Game 36
Isles 6, Pittsburgh 3
Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee each scored twice as the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.
The Isles scored three goals in a 4:00 span of the second period to grab a 4-1 lead, but Pittsburgh responded with two of their own before the period ended. Cizikas' second goal provided insurance in the third period before Lee hit the empty net for the final margin.
The Isles climbed back within one game of .NHL-.500 and will look to catch the Penguins in points on Sunday in the back-end of the home-and-home. Face-off is at 5:30.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) Mathew Barzal (4) 14:47 PIT 0,NYI 1
Michael Bunting (10) Rickard Rakell (14) 16:03 PIT 1,NYI 1 PPG
2nd Period
Anthony Duclair (3) Kyle Palmieri (14), Brock Nelson (11) 05:39 PIT 1,NYI 2
Anders Lee (14)OWN 08:36 PIT 1,NYI 3
Casey Cizikas (2) Alexander Romanov (5), Bo Horvat (17) 09:39 PIT 1,NYI 4
Noel Acciari (4) Matt Nieto (2), Erik Karlsson (22) 13:49 PIT 2,NYI 4
Rickard Rakell (17) Matt Grzelcyk (17), Evgeni Malkin (23) 19:56 PIT 3,NYI 4
3rd Period
Casey Cizikas (3) Simon Holmstrom (13) 14:43 PIT 3,NYI 5
Anders Lee (15)EN 19:38 PIT 3,NYI 6
The Skinny
The Isles scored the opening goal for only the second time in eleven games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 62-60 in the first and second periods but have been outscored 55-35 in the third period and overtime…The Isles have scored 72 goals and allowed 65 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 50-25 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 19 of the last 23 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 36-29 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… Ilya Sorokin made his career-high twelfth straight start (6-5-1).… Anthony Duclair has a point in all three games since his return… The Isles allowed a power play goal for the fifth straight game in which they were shorthanded; they are 0-14 on the power play in the last seven games…Anders Lee extended his team lead in goals (15) and points (29); he is eight points shy of last season's totals of 20-17-37…The Isles are 11-2-2 when leading after two periods, and have won their last five games when leading through 40…Ryan Graves played his 400th NHL game…Evgeni Malkin's assist tied him with Gilbert Perreault for 35th place in NHL history with 1326 points…Pittsburgh went 1-4 on the power play; their 12 power play goals since November 30th is one more than the Isles have recorded this season…Michael Bunting's goal was his 200th career point.
Weekend Warriors
The Islanders have won five straight Saturday games (four at home, and one in Toronto). The Isles are 7-8-3 in their last eighteen games (5-0-0 on Saturday; 2-8-3 on other nights). Six of their last seven wins have come on Saturday or Sunday.
Stopping Sid
An intermission scoring change left Sidney Crosby pointless, and minus 3 on the night. Crosby remains tied with Mario Lemieux for the Penguin club record of 1,033 assists. It was the first time in 88 career games against the Isles that Crosby was -3 (he has been +3 or better eight times against the Isles.)
Moving on Up
• Ilya Sorokin earned his 106th win, tying Kelly Hrudey for 4th place in club history.
• Casey Cizikas now has 249 points, tying David Volek for 30th place in club history.
Milestone Men
• Anthony Duclair's next goal will be his 150th career goal.
• Mathew Barzal's next point will be his 450th career point.
One For the Record Books
For the first time in NHL history, a referee shared the same name as one of the head coaches – Mike Sullivan.
Auld Lang Syne
This was the final home game of 2024. The Isles went 18-14-6 (plus 1-1 in the playoffs) on UBS ice this year. For the calendar year, the power play was 19.4% at home, while the penalty kill was at 61.2%.
Top 5 Goal Scorers
Brock Nelson needs just three more goals to become the fifth-highest goal scorer in club history:
• 5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287
• 7. Brock Nelson 285
Nelson had a goal disallowed by video review in the first period; it would have been his first goal in thirteen games.
Top 10 Assist Leaders
Mathew Barzal (318) passed Stefan Persson (317) for 10th place in club history. (A second assist was taken away when Lee's first goal was ruled an 'own goal' in a post-game scoring change)
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 34, Opponents 49
Tying Goals: Isles 4, Opponents 10 (in 9 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 6 (in 5 games), Opponents 8
Empty Net Goals: Isles 8, Opponents 11
The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 25 of their 36 games. In the eleven games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (1-9-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but four of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF).
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have six come-from behind wins this season, including one when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win eight times this season, including an NHL-high seven times in the third period.
