The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

 It is the season premiere of The Skinny on the Playoff Chase.  Look for it within The Skinny after days the Isles play, and separately after nights that they do not.

I've included the Devils (3rd in the Metro) on the list.  The Isles enter Monday's game seven points behind New Jersey but NYI does have two games in hand, and a final Sunday game  remaining with the Devils at Prudential Center.

The Playoff Chase (thru Saturday’s Games)

3^rd Metro  New Jersey 80 points (33 RW) in 71 games  (MON vs Vancouver, WED at Chicago)

1^st WC Ottawa 79 points (28 RW) in 69 games  (TUE at Buffalo, THU at Detroit)

2^nd WC Montreal 75 points (24 RW) in 69 games (TUE at St. Louis, THU at Philadelphia)

3^rd          Rangers 74 points (31 RW) in 71 games (TUE at Los Angeles)

4^th          ISLES 73 points (25 RW) in 69 games (MON vs. Columbus, WED vs. Vancouver)

5^th          Columbus 71 points (23 RW) in 69 games (MON @ ISLES)

6^th          Detroit 70 points (24 RW) in 69 games (MON @ Utah, TUE @ Colorado, THU vs. Ottawa)

7^th          Boston 69 points (23 RW) in 71 games  (SUN @ Los Angeles, WED @ Anaheim)

 

Maximum Points & Regulation Wins

•           New Jersey 102/44  (3^rd Metro)

•           Ottawa 105/41          (WC 1)

•           Montreal 101/37       (WC 2)

•           -------------

•           Isles 99/42

•           Rangers 96/42

•           Columbus 97/36

•           Detroit 96/37

•           Boston 91/34

 

Sunday’s Late Game

Boston at Los Angeles

 

Monday’s Games

Columbus at Isles

Vancouver at New Jersey

Detroit at Utah

 

The Skinny: Calgary 4, Isles 3 (OT)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 69

Calgary 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Nazem Kadri scored 3:53 into overtime as the Calgary Flames rallied from a late 3-2 deficit to defeat the Islanders, 4-3, before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.

Long Island native Matt Coronato scored two goals to reach 20 on the season and also went +4 in his first game at UBS Arena, against the team that he and his family rooted for as a youth. However, it was a goal by Jonathan Huberdeau at 17:38 of the third period that offset a go-ahead goal 29 seconds earlier by Kyle MacLean and forced overtime. Bo Horvat and Marc Gatcomb had the other goals for the Isles.

The Isles are 32-28-9 as they remain a season high four games over NHL-.500 (also 24-20-7, 25-21-7, 32-28-8). The homestand continues against Columbus at 7:30pm on Monday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Matt Coronato (19) Jonathan Huberdeau (27) 00:36 CGY 1,NYI 0

Bo Horvat (24) Tony DeAngelo (11), Simon Holmstrom (21) 10:46 CGY 1,NYI 1

Marc Gatcomb (5) Maxim Tsyplakov (21), Noah Dobson (25) 17:41 CGY 1,NYI 2

2nd Period

Matt Coronato (20) Jonathan Huberdeau (28), Rasmus Andersson (16) 06:03 CGY 2,NYI 2

3rd Period

Kyle MacLean (4) Maxim Tsyplakov (22), Noah Dobson (26) 17:09 CGY 2,NYI 3

Jonathan Huberdeau (27) Rasmus Andersson (17), Kevin Bahl (15) 17:38 CGY 3,NYI 3

OT

Nazem Kadri (26) Rasmus Andersson (18) 03:53 CGY 4,NYI 3

The Skinny

The Isles are 3-0-2 in the last five games and 7-3-2 in the last twelve games …The Isles are 4-0-2 in their last six home games and 10-2-2 in their last fourteen home games (which started with a 6-0-0 stretch)… The Isles have been outscored 84-75 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 38-27 in those periods over the last 26 games…The Isles have scored 138 goals and allowed 125 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 79-50 in all other situations… The Isles went 0-1 on the power play; the Isles have been outscored 21-10 on the power play over the last 38 games… Ilya Sorokin had the day off; he has now started five of the last six and 18 of the last 21; he has appeared in 21 of the last 24 games…Sorokin is the first goalie to appear in at least 52 games four times as an Islander; he is 7-2-1 in his last ten games, and his 27 wins are the second -highest total of his career… Simon Holmstrom extended his point streak to four games, which is a new career high… The Isles remain 23-2-2 when leading after two periods, including an active 18-0-0 streak, but are only 4-5-5 when tied after two periods… Rasmus Andersson had his second career three-assist game as he recorded his seventh career three point game….Jonathan Huberdeau had three points, giving him 775 in 900 career games…Bo Horvat took over the team lead in points  (48) while playing his 800th game; Noah Dobson had two assists, giving him 2-5-7 in the last four games and now leads the team with 26 assists; the Isles have seven players on the active roster with between 21 and 26 points…The Flames swept the three games in the Metro Area, with all three wins being comeback wins…Matt Coronato's goal was the earliest allowed by the Isles in nearly two years…With his two assists today, Max Tsyplakov is the 6th NHL rookie with 30 points this season; he is tied-fourth with his 22 assists.…Casey Cizikas won 12 of 13 face-offs in the best face-off percentage game (min eight draws) of his career.

