The Skinny: Vancouver 4, Isles 1

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 35

Vancouver 4, Isles 1

Kiefer Sherwood recorded his third career hat trick and Thatcher Demko came within 5:05 of his second career shutout as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Isles 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Anders Lee scored a 6th-attacker goal to break the shutout before Sherwood completed his second hat trick of the season into an empty net. 

The Isles fall to 15-8-2 in their last 25 games; they head to Buffalo to face the Sabres at 5pm on Saturday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period 

David Kampf (1) Jake DeBrusk (7) 08:57 VAN 1,NYI 0

Kiefer Sherwood (14) Evander Kane (11), Marcus Pettersson (5) 10:35 VAN 2,NYI 0

Kiefer Sherwood (15) Filip Hronek (16), Tom Willander (8)  15:47 VAN 3,NYI 0 PPG

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Anders Lee (9) Calum Ritchie (4), Mathew Barzal (18) 14:55 VAN 3,NYI 1

Kiefer Sherwood (16) Filip Hronek (17) 18:37 VAN 4,NYI 1

The Skinny

The Isles are 19-10-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 41 points since October 16th are tied with Carolina for the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 0-4 on the power play and 3-4 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 8-34 on the power play in the last eleven games and have allowed four goals in ten times short over the last three games… The Isles are 2-11-0 when trailing after two periods; they are 17-2-3 when leading or tied …Mathew Barzal earned an assist for a season-high fifth straight game as he extended his point streak to six games; his career highs are six games and nine games, respectively.… Barzal has a point in all twelve games he has faced Vancouver (3-16-19); only Connor Mc David (17 games vs. NJ) and Nikita Kucherov (14 games vs. Vegas) have longer active streaks to start their careers…Thatcher Demko saw his shutout streak end at a career-best 150:53…Tyler Myers played his 1,100th NHL game…The Isles scored for the 5th time with a sixth-attacker, tying Los Angeles for the most in the NHL....The Isles fall into 4th place in the Metropolitan Division; they drop six points behind Carolina and remain one point behind Washington; the Devils tied the Isles in points but are ahead of the Isles based on tie-breakers.

Milestone Men

• Matthew Barzal recorded his 489th point, passing Patrick Flatley for 15th place.

• Barzal now has 346 assists, three behind John Tavares for 6th place.

• Anders Lee now 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.

• Matthew Schaefer played his 35th game, passing Dave Chyzowski for the second-highest total by an 18-year-old in club history; Tim Connolly holds the record – 81 games.

• Thatcher Demko is the second active goalie (Samuel Ersson) and third all-time (Fred Brathwaite) to win all five of his decisions against the Isles. 

First Time in a Long Time

Kiefer Sherwood is the first Canuck to record a hat trick against the Isles since Todd Bertuzzi did so on January 14, 2006, at the Coliseum; prior to tonight, Bertuzzi was the only one to do so in the last 50 years!

December to Remember

The Isles are 6-3-0 in the first nine games this month, including five wins over teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the 2020s. The Isles have twelve points in December and 88 points in calendar year 2025 (with six 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 faced 29 shots on goal tonight. 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 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)

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)

    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 14

Only eleven Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 14 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 95 and Tim Connolly's 75.

Most Points by an Islander Teenage Defenseman

1. Bryan Berard 39

2. Matthew Schaefer 23

Only ten Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 23 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 63 and Tim Connolly's 51.

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 131 Isles games.

Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)

1. Tim Connolly 81     (14-20-34)

2. Mathew Schaefer 35 (9-14-23)

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 7-6-1 so far in this stretch (6-4-1 at home and 1-2-0 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 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 3-3 in shootouts. 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 7.

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 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  19-13-3 for 41 points in 35 games

• 2024-25  13-15-7 for 33 points in 35 games; they did not reach 41 points until their 42nd game.

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 14-52-66

• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161

Rookie Scoring

• Today:   0-1-1

• Season: 17-27-44

• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49

The 17 rookie goals are tied for the most in the NHL while the 44 points trail only Chicago. 

Home and Road

The Isles are 19-13-3 overall; they are 10-7-2 at home and 9-6-1 on the road.

Vancouver is 14-17-3 overall; they are 4-10-1 at home and 10-7--2 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 10-8-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-4-1 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 5-9-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles            7-5-11=23

Vancouver   9-11-10=30

The Isles are 4-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 13-4-0 when the opposition has more shots. 

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 12-10-2 this season and 2-4-1 vs. Vancouver.

Thatcher Demko made 21 saves; he is 8-5-0 this season and 5-0-0 vs. the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 (5:57, including a 0:58 5-on-3); Vancouver was 1-3 (5:46).

The Isles are 11-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-10-2 when they do not. The Isles are 6-6-3 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, 3-6-1 when they are outscored, and 5-6-2 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 16-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-11-0 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 11-3-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-3 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games  decided in overtime and are 3-3 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     

Including tonight, the Isles are 2-4-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; this back-to-back concludes Saturday in Buffalo. 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: Mathew Barzal (23:01); Vancouver: Marcus Pettersson (25:21)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards (23:01).

Face-offs

Isles 23, Vancouver 28 (45%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 10 of 18 for the Isles; David Kampf won 13 of 19 for Vancouver. 

Hit Count

Isles 21 (Marc Gatcomb -5)

Vancouver 10 (Liam Ohgren -3)

Fights 

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

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Adam Pelech -4)

Vancouver 14 (Two with 3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Vancouver 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 37, Vancouver 43

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adam Pelech/Jonathan Drouin +7

Vancouver: Zeev Buium +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, Vancouver 14 

5-on-5: Isles 10, Vancouver 14

Scratches

(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Bo Horvat -INJ), Marshall Warren, Max Tsyplakov

Games Lost to injury: 162. (Last season's total: 304)

The Ironmen

Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 143 consecutive games. Anders Lee (117) 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 (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 (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 (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 932 *** 5. Brock Nelson 901 *** 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 7. Anders Lee 876 …

20. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 21. Garry Howatt 596 *** 22. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 595 *** 24. John Tonelli 594 *** 25. Scott Mayfield 568 *** 26. Mathew Barzal 564

Goals    

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

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

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 345…

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

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 528 

14. Derek King 499 *** 15. Mathew Barzal 489

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 +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 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. Scott Mayfield 129

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   

After dropping a 5-0 decision to Syracuse at home on Wednesday, Bridgeport went into LehIgh Valley and beat the Phantoms 5-1 on Friday to move into the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Chris Terry had two goals and an assist, while Matthew Maggio added two assists. Marcus Hogberg made 20 saves for his first win since November 21st.

Bridgeport leads Hartford by two points for the final playoff spot; they head to Hershey on Saturday for their final game before the Christmas break. 

Leaders:  Goals: Joey Larson- 10 (one of seven AHL rookies with at least 10);  Assists: Matthew Maggio-15; Points: Maggio 19.

Goalies:  Marcus Hogberg 5-7-2, 3.08, .881;  Henrik Tikkanen  4-1-0, 2.52, .898

Season Series Stats

Vancouver leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The rematch is January 19th in Vancouver, where the Isles are 6-0-3 in their last nine games.

Vancouver is 5-0-0 at UBS Arena; they are the only team (besides Utah) to win every game in regulation at UBS.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20th  —ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO 5:00PM

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

The Isles head to Western New York to face the Sabres for the first time this season.

It is the first meeting of the teams in nearly a year; Buffalo avoided a season series sweep with a 7-1 victory at UBS last December 23rd. The Isles won their only game in Buffalo last season, stopping an 0-5-2 stretch at KeyBank Center.

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