Game 23
Isles 4, Florida 3
Julien Gauthier's first goal as an Islander is a game-winner. Gauthier scored 3:43 into the third period to restore the Isles' 2-goal lead and they then held on to defeat the Florida Panthers 4-3 before a crowd of 18,721 at Amerant Bank Arena.
Ilya Sorokin made 42 saves, and the Isles grabbed the lead with an Anders Lee first period power play goal and never trailed.
The Isles have points in eight of their last nine games (5-1-3); all but one game in that stretch has been decided by a single goal.
The Isles improve to 10-7-6 on the season and moved into the 2nd Wild Card spot; they begin a season-long six game homestand on Tuesday against San Jose.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Anders Lee (5) Kyle Palmieri (8), Brock Nelson (7) 12:36 NYI 1,FLA 0 PPG
Sam Reinhart (16) Evan Rodrigues (12), Brandon Montour (2) 13:42 NYI 1,FLA 1
2nd Period
Pierre Engvall (3) Alexander Romanov (4), Brock Nelson (8) 04:37 NYI 2,FLA 1
Simon Holmstrom (7) Julien Gauthier (2), Bo Horvat (10) 09:12 NYI 3,FLA 1
Matthew Tkachuk (4) Carter Verhaeghe (9) 13:14 NYI 3,FLA 2
3rd Period
Julien Gauthier (1) Bo Horvat (11) 03:43 NYI 4,FLA 2
Carter Verhaeghe (11) Gustav Forsling (5), Aaron Ekblad (2) 09:36 NYI 4,FLA 3
The Skinny
Anders Lee opened the scoring for the 54th time in his career; this is third in club history behind Bryan Trottier (81) and Mike Bossy (64)…Bo Horvat had two points for the fifth time this season; he was originally credited with an assist on the first goal but that was later changed… Simon Holmstrom recorded his 7th goal, one more than he had in his rookie year; no other NHL player has more than four goals but no assists…Holmstrom also tied Mathew Barzal for the club lead in road goals this season… Pierre Engvall scored for the 2nd straight game, giving him 50 career goals…Alex Romanov has four assists in the last five games.…Noah Dobson played 25:21; it Is the 5th straight game he has played at least 25 minutes (no Islander has averaged 25 minutes per game since 2013-14)…. The Isles have been outscored 22-7 over the last thirteen third periods… The Isles have outscored their opponents 23-14 in the first period and 25-23 in the middle period; however, they have been outscored 35-16 in the third period and overtime this season … The Isles have led at some point of 19 of their first 23 games, winning ten of them… Brock Nelson played his 781st Islander game, passing Matt Martin for the club lead among active players… The Isles are 9-1-3 when leading after two periods… Hudson Fasching played his 100th NHL game while Alexander Romanov appeared in his 99th Isles contest. …Julien Gauthier is the 396th Islander, including Billy Smith, to score a goal….Mathew Barzal did not play (ill), ending his road point streak at eight games...Samuel Bolduc played a season-high 16:15…Sam Reinhart scored his 16th goal – second in the NHL this season to Brock Boeser (17)…The Isles have played eleven home games and twelve road games; it is the first time this season that they have played more games on the road than at home and won't happen again until January 19th, when they play their 23rd road game (vs. 22 at home).
Just Call Him @Engvall5050
Pierre Engvall scored for the 50th time in his NHL career – the 50 goals have come in 50 different games. No active NHL forward has scored more goals without a multi-goal game – or scored more goals before his first multi-goal game.
First Times in a Long Time
• The Isles have scored a road power play goal in seven consecutive road games for the first time since November/December 2008. They have not had a longer streak since 2002. The road power play is now 10-33 (30.3%); since percentage became official in 1977-78, the Isles have never finished a road season higher than 28.9% (1978-79).
• The Isles are 4-1-0 in their last five road games and have scored at least four goals in each contest. The last time the Isles did that was over a two-season stretch between March -October 1987. It had not happened in a single season since November 1985 (6 games).
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 1-4 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 1-2 in shootouts.
The Isles have won 12 of the last 33 games that were decided by an overtime goal (since January 11, 2020).
Killing Their Own PP
The Isles have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play ten times this season.
Heavy Hitters
Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are 1-2 all-time in hits:
1. Cal Clutterbuck 3,808
2. Matt Martin 3,734
Martin (7) and Clutterbuck (3) have combined for the 10-biggest hits seasons in Isles history in the Real-Time era, which began in 2005-06.
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2023-24 10-7-6 for 26 points in 23 games
• 2022-23 15-8-0 for 30 points in 23 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-4-4
• Season: 7-30-37
• Last Season (Final) 41-132-173
The Islander defense scored 41 goals last season, which was the most since they scored 42 in 2003-04. The 173 points were their most since 1993-94, when they had 174 points in an 84-game season.
