"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 76
Isles 4, Washington 1
On the day Alexander Ovechkin became the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, he was outscored by Marc Gatcomb. The Islander rookie scored twice, including just three minutes after play resumed following Ovechkin's historic goal as the Islanders won their second straight game, 4-1 over the Washington Capitals before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.
Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (the latter after video review) also scored for the Isles as they improve to 34-32-10 on the season. The Isles head to Nashville on Tuesday before returning home to face the Rangers on Thursday night.
Ovechkin's 895th goal broke a tie that last less than 48 hours with Wayne Gretzky. It came against Ilya Sorokin, the 183rd goalie to allow a goal to Ovechkin. Sorokin stopped the other 28 Caps shots for his 29th win of the season.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Bo Horvat (26) Simon Holmstrom (22), Anders Lee (24) 07:06 WSH 0,NYI 1
Marc Gatcomb (7) Kyle MacLean (6), Alexander Romanov (15) 09:00 WSH 0,NYI 2
2nd Period
Alex Ovechkin (42) Tom Wilson (30), Dylan Strome (51) 07:26 WSH 1,NYI 2 PPG
Marc Gatcomb (8) Matt Martin (2), Kyle MacLean (7) 10:26 WSH 1,NYI 3
3rd Period
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (13) 04:20 WSH 1,NYI 4
The Skinny
The Isles are 5-4-3 in the last twelve games and 9-7-3 in the last nineteen games …The Isles are 6-2-3 in their last eleven home games and 12-4-3 in their last nineteen home games (which started with a 6-0-0 stretch)… The Isles have been outscored 91-81 in the third period and overtime, although they have outscored their opponents 44-34 in those periods over the last 33 games…The Isles outscored the Caps 4-0 at 5-on-5 today….The Isles have scored 152 goals and allowed 142 goals at 5-on-5 but have been outscored 87-56 in all other situations… The Isles went 0-2 on the power play; the Isles have been outscored 23-13 on the power play over the last 45 games… Ilya Sorokin has started eleven of the last thirteen and 24 of the last 28; he has appeared in 27 of the last 31 games…Sorokin is 9-5-2 in his last sixteen games, and his 298 wins are the second-highest total of his career… The Isles improve to 25-2-3 when leading after two periods… The Isles scored the first goal for only the 28th time this season….Alex Ovechkin broke the record by scoring six times in the last five games; Dylan Strome has a point in five straight games...Marc Gatcomb is the first Islander rookie since Robin Salo (10-15-2022 vs Anaheim) to score twice in a game..
Milestone Men
• Anders Lee has 287 goals, tying Brent Sutter and Pat LaFontaine for 6th in club history.
• Ilya Sorokin played his 250th game and Tony DeAngelo played his 400th NHL game.
• Ryan Pulock has 213 points, matching Jean Potvin for 7th among Isles defensemen.
The Playoff Chase (through Sunday)
3rd Metro New Jersey 89 points (36 RW) in 77 games
1st WC Ottawa 90 points (33 RW) in 77 games
2nd WC Montreal 85 points (28 RW) in 77 games
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3rd Rangers 79 points (32 RW) in 76 games
4th Detroit 79 points (28 RW) in 76 games
5th ISLES 78 points (27 RW) in 76 games
6th Columbus 77 points (24 RW) in 76 games
Maximum Points & Regulation Wins
• New Jersey 99/41 (3rd Metro)
• Ottawa 100/38 (WC 1)
• Montreal 95/33 (WC 2)
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• Rangers 91/38
• Detroit 91/34
• Isles 90/33
• Columbus 89/30
Third Periods
Goals: Isles 76, Opponents 84
Tying Goals: Isles 10, Opponents 16 (in 15 games)
Go Ahead Goals: Isles 13 (in 12 games), Opponents 10
Empty Net Goals: Isles 13, Opponents 22
The Isles have either been ahead or tied after two periods in 44 of their 75 games. In the 31 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (5-25-2), they have been within one goal at some point in all but eight of them.
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have sixteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win sixteen times this season, including nine times in the third period.
Overtime
The Isles are 5-8 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-2 in shootouts. Ilya Sorokin is 5-5 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts, Semyon Varlamov is 0-2 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts, and Marcus Hogberg is 0-1 in overtime and 0-0 in shootouts
Sorokin has 36 OT/SO losses, extending his club record (Rick DiPietro had 28).
Bo Knows Overtime
Bo Horvat has three overtime goals this season, six as an Islander, and eleven in his NHL career. All six of his overtime goals have come in the last two seasons; John Tavares is the only other Islander with multiple seasons with at least three overtime goals.
