The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 2

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 3

Rangers 5, Isles 2

Alexis Lafreniere completed his third career hat trick with a pair of empty net goals, and Mika Zibanejad added three assists as the Rangers spoiled Semyon Varlamov’s return to the nets after a 22-month absence, defeating the Isles, 5-2, before a sellout crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden.

Bo Horvat and Cal Ritchie erased a 2-0 Ranger lead with goals 1:56 apart, but Oliver BJorkstrand scored a power play goal late in the second period and that held up for the game-winning goal. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period

Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) Alexis Lafrenière (2) Sean Durzi (1) 06:40 NYI 0,NYR 1

2nd Period

Alexis Lafrenière (1) Mika Zibanejad (3), Vladislav Gavrikov (2) 00:25 NYI 0,NYR 2

Bo Horvat (2) Matias Maccelli (1), Brayden Schenn (2) 02:56 NYI 1,NYR 2 PPG

Calum Ritchie (1) Brayden Schenn (3) 04:52 NYI 2,NYR 2

Oliver Bjorkstrand (2) Gabe Perreault (2), Will Cuylle (3) 17:07 NYI 2,NYR 3 PPG

3rd Period

Alexis Lafrenière (2)EN J.T. Miller (1), Mika Zibanejad (4) 18:22 NYI 2,NYR 4

Alexis Lafrenière (3)EN Adam Fox (5), Mika Zibanejad (5) 18:54 NYI 2,NYR 5

The Skinny

It was Lafreniere’s third career hat trick, doubling his career goal total against the Isles…Oliver Bjorkstrand recorded his 22nd multi-goal game; he has never had a hat trick…His fight with Adam Pelech was the 3rd in Pelech’s career (Alex Tuch three years ago, and Yanni Gourde in the 2021 playoffs)… Matthew Schaefer was credited with twelve shot attempts, but nine were blocked by the Rangers…No Islander had more than two shots on goal…Brayden Schenn had his second consecutive two-point game and now leads the team in both assists (3) and points (4)…Ryan Pulock celebrated his 32nd birthday…Matthew Schaefer faced a defenseman younger than him for the first time in his NHL career; Ranger rookie Alberts Smits is 88 days younger than Schaefer.

The Injuries

• Simon Holmstrom suffered a facial injury in the first period but returned for the second period.

• Alex Romanov did not play in the final 12:04 (undisclosed injury)

First Time For Everything

Alexis Lafreniere is the first opponent to record two empty net goals in a game against the Isles.

Milestone Men  

• Bo Horvat scored his 101st goal as an Islander, tying Anders Kallur for 34th place in club history.

• Sorokin has 155 wins for the Islanders, leaving him two behind Chico Resch for second place in club history.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

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 38

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Pat LaFontaine 62

4. Matthew Schaefer 61

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 228

Schaefer will play this entire season as a teenager.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

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

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

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

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

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

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

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

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

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

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 73 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

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

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 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 scored no goals with the sixth attacker and allowed two empty net goals.

Opponents have scored no goals with sixth attacker and allowed no empty-netters to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 1-2-0 for 2 points in 3 games

• 2025-26: 0-3-0 for 0 points in 3 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-5-5

• Season: 0-5-5

• 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 1-2-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

The Rangers are 4-1-0 overall; they are 3-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first and 0-2-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles     9-5-5=19

Rangers 5-7-12=24

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

In the Nets 

Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves; he is 0-1-0 this season and 14-9-2 vs. the Rangers.

Igor Sherterkin made 17 saves; he is 3-1-0 this season and 10-10-1 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-4 (6:54); the Rangers were 1-3 (3:52).

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

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

Three is a Magic Number

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

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-11 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-1 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 Isles are 0-1-0 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 (25:03); Rangers: Vladislav Gavrikov (24:10)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (17:49).

Face-offs

Isles 32, Rangers 34 (48.5%)

Bo Horvat won 11 of 20 for the Isles; Mika Zibanejad won 9 of 17 for the Rangers.

Hit Count

Isles 18 (Emil Heineman – 4)

Rangers 27 (Will Cuylle – 6)

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Ondrej Palat, Logan Stanley, Alexander Romanov, and Tony DeAngelo – 2)

Rangers 14 (Eeli Tolvanen – 4) 

Fights 

Brayden Schenn fought JT Miller in the first period; Adam Pelech fought Oliver Bjorkstrand in the final seconds. Season total: 2 (Schenn, Pelech)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 47, Rangers 56

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 35, Rangers 40

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Cal Ritchie and Victor Eklund +7

Rangers: Adam Fox +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 8, Rangers 13

5-on-5: Isles 6, Rangers 6

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Scott Mayfield, Matt Kessel, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 3. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 329th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have also played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

Including tonight, the Isles are 0-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The next nationally televised game will be on October 22nd against the Kings.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 18-24-14 in matinees.

