The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 2 (OT)

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 10

Los Angeles 3, Isles 2 (OT)

Brandt Clarke scored 2:43 into overtime as the Los Angeles Kings overcame a two-goal Islander comeback and defeated the Isles, 3-2, before a crowd of 14,397 at UBS Arena. 

Artemi Panarin had given the Kings a 2-0 advantage in the first period, but Victor Eklund scored on the power play in the second period and Matthew Schaefer scored his first goal of the season in the third period to force the extra session. 

It was the first overtime goal allowed by the Isles since a 7-6 loss in Nashville on April 10, 2025; the Isles were 10-0 last season in games decided by an overtime goal.

The Isles begin a three-game road trip, all against Central Division opponents, at 6pm ET on Sunday in Dallas. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Artemi Panarin (5) Alex Laferriere (5), Brandt Clarke (5) 05:51 LAK 1, NYI 0

Artemi Panarin (6) 16:37 LAK 2, NYI 0

2nd Period

Victor Eklund (3) Brayden Schenn (4), Tony DeAngelo (2) 14:06 PP LAK 2, NYI 1

3rd Period

Matthew Schaefer (1) Logan Stanley (5), Emil Heineman (2) 07:06 LAK 2, NYI 2

Overtime

Brandt Clarke (2) Adrian Kempe (4), Darcy Kuemper (1) 02:43 LAK 3, NYI 2

The Skinny

The Isles went 1-2 on the power play and killed both Kings power plays; the Isles have six power play goals this season, including five at home…. The Isles’ PK is 11-11 in the last four games… The Isles have a five-game point streak (3-0-2)… The Isles are 4-1-1 in their first six home games; it is their best record through six games at UBS Arena and their most points since opening 5-0-1 at the Coliseum in 2021… The Isles have allowed six goals in the final three minutes of regulation (one game-winner, three empty-netters and two 6th-attacker goals) and one in overtime; they have allowed only one other goal in the third period and only fifteen goals in the first 57 minutes of games… Matthew Schaefer played the last 96 seconds of regulation and the first 2:33 of overtime; it was the sixth time in his career he played over 29 minutes (finishing with 29:24)…Darcy Kuemper earned his eighth career assist on the game-winner…The Isles had their fifth fight of the season; they did not have their fifth fight last season until February 1st in Washington…Artemi Panarin has scored in all five King road games and now has 21 goals in 43 career games vs. the Isles.

The Penalty Shot

Semyon Varlamov stopped Adrian Kempe on a 2nd period penalty shot. Varlamov has stopped eight of the nine penalty shots he has faced in his career, including both he has faced as an Islander.

Most Career Penalty Shots Faced, allowing one goal or fewer

1. Marty Turco  (1-14)

2. Mike Richter (1-11)

3. Gilles Meloche and Semyon Varlamov (1-9)

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles have allowed only 22 goals in ten games (excluding shootouts). It is the fewest they have allowed since allowing 21 through ten games in 2001-02.

• Matthew Schaefer is the first Islander with a point in the first six home games since John Tavares (7 games) in 2013-14. The last defensemen to do so with Kenny Jonsson (7) and Bryan Berard (6), both in 1997-78.

• The Isles have allowed only 255 shots on goal; it is the fewest they have allowed since 2003-04 (231). The club mark thru ten games in 223 (2002-03).

·   The Isles lost in OT despite outscoring the Kings 1-0 in special teams goals (PP+SH). That ended a 22-game winning streak dating back to a loss in last season’s home opener.

The Kids Are Alright

Matthew Schaefer (19-47) and Victor Eklund (20-19) are the youngest pair of Islanders  (39-66 combined) to ever score a goal in the same game. 

Milestone Men (non-Schaefer)

• Semyon Varlamov played his 176th game for the Isles,  tying Glenn Healy for 9th place; his next appearance will tie Jaroslav Halak, who sits 8th in club history.

