Game 61
Isles 3, Winnipeg 2
Brock Nelson scored his 20th goal and added an assist, and Ryan Pulock's third period goal turned out to be the game-winner as the Islanders rebounded from their 4-0 loss to the Rangers on Monday with a 3-2 win over the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets before a crowd of 14,723 at UBS Arena.
Kyle Palmieri also scored his 20th goal of the season on the power play; Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers twice cut the margin to one for Winnipeg, but the Jets could not get even.
The Isles are 28-26-7 as they head to California for three games beginning on Saturday night in San Jose. Saturday's game will be the first played by the Islanders after Friday's NHL trade deadline.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Kyle Palmieri (20) Brock Nelson (23), Bo Horvat (23) 16:49 WPG 0,NYI 1 PPG
2nd Period
Brock Nelson (20) Maxim Tsyplakov (19), Noah Dobson (19) 01:33 WPG 0,NYI 2
Josh Morrissey (9) Mark Scheifele (34), Kyle Connor (44) 08:48 WPG 1,NYI 2 PPG
3rd Period
Ryan Pulock (4) Anders Lee (20), Casey Cizikas (7) 04:03 WPG 1,NYI 3
Nikolaj Ehlers (19) Kyle Connor (45), Josh Morrissey (40) 12:51 WPG 2,NYI 3 PPG
The Skinny
The Isles improve to 3-5-0 in the last eight games…The Isles have been outscored 75-60 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 23-18 in those periods over the last 18 games…The Isles have scored 123 goals and allowed 113 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 68-43 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 35 of the last 49 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 63-57 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… After going 8-8 on the penalty kill the last three games, the Isles allowed two goals in three times short.… The Isles went 1-2 on the power play; over the last 30 games, the Isles have been outscored 16-6 on the power play…The Jets are winless in three games after their franchise-record eleven game winning streak… Winnipeg has scored multiple power play goals 14 times this season…Ilya Sorokin started both games of a back-to-back for the third time this season; Sorokin's career save percentage remains .934 in games played on 0 days' rest….The Isles have won 16 straight games when leading after two periods (16-0-0); Winnipeg trailed after two periods for only the 13th time all season…Alex Romanov blocked 7 shots to take over the club lead with 128 (five more than Ryan Pulock)…Adam Pelech matched a season-high in shots (5) and finished with 11 shot attempts.
First Times in a Long Time
• The Isles have four 20-goal scorers by the 61st game of the season; it is the earliest that the Isles have had four 20-goal scorers since 2006-07, when they did so in the 60th game.
• The Isles have scored a power play goal in consecutive home games for the first time since October 29th - November 5th.
Milestone Men
• Brock Nelson played his 901st game, passing Bob Nystrom for 4th place in club history. Nelson also passed Nystrom on the club assist list, tying Pat LaFontaine for 14th place with 279 assists. The 279 assists are the most for an American-born Islander; Nelson already holds the records for an American in goals (295) and points (574).
• Nelson reached 20 goals for the 9th time in his career, becoming the seventh player to do so as an islander.
• Ryan Pulock scored his 52nd goal, tying Stefan Persson for 4th place in club history among defensemen.
Quite the Numbers
Marcus Hogberg has now played 332 minutes for the Isles, allowing eight goals on 151 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Both the GAA and save percentage are the best in Islander history for any goalie who played multiple games. He is the 44th goalie to win multiple games for the Isles.
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 56, Opponents 70
Tying Goals: Isles 6, Opponents 13 (in 12 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 10 (in 9 games), Opponents 9
Empty Net Goals: Isles 11, Opponents 17
The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 38 of their 61 games. In the 23 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-19-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but five of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 2/25 vs NYR, 3/3 @ NYR)
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have twelve come-from behind wins this season, including three when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including seven times in the third period.
Overtime
The Isles are 4-6 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-1 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 4-4 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 11 empty-net goals and allowed 17.
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 44 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 18 times
• Allowed the next goal: 21 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2024-25 28-26-7 for 63 points in 61 games
• 2023-24 27-20-14 for 68 points in 61 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 1-1-2
• Season: 22-90-112
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 18 goals in the last 35 games.
Home and Road
The Isles are 28-26-7 overall; they are 15-13-2 at home and 13-13-5 on the road.
Winnipeg is 42-16-4 overall; they are 23-5-4 at home and 19-11-0 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 17-17-3 against the East (8-7-2 vs. Metropolitan and 9-10-1 vs. Atlantic) and 11-9-4 against the West (7-5-2 vs. Central and 4-4-2 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 1,472
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,472) and Patrick Roy (178) have combined for 1,650 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 15-5-4 when scoring first and are 13-21-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 17-7-5=29
Winnipeg 10-13-5-28
The Isles are 14-17-3 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 13-8-4 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves; he is 23-19-4 this season and 3-2-0 vs. Winnipeg.
Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves; he is 36-8-3 this season and 5-7-0 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-2 (2:23) and allowed a shorthanded goal; Winnipeg was 2-3 (4:20).
The Isles are 11-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-23-6 when they do not. The Isles are 11-13-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-13-1 when they do not.
The Isles are 8-2-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 5-13-5 when they are outscored, and 15-11-2 when special team goals are equal.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 25-8-4 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-18-3 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 13-7-7 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 4-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 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 5-3-1 on the front end and 4-5-0 on the back end this season. The next back-to-back will be March 8th-9th in San Jose and Anaheim.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Alex Romanov (22:32); Winnipeg: Josh Morrissey (24:36)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (18:55).
Face-offs
Isles 28, Winnipeg 29 (49%)
Brock Nelson won 9 of 16 for the Isles; Vladislav Namestnikov won 9 of 16 for Winnipeg.
Hit Count
Isles 34 (Three with 4)
Winnipeg 16 (Five with 2)
Fights
Anders Lee fought Adam Lowry in the first period. Season total: 9 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas, Lee)
Blocked Shots
Isles 26 (Alexander Romanov -7)
Winnipeg 8 (Two with 2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 54, Winnipeg 75
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 50, Winnipeg 56
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Adam Pelech and Noah Dobson +15
Winnipeg: Haydn Fleury +13
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Winnipeg 12
5-on-5: Isles 8, Winnipeg 11
Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Mathew Barzal – IR), (Margus Hogberg -IR), (Matt Martin-IR), Pierre Engvall, Adam Boqvist, Scott Perunovich
Games Lost to injury: 241. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 227 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (177) has also played every game since the start of last season.
Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11
2. Brock Nelson 9
3. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey 6
5. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5
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 19
Barzal has a point on 21 of the 43 overtime goals that the Isles have scored since he became a regular in 2016-17.
National TV Games
The Isles are 2-3-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with four games remaining. The next national game will stream April 1st on ESPN+/Hulu as the Isles host the Lightning; four of the last nine games will be nationally-televised. Note that the April 12th game in Philadelphia will now be an Islander local telecast.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 1-4-1 in matinee games this season, with five games remaining. The next matinee will be on March 22nd vs. Calgary. The NHL considers games that start before 5:00 local time to be afternoon contests. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Isles are 13-16-11 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 6 successful, 3 failures (No offsides -PIT 11/5, No goalie interference – SEA 11/16, Goalie Interference- WAS 11/29, goalie interference – TOR 12/31, no goalie interference – BOS 1/5, offsides-VEG 1/9, goalie interference – OTT 1/14, goalie interference – COL 1/28, goalie interference – PHI 1/30)
Opponents: 6 successful, 3 failures (No Goalie Interference -UTA 10/10, Offside-VAN 11/14, Goalie Interference-STL 11/23, Offside -BUF 11/30, No Goalie Interference-CHI 12/15, Goalie Interference – PIT 12/28. Offside 12/31, No goalie interference – NSH 3/1, goalie interference – NYR 3/3)
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (2): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24
Vs (2): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (7): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1
Opponent responses (7): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1
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)), WSH 11/29 Led 4-2, Lost 5-4 (SO))
Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (3): Maxim Tsyplakov 10/10 vs. UTA (17:53, GAG but lost in OT); Anders Lee 11/12 @ EDM (17:20-GTG; EDM won in OT); Mathew Barzal 1/11 vs UTA (18:35-GAG)
Vs (8): Josh Doan 10/10 vs. UTA (18:06- GTG; UTA won in OT); Cole Caufield 10/19 vs MTL (17:50-GTG; NYI won in SO); Jesper Bratt 10/25 at NJD (18:31-GTG; NYI won in OT); Stefan Noesen 11/9 vs NJ (19:10-GTG; NJD won in OT); Lucas Raymond 11/21 at DET (19:09-GAG); 12/15 Connor Bedard at CHI (19:06-GAG); Bobby McMann 1/2 vs. TOR (17:01- GAG); Nikita Kucherov 2/1 at TB (19:13-GTG; NYI won in OT)
OT Winners
For (4): Bo Horvat 10/25 @ NJD (1:09), Bo Horvat 1/5 @ BOS (3:10), Brock Nelson 1/25 vs CAR (2:03), Tony DeAngelo 2/1 @ TB (0:32)