 

First Time in a Long Time

Noah Dobson is the first Islander this season to record three consecutive multi-point games; Borck Nelson (3x) and Bo Horvat did so last season. Dobson is the first Islander defenseman since Nick Leddy (3/6 – 3/9/2016) to do so. 

 

Milestone Men

• Noah Dobson had two assists, passing Kenny Jonsson for 5th place in club history among defensemen and for 25th overall.

• Bo Horvat played his 800th NHL game.

About That Kid From Greenlawn

Matt Coronato is the fourth Long Islander with a two-goal game against the Islanders, joining Chris Higgins (2/28/06 @ Montreal), Matt Gilroy (12/27/10 for the Rangers at the Coliseum), and Kyle Palmieri (2/24/18 @ New Jersey). Coronato is the first opponent, regardless of birthplace, to score at least two goals and go +4 or better at UBS Arena; Alex Ovechkin was the last to do so in an Islander home game, going 3-0-3 and +4, on January 18, 2020, at the Coliseum.

Late Leads Lost

This was the third time this season that the Isles scored a go-ahead goal in the last three minutes of regulation; however, they are only 1-0-2 in those three games. Max Tsyplakov's first NHL goal gave the Isles the lead on Opening Night against Utah, but the Hockey Club won in overtime; the Isles did secure a win after Mathew Barzal scored the go-ahead goal at 18:35 of the third period on January 11th in Utah.

Bo Knows Overtime

Bo Horvat has three overtime goals this season, six as an Islander, and eleven in his NHL career. All six of his overtime goals have come in the last two seasons; John Tavares is the only other Islander with multiple seasons with at least three overtime goals.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 11 

2. Brock Nelson 9 

3. Bo Horvat, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey 6

6. Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Bo Horvat 3 (2024-25)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Quite the Numbers

Marcus Hogberg has now played 453 minutes for the Isles, allowing 15 goals on 213 shots for a 1.99 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who has played at least six games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Swede 17

Simon Holmstrom is the first Swedish-born Islander to record 17 goals since the 1981-82 season, when Bobby Nystrom had 22 goals and Anders Kallur had 18 goals. Nystrom (8x) and Kallur (3x) are the only Swedes with more goals in a season than Holmstrom.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 70, Opponents 77

Tying Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 15 (in 14 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 13 (in 12 games), Opponents 9

Empty Net Goals: Isles 13, Opponents 19

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 41 of their 69 games. In the 28 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (5-21-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but seven of them.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have fifteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win thirteen times this season, including eight times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles are 5-8 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 5-5 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts, and Marcus Hogberg is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts

Sorokin has 35 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 13 empty-net goals and allowed 19.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 50 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 19 times

• Allowed the next goal: 23 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 8 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  32-28-9 for 73 points in 69 games

• 2023-24  29-25-15 for 73 points in 69 games 

It is the first time since game 17 that the Isles are at or above last season's pace.

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-3-3

• Season: 26-107-133

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 22 goals in the last 43 games.

Home and Road

The Isles are 32-28-9 overall; they are 17-13-4 at home and 15-15-5 on the road.

Calgary is 33-25-11 overall; they are 18-11-5 at home and 15-14-6 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 20-17-3 against the East (9-7-2 vs. Metropolitan and 11-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 12-11-6 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 5-6-4 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,476

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,476) and Patrick Roy (182) have combined for 1,658 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 17-5-4 when scoring first and are 15-23-5 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    11-6-9-3=29

Calgary 13-13-7-2=35

The Isles are 16-19-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-8-6 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Marcus Hogberg made 31 saves; he is 2-3-1 this season and 1-1-1 vs. Calgary. 

Dan Vladar made 26 saves; he is 10-11-6 this season and 1-0-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00); Calgary was 0-2 (4:00).

The Isles are 13-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-25-8 when they do not. The Isles are 14-14-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-14-3 when they do not.

The Isles are 9-2-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 6-15-5 when they are outscored, and 17-11-4 when special team goals are equal.

Three is (Usually) a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-8-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-20-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-7-9 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 5-8 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 6-3-1 on the front end and 4-6-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 29th-30th in Tampa Bay and Carolina.

The Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Tony DeAngelo (23:45); Calgary: Rasmus Andersson (26:57)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (20:45).

Face-offs

Isles 40, Calgary 21 (66%)

Casey Cizikas won 12 of 13 for the Isles; Kevin Rooney won 4 of 6 for Calgary. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Marc Gatcomb -4)

Calgary 18 (Two with 3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 9 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas, Lee)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Alex Romanov and  Mike Reilly -3)

Calgary 13 (Four with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 64, Calgary 63

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 58, Calgary 51

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Tony DeAngelo +19

Calgary: Lane Hutson +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 11, Calgary 5

5-on-5: Isles 11, Calgary 5

Scratches

(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR),  (Mathew Barzal – IR), Matt Martin, (Adam Boqvist-INJ),Scott Mayfield, Scott Perunovich

Games Lost to injury: 273. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 185 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (959 and Anders Lee (68) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with four games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; four of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-4-2 in matinee games this season, with four games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 29th in Tampa Bay. 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 13-16-12 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 7 successful, 5 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30, no goalie interference – PIT 3/18, offside -MTL 3/20, no goalie interference – MTL 3/20)

Opponents: 8 successful, 3 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16

Vs (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8

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

Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1

Opponent responses (9): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11, CGY 3/22

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (3): PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2), PIT 3/18 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2).