Overtime
The Isles have played ten overtime games. They are 1-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 1-4 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts, while Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts.
Sorokin has 34 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28).
Empty Netters
The Isles have scored 8 empty-net goals and allowed 11.
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 26 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 10 times
• Allowed the next goal: 13 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2024-25 14-15-7 for 35 points in 36 games
• 2023-24 17-10-9 for 43 points in 36 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-1-1
• Season: 11-49-60
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
Varly, Varly
Semyon Varlamov has 41 career shutouts and 289 career wins. Among active NHL goalies (and excluding Carey Price, who is technically still active), Varlamov is seventh in wins and fourth in shutouts.
All-time Goalie Wins
47. Mike Liut 293
48. Ed Giacomin 290
49. Semyon Varlamov 289
Oh Canada
The Isles are playing 17 games against Canadian-based teams this season; they are 5-0-3 so far (1-0-0 at home and 4-0-3 on the road). After opening with a home shootout win over Montreal, the Isles played four road games in November (2-0-2) and have four more road games in December (2-0-1 with one to play). Seven of the eight games scheduled for the New Year will be at home.
Going back to last season the Isles have earned points in eleven straight games against Canadian teams; the next two Canadian opponents will be a home-and home series with Toronto on December 31 and January 2nd.
Home and Road
The Isles are 14-15-7 overall; they are 7-8-2 at home and 7-7-5 on the road.
Pittsburgh is 16-16-5 overall; they are 10-7-2 at home and 6-9-3 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 10-9-3 against the East (4-3-2 vs. Metropolitan and 6-6-1 vs. Atlantic) and 4-6-4 against the West (3-2-2 vs. Central and 1-4-2 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 1,458
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,458) and Patrick Roy (164) have combined for 1,622 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 7-3-4 when scoring first and are 7-12-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 11-15-8=34
Pittsburgh 9-12-4=25
The Isles are 7-9-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 7-5-4 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves; he is 10-11-4 this season and 10-5-0 vs. Pittsburgh.
Tristan Jarry made 28 saves; he is 8-6-2 this season and 11-4-1 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (4:00) on the power play; Pittsburgh was 1-4 (7:04) on the power play.
The Isles are 8-1-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 6-14-6 when they do not. The Isles are 9-7-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 5-8-1 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 14-3-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-12-3 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 6-3-7 in games decided by a single goal including 3-3 in regulation. They are 1-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-5 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 3-1-1 on the front end and 2-2-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes Sunday in Pittsburgh. The next back-to-back will be January 24th-25th when they host division foes Philadelphia and Carolina.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (23:36); Pittsburgh: Kris Letang (25:04)
Kyle Palmieri led Isles forwards (19:07).
Face-offs
Isles 34, Pittsburgh 28 (55%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 9 of 14 for the Isles; Noel Acciari won 3 of 5 for Pittsburgh.
Hit Count
Isles 19 (Casey Cizikas -4)
Pittsburgh 27 (Matt Nieto -4)
Fights
None. Season total: 3 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin)
Blocked Shots
Isles 7 (Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov -2)
Pittsburgh 15 (Kris Letang -2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 66, Pittsburgh 46
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 53, Pittsburgh 29
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Jean-Gabriel Pageau +18
Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin +1
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 15, Pittsburgh 11
5-on-5: Isles 13, Pittsburgh 5
Scratches
(Mike Reilly-IR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski
Games Lost to injury: 119. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 202 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (152) has also played every game since the start of last season.
Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)
Most Overtime Assists, Career (Islanders)
1. Mathew Barzal 16
2. John Tavares 12
Most Overtime Points, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 23
2. Mathew Barzal 21
3. Brock Nelson 18
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 40 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.