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

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): Vs NJD 10/3

Vs (1): @ NYR 10/6

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0):  

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 981…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 645 *** 17. Ryan Pulock 639  *** 18. Derek King 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 615 *** 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…

33. Anthony Beavillier 102 *** 34. Anders Kallur and Bo Horvat 101

Assists

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

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

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

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 148

Points

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

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

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

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

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +85 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +65 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 645 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 639 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 615

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

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

Defense Assists

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

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

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 148… 

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

Defense Points

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

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

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 178…

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

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 310… 

8. Jaroslav Halak 177*** 9. Glenn Healy 176 *** 10. Semyon Varlamov 174

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 155 …

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

Shutouts 

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

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers are 1-1-0-0 heading into their home opener on Friday against Toronto. They will also host the Marlies on Sunday afternoon at 3.

Team leaders: 

Goals: Mitchell Chaffee (3); Assists: Liam Foudy (4); Points: Foudy (5)

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

Season Series Stats

The Rangers lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on December 20th at UBS Arena.

This was the Rangers’ first win over the Isles in the Schaefer era; the Isles went 4-0-0 last season, outscoring the Blueshirts 14-3. 

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8th – CHICAGO AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

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

The Isles begin a three-game homestand as they host the Chicago Blackhawks. It is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Isles are 6-2-2 in the last five seasons against the Hawks but are only 2-2-0 in the last four meetings. 

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 6, New Jersey 0

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Isles 6, New Jersey 0

What a home opener for the Islanders! Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves for his 30th career shutout, and the Isles got goals for six different players as they defeated the New Jersey Devils, 6-0, before a franchise-record 17,345 at UBS Arena.

Victor Eklund scored his first NHL goal and added an assist on his 20th birthday, Bo Horvat scored his 100th goal as an Islander, Matthew Schaefer and Logan Stanley each matched career high with two assists, and Ondrej Palat scored his first goal since his Islander debut as eleven Islanders had points. 

The Isles, who defeated New Jersey, 9-0, in January at UBS Arena, have now scored seventeen consecutive goals at home against the Devils dating back to last December. This is a franchise record against a single opponent.

The Scoring:  

1st Period 

No Goals

2nd Period

Simon Holmstrom (1) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1), Adam Pelech (1) 03 :32 NJD 0,NYI 1

Brayden Schenn (1) Victor Eklund (1), Matthew Schaefer (1) 05:00 NJD 0,NYI 2

Bo Horvat (1) Matthew Schaefer (2) 12:08 NJD 0,NYI 3 PPG

3rd Period

Victor Eklund (1) Calum Ritchie (1), Brayden Schenn (1) 11:32 NJD 0,NYI 4

Ondrej Palat (1) Casey Cizikas (1), Logan Stanley (1) 12:14 NJD 0,NYI 5

Casey Cizikas (1) Simon Holmstrom (1) Logan Stanley (2) 18:41 NJD 0,NYI 6 SHG

The Skinny

This was the 4,200th game in Islander history… The Islanders are 2-3-1 in six openers at UBS Arena…This was the fifth shutout in a home opener in Isles history, last happening before no fans on January 18, 2021 vs. Boston...Casey Cizikas’ shorty was the 14th of his career and his 125th career goal…Ondrej Palat’s only other Islander goal was in his team debut on January 28th at MSG…The October 3rd home game matched the earliest ever by the calendar for the Isles (also 2009)…The Isles scored at least three goals in multiple periods of a game only once in each of the last two seasons (1/6/26 vs. New Jersey, and 12/21/24 at Toronto)… Ilya Sorokin has 1.02 GAA and a .968 save percentage thru two starts…The Isles’ 17-goal home streak is the longest by any NHL team against another since Columbus scored 19 goals over a four-game span against the Isles in December 2016-December 2017...There were 90 seats added in the offseason, raising the capacity to 17,345.

Milestone Men  

• Bo Horvat became the 35th player to score 100 goals as an Islander; he did it in fewer games than any Islander since Matt Moulson.

• Ilya Sorokin is the 76th goalie to record at least 30 NHL shutouts, as he extended his own club record. It was his third shutout against the Devils. 

• Sorokin now has 155 wins for the Islanders, leaving him two behind Chico Resch for second place in club history.

• Matthew Schaefer now has 38 career assists, passing Pat LaFontaine for third place among Islander teenagers. His 61 points are one behind LaFontaine for third place on the teenage list.

• The 61 points tied Aaron Ekblad for ninth place all-time among teenage defensemen; Phil Housley holds the record with 132, and Rasmus Dahlin is second with 84.

• Adam Pelech’s assist was his 178th point, leaving him one point behind Mark Streit for 10th place among Islander defensemen.

First Times in a Long Time

• The Isles have scored shorthanded goals in each of their first two games for the first time since the 1976-77 season.

• Victor Eklund is the first Islander to score a goal on his 20th birthday since Duane Sutter did so on March 16, 1980.