Vs (2):  NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (4): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 @ UTA (18:35-GAG), Kyle MacLean 3/22 vs. CGY (17:09, GAG, but lost in OT)

Vs (9: Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT); Jonathan Huberdeau 3/22 vs. CGY (17:38- GTG; CGY won in OT)

OT Winners

For (5): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32), Bo Horvat 3/20 vs MTL (3:37)

Vs (8): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52); Nazem Kadri 3/22 vs CGY (3:51)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Brock Nelson 901 *** 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 6. Casey Cizikas 884 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Anders Lee 828 …

23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 548 *** 26. Duane Sutter 547 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal 531 *** 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 527

Goals    

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

5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 285 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 112

Assists

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

7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 215…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25. Noah Dobson 177 *** 26. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 158… 

34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green and Casey Cizikas 145

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 500… 

15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 257

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +81 *** 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. Stefan Persson and Ryan Pulock 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 48…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Noah Dobson 177…

7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 131… 

17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 225 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 209…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 157…

18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 244 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 122 …

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

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport improved to 14-40-4-3  with a 4-1 victory on Saturday over Springfield. Adam Beckman scored twice for the Islanders, who won at home for the fourth time this season.

Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 22 goals, three ahead of Chris Terry. Terry's 40 assists and 59 points both are tied- 2nd  in the AHL.

The Baby Isles will host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday afternoon.

Season Series Stats

Calgary wins the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2), winning once in overtime and once in a shootout.

The last Isles regulation win over Calgary came on March 18, 2018  - a 5-2 win behind 50 Christopher Gibson saves at the Scotiabank Saddledome; the Isles are 2-6-2 against the Flames since. 

UP NEXT

MONDAY, MARCH 24th   – COLUMBUS AT ISLES 7:30pm 

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will once again look to move into a tie for the final playoff spot as they host Columbus on Monday.

It is the third meeting of the teams this season, with each team holding a 2-goal win at home. The Isles have an active six-game home winning streak (outscoring the Jackets 27-10), which encompasses Columbus' only six games at UBS Arena. 

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Montreal 3 (OT)

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 68

Isles 4, Montreal 3 

Bo Horvat scored his second goal of the game 3:37 into overtime as the Isles moved within two points of a playoff berth with a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, before a crowd of 15,218 at UBS Arena.

Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom had power play goals for the Isles, who led 1-0 and 3-1. Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves and set Islander history by earning assists on both Horvat goals. 

The Isles are 32-28-8 as they match a season high at four games over NHL-.500 (also 24-20-7 and 25-21-7). The homestand continues against Calgary at 4:00pm on Saturday. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Anthony Duclair (7) Anders Lee (22), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (24) 05:37 MTL 0,NYI 1 PPG

Joshua Roy (1) Jayden Struble (8), Patrik Laine (12) 11:58 MTL 1,NYI 1

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (17) Noah Dobson (23), Tony DeAngelo (9) 16:40 MTL 1,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

Bo Horvat (22) Noah Dobson (24), Ilya Sorokin (1) 02:31 MTL 1,NYI 3

Patrik Laine (17) Nick Suzuki (50) 04:32 MTL 2,NYI 3 PPG

Brendan Gallagher (17) 14:16 MTL 3,NYI 3

OT

Bo Horvat (23) Tony DeAngelo (10), Ilya Sorokin (2) 03:37 MTL 3,NYI 4

The Skinny

The Isles are 3-0-1 in the last four games and 7-3-1 in the last eleven games …The Isles are 4-0-1 in their last five home games and 10-2-1 in their last thirteen home games… The Isles have been outscored 82-74 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 37-25 in those periods over the last 25 games…The Isles have scored 135 goals and allowed 122 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 78-50 in all other situations… The Isles went 2-3 on the power play to snap an 0-18 stretch; the Isles have been outscored 21-10 on the power play over the last 37 games… Ilya Sorokin has started five straight games and 18 of the last 20; he has appeared in 21 of the last 23 games…Sorokin is the first goalie to appear in at least 52 games four times as an Islander; he is 7-2-1 in his last ten games, and his 27 wins are the second-highest total of his career …Simon Holmstrom extended his career high with his 17th goal as he scored for a career-best third straight game… The Isles are 23-2-2 when leading after two periods, including an active 18-0-0 streak…Patrik Laine scored his 14th power play goal, one shy of the NHL lead…Nick Suzuki earned his 50th assist on the Laine goal; he is the first Hab in 18 seasons to have a 50-assist season.

Two for The History Books

Ilya Sorokin is the first goalie in Islander history with a multiple-assist game and the first Islander goalie with a goal and an assist in the same season. Sorokin also joins Ron Hextall (December 1993) as the only Islander goalie with three points in a month, as he becomes the first Islander goalie with multiple overtime assists in his career (3/9/23 in Pittsburgh).

First Times in a Long Time

• Ilya Sorokin is the first Islander goalie to have three points in a month; Ron Hextall set the mark in December 2023.