National TV Games
The Isles are 0-2-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with eight games remaining. The next national game will stream on January 2nd on ESPN+/Hulu, as the Isles host the Leafs. The Isles have five national telecasts scheduled through the end of March, with the other five all scheduled in April.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 0-3-1 in matinee games this season, with seven games remaining. The next matinee will be on December 31st in Toronto. 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: 1 successful, 2 failures (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference 11/29)
Opponents: 4 successful, 2 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)
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (1): CHI 12/12
Vs (1): CHI 12/15
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (2): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7
Opponent responses (4): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
For (1): Vs. PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO))
Vs (2): Vs. NJ 11/9 (Led 3-1, Lost 4-3 (OT), 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 (2): 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)
Vs (6): 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)
OT Winners
For (1): Bo Horvat 10/25 at NJD (1:09)
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)
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. Bob Nystrom 900 * 5. Brock Nelson 876 6. Clark Gillies 872 7. Casey Cizikas 851 8. Matt Martin 843 9. Bob Bourne 814 * 10. Anders Lee 795 …
28. Pat LaFontaine 530 * 29. Kyle Okposo 529 30. Ryan Pulock 522 \\\31. Nick Leddy 518 \\* 32. Adam Pelech 516 * 33. Mathew Barzal 515 34. Dave Lewis 514 35. Rich Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 * 37. Scott Mayfield 504
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 * 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 * 7. Brock Nelson 285 * 8. Anders Lee 275 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 * 21. Mathew Barzal 131…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 * 30. Casey Cizikas 110
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 * 2. Denis Potvin 742 * 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
8. Patrick Flatley 328 * 9. Brent Sutter 323 * 10. Mathew Barzal 318…
14. Pat LaFontaine 279 * 15. Bobby Nystrom 278 * 16. Brock Nelson 267…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 * 21. Anders Lee 207…
28. Jean Potvin 167 * 29. Jeff Norton 166 30. Noah Dobson 165 30. Ziggy Palffy 163 32. David Volek 154 33. Ryan Pulock 153 34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 35. Travis Green 145 36. Steve Thomas 140 ** 37. Mark Streit and Casey Cizikas 139
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 * 8. Pat LaFontaine 566 * 9. Brock Nelson 552 …
13. Derek King 499 * 14. Patrick Flatley 488 15. Anders Lee 482 ** 16. Mathew Barzal 449…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 * 30. David Volek and Casey Cizikas 249
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 * 2. Denis Potvin +456 * 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 * 16. Tomas Jonsson +76 \\\17. Garry Howatt +75 \\\ 18. Pat Price +70 19. Adam Pelech +70 20. JP Parise +67 21. Jude Drouin +58 22. Patrick Flatley +57 24. Ryan Pulock +55 24. Greg Gilbert +54 * 25. Gord Lane +48
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 * 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 * 3. Kenny Jonsson 57…
4. Stefan Persson 52 * 5. Ryan Pulock 49 6. Jean Potvin 46 ** 7. Nick Leddy and Noah Dobson 45…
14. Vladimir Malakhov 27 * 15. Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and four others 26
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742 * 2. Stefan Persson 317 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
6. Jean Potvin 167 * 7. Jeff Norton 166 8. Noah Dobson 165 ** 9. Ryan Pulock 153…
11. Travis Hamonic 120 * 12. Adam Pelech 118…
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…
6. Jean Potvin 213 * 7. Noah Dobson 210 * 8. Ryan Pulock 202…
11. Roman Hamrlik 153 * 12. Travis Hamonic 146 * 13. Adam Pelech 144 …
19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 * 20. Scott Mayfield 122
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 * 2. Rick DiPietro 318 * 3. Glenn Resch 282 …
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 * 5. Ilya Sorokin 218 6. Thomas Greiss 193 7. Tommy Salo 187 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. Kelly Hrudey and Ilya Sorokin 106 * 6. Thomas Greiss 101 7. Jaroslav Halak 88 8. Roland Melanson 77 * 9. Semyon Varlamov 76
Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 * 2. Billy Smith 22 3. Ilya Sorokin 19 **
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 7-19-2-2 on the season after splitting games this weekend; they dropped a 4-1 decision to Providence on Friday but rebounded for a 7-5 win in Springfield on Saturday.
Liam Foudy had Bridgeport's only goal Friday and scored twice on Saturday. Matthew Maggio also scored twice and had a pair of assists on Saturday.
Brian Pinho continues to lead the team with 15 goals. Chris Terry's 19 assists and 23 points pace the Baby Isles in those categories.
Bridgeport is back in action on January 4th when they host Rochester. Six of their first seven games in January are at home.
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 1). The teams will play again on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
The Isles are 8-2-0 in the last ten meetings with the Penguins.
UP NEXT
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29th –PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 5:30pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 5:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles look to sweep the home-and-home series with the Penguins as the teams play at 5:30 on Sunday; the starting time is 22 hours after Saturday's, game, which is the minimum allowed by the CBA. The Isles will be looking to sweep consecutive games, both against Pittsburgh, for the first time since November 19-21, 2019, which were the 15th and 16th games in their club-record 17-game point streak.
The teams will also play March 18th in Pittsburgh to conclude the season series.
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