• Eklund is the first NHL player with a multi-point game on his 20th birthday since Nicklas Backstrom did so for Washington in 2007. 

• Eklund is the Islander to have a goal and an assist in one of his first three NHL games since Sebastian Aho did so on January 7, 2018, vs. New Jersey; the last Islander forward to do so was Kael Mouillierat, who recorded the only two points of his career on February 24, 2015, vs. Arizona.

Howie’s Stat

Howie Rose was in the building, and this was always one of his favorite stats; Victor Eklund is the 415th player to score a goal for the Isles. Ondrej Palat tonight became the 344th player to score multiple career goals for the Isles.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

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 38

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Pat LaFontaine 62

4. Matthew Schaefer 61

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman. 

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 226

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 82 Isles games.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

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

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

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

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

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

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

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

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

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

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 72 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

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

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 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 scored no goals with the sixth attacker and allowed no empty net goals.

Opponents have scored no goals with sixth attacker and allowed no empty-netters to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 1-1-0 for 2 points in 2 games

• 2025-26: 0-2-0 for 0 points in 2 games

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-5-5

• Season: 0-5-5

• 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 1-1-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.

New Jersey is 1-1-0 overall; they are 1-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

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

The Shots

Isles     9-12-11=32

New Jersey 7-19-11=37

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

In the Nets 

Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves; he is 1-1-0 this season and 12-5-2 vs. New Jersey.

Nico Daws made 26 saves; he is 0-1-0 this season and 0-2-0 vs. the Isles.

Special Teams

The Isles were 1-3 (4:45); New Jersey was 0-5 (10:00) and allowed a shorthanded goal.

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

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

Three is a Magic Number

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

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-11 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 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 Isles are 0-1-0 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 (20:34); New Jersey: Doug Hamilton (22:17)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (18:31).

Face-offs

Isles 28, New Jersey 21 (57%)

Bo Horvat won 9 of 15 for the Isles; Cody Glass won 6 of 11 for New Jersey.

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Logan Stanley and Braden Schenn -4)

New Jersey 15 (Timo Meier -4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 0.

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 14 (Alex Romanov -3)

New Jersey 8 (Brenden Dillon -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 50, New Jersey 72

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 34, New Jersey 59

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Matthew Schaefer +19

New Jersey: Nick Paul +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 15, New Jersey 15

5-on-5: Isles 11, New Jersey 13

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (NonRoster IR), Scott Mayfield, Matt Kessel, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 2. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 328th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). 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 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. The first nationally televised game will be on Tuesday against the Rangers.

Matinee Isles

The Isles are 0-0-0 in matinee games. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 18-24-14 in matinees.

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

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (1): Vs NJD 10/3

Vs (0):  

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0):  

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 980…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 644 *** 17. Derek King and Ryan Pulock 638 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 615 *** 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…

33. Anthony Beavillier 102 *** 34. Anders Kallur 101 *** 35. Bo Horvat 100

Assists

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

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

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

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 157 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 148

Points

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

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

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

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

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +86 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 *** 21. Ryan Pulock +66 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2. Adam Pelech 644 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 638 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 615

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

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

Defense Assists

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

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

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 148… 

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

Defense Points

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

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

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 178…

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

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 310… 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 155 …

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

Shutouts 

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

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers opened their season with a 5-2 win at Belleville on Friday and a 5-4 loss to Toronto on Saturday. The first home game is on Friday against Toronto. 

Season Series Stats

The Isles lead the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on November 7th at UBS Arena.

The Isles have won six straight against the Devils and are 8-0-1 in their last nine games against New Jersey.

UP NEXT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6th - ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:30pm

[ESPN, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]

The Isles head to Manhattan for a nationally televised game as they face the Rangers for the first time this season. Last season the Isles swept the series, winning all four games by a combined score of 14-3. 

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: Toronto 2, Isles 1

“The Skinny” 

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Toronto 2, Isles 1

Easton Cowan had a goal and an assist in a 4:41 span of the first period, and that proved to be enough as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Islanders 2-1 before a crowd of 18,801 at Scotiabank Arena.

Colton Sissons scored his first goal for the Leafs while Emil Heineman scored shorthanded with under six minutes to play for the only Islander tally. 

The Scoring:  

1st Period 

Colton Sissons (1) Nick Paul (1), Easton Cowan (2) 07:14 NYI 0,TOR 1

Easton Cowan (1) Jack Roslovic (1), Morgan Rielly (2) 11:55 NYI 0,TOR 2 PPG

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

Emil Heineman (1) Bo Horvat (1) 14:09 NYI 1,TOR 2 SHG

The Skinny

Matthew Schaefer played 27:45 – most by an Islander in an opener since Adrian Aucoin played 30:02 (10-10-2002 at Buffalo); he is the first teenager to play that much in an NHL season opener since ice-time became official in 1997-98…Emil Heineman’s shorty was the first of his career, and the 50th point of his career (33-17-50)…The Isles had two teenagers in their opening night lineup for the first time since 2000 (Taylor Pyatt and Tim Connolly)…Ilya Sorokin is 1-4-0 in season openers....The three combined goals were the fewest in an Islander season opener since 2019 (L 2-1 at Barclays to Washington)..The Isles scored a shorty for the second time in the last three openers (Utah 2024)...Bo Horvat served as Islander captain for the first time.

