. In his last eight games (5-1-2), he has stopped 205 of 220 shots for a 1.82 GAA and a .932 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)

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 nine 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 37 (9-15-24)

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 8-6-2 so far in this stretch (7-4-1 at home and 1-2-1 on the road).

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 seven times this season, including three 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 7 empty net goals.

Opponents have scored five goals with 6th attacker and allowed five 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 19 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 8 times

• Allowed the next goal: 8 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2025-26  20-13-4 for 44 points in 37 games

• 2024-25  14-16-7 for 35 points in 37 games; they reached 44/45 points in their 46th game.

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-0-1

• Season: 15-53-68

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 17-28-45

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 17 rookie goals are 2nd in the NHL while the 45 points are 3rd. 

Home and Road

The Isles are 20-13-4 overall; they are 11-7-2 at home and 9-6-2 on the road.

New Jersey is 20-16-1 overall; they are 10-7-1 at home and 10-9-0 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 11-8-4 against the East (5-4-2 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 14-4-2 when scoring first and 6-9-2 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles              7-14-4=25

New Jersey   15-6-11=32

The Isles are 4-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 15-4-0 when the opposition has more shots. 

In the Nets

David Rittich made 31 saves; he is 8-3-2 this season and 6-1-0 vs. New Jersey.

Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves; he is 9-8-1 this season and 8-7-3 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-0 (0:00); New Jersey was 0-0 (0:00).

The Isles are 11-3-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 9-10-2 when they do not. The Isles are 6-6-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 14-7-0 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 6-6-3 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 (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 16-1-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 4-12-1 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 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 2-4-0 on the front end and 4-1-1 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be December 27-28 when they host the Rangers and visit Columbus. 

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: Adam Pelech (23:12); New Jersey: Luke Hughes (23:57)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (21:14).

Face-offs

Isles 27, New Jersey 33 (45%)

Casey Cizikas won 6 of 8 for the Isles; Nico Hischier won 21 of 32 for New Jersey. 

Hit Count

Isles 26 (Marc Gatcomb -5)

New Jersey 15 (Two with 3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Adam Pelech -3)

New Jersey 20 (Brett Pesce -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 69, New Jersey 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 68, New Jersey 58

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom +12

New Jersey: Arseny Gritsyuk +7

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 16, New Jersey 16 

5-on-5: Isles 16, New Jersey 14

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Bo Horvat -INJ), (Ilya Sorokin -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 175. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 145 consecutive games. Anders Lee (119) 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 934 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 878 …

19. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 20. Kenny Jonsson, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 597 *** 23. Garry Howatt 596 *** 24. John Tonelli 594 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 570 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 566

Goals    

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

4. Clark Gillies 304 *** 5. Anders Lee 298 …

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 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…

10. John Tonelli 544 *** 11. Bob Bourne 542 *** 12. Anders Lee 531 *** 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 +87 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +63 *** 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 176 … 

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. Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock 230…

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 heads into the holiday break with a record of 11-13-1-1; they are tied with Springfield for the final playoff spot.

Bridgeport will host Hartford, who trail the Isles and Thunderbirds by one point on Saturday before visiting Springfield Sunday. 

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 11 (one of six AHL rookies with at least 11);  Assists: Matthew Maggio-15; Points: Maggio 19.

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 5-7-2, 3.08, .881;  Henrik Tikkanen  4-2-0, 2.76, .891

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1). The teams will play again on January 6th  at UBS Arena and February 5th in New Jersey.

The Isles improve to 4-2-2 in eight UBS meetings all-time with New Jersey.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27th  — RANGERS AT ISLANDERS 6:00PM

[MSGSN (pre-game at 5:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles stay home for the holidays as they welcome the Rangers to UBS Arena on Saturday.

The Isles won the first game on November 8th at Madison Square Garden by a 5-0 score behind 33 saves from Ilya Sorokin. That win kicked off a 6-1-0 Islander road trip and ended a five game Isles losing streak to their cross-town rivals. 

The Isles are 2-4-0 in six UBS meetings with the Rangers.

AND FINALLY…

Happy Holidays to all! Thanks for reading The Skinny all season long.

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