Game 56
Washington 4, Isles 1
Clay Stevenson earned his second straight win as the Washington Capitals scored twice in a :31 span of the second period as they defeated the Isles 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,255 at Capital One Arena.
Mathew Barzal had given the Isles a 1-0 lead off a Tom Wilson giveaway, but that was all the Isles could manage against the Capitals' third-string goaltender.
The Isles fall to 17-11-2 in their last 30 games as they head home to face Pittsburgh in the penultimate game before the Olympic break.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Mathew Barzal (15) 16:38 NYI 1,WSH 0
2nd Period
Martin Fehérváry (4) Tom Wilson (26), Nic Dowd (12) 05:29 NYI 1,WSH 1
Anthony Beauvillier (11) Matt Roy (14), Alex Ovechkin (25) 06:00 NYI 1,WSH 2
3rd Period
Nic Dowd (4) Rasmus Sandin (16), Ethen Frank (12) 08:46 NYI 1,WSH 3
John Carlson (10) Aliaksei Protas (19) 16:35 NYI 1, WSH 4 ENG
The Skinny
The Isles went 0-2 on the power play and killed all four Capital power plays; the Isles are 6-31 on the power play in the last nine games and snapped a streak of allowing a power play goal in three straight games… The Isles fall to 3-17-1 when trailing after two periods… The Isles allowed two goals in less than a minute for the seventh time this season (0-6-1)… The Isles had won four straight games against the Metro, matching their longest intra-divisional win streak since October/November 2022, when they won six straight…Nic Dowd played his 500th game as a Capital while Martin Fehervary scored in his first game as a new father…Former Islander Anthony Beauvillier scored his third goal in twelve games against the Isles; Alex Ovechkin earned an assist on it – his 1,670 point, which breaks a tie with Wayne Gretzky for 5th-highest total for one team…Matthew Schaefer now has 192 speed bursts of at least 20 miles per hour – that's the most by an NHL defenseman by a wide margin (Jake Sanderson 173); Sanderson (27) is the only d-man to exceed 22 mph more often than Schaefer (25)...Mathew Barzal has four goals in his last five games.
The Standings
The Isles remain two points behind Pittsburgh for 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division (the Isles have played two more games); they are now two points ahead of Washington.
Milestone Men
• Mathew Barzal is now four points behind Bob Nystrom (513) for 13th place in club history.
• Ryan Pulock remains tied with Ed Westfall for 24th place with 181 assists.
• Matthew Schaefer remains two goals behind both Denis Potvin's club record of 17 goals by a rookie defenseman and Phil Housley's record for an 18-year-old defenseman.
• Schaefer remains one point behind Bobby Orr for 3rd place in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman.
Return to Form
Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 16-9-1 (with a tied for NHL-best .929 save percentage, and a 2.08 goals-against average) and an NHL-leading six shutouts since then.
Sorokin is 13-1-0 when facing more than 30 shots; he won his first thirteen while facing over 30 to set the club record for consecutive wins when facing more than 30 shots.
The Shutout Leader
Sorokin not only leads the NHL in shutouts this season; his 28 career shutouts are the most by an NHL goalie since Sorokin debuted in 2020-21; Connor Hellebuyck has 25 and Igor Shesterkin has 22 in that span.
Sorokin now has three seasons of at least six shutouts; he is the only goalie in club history with more than one such season (Varlamov, Resch, Halak, and Lehner each did it once.) Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky are the only other actives with three seasons.
Shutouts in Highest Percentage of Games Played (minimum 25 shutouts)
1. Roman Cechmanek (25/212) 11.8%
2. Ken Dryden (46/397) 11.6%
3. Dominik Hasek (81/735) 11.0%
4. Martin Brodeur (125/1266) 9.9%
5. Ilya Sorokin (28/286) 9.8%
Big Save Dave
David Rittich is 12-8-3 on the season. He is 1-3-1 in his last five games.
Islander goalies other than Sorokin won only five games last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).