Milestone Men   

• Bo Horvat has 99 goals as an Islander; only 34 players have reached 100 in club history.

• Casey Cizikas became the first Islander skater to appear in a game in 16 different seasons; Billy Smith did so in 17 seasons. 

For Openers 

The Isles are 3-7-1 on Opening Night over the last eleven years, and they are only 6-14-4 in their last 24 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 14-28-12 on Opening Night (11-22-8 on the road and 3-6-4 at home). Only four teams (all Original Six teams) have opened their season on the road more often than the Isles.

Most Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 32 

2. Pat LaFontaine 26

3. John Tavares and Tim Connolly 24

5. Brent Sutter and Matthew Schaefer 23

Schaefer has the most goals by any Islander teenage defenseman.

Most Assists by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 63

2. Tim Connolly 51

3. Pat LaFontaine and Matthew Schaefer 36

Schaefer has the most assists by any Islander teenage defenseman, and only Trottier has more assists in a single season by an Islander teenager.

Most Points by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 95

2. Tim Connolly 75

3. Pat LaFontaine 62

4. Matthew Schaefer 59

Schaefer has the most points by any Islander teenage defenseman, and only Trottier has more points in a single season by an Islander teenager.

Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager

1. Bryan Trottier 5

2. Matthew Schaefer 4

Most Shots on Goal by an Islander Teenager

1. Tim Connolly 285

2. Matthew Schaefer 224

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 83 Isles games.

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

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

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

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

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

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

Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game

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

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

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

4. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)

5. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)

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

Most Ice Time by a Teenager, Game

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

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

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

Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 71 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

Did Somebody Say Comeback?

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

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

Overtime Is Our Time

The Isles are 0-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they are 0-0 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 scored no goals with the 6th attacker and allowed no empty net goals.

Opponents have scored no goals with 6th attacker and allowed no empty-netters to the Isles. 

Last Year vs. This Year

• 2026-27: 0-1-0 for 0 points in 1 game

• 2025-26: 0-1-0 for 0 points in 1 game

Offense from Defense

• Today:   0-0-0

• Season: 0-0-0

• 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 0-1-0 overall; they are 0-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.

Toronto is 1-1-0 overall; they are 1-1-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.

East and West

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

First Things First

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

The Shots

Isles     11-8-8=27

Toronto 10-12-4=26

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

In the Nets 

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves; he is 0-1-0 this season and 8-6-0 vs. Toronto.

Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves; he is 1-0-0 this season and 2-3-0 vs. the Isles 

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 (8:00); Toronto was 1-4 (7:54).

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

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

Three is a Magic Number

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

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-1-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-11 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 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 Isles are 0-1-0 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 (27:45); Toronto: Chris Tanev (20:39)

Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (22:31).

Face-offs

Isles 20, Toronto 30 (40%)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 7 of 13 for the Isles; Auston Matthews won 8 of 13 for Toronto.

Hit Count

Isles 24 (Three with 3)

Toronto 19 (Kirill Marchenko -4)

Fights 

None. Season total: 0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 11 (Two with 2)

Toronto 21 (Jake McCabe -5)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 67, Toronto 48

Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 46, Toronto 33

 

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles: Matthew Schaefer +19

Toronto: Nick Paul +6

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 14, Toronto 10

5-on-5: Isles 9, Toronto 8

Scratches

Mathew Barzal (INJ), Scott Mayfield, Matt Kessel, Kyle MacLean

Games Lost to injury: 1. (Last season’s total: 399)

The Ironmen

Brayden Schenn played his 327th consecutive game (the first 307 for the Blues). Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman have played in every Islander game since the start of last season. 

National TV Games 

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that air on one of the NHL’s US national broadcast partners. 

Matinee Isles

The Isles went 0-0-0 in matinee games. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 18-24-14 in matinees.

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Opponents: 0 successful, 0 failures  

Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 0 unfavorable 

Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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

Isles responses (0): 

Opponent responses (0): 

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 (0):  

OT Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

Shootout Winners

For (0): 

Vs (0):  

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 979…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 643 *** 17. Derek King 638 *** 18. Ryan Pulock 637*** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 615 *** 22. Mathew Barzal 611

Goals    

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

4. Anders Lee 308  …

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

22. Jason Blake 127 *** 23. Casey Cizikas 124…

33. Anthony Beavillier 102 *** 34. Anders Kallur 101 *** 35. Trent Hunter and Bo Horvat 99

Assists

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

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

18. Tomas Jonsson 249 *** 19. Anders Lee 241…

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

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 156 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 147

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 280 …

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

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76  *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 ***  19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67  ***  21. Ryan Pulock +66 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2 Adam Pelech 642 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 636 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 615

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

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

Defense Assists

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

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

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 147… 

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

Defense Points

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

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

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 177…

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

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 309… 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304  *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 154 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 29 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

On the Farm   

The Hamilton Hammers begin their season on Friday night in Belleville and then visit Toronto at 4pm on Saturday.