• Anthony DeAngelo and Noah Dobson are the first Islander defensemen to have multiple assists in the same game since October 18, 2022, when Adam Pelech and Dobson did so against San Jose. When you add in Ilya Sorokin's two helpers, it is the first time since November 28, 1992, against Philadelphia that three non-forwards have done so (Uwe Krupp, Tom Kurvers and Jeff Norton).

Swede 17

Simon Holmstrom is the first Swedish-born Islander to record 17 goals since the 1981-82 season, when Bobby Nystrom had 22 goals and Anders Kallur had 18 goals. Nystrom (8x) and Kallur (3x) are the only Swedes with more goals in a season than Holmstrom.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee assisted on Anthony Duclair's first period goal for his 500th career point, passing Derek King for 13th place in club history 

• Noah Dobson had two assists, tying Kenny Jonsson for 5th place in club history among defensemen and for 35th overall.

• Bo Horvat played his 799th NHL game.

Bo Knows Overtime

Bo Horvat recorded his third overtime goal of the season, his 6th as an Islander, and the 11th of his NHL career. All six of his overtime goals have come in the last two seasons; John Tavares is the only other Islander with multiple seasons with at least three overtime goals.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 11 

2. Brock Nelson 9 

3. Bo Horvat, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey 6

6. Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)

2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)

    Bo Horvat 3 (2024-25)

    Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)

    John Tavares 3 (2010-11)

Quite the Numbers

Marcus Hogberg has now played 389 minutes for the Isles, allowing 11 goals on 178 shots for a 1.70 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who has played at least six games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 69, Opponents 77

Tying Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 14 (in 13 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 12 (in 11 games), Opponents 9

Empty Net Goals: Isles 13, Opponents 19

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 40 of their 68 games. In the 28 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (5-21-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but seven of them.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have fifteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles are 5-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 5-5 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 35 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 13 empty-net goals and allowed 19.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 50 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 19 times

• Allowed the next goal: 23 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 8 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  32-28-8 for 72 points in 68 games

• 2023-24  29-24-15 for 73 points in 68 games 

The Isles lost game 69 last season, so the Isles can move ahead of last season's pace with a win on Saturday.

 

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-4-4

• Season: 26-104-130

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 22 goals in the last 42 games.

Home and Road

The Isles are 32-28-8 overall; they are 17-13-3 at home and 15-15-5 on the road.

Montreal is 33-27-8 overall; they are 18-12-4 at home and 15-15-4 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 20-17-3 against the East (9-7-2 vs. Metropolitan and 11-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 12-11-5 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 5-6-3 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,476

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,476) and Patrick Roy (182) have combined for 1,658 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 17-5-4 when scoring first and are 15-23-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles       7-7-8-3=25

Montreal 15-10-15-1=41

The Isles are 16-19-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 15-8-5 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves; he is 27-20-5 this season and 5-0-2 vs. Montreal. 

Sam Montembeault made 21 saves; he is 25-21-5 this season and 4-2-4 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-3 (4:23); Montreal was 1-5 (7:33).

The Isles are 13-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-25-7 when they do not. The Isles are 14-14-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-14-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 9-2-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 6-15-5 when they are outscored, and 17-11-3 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 29-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-20-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 14-7-8 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 5-7 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 6-3-1 on the front end and 4-6-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 29th-30th in Tampa Bay and Carolina.

The Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Tony DeAngelo (26:14); Montreal: Mike Matheson (26:32)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (21:38).

Face-offs

Isles 32, Montreal 39 (45%)

Bo Horvat won 11 of 19 for the Isles; Alex Newhook won 7 of 8 for Montreal. 

Hit Count

Isles 19 (Bo Horvat -3)

Montreal 18 (Two with 4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 9 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas, Lee)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 19 (Noah Dobson -6)

Montreal 28 (David Savard -8)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 66, Montreal 75

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 55, Montreal 53

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Tony DeAngelo +19

Montreal: Lane Hutson +17

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Montreal 15

5-on-5: Isles 14, Montreal 10

Scratches

(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR),  (Mathew Barzal – IR), Matt Martin, (Adam Boqvist-INJ),(Alex Romanov -ILL), Scott Perunovich

Games Lost to injury: 270. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 184 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (94) and Anders Lee (68) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.

National TV Games 

The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with four games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; four of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. Note that the April 12th game in Philadelphia will now be an Islander local telecast.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-4-1 in matinee games this season, with five games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 22nd vs. Calgary. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 7 successful, 5 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30, no goalie interference – PIT 3/18, offside -MTL 3/20, no goalie interference – MTL 3/20)

Opponents: 8 successful, 3 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16

Vs (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8

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

Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1

Opponent responses (8): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (3): PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2), PIT 3/18 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2).

Vs (2):  NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)

Vs (8): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners

For (5): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32), Bo Horvat 3/20 vs MTL (3:37)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Brock Nelson 901 *** 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 6. Casey Cizikas 883 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Anders Lee 827 …

23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 547 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal 531 *** 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 527

Goals    

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

5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 285 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 112

Assists

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

7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 215…

24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25. Kenny Jonsson and Noah Dobson 175 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 158… 

34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green and Casey Cizikas 145

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 500… 

15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 257

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +82 *** 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. Stefan Persson and Ryan Pulock 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 48…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists

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

4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Kenny Jonsson and Noah Dobson 175 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 131… 

17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 223 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 209…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 157…

18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 244 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 122 …

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

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 13-40-4-3 heading into a home game on Saturday against Springfield.

Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 22 goals, four ahead of Liam Foudy and Chris Terry. Terry's 39 assists rank 2nd  in the AHL, while his 57 points are tied for 2nd.

The Baby Isles will also host Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Sunday afternoon.

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 5 points to 4), as all three games were won in OT/SO by the home team.

The Isles are 7-3-2 in the last 12 games against Les Canadiens, including 5-0-1 at UBS Arena. The Isles have won the last five UBS matchups, matching their longest home winning streak ever against Montreal.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, MARCH 22nd  – CALGARY AT ISLES 4:00pm 

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 3:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles will look to move into a tie for the final playoff spot as they host Calgary in a late-afternoon start on Saturday.

The Flames are the only team to beat the Isles in a shootout this season, doing so in Alberta on November 19th. That made the Isles 2-2-1 in the last five games against the Flames, with both wins coming in OT/SO. 

The last Isles regulation win over Calgary came on March 18, 2018  - a 5-2 win behind 50 Christopher Gibson saves at the Scotiabank Saddledome; the Isles are 2-6-1 against the Flames since. 

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Pittsburgh 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 67

Isles 4, Pittsburgh 2 

Stop me if you have heard this before: what a third period! 

For the second straight game, the Isles rallied from a 2-0 second intermission deficit with four third period goals as they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2, before a crowd of 17,484 at PPG Paints Arena.

Pittsburgh scored twice in the first period, and it stayed that way until Kyle Palmieri scored 17 seconds into the third period. Noah Dobson tied the game with his second goal in as many games, and then Pierre Engvall scored the eventual game winner at 13:08 of the third. For the second straight game, Simon Holmstrom sealed matters with an empty-netter.

The Isles are 31-28-8 as they head home to begin a four game homestand on Thursday as they host Montreal; the Isles are three points behind the Habs, who currently hold the last playoff spot.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Joona Koppanen (1) Vladislav Kolyachonok (5), Kris Letang (20) 04:40 NYI 0,PIT 1

Sidney Crosby (24) Conor Timmins (9), Ryan Graves (2) 19:45 NYI 0,PIT 2

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Kyle Palmieri (21) 00:17 NYI 1,PIT 2

Noah Dobson (8) Bo Horvat (24), Kyle Palmieri (22) 05:34 NYI 2,PIT 2

Pierre Engvall (5) Noah Dobson (22), Hudson Fasching (2) 13:08 NYI 3,PIT 2

Simon Holmstrom (16)EN Kyle Palmieri (23) 18:28 NYI 4,PIT 2

The Skinny

The Isles are 2-0-1 in the last three games and 6-3-1 in the last ten games …The Isles are 9-2-1 in their last twelve home games… The Isles have been outscored 80-72 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 35-23 in those periods over the last 24 games…The Isles have scored 134 goals and allowed 120 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 77-47 in all other situations… The Isles went 0-1 on the power play and are now 0-18 over the last five games; the Isles have been outscored 20-8 on the power play over the last 36 games… The Isles allowed the first goal for the 42nd time, tying the Penguins for the most in the NHL….Ilya Sorokin has now appeared in 51 games; he is the first goalie to appear in at least 51 games four times as an Islander; Sorokin is 6-2-1 in his last nine games …Simon Holmstrom set a career high with his 16th goal as he hit the empty-net for the second straight game…The Isles scored four goals in a period for the fourth time this season…Joona Koppanen is the 15th Penguin to score his first NHL goal against the Isles…Adam Pelech led the Isles with a season-high 26:00; it was only the fifth time in his career he has played that much in a game….Kyle Palmieri had three points in the third period; it was his first three-point game of the season, and the 16th time in his career that he has had at least three points in a game…Palmieri's goal at :17 of the third period was the second-earliest in any period for the Isles this season (Scott Mayfield :14 at Vancouver on November 14th); it was Palmieri's first goal in six games…Kris Letang earned his 50th point against the Isles, most among active defensemen…The Penguins are 18-2-2 when leading after two periods, but 0-1-1 against the Isles this season.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles scored four goals in consecutive third periods for the first time since November 14-17, 1987, under Coach Terry Simpson. The Isles had played nearly 2,900 games in the interim. 
• The Isles won consecutive games IN REGULATION that they started the third period trailing by multiple goals for the 2nd time in their history (1/2-1/17/1986 vs. Boston and Philadelphia); it is the first time that they have done so in consecutive team games.
• The last time Isles won successive games after trailing by multiple goals through two periods was November 7-8/2022 (vs Calgary, at Rangers); ironically, those teams played each other tonight.

Never Say Die-landers

NHL Stats notes that it is the fourth time in club history that the Isles have earned multi-goal third period wins in consecutive team games (also 11/7-8/2022, 11/16-19/2019, and 12/31/1985-1/2/1986), tying the NHL record set by Detroit for most all-time. (The Red Wings have played 6,875 games to the Isles' 4,101.)

What's In a Name?

Referee Mike Sullivan officiated a Penguin game coached by Mike Sullivan for the second time (both against the Isles, and both won by the Isles).

87>99

Sidney Crosby's goal was his 1,670th Penguin point, one more than Wayne Gretzky had as an Oiler. Only Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux have had more points for a single franchise. Crosby has scored 43 of his 616 goals against the Isles and now has 137 points in games between the teams.

