Game 60
Rangers 4, Isles 0
Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves for his 19th career shutout as the Rangers blanked the Isles 4-0 for their second shutout in as many nights. JT Miller had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who also got a goal off Will Cuylle's head, a shorthanded tally by Will Borgen and an empty-netter from Artemi Panarin, before a crowd of 17,475 at Madison Square Garden.
Anders Lee appeared to give the Isles a 1-0 lead in the first but the goal was reversed on an offsides.
The Isles are 27-26-7 as they head home to host Winnipeg on Tuesday in their final game before the NHL trade deadline on Friday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Will Cuylle (17) Zac Jones (8), J.T. Miller (33) 15:03 NYI 0,NYR 1
Will Borgen (4) Sam Carrick (12), Will Cuylle (16) 19:15 NYI 0,NYR 2 SHG
2nd Period
No Goals
3rd Period
J.T. Miller (16) Artemi Panarin (38) 03:43 NYI 0,NYR 3
Artemi Panarin (25)EN Alexis Lafrenière (20), Vincent Trocheck (22) 14:51 NYI 0,NYR 4
The Skinny
The Isles have allowed 28 goals in the last seven games (2-5-0)…The Isles have been outscored 74-59 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 22-17 in those periods over the last 18 games…The Isles have scored 121 goals and allowed 113 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 66-42 in all other situations… The Isles have been tied or ahead at some point in the third period in 34 of the last 48 games… The Isles have outscored the opposition 62-56 in the second period this season; they were outscored 107-83 in the second period a season ago… The Isles killed both Ranger power plays and are 8-8 on the penalty kill over the last three games … The Isles went 0-3 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal; over the last 29 games, the Isles have been outscored 14-5 on the power play…Brock Nelson saw his five-game assist streak end… The Rangers recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since March 2023, when they also had shutouts on both ends of a back-to-back; their shutout streak is 133:39.
First Times in a Long Time
• The Isles have lost three straight in regulation to the Rangers for the first time since January 12, 2019 – January 16, 2020; it is the first time it has happened in a single season since November 15-December 26, 2011.
• All three losses have been by at least three goals; the Isles last lost three straight by that margin December 28, 2005, to March 29, 2006.
Milestone Man
Brock Nelson played his 900th game, tying Bob Nystrom for 4th place in club history. Nelson is tied with Nystrom for 15th place on the club assist list, one behind Pat LaFontaine for 14th place.
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 55, Opponents 69
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 37 of their 60 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 42 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 18 times
• Allowed the next goal: 19 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 5 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2024-25 27-26-7 for 61 points in 60 games
• 2023-24 26-20-14 for 66 points in 60 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-0-0
• Season: 21-89-110
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 17 goals in the last 34 games.
Home and Road
The Isles are 27-26-7 overall; they are 14-13-2 at home and 13-13-5 on the road.
The Rangers are 31-26-4 overall; they are 16-13-2 at home and 15-13-2 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 10-9-4 against the West (6-5-2 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 1,471
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,471) and Patrick Roy (177) have combined for 1,648 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 14-5-4 when scoring first and are 13-21-3 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 8-6-7=21
Rangers 6-6-14=26
The Isles are 13-17-3 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 22 saves; he is 22-19-4 this season and 3-6-2 vs. the Rangers.
Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves; he is 21-21-2 this season and 8-8-1 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 (6:00) and allowed a shorthanded goal; the Rangers were 0-2 (4:00).
The Isles are 10-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 17-23-6 when they do not. The Isles are 10-13-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 17-13-1 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 24-8-4 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 12-7-7 in games decided by a single goal including 6-7 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 3-5-0 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes at UBS Arena on Tuesday vs. Winnipeg; the next back-to-back will be March 8th-9th in San Jose and Anaheim.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Tony DeAngelo (23:33); Rangers: K'Ande Miller (22:07)
Brock Nelson led Isles forwards (22:09).
Face-offs
Isles 24, Rangers 26 (48%)
Bo Horvat won 12 of 22 for the Isles; Vincent Trocheck won 8 of 13 for Rangers.
Hit Count
Isles 17 (Four with 2)
Rangers 24 (Matt Rempe -4)
Fights
Season total: 8 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas)
Blocked Shots
Isles 12 (Alexander Romanov -3)
Rangers 22 (Two with 4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Rangers 61
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 39, Rangers 46
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Hudson Fasching +6
Rangers: Alexis Lafreniere +12
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 10, Rangers 12
5-on-5: Isles 7, Rangers 8
Scratches
(Mike Reilly-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Mathew Barzal – IR), (Margus Hogberg -IR), (Matt Martin-IR), Pierre Engvall, Anthony Duclair, Scott Perunovich
Games Lost to injury: 236. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Brock Nelson is the Islanders' ironman, having played 226 consecutive games. Kyle Palmieri (176) 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. Bob Nystrom and Brock Nelson 900 * 6. Casey Cizikas 875 7. Clark Gillies 872 8. Matt Martin 848 * 9. Anders Lee 819 …
23. Ken Morrow 550 * 24. Duane Sutter 547 25. Lorne Henning 543 26. Adam Pelech 540 27. Ryan Pulock 539 28. Claude Lapointe 535 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 30. Mathew Barzal 531 31. Pat LaFontaine 530 32. Kyle Okposo 529 * 33. Scott Mayfield 521
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 3. Denis Potvin 310 **
4. Clark Gillies 304 * 5. Brock Nelson 294 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 279 * 15. Bobby Nystrom and Brock Nelson 278…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 * 21. Anders Lee 212…
25. Kenny Jonsson 175 * 26. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 28. Noah Dobson 169 29. Jean Potvin 167 30. Jeff Norton 166 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 * 32. Ryan Pulock 158…
35. Travis Green 145 * 36. Casey Cizikas 144
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
7. Josh Bailey 580 * 8. Brock Nelson 572 …
13. Derek King 499 * 14. Anders Lee 495 15. Patrick Flatley 488 ** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…
28. Jason Blake and Steve Thomas 258 * 30. Casey Cizikas 256
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 \\\2. Denis Potvin +456 \\\ 3. Mike Bossy +380…
15. Bob Lorimer +105 * 16. Adam Pelech +78 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 18. Garry Howatt +75 19. Pat Price +70 20. JP Parise +67 21. Ryan Pulock +59 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 52 * 5. Ryan Pulock 51 * 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 169 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 215 7. Jean Potvin 213 ** 8. Ryan Pulock 209…
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 237 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 117 …
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 2nd in the AHL in points).
Bridgeport will host Toronto on Saturday and Springfield on Sunday.
Season Series Stats
The Rangers lead the season series, 3 game to 0 (and 6 points to 0). The final meeting will be on April 10th at UBS Arena.
The Isles have lost four straight (0-3-1) over two seasons to the Rangers and are 1-5-2 in the last eight matchups with the Blueshirts; their five-game winless (0-4-1) streak at MSG is the longest since going 0-7-1 from March 24, 2010, to February 7, 2013.
UP NEXT
TUESDAY, MARCH 4th – WINNIPEG AT ISLES 7:30pm
[MSGSN (Pre-game at 7:00), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles look to earn a split of the season series when they host the Jets on Tuesday; Winnipeg defeated the Isles, 4-3, in Manitoba on February 7th.
The Isles have won four straight at home(s) against the Jets, by a combined score of 17-7, and are 8-2-0 in their last ten 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.
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