Season Series Stats

Toronto leads the season series, 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will play next on October 17th in Toronto.

The Isles are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games against Toronto.

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3rd —NEW JERSEY AT ISLANDERS 7:30pm

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

The Isles return home to face the Devils in the home opener.  Last season the Isles swept the series, winning all four games by a combined score of 17-4.  The Isles are 7-0-1 in the last eight games against New Jersey.

The Isles are 1-3-1 in five prior home openers at UBS Arena.

It will be the 4,200th game in Islander history.

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 on the Season Opener

“The Skinny” on the Opener

By Eric Hornick

The 2026-27 season begins on Wednesday night in Toronto.  What will the first 84-game season since 1993-94 be like?  It all begins to unfold with the earliest regular season game in Islander history – on Wednesday, September 30th. 

UP FIRST

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th — ISLANDERS AT TORONTO 7:30pm

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

The Islanders begin their 54th season by heading to Toronto to face the new look Maple Leafs. It is the first of two trips to Toronto in the first 2 ½ weeks of the season. The Isles went 3-0-0 against the Leafs last season (1-0-0 in Toronto) and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games against the Leafs. 

Opening Night Skinny Notes

The Isles are 3-6-1 on Opening Night over the last ten years, and they are only 6-13-4 in their last 23 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 14-27-12 on Opening Night (11-21-8 on the road and 3-6-4 at home). Only four teams (all Original Six teams) have opened their season on the road more often than the Isles.

This is the first time that the Isles have faced the Leafs in their opener; it will be the second game for Toronto, who host Montreal on Tuesday. The Isles did open the shortened 2013 road season in Toronto (with a 7-4 win) but that was the third game of the season.

The Isles 14-27-12 (.377) Opening Night record is the second worst among current teams who have played more than five openers (Seattle is 1-3-1). Anaheim has the worst record on opening night of any other team: 11-21-0 (.344). This will be Pete DeBoer’s first Opening Night as the Isles’ head coach; he is 10-7-0 in his career in openers.

The Isles have been involved in five shutouts on Opening Night. Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976, and Semyon Varlamov had a clean sheet against the Rangers in January 2021, while the Kings (Stephane Fiset in 1996), Panthers (Jose Theodore in 2011), and Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky in 2017) turned the trick on the Isles.

The Islander club record for the fastest goal on Opening Night is 1:01, set by Dave Scatchard on October 10, 2002, in Buffalo. The NHL record for the fastest Opening Night goal is 0:10, set by Kent Nilsson of Minnesota (10/11/86 @ Quebec).

No Islander has ever had an opening night hat trick; twelve Isles scored twice in an Opener, with Anders Lee (January 2021) being the last player to have done so.

Schedule Skinny:

Schedule Format

The 84-game schedule allows for two extra division games, so the Isles will face each Metro foe four times. The Isles will play each of the eight teams in the Atlantic Division three times and will play a home and home series with each Western Conference foe. Buffalo, Detroit, Ottawa, and Montreal are the four Atlantic Division teams that will visit UBS Arena twice; the Isles will play twice in Boston, Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay.

Back-to-Backs

After playing sixteen sets of back-to-backs (tied for the most in the NHL) last season, the Isles will play only 13 sets this season.  All of them will be played in the final 60 games as the Isles will hit Thanksgiving before their first set.

Every Day’s a Home Game

The Isles will play nine home games on Saturday, eight on Tuesday, and six times on Thursday. They will play five times on Sunday, five times on Friday and on Monday, and four times on Wednesday. 

Schedule by Month

September (1), October (13), November (12), December (14), January (14), February (11), March (13), April (6). The Isles will complete the regular season against Columbus on Saturday, April 10th.

The Isles will reach the midway point of their schedule when they play game 42 on January 5th in Vancouver. There will be 26 games remaining after the Isles host the NHL All-Star break on February 5-6th. 

Schedule Streaks

The 2026-27 schedule is more balanced between home and road games this last season. The Isles have only one four-game homestand (March 1-9) and play more than four straight games on the road only once (five games before the All-Star break and one afterwards).

The Isles will play 21 of the first 42 games at home and will also play 21 of the last 42 games at home, including eight of the final eleven games of the regular season.