Most Overtime Goals, Career (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 11
2. Brock Nelson 9
3. Bo Horvat, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey 6
6. Mathew Barzal, Thomas Hickey, and Anthony Beauvillier 5
Most Overtime Goals, Season (Islanders)
1. John Tavares 4 (2014-15)
2. Bo Horvat 3 (2023-24)
Bo Horvat 3 (2024-25)
Brock Nelson 3 (2019-20)
John Tavares 3 (2010-11)
Simon Says 18
Simon Holmstrom is the first Swedish-born Islander to record 18 goals since the 1981-82 season, when Bobby Nystrom had 22 goals and Anders Kallur had 18 goals. Nystrom (8x) and Kallur (2x) are the only Swedes with more goals in a season than Holmstrom.
The Isles have scored 13 empty-net goals and allowed 22.
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 54 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 20 times
• Allowed the next goal: 25 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 9 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2024-25 34-32-10 for 78 points in 76 games
• 2023-24 34-27-15 for 83 points in 76 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-1-1
• Season: 30-121-151
• Last Season (Final) 33-137-170
The Islander defense scored only four times in the first 26 games but have 26 goals in the last 50 games; Islander defensemen have earned 35.8% of the team's assists, which is 2nd-highest in NHL (Buffalo 37.0%).
Home and Road
The Isles are 34-32-10 overall; they are 19-15-5 at home and 15-17-5 on the road.
Washington is 49-19-9 overall; they are 25-8-6 at home and 24-11-3 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 21-20-4 against the East (10-8-3 vs. Metropolitan and 11-12-1 vs. Atlantic) and 13-12-6 against the West (8-5-2 vs. Central and 5-7-4 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 1,478
3. Glen Sather 1,319
Leaders of the Pack
Lou Lamoriello (1,478) and Patrick Roy (184) have combined for 1,662 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 18-5-5 when scoring first and are 15-28-5 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 5-8-9=22
Washington 8-9-12=29
The Isles are 16-23-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 17-8-6 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves; he is 29-23-6 this season and 4-3-1 vs. Washington.
Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves; he is 18-13-3 this season and 1-1-0 vs the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (4:007); Washington was 1-2 (2:28).
The Isles are 14-5-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 20-27-9 when they do not. The Isles are 15-15-6 when they allow at least one power play goal and 19-17-4 when they do not.
The Isles are 10-5-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 7-16-6 when they are outscored, and 17-11-4 when special team goals are equal.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 31-10-6 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-22-4 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 14-7-10 in games decided by a single goal including 7-7 in regulation. They are 5-8 in games decided in overtime and are 2-2 in shootouts. The Isles are 5-9 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 6-4-1 on the front end and 4-7-0 on the back end this season. The final back-to-back will be April 12th-13th in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
The Isles are 9-6-1 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-2-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Tony DeAngelo (24:06); Washington: John Carlson (21:22)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (18:37).
Face-offs
Isles 37, Washington 27 (58%)
Casey Cizikas won 10 of 11 for the Isles; Nic Dowd won 6 of 10 for Washington.
Hit Count
Isles 26 (Marc Gatcomb -6)
Washington 20 (Ryan Leonard -4)
Fights
None. Season total: 10 (Mayfield, Wahlstrom, Martin-2, Pageau, Tsyplakov, Gatcomb, Cizikas-2, Lee)
Blocked Shots
Isles 18 (Five with 2)
Washington 22 (Rasmus Sandin - 4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 64, Washington 58
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 55, Washington 55
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Alex Romanov +9
Washington: Trevor Van Riemsdyk +12
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 15, Washington 9
5-on-5: Isles 12, Washington 9
Scratches
(Semyon Varlamov-LTIR), (Mathew Barzal – IR), Anthony Duclair, Adam Boqvist, Scott Perunovich, Mike Reilly)
Games Lost to injury: 288. (Last season's total: 181)
The Ironmen
Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders' ironman, having played 192 consecutive games. Casey Cizikas (102) and Anders Lee (76) are the only other Isles to have also played every game this season.
National TV Games
Including today, the Isles are 3-4-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners, with two games remaining. The next national game will be on TNT on April 13th as the Isles visit the Devils; two of the last three games will be nationally-televised.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 2-5-2 in matinee games this season, with two games remaining. The next matinee will be April 13 vs. the Devils. 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 14-17-12 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 7 successful, 5 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, no goalie interference – PIT 3/18, offside -MTL 3/20, no goalie interference – MTL 3/20)
Opponents: 8 successful, 4 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, goalie interference x2 – LA 3/11, No goalie interference – CBJ 3/24)
Hockey Opps: 0 favorable, 1 unfavorable (Goalie interference – CBJ 3/24)
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (3): CHI 12/12, PHI 1/24, FLA 3/16
Vs (3): CHI 12/15, MIN 2/8, CAR 3/30
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (8): BUF 11/1, CAR 12/7, BOS 1/5, SJ 1/18, MIN 2/8, DAL 2/23, NAS 3/1, MIN 4/4
Opponent responses (9): UTA 10/10 (2), SEA 11/16, CHI 12/15, TOR 12/31, BOS 1/5, NAS 3/1, LA 3/11, CGY 3/22
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
For (3): PIT 11/5 (Trailed 3-1, won 4-3 (SO), FLA 3/16 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2), PIT 3/18 (Trailed 2-0, won 4-2).