Most Islander Shutouts in a Season
• 11 2018-19
• 10 2020-21 and 1975-76
• 9 2021-22
• 8 2025-26, 2022-23 and 1997-98
The Road Ahead
The Isles are starting a stretch where they play eight of their next ten games, and 11 of their next 15 games on the road. They are 0-1-0 overall, 0-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road.
Including tonight, sixteen of their last 27 games will be played in eight sets of back-to-backs.
Following this stretch they will end the season by playing 10 of the final 12 games at home.
Most Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman
1. Phil Housley (BUF) 17 (1982-83)
2. Matthew Schaefer 15 (2025-26)
(Housley had 19 goals as a rookie, but the final two occurred after his 19th birthday)
Most Points by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman
1. Phil Housley (BUF) (17-40-57 in 66 GP) 1982-83
2. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) (9-35-44 in 82 GP) 2018-19
3. Bobby Orr (BOS) (13-25-38 in 56 GP) 1966-67
4. Matthew Schaefer (15-22-37 in 55 GP)
Most Power Play Goals by an 18-Year-Old Defenseman
1. Phil Housley (BUF) 10 (1982-83)
2. Matthew Schaefer 6 (2025-26)
3. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 5 (2018-19)
Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Matthew Schaefer 15
2. Bryan Berard 7
Only six Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have scored at least fifteen goals, led by Bryan Trottier's 32 and Pat LaFontaine's 26. Brent Sutter (23) is the one now above Schaefer.
Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 32
2. Matthew Schaefer 22
Only seven Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 22 assists, led by Bryan Trottier's 63 and Tim Connolly's 51. Brent Sutter (24) is the one now above Schaefer.
Most Points by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 39
2. Matthew Schaefer 37
Only seven Islander teenagers, regardless of position, have recorded at least 37 points, led by Bryan Trottier's 95 and Tim Connolly's 75. Bryan Berard (39) is the one now above Schaefer.
Most Game-Winning Goals by an Islander Teenager
1. Bryan Trottier 5
2. Matthew Schaefer 4
Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 110 Isles games.
Most Games, Goals, Assists and Points as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)
Matthew Schafer now holds the club record for goals (15) assists (22) and points (37). Tim Connolly played 81 games as a rookie – the only 18-year-old to play more games than Schaefer.
Most Goals by an Islander Rookie Defenseman
1. Denis Potvin 17 (1973-74)
2. Matthew Schaefer 15 (2025-26)
Most Points by an Islander Rookie Defenseman
1. Stefan Persson 56 (1977-78)
2. Denis Potvin 54 (1973-74)
3. Vladimir Malakhov 52 (1992-93)
4. Bryan Berard 48 (1996-97)
5. Matthew Schaefer 37 (2025-26)
Most Goals by an NHL Rookie Defenseman (Last 30 seasons)
1. Dion Phaneuf – CGY 20 (2005-06)
2. Shayne Gostisbehere - PHI 17 (2015-16)
3. Matthew Schaefer 15 (2025-26)
The NHL record is 23, held by Brian Leetch-NYR (1988-89)
Schaefer and Penalties
Matthew Schaefer has drawn 28 penalties this season, more than any other NHL defenseman, and fourth in the NHL (behind Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, and Mikko Rantanen). He is a net +15 (having taken only 13 penalties).
Since penalties drawn was tracked in 2009-10, no Isle defenseman has finished a season higher than +11 (Noah Dobson 2021-22), John Tavares holds the club record for a season at +29 in 2011-12, while Mathew Barzal +26 in 2017-18 is the only other Islander to finish higher than +15. Cale Makar is the only NHL defenseman to finish higher than +16 (Makar was +19 in 2024-25 and +17 in 2023-24).
Most Penalties Drawn by an Islander Defenseman (Season, Since 2009-10)
1. Matthew Schaefer 2025-26 28
2. Matt Carkner 2013-14 23
3. Thomas Hickey 2016-17 22
Most Penalties Drawn by an Islander Rookie (Season, Since 2009-10)
1. Mathew Barzal 2017-18 40
2. Matthew Schaefer 2025-26 28
3. Matt Martin 2010-11 25
[Travis Hamonic (17 in 2010-11) is the only other Islander rookie defenseman to draw more than 10.)
Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game
1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)
Matthew Schaefer 28:53 1/8/2026 vs NAS (SO)
3. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG
4. Matthew Schaefer 27:41 1/10/2026 vs NAS (OT)
5. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)
A 20-year-old Islander has played more than 28:53 only twice (Bryan Berard -31:30; Travis Hamonic -28:54). The younger of these was Hamonic (vs PIT) on April 8, 2011, when he was 20 years, 235 days old; Schaefer will not hit that age until April 27, 2028.
Most Ice Time by an 18-Year-Old, Game
1. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 29:15 12/4/2018 vs TOR (OT)
2. Drew Doughty (LA) 29:04 11/22/2008 vs COL (SO)
3. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)
Matthew Schaefer 28:53 1/8/2026 vs NAS (SO)
Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes eight times and at least 26 minutes thirteen times. He is the first 18-year-old to do either of these things since ice time became official.
Schaefer has played at least 20:00 in 44 straight games; it is the longest streak in NHL history by an 18-year-old and the second-longest by a teenager (Tyler Myers -47) since ice-time became official.
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have thirteen come-from behind wins this season, including five when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win twelve times this season, including four times in the third period.
The Isles have two multi-goal comeback wins (none in the third period); opponents have three (none in the third period).
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 5-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 4-5 in shootouts.
The Sixth Attacker
The Isles have scored eight goals with the 6th attacker (tied-most in NHL) and allowed nine empty net goals.
Opponents have scored six goals with 6th attacker and allowed six empty-netters to the Isles.
Most Extra Attacker Goals, Isles (since 2009-10)
1. 2017-18 9
2. 2025-26 8
Most Career Empty Net Goals
1. Bryan Trottier 27
2. John Tavares 20
3. Mike Bossy 15
4. Brock Nelson 13
5. Jason Blake and Casey Cizikas 11
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 29 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 12 times
• Allowed the next goal: 13 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 4 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2025-26 30-21-5 for 65 points in 56 games
• 2024-25 25-24-7 for 57 points in 56 games; they reached 65 points in their 62nd game, which was their first game after trading Brock Nelson.
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-0-0
• Season: 27-81-108
• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161
Rookie Scoring
• Today: 0-0-0
• Season: 27-45-72
• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49
• This season's totals are the most since 2017-18 (38-101-139)
The 27 rookie goals trail only Montreal (29) for the most in the NHL while the 72 points are 3rd. Islander rookies have scored 17.2% of the team's goals, which is the highest percentage in the NHL.
Home and Road
The Isles are 30-21-5 overall; they are 15-10-2 at home and 15-11-3 on the road.
Washington is 28-22-7 overall; they are 16-10-3 at home and 12-12-4 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 17-11-4 against the East (10-6-2 vs. Metropolitan and 7-5-2 vs. Atlantic) and 13-10-1 against the West (5-7-1 vs. Central and 8-3-0 vs. Pacific).
First Things First
The Isles are 22-7-3 when scoring first and 8-14-2 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 12-9-9=30
Washington 6-8-10=24
The Isles are 9-14-4 when they outshoot their opponents, 2-1-1 when the shots are even and 19-6-0 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
David Rittich made 20 saves; he is 12-8-3 this season and 0-3-0 vs. Washington.
Clay Stevenson made 29 saves; he is 2-0-0 this season and 1-0-0 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-2 (4:00); Washington was 0-4 (6:59).
The Isles are 16-5-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 14-16-3 when they do not. The Isles are 10-10-4 when they allow at least one power play goal and 20-11-1 when they do not.
The Isles are 15-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-9-2 when they are outscored, and 12-11-3 when special team goals are equal. (Their only loss when outscoring the opposition on special teams was in the home opener against Washington.)
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 23-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-18-2 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 18-5-5 in games decided by a single goal including 9-5 in regulation. They are 5-0 in games decided in overtime and are 4-5 in shootouts. The Isles are 4-3 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 4-5-0 on the front end and 5-2-1 on the back end this season. This back-to-back concludes at home against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The next back-to-back will be February 28-March 1 when the Isles visit Columbus and host Florida.