Changing Times

Beginning this year, Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia will use year-round daylight savings time.  Thus, there will be earlier New York starting times for the four Islander games played in those provinces –

• 19-Nov-26 @ Winnipeg   (7:00 NY Time/ 7:00 local)

• 5-Jan-27 @ Vancouver (9:00 NY Time/ 7:00 local)

• 7-Jan-27 @ Calgary      (8:00 NY Time/ 7:00 local)

• 9-Jan-27 @ Edmonton  (3:30 NY Time/ 1:30 local)

Matinee Isles

The Isles will play ten afternoon games this season, including eight at UBS Arena (beginning on Halloween vs. Edmonton). The Isles will play one 5:00 home game (April 10th vs. Columbus), one 7:45 home game (October 13th vs. Vancouver), one 6:30 home game (March 1st vs. Florida) and twelve 7:30 home games, with the other 20 home games scheduled for 7:00pm.

All-Star Break

The Isles will go eight consecutive days without a game around the All-Star break between contests in Buffalo on February 3rd and at Madison Square Garden on February 12th. 

The 2026-27 Islanders:

General Manager Mathieu Darche

After helping the Tampa Bay Lightning to two Stanley Cups, Mathieu Darche was named Islander General Manager and Executive Vice President on May 23, 2025. Darche begins his second season as the Isles General Manager.

Coach Peter DeBoer

Pete De Boer begins his first full season as the Islander head coach after going 1-3-0 last April. De Boer is 663-450-152 in 1265 regular season games, and 97-82 in the playoffs.  He has won a playoff series in each of his last seven trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs and has made a Conference Final six times in his last eight full seasons.  He is coaching in the NHL for the 19th consecutive season.

DeBoer is 21st in games coached (nine behind Todd McLellan and Claude Julien) and is 18th in career wins (two behind Todd McLellan).

DeBoer is 7th in playoff games coached, three behind Darryl Sutter and four behind Pat Quinn. Joel Quenneville (237) is the only active coach with more games.  His 97 wins are fifth all-time, and three behind Dick Irvin.

Active Roster

The Isles have 23 players on their active roster, as submitted to the NHL on Monday:

FORWARDS (13)

Casey Cizikas

Anthony Duclair

Victor Eklund

Emil Heineman

Simon Holmstrom

Bo Horvat

Mattias Maccelli

Kyle MacLean

Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Ondrej Palat

Kyle Palmieri

Cal Ritchie

Brayden Schenn

DEFENSEMEN (8)

Tony DeAngelo

Matt Kessel

Scott Mayfield

Adam Pelech

Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov

Matthew Schaefer

Logan Stanley

GOALTENDERS (2)

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

There are eight changes from last season’s opening roster.

 

Victor Eklund, Matt Kessel, Mattias Maccelli, Ondrej Palat, Cal Ritchie, Brayden Schenn, Logan Stanley and Semyon Varlomov (injured all last season) are newcomers on the Isles roster from last October, replacing Jonathan Drouin, Marc Gatcomb, Anders Lee, Max Shabanov, Max Tsyplakov, Adam Boqvist, David Rittich, and Mathew Barzal (injured).

The twenty-three active players represent five nationalities: American (DeAngelo, Kessel, MacLean, Mayfield, and Palmieri), Canadian (ten players), Czech (Palat), Finnish (Maccelli), Swedish (Ekland, Heineman and Holmstrom), and Russian (Romanov, Sorokin, and Varlamov).

Old and Young

Semyon Varlamov (April 27, 1988) is the only Islander born in the 1980s, with Kyle Palmieri (February 1, 1991) being the oldest skater. Matthew Schaefer (9-5-2007) remains the youngest skater and will play his entire second NHL season as a teenager; Victor Eklund is the second youngest and will turn 20 on Saturday. Eight of the 23 players (all skaters) were born in the 2000s.

Of the twenty-three active players, Ilya Sorokin is the 12th oldest (and 12th youngest); Sorokin turned 31 on August 4th.  

Big and Small

Logan Stanley is the tallest (6’7”) and is the heaviest (231 pounds). Only five Islanders are below six feet tall (all are 5’11”); Victor Eklund is the lightest (175 pounds).  

Opening Night

Casey Cizikas is expected to play on Opening Night for the 14th time in his career, tying Bryan Trottier’s club record. Bailey and Denis Potvin for second place in club history (Bryan Trottier played in 14 openers). Cizikas will also become the first Islander skater to appear in 16 different seasons; Bill Smith played in the first 17 seasons of Islander history.

Isles Opening Night Leaders:

Goals:   Bossy 7, Nelson 6, Trottier/Harris 5 (Active: Palmieri 2, Barzal 2)

Assists: Trottier 9, Gillies 7/Nelson 7 (Active: Barzal 4, Cizikas/Palmieri 3)

Points: Trottier 14, Nelson 13, Bossy 11 (Active: Barzal 6, Palmieri 5)

Penalty Minutes: Rich Pilon 39, Ray Schultz 23 (in 1 game!), Duane Sutter 21 (Active: Barzal 10)

Ilya Sorokin is 1-3-0 on opening night (.896, 3.33) while Semyon Varlamov is 1-1-1 (.910, 2.32) in three openers as an Islander. Billy Smith is the only goalie in Islander history with multiple opening night wins (3-4-3 in 10 openers). 