• Bo Horvat has 104 Islander goals, leaving him one behind Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall for 31st in club history.

The Schaeferisms

• Matthew Schaefer scored his 24th career goal, tying Bobby Orr for 2nd place among teenage defensemen; he also tied Doug Bodger for 7th place on the teenage defenseman point list. He is 64 points behind Phil Housley’s teenage record.

• Schaefer set a career high with nine shots on goal. He is the first Isles d-man with nine shots in a game since Ryan Pulock on March 22, 2018, vs. Tampa Bay; Denis Potvin is the only defenseman in club history with at least 10 shots on goal in a game.

• Schaefer(19 years, 47 days) is the youngest player in Islander history with a 9-shot game, breaking a record set by Bryan Berard as an older 19-year-old. Bobby Orr had two nine shot games as an 18-year-old; he is the only defenseman younger than Schaefer to do so.

Fewest Goals Allowed by Isles in First Ten Games (excluding shootout)

• 19 in 1974-75 and 1977-78

• 21 in 2001-02

• 22 in 1975-76, 1976-77, 1997-98 and 2026-27

Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:

1. Phil Housley 46

2. Matthew Schaefer and Bobby Orr 24

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares, Tim Connolly, and Matthew Schaefer 24

Schaefer has scored the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Matthew Schaefer 44

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Matthew Schaefer 68

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 263

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Matthew Schaefer 29:40 3/31/2026 at BUF

3. Matthew Schaefer 29:29 10/15/2026 at OTT (SO)

4. Matthew Schaefer 29:24 3/13/2026 vs LA

Matthew Schaefer 29:24 10/22/2026 vs LA (OT)

6. Matthew Schaefer 29:01 3/7/2026 at SJ (OT)

The last Islander to play more than 31:59 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than 31:59 in a game that ended in regulation.

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI

2. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)

There are five recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game. Schaefer is the first teenager with six games of at least 29 minutes.

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 80 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have zero come-from behind wins this season, including no times when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win one time this season, including zero times in the third period.

The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have zero (none in the third period).

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-1 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-1 in shootouts. 

Last season the Isles established an NHL record by winning all ten games decided by an overtime goal. 

The Sixth Attacker

The Isles have not scored with the sixth attacker and allowed three empty net goals.

Opponents have scored two goals with the sixth attacker and allowed two empty-netters to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 5-3-2 for 12 points in 10 games

• 2025-26: 4-5-1 for 9 points in 10 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:    1-2-3

• Season: 2-19-21

• Last Season (Final) 40-126-166

The 40 goals are the most for the Islander defense since they had 41 in 2022-23.

Home and Road

The Isles are 5-3-2 overall; they are 4-1-1 at home and 1-2-1 on the road.

Los Angeles is 2-4-2 overall; they are 0-3-0 at home and 2-1-2 on the road.

East and West

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

Coach DeBoer

Pete DeBoer is 668-453-154 as an NHL coach, and 6-6-2 with the Isles. The 668 wins is one behind Detroit’s Todd McLellan for 16th all-time. Next up is Mike Keenan (672- 15th). 

First Things First

The Isles are 5-0-1 when scoring first and 0-3-1 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       15-17-10-1=43

Los Angeles 6-9-10-2=27

The Isles are 2-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 3-2-0 when the opposition has more shots. 

In the Nets 

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves; he is 0-1-2 this season and 9-8-4 vs. Los Angeles.

Darcy Kuemper made 41 saves; he is 2-3-1 this season and 10-6-3 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-2 (3:34); Los Angeles was 0-2 (2:00).

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

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

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles 5-1-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-2-2 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

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

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 0-0-0 on the front end and 0-0-0 on the back end this season. The first back-to-back will be on November 27th vs. Winnipeg and November 28th at Philadelphia.

The Isles are 1-1-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 0-0-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Matthew Schaefer (29:24); Los Angeles: Erik Gustafsson (22:45)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:33).

Shots on Goal

Isles 43 (Matthew Schaefer – 9)

Los Angeles 27 (Adrian Kempe – 5)

Shot Attempts

Isles 74 (Matthew Schaefer – 10)

Los Angeles 61 (Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin – 8)

Face-offs

Isles 34, Los Angeles 20 (63%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 15 of 21 for the Isles; no King who took multiple draws won  more than he lost.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Victor Eklund – 6)

Los Angeles 17 (Andre Lee – 5)

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Adam Pelech – 4)

Los Angeles 18 (Brian Dumoulin and Joel Edmundson – 3)

Fights 

Logan Stanley fought Samuel Helenius in the second period. Season total: 5 (Stanley-2, Schenn, Pelech, Chaffee)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 74, Los Angeles 62

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 63, Los Angeles 49

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Emil Heineman +16

Los Angeles: Erik Gustafsson +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, Los Angeles 15

5-on-5: Isles 14, Los Angeles 11

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Cal Ritchie (INJ), Matias Maccelli (INJ), Scott Mayfield

Games Lost to injury: 21. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 336th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues); it is the 8th-longest active streak in the NHL. Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-1-1 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on November 5th against Carolina.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. 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 18-24-14 in matinees.

The first matinee will be on Halloween, when the Isles host the Oilers at 2:00pm.

Challenges

Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures. OTT (Offside) 10/15.

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (2): Vs NJD 10/3, vs VAN 10/13

Vs (2): @ NYR 10/6, vs TB 10/10

Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of the other team)

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (1): ANA 10/20 

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 (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandon Hagel (GWG) 18:16 – 10/10 vs. TB

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1):  Brandt Clarke (LA) 10/22

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (1): Shane Pinto (OTT) 10/15

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 988…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 652 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 646  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 617 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

17. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 18. Mathew Barzal 153…

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 125…

31. Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 *** 33. Bo Horvat 104

Assists

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

4. Josh Bailey 396 *** 5. Mathew Barzal 381…

23. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 24. Ryan Pulock 185… 

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 149

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…

9. Pat LaFontaine 566 *** 10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 282 …

32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 241

+/-

1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +84 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +67 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 652 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 646 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 617

Defense Goals

1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

12. Adrian Aucoin 33 *** 13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 30  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 185 … 

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 149… 

13. Dave Lewis 117 *** 14. Roman Hamrlik and Scott Mayfield 110

Defense Points

1. Denis Potvin 1,052 *** 2. Stefan Persson 369 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 333 ***

4. Nick Leddy 243 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 241…

9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Mark Streit and  Adam Pelech 179…

14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 315… 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 159 …

7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson 77 *** 9. Semyon Varlamov 76

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 30 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 1-5-0-1 this season following a 4-1 loss in Toronto on Wednesday. Calle Odelius scored the only goal for Hamilton. The Hammers head to Laval for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. 

Team leaders:

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (4); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (7)

Goalies: Vitek Vanecek (1-2-1), Josh Kotai (0-3-0)

Season Series Stats

Los Angeles leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 1). The teams will conclude the season series on November 12th in Los Angeles.

The Isles are 1-4-1 at UBS Arena against the Kings and are 1-9-1 over the last six seasons against Los Angeles. The one Islander win was in overtime, giving Los Angeles an 11-game point streak against the Isles (10-0-1), which is the longest of any opponent.

UP NEXT

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25th -- ISLANDERS AT DALLAS 6:00pm

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

The Isles will look to extend their point streak to six, when Pete DeBoer returns to Dallas to face the Stars. DeBoer coaches the Stars for three seasons, leading the team to the Western Conference Final in each season and compiling a 149-68-29 record.

It is the first of two meetings with the Stars this season.

The Isles have scored three goals or less in each of the last nine meetings with Dallas, but are 4-4-1 in those games, including a sweep of the season series last season.

 

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