The Isles are 5-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 3-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Matthew Schaefer (23:23); Washington: Jakub Chychrun (23:19)
Simon Holmstrom led Isles forwards (21:22).
Face-offs
Isles 27, Washington 27 (50%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 12 of 18 and Casey Cizikas won 6 of 9 for the Isles; Dylan Strome won 11 of 19 for Washington.
Hit Count
Isles 18 (Emil Heineman -4)
Washington 27 (Two with 4)
Fights
Scott Mayfield fought Tom Wilson in the third period. Season total: 5 (Mayfield -2, MacLean, Lee, DeAngelo)
Blocked Shots
Isles 12 (Three with 2)
Washington 23 (Trevor van Riemsdyk -4)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 73, Washington 47
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 56, Washington 36
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Simon Holmstrom +16
Washington: Trevor van Riemsdyk +2
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 12, Washington 11
5-on-5: Isles 11, Washington 9
Scratches
(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Cal Ritchie -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Shabanov
Games Lost to injury: 276. (Last season's total: 304)
The Ironmen
Anders Lee (138) is the Islanders' ironman. Adam Pelech, Matthew Schaefer, Tony DeAngelo, and Emil Heineman have also played in every game this season. Of those, DeAngelo, who played the final 35 games of last season, has the longest streak (91).
National TV Games
The Isles are 3-2-1 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on TNT tomorrow vs Pittsburgh.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 2-6-2 in matinee games this season; the remaining matinees are on March 28th vs Florida and April 11th vs Ottawa, both at 1:00pm. 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 17-23-14 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 3 failures (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14), (No goalie interference – WPG 1/13), (No goalie interference – NSH 1/31)
Opponents: 2 successful, 4 failures (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4), (Puck not shot out – EDM 1/15), (Offside – VAN 1/19)
Hockey Opps: 1 favorable, 1 unfavorable (No missed stoppage- NJ 11/10), (goalie interference -DAL 11/18)
Quickies (Two goals in under a minute)
For (3): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2, NJ 1/6, NYR 1/28
Vs (7): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, WAS 11/30, WPG 1/13, BUF 1/24, WAS 2/2
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (4): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4, CGY 1/17
Opponent responses (3): WPG 10/13, CAR 10/30, COL 12/4
Multi-Goal 3rd Period Comeback Wins
For (0):
Vs (0):
Last Minute Heroes (Tying or go-ahead goals in the final three minutes of the third period):
For (8): Anders Lee, GWG(18:57)10/18 OTT, Matthew Schaefer, GTG (18:53) and Simon Holmstrom GWG (19:22) 11/2 CBJ, Kyle Palmieri GAG (17:07 11/10 NJ)- Isles won in OT, Mathew Barzal GTG (17:23 11/13 VEG)- Isles won in OT; Emil Heineman GTG (19:31 12/20 BUF)- Isles lost in OT; Adam Pelech GWG (18:45 12/23 NJD); Emil Heineman GTG (17:45 1/3 TOR) – Isles won in OT
Vs (4): Simon Nemec GTG (19:55 11/10 NJ) but NYI won in OT, Pavel Dorfeyev (19:46, 12/9 VEG) but NYI won in SO; Alex DeBrincat GWG (17:43 12/16 DET); Roman Josi GWG (18:46 1/31 NSH)
OT Winners
For (5): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA and 1/3 Vs TOR, Simon Holmstrom 1/10 @ MIN
Vs (0):
Shootout Winners
For (4): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9, TBL 12/13, CHI 12/30
Vs (5): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28, BUF 12/20, NAS 1/8
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 * 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 3. Josh Bailey 1,057 **
4. Casey Cizikas 952 * 5. Brock Nelson 901 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 ** 7. Anders Lee 897…
17. Billy Harris 623 * 18. Stefan Persson 622 19. Adam Pelech 616 20. Ryan Pulock 614 21. Frans Nielsen 606 22. Kenny Jonsson 597 23. Garry Howatt 596 24. John Tonelli 594 25. Scott Mayfield 589 ** 26. Mathew Barzal 585
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 3. Denis Potvin 310 **
4. Clark Gillies 304 * 5. Anders Lee 300 …
17. Patrick Flatley 160 * 18. Mathew Barzal 149…
22. Jason Blake 127 * 23. Duane Sutter 121 * 24. Casey Cizikas 120
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 * 2. Denis Potvin 742 3. Mike Bossy 553 **
4. Josh Bailey 396 * 5. Mathew Barzal 360…
18. Tomas Jonsson 249 * 19. Anders Lee 237…
23. Pierre Turgeon 193 * 24. Ed Westfall and Ryan Pulock 181…
32. Ziggy Palffy 163 * 33. Casey Cizikas 156
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
9. Pat LaFontaine 566 * 910. John Tonelli 544 11. Bob Bourne 542 12. Anders Lee 537 *
13. Bob Nystrom 513 * 14. Mathew Barzal 508…
27. Ed Westfall 286 * 28. Casey Cizikas 276
+/-
1. Bryan Trottier +467 \\\2. Denis Potvin +456 \\\ 3. Mike Bossy +380
15. Bob Lorimer +105 * 16. Adam Pelech +86 17. Tomas Jonsson +76 18. Garry Howatt +75 19. Pat Price +70 20. Ryan Pulock +69 21. JP Parise +67 22. 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 55…
12. Adrian Aucoin 33 * 13. Bryan Berard 31 * 14. Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech 29
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742* 2. Stefan Persson 317 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 **
4. Nick Leddy 198 * 5. Ryan Pulock 181 …
9. Jeff Norton 166 *10. Adam Pelech 141…
15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 * 17. Scott Mayfield 104
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 * 2. Stefan Persson 369 3. Tomas Jonsson 333 **
4. Nick Leddy 243 * 5. Ryan Pulock 236…
10. Mark Streit 179 * 11. Adam Pelech 169…
14. Dave Lewis 141 * 15. Tom Kurvers 134 * 16. Scott Mayfield 133
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 * 2. Rick DiPietro 318 * 3. Ilya Sorokin 285…
8. Jaroslav Halak 177* 9. Glenn Healy 176 * 10. Semyon Varlamov 173
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 * 2. Glenn Resch 157 * 3. Ilya Sorokin 143 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 * 8. Roland Melanson 77 * 9. Semyon Varlamov 76
Shutouts
1. Ilya Sorokin 28 * 2. Glenn Resch 25 3. Billy Smith 22 **
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16
On the Farm
Jeremy Smith earned a shutout in his first game in North America in seven season as Bridgeport made it a winning weekend with a 4-0 shutout on Springfield. Matthew Maggio scored a goal and added an assist for the Islanders.
The Islanders are 19-19-2-2 on the season and hold a four-point lead over Springfield for the final playoff spot. Bridgeport hosts Providence on Wednesday.
Leaders: Goals: Adam Beckman 17; Assists: Marshall Warren and Matthew Maggio 18; Points: Beckman 28.
Goalies: Henrik Tikkanen 8-4-1, 2.36, .906; Marcus Hogberg 8-10-3, 2.97, .891
Season Series Stats
Washington wins the season series, 3 games to 1 (and 6 points to 2).
The loss snapped a four-game point streak for the Isles at Capital One Arena (2-1-2) and was only their second regulation loss in their last nine trips there (4-2-3).
UP NEXT
TUEDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd —PITTSBURGH AT ISLES 7:30PM
[TNT; WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
For the second time in his nascent career Matthew Schaefer will face Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby in consecutive games as the Penguins make their first visit to Long Island this season.
Pittsburgh defeated the Isles 4-3 on Opening Night, spoiling Schaefer's NHL debut and starting the Penguins on a season that finds them in second place in the Metro.
The Isles are 6-2-0 at UBS Arena against the Penguins, with both Pittsburgh wins by shutout.
The final meeting of the season between the teams will also be at UBS Arena, on March 30th.
John Forslund, Ed Olczyk, and Brian Boucher will have the call on TNT.