Milestone Men

• Anders Lee has 499 points; he is tied with Derek King for 13th place in club history 

• Noah Dobson scored the winning goal; it was his 48th goal overall, and the eighth time he has scored in consecutive games.

• Anthony Duclair played his 600th NHL game.

Quite the Numbers

Marcus Hogberg has now played 389 minutes for the Isles, allowing 11 goals on 178 shots for a 1.70 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who has played at least six games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 68, Opponents 75

Tying Goals: Isles 9, Opponents 13 (in 12 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 12 (in 11 games), Opponents 9

Empty Net Goals: Isles 13, Opponents 19

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 39 of their 67 games. In the 27 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (5-21-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but seven of them.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have fifteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles are 4-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-5 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 35 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 13 empty-net goals and allowed 19.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 49 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 19 times

• Allowed the next goal: 22 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 8 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  31-28-8 for 70 points in 67 games

• 2023-24  29-23-15 for 73 points in 67 games 

 

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-1-2

• Season: 26-100-126

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 22 goals in the last 41 games.

Home and Road

The Isles are 31-28-8 overall; they are 16-13-3 at home and 15-15-5 on the road.

Pittsburgh is 28-32-10 overall; they are 17-14-5 at home and 11-18-5 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 19-17-3 against the East (9-7-2 vs. Metropolitan and 10-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 12-11-5 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 5-6-3 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,475

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,475) and Patrick Roy (181) have combined for 1,656 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 16-5-4 when scoring first and are 15-23-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    12-13-13=38

Pittsburgh 9-8-5=22

The Isles are 16-19-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 14-8-5 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves; he is 26-20-5 this season and 11-6-0 vs. Pittsburgh. 

Tristan Jarry made 34 saves; he is 12-9-4 this season and 11-5-1 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-1 (2:00); Pittsburgh was 0-3 (6:00).

The Isles are 12-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 19-25-7 when they do not. The Isles are 13-14-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 18-14-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 8-2-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 6-15-5 when they are outscored, and 17-11-3 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 28-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-20-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 13-7-8 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 4-7 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 6-3-1 on the front end and 4-6-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 29th-30th in Tampa Bay and Carolina.

The Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Adam Pelech (season-high 26:00); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (21:34)

Simon Holmstrom led Isles forwards (20:38).

Face-offs

Isles 25, Pittsburgh 30 (45%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 11 of 17 for the Isles; Sidney Crosby won 12 of 15 for Pittsburgh. 

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Casey Cizikas and Ryan Pulock -4)

Pittsburgh 18 (Two with 3)

Fights 

None. Season total: 9 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas, Lee)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 23 (Noah Dobson -4)

Pittsburgh 15 (Kris Letang -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 71, Pittsburgh 66

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 66, Pittsburgh 57

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Adma Pelech +16

Pittsburgh: Conor Timmins +13

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 13, Pittsburgh 10

5-on-5: Isles 12, Pittsburgh 10

Scratches

(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR),  (Mathew Barzal – IR), Matt Martin, (Adam Boqvist-INJ),(Alex Romanov -ILL), Scott Perunovich

Games Lost to injury: 266. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 183 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (93) and Anders Lee (67) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 11 

2. Brock Nelson 9 

3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6

5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

National TV Games 

The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with four games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; four of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. Note that the April 12th game in Philadelphia will now be an Islander local telecast.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-4-1 in matinee games this season, with five games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 22nd vs. Calgary. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 6 successful, 4 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30, no goalie interference – PIT 3/18)

Opponents: 8 successful, 3 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16

Vs (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8

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

Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1

Opponent responses (8): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (3): PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2), PIT 3/18 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2).

Vs (2):  NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)

Vs (8): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners

For (4): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Brock Nelson 901 *** 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 6. Casey Cizikas 882 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Anders Lee 826 …

23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter 547 *** 25. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 546 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal 531 *** 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 526

Goals    

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

5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 285 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 112

Assists

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

7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 214…

25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Noah Dobson 173 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 158… 

34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green and Casey Cizikas 145

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Derek King and Anders Lee 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 257

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +82 *** 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. Stefan Persson and Ryan Pulock 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 48…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 173 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 131… 

17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 221 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 209…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 157…

18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 243 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 121 …

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

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 13-40-4-3 heading into a home game on Saturday against Springfield.

Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 22 goals, four ahead of Liam Foudy and Chris Terry. Terry's 39 assists rank 2nd  in the AHL, while his 57 points are tied for 2nd.

Season Series Stats

The Isles win the season series, 3 games to 1 (and 6 points to 3).

The Isles are 9-3-0 in the last 12 games against the Penguins, including 4-2-0 at PPG Paints Arena.

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, MARCH 20th  – MONTREAL AT ISLES 7:30pm 

[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles return home for a pivotal four game homestand beginning on Thursday against Montreal. The Canadiens are 8-1-2 since the Four Nations Cup break.

The teams have split the first two games, with the Isles winning at UBS in a shootout, and dropping a 2-1 decision in Montreal on a Nick Suzuki overtime goal. 

The Isles are 6-3-2 in the last 11 games against Les Canadiens, including 4-0-1 at UBS Arena. The Isles have won the last four UBS matchups, making it their longest home winning streak over the Canadiens since a five-game streak from December 29, 2001 – March 31, 2004 (which matches the longest home win streak against Montreal).

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

The Skinny: Isles 4, Florida 2

"The Skinny" 

By Eric Hornick

Game 66

Isles 4, Florida 2 

What a third period! Max Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson scored 17 seconds apart as the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 victory over the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers, before a crowd of 15,109 at UBS Arena.

After Sam Reinhart and Alexander Barkov scored 3:48 apart in the second period to give Florida a 2-0 lead, Marc Gatcomb got the Isles back in the game at 6:29 of the third period, setting the stage six minutes later for the fastest Islander goals in nearly thirteen months. Simon Holmstrom sealed matters with an empty-netter.

The Isles are 30-28-8 as they head to Pittsburgh for a game on Tuesday; the Isles are four points behind the Rangers, who currently hold the last playoff spot, and hold two games in hand on the Blueshirts.

The Scoring:  

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

Sam Reinhart (33) Aleksander Barkov (44), Gustav Forsling (14) 01:00 FLA 1,NYI 0

Aleksander Barkov (18) Sam Reinhart (39), Eetu Luostarinen (13) 04:48 FLA 2,NYI 0 PPG

3rd Period

Marc Gatcomb (4) Tony DeAngelo (7), Pierre Engvall (5) 06:29 FLA 2,NYI 1

Maxim Tsyplakov (8) Mike Reilly (1), Tony DeAngelo (8) 12:16 FLA 2,NYI 2

Noah Dobson (7) Anders Lee (21) 12:33 FLA 2,NYI 3

Simon Holmstrom (15)EN Jean-Gabriel Pageau (23) 19:53 FLA 2,NYI 4

The Skinny

The Isles improve to 5-7-1 in the last thirteen games …The Isles are 9-2-1 in their last twelve home games…The Isles have been outscored 80-68 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 31-23 in those periods over the last 23 games…The Isles have scored 131 goals and allowed 118 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 77-46 in all other situations… The Isles went 0-3 on the power play and are now 0-17 over the last four games; the Isles have been outscored 20-8 on the power play over the last 35 games… The Isles allowed the first goal for the 41st time, only Pittsburgh (42) has allowed more….Sorokin has now appeared in 50 games; if he plays one more, he will be the first goalie to appear in at least 51 games four times as an Islander; Sorokin has now won 25 games in four straight seasons; he is the only goalie in team history with four 25-win seasons at any point….The Isles played their 17th scoreless first period; only Nashville (19) has played more… Florida has won 29 games when scoring first, tied with Winnipeg for the NHL lead…Mike Reilly earned an assist in his first game since November 1st…Max Tsyplakov scored his first goal since December 21st in Toronto…Simon Holmstrom tied his career high with his 15th goal as he hit the empty-net for his first goal since February 7th in Winnipeg…The Isles scored four goals in a period for the third time this season…Florida had at least four shots on goal in every period this season before the Isles limited them to one shot in the first period; that shot came with Florida shorthanded.

First Times in a Long Time

• It is the first time since October 29, 2022, that the Isles have rallied from a multi-goal deficit after two periods to win in regulation; like tonight, the Isles beat the reigning champions – at that time, the Avalanche. 

• It is the first time since March 14, 2016, in Brooklyn, that the Isles have rallied from a multi-goal deficit after two periods to beat Florida in regulation; Cal Clutterbuck had the winning goal.

• Tony DeAngelo recorded his 37th multiple-point game but his first since March 30, 2023, (for Philadelphia, vs. Ottawa).

Milestone Men

• Ilya Sorokin played his 242nd game, passing Kelly Hrudey for 4th place among goalies in club history.

• Anders Lee recorded an assist for his 499th point, tying Derek King for 13th place in club history 

• Noah Dobson scored the winning goal; it was his 47th goal overall, passing Jean Potvin for 6th place among Isles defensemen.

• Anthony Duclair played his 599th NHL game.

Quite the Numbers

Marcus Hogberg has now played 389 minutes for the Isles, allowing 11 goals on 178 shots for a 1.70 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who has played at least six games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.

Third Periods

Goals:  Isles 64, Opponents 75

Tying Goals: Isles 8, Opponents 13 (in 12 games)

Go Ahead Goals: Isles 11 (in 10 games), Opponents 9

Empty Net Goals: Isles 12, Opponents 19

The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 39 of their 66 games. In the 26 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (4-21-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but seven of them.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

The Isles have thirteen come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including seven times in the third period.

Overtime

The Isles are 4-7 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-5 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts. 

Sorokin has 35 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28). 

Empty Netters 

The Isles have scored 12 empty-net goals and allowed 19.

Building on a Lead

The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 48 times this season:

• Score the next goal: 19 times

• Allowed the next goal: 22 times

• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 7 times 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2024-25  30-28-8 for 68 points in 66 games

• 2023-24  29-22-15 for 73 points in 66 games 

 

Offense from Defense

• Today:   1-3-4

• Season: 25-99-124

• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170

The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 21 goals in the last 40 games.

Home and Road

The Isles are 30-28-8 overall; they are 16-13-3 at home and 14-15-5 on the road.