Best of the Best
Ilya Sorokin has 18 shutouts in 145 career starts. He has recorded a shutout in 12.4% of his starts, which is the highest in NHL history (since 1943-44) among goalies with at least 100 starts:
• Ilya Sorokin 12.4%
• Roman Cechmanek 12.2%
• Ken Dryden 11.8%
• Dominik Hasek 11.3%
Lots of Work for Sorokin
Ilya Sorokin has faced 538 shots in his 15 games (an average of 35.8 per game).
Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 40 career shutouts and 276 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is 6th in wins (276) and tied-third in shutouts (40).
All-time Goalie Wins
50. Brian Elliott 279
51. Semyon Varlamov 276
52. Marty Turco 275
Home and Road
The Isles are 10-7-6 overall; they are 4-3-4 at home and 6-4-2 on the road.
Florida is 14-8-2 overall; they are 7-4-0 at home and 7-4-2 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 8-4-4 against the East (4-2-3 vs. Metropolitan and 4-2-1 vs. Atlantic) and 2-3-2 against the West (1-2-0 vs. Central and 1-1-2 vs. Pacific).
Home is Where the Fans Are
The Isles have played 93 games at UBS Arena and recorded 65 sellouts of 17,255.
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 1,415
3. Glen Sather 1,319
First Things First
The Isles are 7-2-5 when scoring first and are 3-5-0 when allowing the opening goal. They are 0-0-1 when the game heads to a shootout following a scoreless tie.
The Shots
Isles 8-13-6=27
Florida 16-11-18=45
The Isles are 2-2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-5 when they are out-shot.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 42 saves; he is 6-4-5 on the season and 2-3-1 vs. Florida.
Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves; he is 3-2-1 on the season and 0-2-0 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-2 on the power play (2:07); Florida was 0-2 on the power play (4:00).
The Isles are 6-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 4-3-3 when they do not. The Isles are 2-5-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 8-2-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 8-2-5 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 2-5-1 when they do not. Under Lane Lambert the Isles are 43-8-9 when scoring at least three goals.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 7-1-6 in games decided by a single goal including 5-1 in regulation. They are 1-4 in games decided in overtime and are 1-2 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 1-0-2 in the front end and 0-1-2 in the back end this season. The next set of back-to-backs will be on December 15 vs Boston and December 16 at Montreal.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (25:44); Florida: Brandon Montour (25:06)
Bo Horvat led Islander forwards with 21:15 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Ryan Pulock (2-0-2), Noah Dobson (7-5-3), Alex Romanov (1-2-0), Adam Pelech (0-0-1).
Face-offs
Isles 26, Florida 38 (41%)
Casey Cizikas won 9 of 17 for the Isles; Aleksander Barkov won 9 of 13 for Florida.
Hit Count
Isles 20 (Six with 2)
Florida 15 (Five with 2)
Fights
None. Season total: 3 (Martin 1, Pelech 1, Lee 1)
Blocked Shots
Isles 24 (Scott Mayfield -5)
Florida 19 (Aaron Ekblad -4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Florida 93
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 47, Florida 77
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Bo Horvat +7
Florida: Anton Lundell +25
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 11, Florida 19
5-on-5: Isles 10, Florida 14
Scratches
Matt Martin, Adam Pelech (upper body – LTIR), (Sebastian Aho-IR). (Mathew Barzal - sick), Grant Hutton
Games Lost to injury: 24
The Ironmen
Three Islanders have played at least 100 consecutive games:
• Anders Lee 135
• Brock Nelson 107
• Ryan Pulock 106
Challenges
Isles:2 successful, 0 failures – WSH goalie interference (11/2), OTT offside (11/24)
Opponents: 0 successful, 2 failures – BUF no offside (10/21), CAR no high-stick (11/30)
Quickies
The Isles have scored two goals in under a minute once this season (no times at home and once on road-11/24 @OTT) and allowed two in the same span three times (COL 10/25 x2, MIN 11/8)
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
The Isles have come from two goals behind after two periods to win no times this season and have allowed the opposition to do so three times.