Vs (2): 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 (4): 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 @ UTA (18:35-GAG), Kyle MacLean 3/22 vs. CGY (17:09, GAG, but lost in OT)
Vs (9): 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); Jonathan Huberdeau 3/22 vs. CGY (17:38- GTG; CGY won in OT)
OT Winners
For (5): 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), Bo Horvat 3/20 vs MTL (3:37)
Vs (8): 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); Leon Draisaitl 3/14 vs. EDM (3:52); Nazem Kadri 3/22 vs CGY (3:51)
Shootout Winners
For (2): Noah Dobson 10/19 vs MTL, Bo Horvat 11/5 vs PIT
Vs (2): Andrei Kuzmenko 11/19 @ CGY, Adam Fantilli 3/24 vs CBJ
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 891 *** 7. Clark Gillies 872 *** 8. Matt Martin 849 *** 9. Anders Lee 835 …
22. John Tonelli 594 *** 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 555 *** 25. Ken Morrow 550 *** 26. Duane Sutter 547 *** 27. Lorne Henning 543 *** 28. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 29. Tomas Jonsson 532 *** 30. Mathew Barzal and Pat LaFontaine 530 *** 32. Kyle Okposo and Scott Mayfield 529
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
5. Brock Nelson 295 *** 6. Pat LaFontaine, Brent Sutter, and Anders Lee 287 …
20. Kyle Okposo 139 *** 21. Mathew Barzal 134…
29. Ray Ferraro 116 *** 30. Casey Cizikas 114
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
7. John Tonelli 338 *** 8. Patrick Flatley and Mathew Barzal 328…
19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 *** 21. Anders Lee 217…
24. Ed Westfall 181 *** 25. Noah Dobson 179 *** 26. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 27. Alexei Yashin and Duane Sutter 171 *** 29. Jean Potvin 167 *** 30. Jeff Norton 166 *** 31. Ziggy Palffy 163 *** 32. Ryan Pulock 160…
34. Mariusz Czerkawski 150 *** 35. Casey Cizikas 146
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
12. Bob Bourne 542 *** 13. Anders Lee 503…
15. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 16. Mathew Barzal 462…
27. Ed Westfall 286 *** 28. Casey Cizikas 260
+/-
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 +62 *** 21. Jude Drouin +58 *** 23. Patrick Flatley +57 *** 24. Greg Gilbert +54
Defense Goals
1. Denis Potvin 310 *** 2. Tomas Jonsson 84 *** 3. Kenny Jonsson 57 ***
4. Ryan Pulock 53 *** 5. Stefan Persson 52 *** 6. Noah Dobson 49…
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 ***
4. Nick Leddy 198 *** 5. Noah Dobson 179…
7. Jean Potvin 167 *** 8. Jeff Norton 166 *** 9. Ryan Pulock 160 ***10. Mark Streit 139 *** 11. Adam Pelech 133…
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 228 *** 7. Jean Potvin and Ryan Pulock 213…
10. Mark Streit 179 *** 11. Adam Pelech 159…
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. Ilya Sorokin 250 …
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 124 …
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 15-45-4-3 following a 5-2 loss to Charlotte on Saturday.
Brian Pinho has a team-leading (and career-high) 24 goals, four ahead of Liam Foudy. Terry's 45 assists and 64 points both lead the team and are 2nd and 4th in the AHL, respectively.
The Baby Isles host Hartford on both Wednesday and Saturday.
Season Series Stats
The season series is tied, 1 game to 1 (the Isles have 3 points to Washington's 2). The teams will meet on April 15th to complete the season series and the Islander home schedule.
The Isles are 6-3-3 in the last 12 meetings with Washington, dating back to the final week of Barry Trotz' Islander tenure. At UBS Arena, the Isles are 3-3-1 vs. the Caps.
UP NEXT
TUESDAY, APRIL 8th – NASHVILLE AT ISLES 8:00pm
[MSGSN (pre-game at 7:30) , WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles head to Nashville for their final game against a Western Conference opponent on Tuesday.
The Isles defeated the Preds 7-4 at UBS Arena back on March 1st; Ilya Sorokin was credited with a goal in that game. It was the Isles' second straight win at home against the Predators.
However, Music City has been another story. Doug Weight was the Isles coach on October 28, 2017, when the Isles won 6-2 in Nashville. Since then, the Isles are 0-4-1 in Tennessee.
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