Vs (6): Dylan Guenther 10/10 vs. UTA (2:18); Jake Neighbours 10/17 @ STL (2:04); Jack Hughes 11/9 vs NJD (2:35); Leon Draisaitl 11/12 @ EDM (1:52); Jakub Chychrun 11/29 @ WAS (1:20); Nick Suzuki 12/3 @ MTL (2:39)
Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (1): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 * 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 **
4. Brock Nelson 901 * 5. Bobby Nystrom 900 6. Casey Cizikas 876 7. Clark Gillies 872 8. Matt Martin 848 ** 9. Anders Lee 820 …
23. Ken Morrow 550 * 24. Duane Sutter 547 25. Lorne Henning 543 26. Adam Pelech 541 27. Ryan Pulock 540 28. Claude Lapointe 535 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 30. Mathew Barzal 531 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 32. Kyle Okposo 529 * 33. Scott Mayfield 522
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 3. Denis Potvin 310 **
4. Clark Gillies 304 * 5. Brock Nelson 295 6. Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter 287 ** 8. Anders Lee 283 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 * 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 * 30. Casey Cizikas 112
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 * 2. Denis Potvin 742 * 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 * 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…
13. Derek King 288 * 14. Pat LaFontaine and Brock Nelson 279…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 * 21. Anders Lee 213…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 * 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 28. Noah Dobson 170 29. Jean Potvin 167 30. Jeff Norton 166 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 * 32. Ryan Pulock 158…
35. Travis Green 145 * 36. Casey Cizikas 145
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 * 8. Brock Nelson 574 …
13. Derek King 499 * 14. Anders Lee 496 15. Patrick Flatley 488 ** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 * 30. Casey Cizikas 257
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 \\\2. Denis Potvin +456 \\\ 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 * 16. Adam Pelech +79 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 18. Garry Howatt +75 19. Pat Price +70 20. JP Parise +67 21. Ryan Pulock +60 21. Jude Drouin +58 23. Patrick Flatley +57 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 and Ryan Pulock 52 * 6. Jean Potvin and Noah Dobson 46…
13. Bryan Berard 31 * 14. Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Mayfield 27 * 16. Adam Pelech and four others 26
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742* 2. Stefan Persson 317 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 249…
5. Kenny Jonsson 175 * 6. Noah Dobson 170 7. Jean Potvin 167 8. Jeff Norton 166 9. Ryan Pulock 158 \\\10. Mark Streit 139 \\* 11. Adam Pelech 129…
17. Bryan Berard 100 * 18. Vladimir Malakhov 98 * 19. Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield 96
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 * 2. Stefan Persson 369 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 * 6. Noah Dobson 216 7. Jean Potvin 213 ** 8. Ryan Pulock 210…
10. Mark Streit 179 * 11. Adam Pelech 155…
18. Gerry Hart 128 * 19. Vladimir Malakhov 125 * 20. Scott Mayfield 123
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 * 2. Rick DiPietro 318 3. Glenn Resch 282 **
4. Kelly Hrudey 241 * 5. Ilya Sorokin 238 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. Ilya Sorokin 118 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 * 8. Roland Melanson 77 * 9. Semyon Varlamov 76
Shutouts
1. Glenn Resch 25 * 2. Billy Smith 22 3. Ilya Sorokin 21 **
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 12-36-3-3 as they head to Hartford for a game on Wednesday.
Brian Pinho scored twice Saturday to give him a team-leading (and career-high) 21 goals, four ahead of Liam Foudy. Chris Terry's 34 assists and 50 points pace the Baby Isles in both categories (he is tied for 3rd in the AHL in points).
Bridgeport will host Toronto on Saturday and Springfield on Sunday.
Season Series Stats
The teams split the season series, 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).
The Isles have won five straight at home(s) against the Jets, by a combined score of 20-9, and are 9-2-0 in their last eleven games overall against Winnipeg.
The last Jet win over the Isles in New York was at Barclays Center on December 4, 2018, by a 3-1 score.
UP NEXT
SATURDAY, MARCH 8th –ISLES AT SAN JOSE 10:00pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 9:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles look to sweep the season series when they begin their California trip in San Jose; the Isles defeated the Sharks, 4-1, at UBS Arena, on Brent Sutter night back on January 18th.
The Isles are 5-0-4 in their last nine games against the Sharks, including 2-0-2 in San Jose in their last four trips to Northern California. The last regulation loss to the Sharks was on October 20, 2018, at the Tank, by a 4-1 score in Barry Trotz' seventh game behind the Islander bench.
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.
