“The Skinny”
By Eric Hornick
Game 16
New Jersey 5, Isles 4 (OT)
Jack Hughes scored the winning goal 1:18 into overtime as the New Jersey Devils overcame a 4-2 third period deficit to defeat the Isles, 5-4, before a sellout crowd of 17,345 at UBS Arena.
Ilya Sorokin faced a career-high 50 shots on goal and that led to the Devils tying the game with third period goals from Luke Evangelista and Doug Hamilton. Matthew Schaefer scored a highlight reel goal in the first period for his fifth goal in the last seven games; Simon Holmstrom had a goal and an assist while Bo Horvat had a pair of assists.
The Isles went on 0-2-1 on their homestand and now head to California for three games, beginning on Monday in San Jose.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Anthony Duclair (4) Simon Holmstrom (4), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) 15:06 NYI 1, NJD 0
Evan Rodrigues (3) Anthony Mantha (5) 15:23 NYI 1, NJD 1
Matthew Schaefer (5) Bo Horvat (8), Emil Heineman (6) 17:14 NYI 2, NJD 1
2nd Period
Declan Chisholm (2) Jesper Bratt (13), Arseny Gritsyuk (5) 04:42 NYI 2, NJD 2
Simon Holmstrom (5) Kyle Palmieri (2), Bo Horvat (9) 05:08 NYI 3, NJD 2
Victor Eklund (5) Tony DeAngelo (4), Brayden Schenn (7) 11:54 NYI 4, NJD 2
3rd Period
Luke Evangelista (4) Brett Pesce (7), Nico Hischier (4) 06:08 NYI 4, NJD 3
Dougie Hamilton (2) Jack Hughes (14), Luke Evangelista (6) (PP) 13:42 NYI 4, NJD 4
Overtime
Jack Hughes (9) Luke Hughes (5) 01:18 NJD 5, NYI 4
The Skinny
The Isles did not have a power play and killed three of four New Jersey power plays, including a 5-on-3 that preceded the Hamilton goal; The Isles’ PK is 30-34 in the last ten games, but the power play is 1-18 over the last six games and 3-32 over the last eleven games… Ilya Sorokin is now 10-0-4 in his career when facing at least 44 shots on goal and is 20-7-9 when facing at least 40 shots... The Isles fell to 5-0-1 when leading after two periods …The Isles are now +6 in the second period (21-15) but have been outscored 17-10 in the third period…Matthew Schaefer and Luke Hughes were assessed roughing penalties in the second period after throwing punches at each other…Jack Hughes now has 12 goals in 24 career games against the Isles, including four game-winners…It was Hughes’ third overtime goal of the season…The Devils are 5-0 in games beyond 60 minutes, and have scored four overtime goals…With the first goal tonight, the Isles extended their club record to 18 consecutive goals against a single opponent without allowing a goal; Evan Rodrigues ended the streak just 17 seconds later….The Devils have been shorthanded only nine times in their first seven road games….A Swedish-born Islander had a point on all four goals tonight, and on the last six goals overall…Nico Hischier recorded his 499th point…Jack Hughes now has eleven goals in seventeen games against Ilya Sorokin; Jake Guentzel is the only other opponent with eleven goals against Sorokin…It was the third sellout of the season at UBS Arena – all on Saturday nights; the Isles’ next Saturday night home game is on January 23rd...The Isles scored four goals in regulation for the first time since October 17th in Toronto.
First Times in a Long Time (allowing 50+ shots)
The Isles allowed 50 shots for the 30th time in club history:
• First time ever at UBS Arena.
• First time anywhere since a 5-2 Islander win on March 11, 2018, in Calgary.
• First time at home since a 3-0 win at Barclays on February 15, 2018, vs. the Rangers.
• First time against New Jersey since a 4-2 Devil win in Newark on February 11, 2009.
Most Career OT Goals against the Isles:
• 5 Alex Ovechkin
• 3 Sidney Crosby and Jack Hughes
No Power Plays
Tonight was the third time since the start of last season the Isles have not had a power play, and all three were home games against the Devils (12/23/2025, 1/6/2026, 11/7/2026). It is the eighth time the Isles have not had a power play against the Devil franchise, including seven times since the Devils moved to New Jersey.
It is the first time since April 3, 2012, also against the Devils, that the Isles had no power plays in a game that the opponent had at least four. There has only been one game in Islander history (January 29, 1988, in Buffalo) that the Isles had no power plays, and the opponent had five power plays.