Florida is 41-24-3 overall; they are 22-10-2 at home and 19-14-1 on the road.

East and West

The Isles are 18-17-3 against the East (8-7-2 vs. Metropolitan and 10-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 12-11-5 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 5-6-3 vs. Pacific).

Sweet Lou

Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:

1. David Poile 1,531

2. Lou Lamoriello 1,474

3. Glen Sather 1,319

Leaders of the Pack

Lou Lamoriello (1,474) and Patrick Roy (180) have combined for 1,654 career wins as general manager and coach. That is the highest in the NHL among active combinations by a wide margin.

First Things First

The Isles are 16-5-4 when scoring first and are 14-23-4 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    12-10-12=34

Florida 1-9-10=20

The Isles are 15-19-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 14-8-5 when the opposition has more shots.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves; he is 25-20-5 this season and 3-3-1 vs. Florida. 

Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves; he is 4-11-3 this season and 5-4-0 vs the Isles. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-3 (6:00); Florida was 1-2 (3:59).

The Isles are 12-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 18-25-7 when they do not. The Isles are 13-14-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-14-2 when they do not.

The Isles are 8-2-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 6-15-5 when they are outscored, and 16-11-3 when special team goals are equal.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 27-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-20-4 when they do not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 13-7-8 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 4-7 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles are 6-3-1 on the front end and 4-6-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 29th-30th in Tampa Bay and Carolina.

Including tonight, the Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Alexander Romanov (26:24); Florida: Seth Jones (25:40)

Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (22:46).

Face-offs

Isles 21, Florida 25 (46%)

Kyle MacLean won 6 of 11 for the Isles; Sam Reinhart won 5 of 6 for Florida. 

Hit Count

Isles 22 (Casey Cizikas -5)

Florida 27 (Jonah Gadjovich -5)

Fights 

None. Season total: 9 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas, Lee)

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 13 (Noah Dobson -3)

Florida 16 (Jonah Gadjovich -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 65, Florida 54

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 57, Florida 35

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Alex Romanov +14

Florida: Carter Verhaeghe +3

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 12, Florida 10

5-on-5: Isles 11, Florida 4

Scratches

(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR),  (Mathew Barzal – IR), Matt Martin, (Adam Boqvist-INJ),(Adam Pelech-INJ), Scott Perunovich

Games Lost to injury: 262. (Last season's total: 181)

The Ironmen

Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 182 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (92) and Anders Lee (66) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.

Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)

1. John Tavares 11 

2. Brock Nelson 9 

3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6

5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5

National TV Games 

The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with four games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; four of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. Note that the April 12th game in Philadelphia will now be an Islander local telecast.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 1-4-1 in matinee games this season, with five games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 22nd vs. Calgary. 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 13-16-11 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 6 successful, 3 failures  (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30)

Opponents: 8 successful, 3 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11)

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16

Vs (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8

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

Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1

Opponent responses (8): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11

Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins 

For (2): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), Vs. FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2)

Vs (2):  Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))

Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):

For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)

Vs (8): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)

OT Winners

For (4): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32)

Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52)

Shootout Winners

For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT

Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY 

 

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 ***  3. Josh Bailey 1,057 ***

4. Brock Nelson 901 *** 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 *** 6. Casey Cizikas 881 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 848 *** 9. Anders Lee 825 …

23. Ken Morrow 550 *** 24. Duane Sutter 547 *** 25. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 545 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal 531 *** 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 33. Scott Mayfield 525

Goals    

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

5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287  *** 8. Anders Lee 285 …

20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…

29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 112

Assists

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

7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…

19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 214…

25. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 25. Noah Dobson 172 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 158… 

34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Travis Green and Casey Cizikas 145

Points

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

12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Derek King and Anders Lee 499 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 ***  30. Casey Cizikas 257

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +81 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +62 *** 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. Stefan Persson and Ryan Pulock 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 47…

13. Bryan Berard 31 *** 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 *** 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26  

Defense Assists

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 6. Noah Dobson 172 *** 7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 157 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 131… 

17. Bryan Berard 100 *** 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 *** 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96

Defense Points

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

5. Kenny Jonsson 232 *** 6. Noah Dobson 219 *** 7. Jean Potvin 213 *** 8. Ryan Pulock 209…

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 157…

18. Gerry Hart 128 *** 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 *** 20. Scott Mayfield 123

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 242 … 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130 ***

4. Ilya Sorokin 120 …

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

Shutouts

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 *** 

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

Bridgeport is 13-40-4-3 after losing in Belleville on Saturday. 

Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 22 goals, four ahead of Liam Foudy and Chris Terry. Terry's 39 assists and his 57 points both rank 2nd  in the AHL.

Bridgeport is off until Saturday when they host Springfield. 

Season Series Stats

Florida wins the season series, 2 games to 1 (and 4 points to 2).

The Isles are 4-6-2 in the last 12 games against the Cats, including 2-2-2 at UBS Arena.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18th  – ISLES AT PITTSBURGH 7:00pm 

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

The Isles head to Pittsburgh for the final meeting of the teams this season. The home team has won the first three games, as the Isles won an Election Night shootout, rallying from two goals down in the third period, before the teams split a home-and-home series right after Christmas. 

The Isles are 8-3-0 in the last 11 games against the Penguins, including 3-2-0 at PPG Paints Arena.

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