For (0):
Vs (3): DET 10/30 (trailed 0-2, won 4-3 in OT); CAR 11/4 (trailed 1-3, won 4-3 in OT) ; NJ 11/28 (trailed 2-4, won 5-4 in regulation)
Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and have allowed no goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie or go-ahead:
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/20 vs NJ 18:49 (Isles lost in OT)
Vs (1): Curtis Lazar 11/28 @ NJ 19:37 (GWG), Sebastian Aho 11/30 @ CAR 19:57 (Isles won in OT)
OT Winners
For (1): Mathew Barzal (vs CAR) 11/30
Vs (4): Jack Hughes (NJ) 10/20, Lucas Raymond (DET) 10/30, Sebastian Aho (CAR) 11/4, Quinn Hughes (VAN) 11/15
Shootout Winners
For (1): Oliver Wahlstrom (Vs CGY) 11/18
Vs (2): Kailer Yamamoto (SEA) 11/16, Tyson Foerster (PHI) 11/25
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 * 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 * 3. Josh Bailey 1,057…
6. Bob Bourne 814 * 7. Brock Nelson 781 * 8. Matt Martin 780 * 9. Casey Cizikas 768…
11. Patrick Flatley 712 * 12. Anders Lee 701 * 13. Brent Sutter 694 * 14. John Tavares 669 * 15. Cal Clutterbuck 659
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 * 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
7. John Tavares 272 * 8. Brock Nelson 251 * 9. Anders Lee 245 …
23. Alexei Yashin and Frans Nielsen 119 * 25. Steve Thomas, Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish 118 * 28. Ray Ferraro 116 * 29. Mathew Barzal 112 * 30.Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall 105 \\\32. Anthony Beauvillier 102 \\\ 33. Anders Kallur 101 * 34. Casey Cizikas 100
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 * 2. Denis Potvin 742 * 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
12. Derek King 288 * 13. Pat LaFontaine 279 * 14. Bob Nystrom 278 * 15. Mathew Barzal 273…
17. Tomas Jonsson 249 * 18. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 * 20. Brock Nelson 229…
22. Pierre Turgeon 193 * 23. Ed Westfall 181 * 24. Anders Lee 179…
34. Steve Thomas 140 * 35. Mark Streit 139 * 36. Greg Gilbert 136 * 37. Ryan Pulock 133
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
13. Patrick Flatley 488 * 14. Brock Nelson 480 * 15. Billy Harris 443 * 16. Anders Lee 424 * 17. Mathew Barzal 385…
34. Kenny Jonsson 232 * 35. Greg Gilbert 231 * 36. Benoit Hogue and Trent Hunter 229 * 38. Casey Cizikas 229
+/-
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. Jude Drouin +58 * 22. Patrick Flatley +57 * 23. Greg Gilbert +54
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 * 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 * 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
5. Jean Potvin 46 * 6. Nick Leddy 45 * 7. Ryan Pulock 44 * 8. Roman Hamrlik 43 * 9. Mark Streit 40 * 10. Johnny Boychuk and Noah Dobson 35
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 * 2. Stefan Persson 317 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
7. Jeff Norton 166 * 8. Mark Streit 139 * 9. Ryan Pulock 133…
12. Roman Hamrlik 110 * 13. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 \\\15. Noah Dobson 107 \\\ 16. Adam Pelech 102…
20. Dave Langevin and Thomas Hickey 95 * 22. Ken Morrow and Scott Mayfield 88
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 * 2. Stefan Persson 369 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
7. Jeff Norton 188 * 8. Mark Streit 179 * 9. Ryan Pulock 177…
11, Travis Hamonic 146 * 12. Noah Dobson 142…
15. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 * 17. Gerry Hart 128 * 18. Adam Pelech 127…
20. Thomas Hickey 117 * 21. Adrian Aucoin and Scott Mayfield 113
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 * 2. Rick DiPietro 318 * 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
8. Glenn Healy 176 * 9. Ilya Sorokin 151 * 10. Semyon Varlamov 143
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 * 2. Glenn Resch 157 * 3. Rick DiPietro 130…
6. Jaroslav Halak 88 * 7. Roland Melanson 77 * 8. Ilya Sorokin 76 * 9. Glenn Healy 66 * 10. Semyon Varlamov 63
Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 * 2. Billy Smith 22 * 3. Ilya Sorokin 18 *
4. Rick DiPietro 16 * 5. Semyon Varlamov 15
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 6-13-1-0 on the season after dropping a home-and home series with Providence this weekend.
The Baby Isles are off until Friday when they begin a two-game trip to Utica and Springfield.
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 (and 2 points to 0). The teams will next play on January 27th at UBS Arena.
The Isles have won two straight after going winless in the prior six games against the Cats (2-5-1). This was the Isles' first win in Sunrise since December 12, 2019 .
UP NEXT
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5th — SAN JOSE AT ISLANDERS– 7:30pm ET
[MSGSN (7:00 pre-game), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio].
The Isles begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks had opened their season with ten straight road losses but beat New Jersey in Newark on Friday night and will visit the Garden on Sunday before facing the Isles.
The Isles swept the season series last year, winning both games by three goals. However, the Sharks won both games the prior season, once in overtime and once in a shootout. Overall, the Isles are 6-1-3 in their last ten games with San Jose.
The teams will meet March 7th in San Jose to conclude the season series.
AND FINALLY,
You are reading the 950th consecutive edition of The Skinny. With good health and no postponements, the 999th consecutive edition will follow the game in Sunrise on March 28th, with the 1,000th to follow two nights later after a game in Tampa Bay.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.