Milestone Men (non-Schaefer)
• Ilya Sorokin played his 319th game, passing Rick DiPietro for 2nd place in club history.
• Scott Mayfield did not play and remains one game behind Stefan Persson for 5th place among Islander defensemen.
• Semyon Varlamov has 290 NHL wins, tied with Ed Giacomin for 48th all-time. 42 goalies have won at least 300 games.
• Varlamov has 77 wins for the Isles, tied with Roland Melanson for 8th in club history.
The Schaefer’s
• Matthew Schaefer now has 75 points, one behind Rick Hampton for 4th place on the teenage defenseman point list. He is 57 points behind Phil Housley’s teenage record.
• Schaefer played in his 98th NHL game; the last teenage defenseman to play at least 100 games was Rasmus Dahlin (141 in 2018-19 to 2019-20). He will be the 25th defenseman to play 100 games before his 20th birthday.
• Schaefer tied Tim Connolly for 2nd place among Isles teenagers; he is six shots on goal behind Connolly’s teenage record of 285 shots on goal.
• Schaefer passed Vladimir Malakhov for 16th place in career goals by an Islander defenseman.
• Schaefer has played over 26 minutes 51 times in his first 98 career games; since ice-time became official, no other player has done that more than 45 times (Brock Faber).
Most Goals by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:
1. Phil Housley 46
2. Matthew Schaefer 28
Most Points by an NHL Teenage Defenseman:
1. Phil Housley 132
2. Rasmus Dahlin 84
3. Ray Bourque 79
4. Rick Hampton 76
5. Matthew Schaefer 75
Most Goals by an Islander Teenager
1. Bryan Trottier 32
2. Matthew Schaefer 28
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 47
Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman.
Most Points by an Islander Teenager
1. Bryan Trottier 95
2. Tim Connolly and Matthew Schaefer 75
Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman.
Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager
1. Bryan Trottier and Matthew Schaefer 5
Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager
1. Tim Connolly 285
2. Matthew Schaefer 276
Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.
Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game
1. Matthew Schaefer 32:16 10/27/2026 at NSH (SO)
2. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI
3. Matthew Schaefer 30:01 11/5/2026 vs CAR
Matthew Schaefer 30:01 10/29/2026 at MIN (OT)
The last Islander to play more than 32:16 was Mark Streit, who played 32:27 on March 27, 2010, vs. CBJ. Since ice-time became official, no Islander has played more than the 31:59 Schaefer played on 3/24/2026 in a game that ended in regulation.
Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game
1. Matthew Schaefer 32:16 10/27/2026 at NSH (SO)
2. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI
3. Jay Bouwmeester 30:57 1/30/2003 for FLA vs. DET (OT)
There are eight recorded instances of a teenager playing 30 minutes in a game, including Schaefer four times and Seth Jones twice.
Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 86 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a player 20 or younger 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 one come-from behind win this season, including no times when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win two times this season, including once in the third period.
The Isles have zero multi-goal comeback wins (zero in the third period); opponents have one (one in the third period).
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 1-2 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 1-1 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 five 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: 7-6-3 for 17 points in 16 games
• 2025-26: 8-6-2 for 18 points in 16 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 1-1-2
• Season: 7-36-33
• 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 7-6-3 overall; they are 4-3-2 at home and 3-3-1 on the road.
New Jersey is 12-5-0 overall; they are 8-2-0 at home and 4-3-0 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 2-4-2 against the East (1-2-1 vs. Metropolitan and 1-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 5-2-1 against the West (3-1-0 vs. Central and 2-1-1 vs. Pacific).
Coach DeBoer
Pete DeBoer is 670-456-155 as an NHL coach, and 8-9-3 with the Isles.
Career Wins
15. Todd McLellan 672
15. Mike Keenan 672
17. Pete DeBoer 670
First Things First
The Isles are 6-0-2 when scoring first and 1-6-1 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 6-8-9-0=23
New Jersey 14-18-16-2=50
The Isles are 4-1-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 3-5-1 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 45 saves; he is 6-4-1 this season and 12-5-3 vs. New Jersey.
Jake Allen made 19 saves; he is 6-3-0 this season and 3-6-1 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-0 (0:00); New Jersey was 1-4 (6:34, including a 0:33 5-on-3).
The Isles are 4-2-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 3-4-2 when they do not. The Isles are 2-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-1-2 when they do not.
The Isles are 3-0-1 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 2-2-1 when they are outscored, and 2-4-1 when special team goals are equal.