Captain, My Captain

For the first time since 2017, the Islanders have a new Captain, as Bo Horvat replaces Anders Lee.  Horvat also served as Captain of the Canucks from October 9, 2019, until his trade to the Islanders on January 30, 2023.

The Rookie

Victor Eklund, who made his NHL debut in the season finale, is the only rookie on the Isles roster. 

A Look Back

The Isles finished the 2025-26 regular season with a 43-34-5 record, with a 1-7-0 finish costing them a shot at post-season play. That left the Isles in 19th place in the 32-team NHL, and seven points out of a playoff spot.

The Isles went 22-17-2 on UBS ice and 21-17-3 on the road.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles set an NHL record by going 10-0 in games decided by an overtime goal; they were 4-5 in shootouts. 

The 2021 Vegas Golden Knights (9-0 in 56 game season) are the only other team to score at least nine overtime goals with none allowed.

Special Teams (Last Season)

Power Play 40-242 16.5% (9 shorthanded goals allowed); 30th in NHL

Penalty Kill 41-214 80.8% (9 shorthanded goals scored); 10th in NHL

The special teams combined for 97.3%, which was a 12.5% improvement from the 84.8% combined the previous season. 

Offense from Defense

The Islander defense contributed 40 goals and 126 assists for 166 points last season; the 40 goals were the most for the Isles’ defense since 2022-23, when they scored 41 goals.

East and West

Last season, the Isles went 26-20-4 against the East (14-10-2 vs. Metropolitan and 12-10-2 vs. Atlantic) and 17-14-1 against the West (7-8-1 vs. Central and 10-6-0 vs. Pacific).

First Things First

The Isles were 29-12-3 when scoring first and were 14-22-2 when allowing the opening goal.  

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles were 33-9-3 when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners) last season and are 10-25-2 when they did not. 

One-Goal Games

The Isles were 27-11-5 in games decided by a single goal including 12-11 in regulation; the 27 one-goal wins are a new club record. They are 10-0 in games decided in overtime and are 4-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs     

The Isles went 5-11-0 in the front end and 9-6-1 in the back end last season. 

The Ironmen

Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, and Emil Heineman played in every Islander game last season. Including 307 games in St. Louis, Brayden Schenn has played 326 consecutive games.

Matthew Schaefer and History

Almost every club record for a teenager is within reach this season for Matthew Schaefer.  Schaefer brings career totals of 23-36-59 (4 game-winning goals) into this season; Bryan Trottier went 32-63-95 (5 game-winning goals) in his teenage season of 1975-76.  Schaefer has 221 shots on goal, 64 shy of Tim Connolly’s club record for a teen.

Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 84 Isles games.

Schaefer played at least 29 minutes four times last season:

Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game

1. Matthew Schaefer 31:59 3/24/2026 vs CHI (NHL record for a teenager)

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

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

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

Schaefer ended the season by playing at least 20:00 in 70 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by a teenager in a single season since ice-time became official and the longest by an Islander since Mark Streit set the record (since 1997-98) by doing so in 141 consecutive games from 2009-2011.

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 978…

15. Brent Sutter 694 *** 16. Adam Pelech 642 *** 17. Derek King 638 *** 18. Ryan Pulock 636 *** 19. Billy Harris 623 *** 20. Stefan Persson 622 *** 21. Scott Mayfield 615 *** 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 124…

33. Anthony Beavillier 102 *** 34. Anders Kallur 101 *** 35. Trent Hunter and Bo Horvat 99

Assists

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

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

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

32. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 33. Casey Cizikas 156 *** 34. David Volek 154 *** 35. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 36. Adam Pelech 147

Points

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

10. Anders Lee 549 *** 11. John Tonelli 544 *** 12. Bob Bourne 542 ***

13. Mathew Barzal 533…

27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 280 …

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

+/-

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

15. Bob Lorimer +105 *** 16. Adam Pelech +83 *** 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 *** 18. Garry Howatt +75 *** 19. Pat Price +70 *** 20. JP Parise +67 **** 21 Ryan Pulock +66 *** 22. Jude Drouin +58 

Defense Games

1. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 2 Adam Pelech 642 *** 3. Ryan Pulock 636 ***

4. Stefan Persson 622 *** 5. Scott Mayfield 615

Defense Goals

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

4. Ryan Pulock 56…

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

Defense Assists

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

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

9. Jeff Norton 166 *** 10. Adam Pelech 147… 

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

Defense Points

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

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

10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 177…

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

Goalie Games

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 308… 

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

Wins

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Ilya Sorokin 154 …

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

Shutouts 

1. Ilya Sorokin 29 *** 2. Glenn Resch 25 *** 3. Billy Smith 22 ***

4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16

Isles on the Air

MSG Networks will carry 74 of the Isles’ 84 games this season (TNT will carry three games, ESPN will carry two games, while ESPN+/Hulu will exclusively stream five games). All MSG broadcasts will also stream on DAZN.

Brendan Burke will call most Islander games for the 11th straight season. Newly crowned Emmy Award Winner Thomas Hickey (5th season) returns as the lead analyst on Islander broadcasts, while Cal Clutterbuck (3rd season) and Butch Goring (!7th season) also return. Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for her 13th season.

Alan Fuehring will call play-by-play on radio and will continue to fill in for Brendan Burke as well. Analysts include Josh Bailey, Eric Carins and Butch Goring. All games will air on WRHU (88.7FM) and on WRCN (103.9FM), and stream on the Isles + UBS Arena App, as well as the NHL App and on Satellite Radio. 

And Finally…

We begin the 17th consecutive season of The Skinny as I begin my 46th season on Islander telecasts. The Skinny streak stands at 1,178 consecutive games, including playoffs. The 1,200th consecutive edition will follow the game in Detroit on November 21st.

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

Permutations and Combinations - NHL Draft Lottery

Do you remember this from last year?  What's 14 x 13 x 12 x 11? It's 24,024.

What does that have to do with the Draft Lottery, which will be conducted on Tuesday night? Well, everything.

The lottery, which will determine the first two picks in the NHL Entry Draft, which begins June 26th, is conducted with the selection of four balls from a pool of 14. Once a ball is chosen, it is not replaced (so each ball can be selected only once). As if turns out, there are 24,024 possible "permutations" that can be chosen. However, when you change it to combinations (ie 1-2-3-4 is the same result as 4-3-2-1 or 2-3-4-1.... or 21 other permutations), there are only (24,024 divided by 24 = ) 1,001 possible results.

One of those 1,001 is thrown out (it is the combination 11-12-13-14) and the others are assigned to each of the teams. Last year's combination of 7-11-12-13 was assigned to the Islanders and that was how they earned the right to draft the presumptive Calder Trophy winner.

Here are the odds of winning the lottery:

Teams (Fewest Points to Most) Odds

1 Vancouver Canucks 18.5%

2 Chicago Blackhawks 13.5%

3 New York Rangers 11.5%

4 Calgary Flames 9.5%

5 Toronto Maple Leafs (cond. to BOS) * 8.5%

6 Seattle Kraken 7.5%

7 Winnipeg Jets 6.5%

8 Florida Panthers 6.0%

9 San Jose Sharks 5.0%

10 Nashville Predators 3.5%

11 St. Louis Blues 3.0%

12 New Jersey Devils 2.5%

13 New York Islanders 2.0%

14 Columbus Blue Jackets 1.5%

15 St. Louis Blues (from DET) 0.5%

16 Washington Capitals 0.5%

(If the Leafs fall out of the top 5, their pick transfers to Boston)

The Isles' odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 50, although if the Isles win the lottery they can only move as high as 3rd (and Vancouver would retain the top pick) as you can only move up 10 spots.

The Isles' odds of winning the lottery are about 57% of what they were a season ago - the chances a team winning with a 3.5% and a 2.0% chance is in consecutive years is 1:1,428, but the lotteries are independent events so the Isles' still have 2.0% chance this season.

The Isles have won the lottery three times, moving from 4th to 1st in 2000 (DiPietro), retaining the first pick in 2009 (Tavares), and hitting the lottery from 10th to 1st last season (Schaefer).

The Isles have picked 1st overall five times: Harris (1972), Potvin (1973), DiPietro (2000), Tavares (2009), Schaefer (2025) but won't this season.

So what are the Isles' lucky numbers?  Here are the 20 combinations that will win the lottery for the Isles.

1 2 5 6 

1 2 5 11 

1 3 4 13 

1 5 7 9 

1 5 11 12 

1 6 7 11 

2 3 7 13 

2 3 12 13 

2 9 12 13 

2 12 13 14 

3 6 13 14 

3 8 12 14 

3 10 11 14 

4 5 8 11 

4 5 8 14 

4 6 9 14 

5 7 10 14 

6 11 13 14 

7 9 13 14 

8 9 10 14

Each lottery ball appears in exactly 286 combinations (although the 11-12-13-14 combination would be thrown out).  

The number 14 is the most common winning number for the Isles, appearing 10 times; number 10 is the least common, appearing only three times.  (The number ten was also the least common number in the Isles' lottery card last season)

The lottery will be shown live on ESPN Tuesday night; you will be able to see the Isles' odds of winning change after each ball is chosen.

The most you can move up is 10 spots, so if NJ/NYI/CBJ/Stl/Was win the lottery, the first pick will belong to Vancouver.  The Canucks have never picked first in the NHL Entry Draft.

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