Three is (Usually) a Magic Number
The Isles 7-3-1 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-3-2 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 4-1-3 in games decided by a single goal including 2-1 in regulation. They are 1-2 in games decided in overtime and are 1-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-3 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 (23:37); New Jersey: Luke Hughes (26:33)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:32).
Shots on Goal
Isles 23 (Three with 3)
New Jersey 50 (Timo Meier – 8)
Shot Attempts
Isles 44 (Matthew Schaefer – 7)
New Jersey 81 (Jack Hughes – 13)
Face-offs
Isles 40, New Jersey 24 (63%)
Brayden Schenn won 11 of 14 for the Isles; no Devil who took multiple face-offs won more than he lost.
Hit Count
Isles 23 (Victor Eklund – 5)
New Jersey 26 (Two with 3)
Blocked Shots
Isles 13 (Adam Pelech and Logan Stanley – 3)
New Jersey 11 (Four with 2)
Fights
None. Season total: 5 (Stanley-2, Schenn, Pelech, Chaffee)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, New Jersey 81
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 44, New Jersey 64
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Emil Heineman +8
New Jersey: Jack Hughes +18
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 16, New Jersey 28
5-on-5: Isles 16, New Jersey 21
Scratches
Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Alex Romanov (IR), Cal Ritchie (INJ), Matias Maccelli (INJ), Ryan Pulock (INJ), Scott Mayfield
Games Lost to injury: 48. (Last season’s total: 399)
The Ironmen
Brayden Schenn played his 342nd 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
The Isles are 0-2-1 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on November 12th in Los Angeles.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-1-0 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 18-25-14 in matinees.
The next matinee will be on Monday, December 7th, when the Isles host the Avs at 1:00pm.
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 (1): Vs NJ 11/7
Opponent responses (3): ANA 10/20, DAL 10/25, NJ 11/7
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 (1): Matthew Schaefer (MIN) 10/29
Vs (2): Brandt Clarke (LA) 10/22, Jack Hughes (NJ) 11/7
Shootout Winners
For (1): Kyle Palmieri (NAS) 10/27
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 994…
15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 658 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 649 *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 621 *** 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…
30. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 31. Bo Horvat 106
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 186…
32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 158 *** 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 283 …
32. Nick Leddy 243 *** 33. Ryan Pulock 242
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 ***2. Denis Potvin +456 *** 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +79 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. Ryan Pulock +68 *** 21. JP Parise +67 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58
Defense Games
1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 657 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 649***
4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 621
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 and Adam Pelech 31 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 30 *** 16. Matthew Schaefer 28
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742*** 2. Stefan Persson 317 *** 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 ***
4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Ryan Pulock 186 …
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 242…
9. Jeff Norton 188 *** 10. Adam Pelech 180…
14. Dave Lewis 141 *** 15. Scott Mayfield 140
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 319…
6. Thomas Greiss 193 *** 7. Tommy Salo 187 *** 8. Semyon Varlamov 178
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Ilya Sorokin 160 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 *** 8. Roland Melanson and Semyon Varlamov 77
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 4-9-0-2 this season after splitting a pair of games this weekend. Hamilton lost 5-4 to Providence on Friday before defeating Lehigh Valley 6-3 on Saturday; Josh Kotai made 33 saves while Kashawn Aitcheson and Isaiah George each went +3 in Saturday’s win.
Hamilton begins a four-game road trip on Wednesday in Hershey.
Team leaders:
Goals: Liam Foudy (5); Assists: Foudy (8); Points: Foudy (11)
Goalies: Josh Kotai (3-4-1, 2.92, .906), Vitek Vanecek (1-5-1, 4.27, .871)
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (the Isles have 3 points to New Jersey’s 2). The teams will next meet on January 16th in Newark.
Despite the loss, the Isles extend their point streak over the Devils to ten games (8-0-2); both overtime losses have come from Jack Hughes goals. The Isles are 3-0-2 against the Devils is the last five game against New Jersey at UBS Arena.
UP NEXT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9th -- ISLANDERS AT SAN JOSE 10:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 9:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles begin their three-game California trip in San Jose as they look to extend their recent mastery over the San Jose Sharks.
The Isles have won five straight against the Sharks and are 8-0-4 in their last dozen games against San Jose. The Isles had a pair of one-goal wins against San Jose last season; Matthew Schaefer had the winning goal in October at UBS Arena and Bo Horvat scored in overtime in Brayden Schenn’s team debut in March.
Matthew Schaefer is expected to play in his 99th NHL game.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment