Game 31
Isles 5, Vegas 4 (SO)
Bo Horvat scored twice and Emil Heineman scored the only goal of the shootout as the Isles rallied from a 2-0 deficit and overcame a Pavel Dorofeyev tying goal with 14 seconds to play to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 before 13,554 at UBS Arena.
Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves and did not allow a shootout goal on four attempts to improve to 4-0-0 in December.
The Isles are 13-6-2 in their last 21 games; they will host Anaheim on Thursday before welcoming Pat LaFontaine to the team's Hall of Fame when they face Tampa Bay at 3:30pm on Saturday.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Noah Hanifin (2) Jack Eichel (25), Shea Theodore (15) 12:02 VGK 1,NYI 0
Mitch Marner (6) Kaedan Korczak (2), Mark Stone (17) 16:01 VGK 2,NYI 0
Bo Horvat (18) Ryan Pulock (15), Matthew Schaefer (14) 19:33 VGK 2,NYI 1
2nd Period
Marc Gatcomb (1) Casey Cizikas (5), Kyle MacLean (2) 03:56 VGK 2,NYI 2
Simon Holmstrom (5) Calum Ritchie (3), Anthony Duclair (6) 13:30 VGK 2,NYI 3
3rd Period
Ivan Barbashev (11) Braeden Bowman (5), Jack Eichel (26) 01:27 VGK 3,NYI 3
Bo Horvat (19) Mathew Barzal (14), Max Shabanov (7) 10:15 VGK 3,NYI 4 PPG
Pavel Dorofeyev (12) Mitch Marner (23), Mark Stone (18) 19:46 VGK 4,NYI 4
OT
No Goals
The Shootout
Pavel Dorofeyev (NG) / Mathew Barzal (NG)
Mitch Marner (NG) / Simon Holmstrom (NG)
Jack Eichel (NG) / Bo Horvat (NG)
Shea Theodore (NG) / Emil Heineman (G/GDG)
The Isles are 2-3 in the shootout while Vegas is 1-3… Ilya Sorokin improves to 8-16 in shootouts while Carter Hart falls to 8-14 …The Isles are 5-11 in shootouts all-time at UBS Arena, including 4-3 since the start of last season…. The Isles are 94-92 all-time in shootouts; only Buffalo (95) has more wins… Emil Heineman has scored on both of his career attempts; this was his first game-deciding goal…Ilya Sorokin had lost his last three shootouts, and seven of his last eight (defeating Pittsburgh on November 5, 2024)…Sorkin had gone 4-16 in his last 20 shootouts after winning his first three.
The Skinny
The Isles are 17-8-3 since they opened 0-3-0; the 37 points since October 16th are the most of any team in the Eastern Conference…The Isles went 1-2 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill; the Isles are 5-21 on the power play in the last seven games and have killed 36 of the last 38 and 53 of the last 58; The 53-58 dates back to October 30th, and their 91.4% kill rate is the best in the NHL in that span… The Isles are 8-0-1 when leading after two periods (15-1-3 when leading or tied) …Matthew Schaefer recorded his 14th assist on the first goal, which would have tied for the club lead had Ryan Pulock not earned his 15th assist on the same play; it is the second straight game that has happened.… Marc Gatcomb had nine hits – the most by an Islander since Casey Cizkas also has nine on January 18, 2025, vs. San Jose; no Islander other than Matt Martin (5x) and Cal Clutterbuck (once) has had more than nine hits since Johnny Boychuk had ten on October 10, 2015, in Chicago…Mark Stone had two assists to become the sixth active player to have a point in his first 13 games played in a season…Shea Theodore earned his 300th assist on the opening goal…It is the second time this season that the Isles have erased a multiple-goal deficit to win (the first was in Ottawa in October); Vegas suffered their fourth loss when leading by multiple goals…Max Shabonov's assist on the Bo Horvat power play goal was the NHL-leading 14th power play point for an Islander rookie…Horvat joins Anders Lee (2017-18) as the only Islanders in the 2000s with 19 goals in the first 31 games…Horvat has scored in four straight games at UBS Arena; Kyle Palmieri (March 2024) is the only player to score in five straight games at UBS…The Isles have regained sole possession of 3rd place in both the Metro and the Eastern Conference; they are one point behind Carolina and two points behind Washington.
Milestone Men
• Anders Lee remains tied with Brock Nelson for fifth place in Isles history with 295 goals.
• Lee played in his 872nd game with the Isles, tying Clark Gillies for 7th place.
• Matthew Barzal recorded his 485th point, which is three behind Patrick Flatley for 15th place.
• Ryan Pulock recorded his 176th assist, passing Kenny Jonsson for 6th among Isles defensemen, and 26th overall; Pulock is now one point behind Noah Dobson for 6th and three points behind Kenny Jonsson.
• Matthew Schaefer is the first 18-year-old NHL defenseman to play at least 26 minutes eight times, breaking a tie with Victor Hedman.
• Ilya Sorokin has won each of his first eight games facing at least 30 shots; that ties Chico Resch's 1980-81 streak for the second-longest in club history, and the longest to start a season. Mark Fitzpatrick won ten straight when facing 30 shots in the 1989-90 season.
Beating the Best
The Isles just completed a stretch of five consecutive games against a team that won the Stanley Cup at least once in the last six years; the Isles went 4-1-0 in the five games.
Return to Form
Ilya Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 9-4-1 (.931 and 1.93) since October 31st with three shutouts. Only Jesper Wallstedt (4) has more shutouts in that span or this season, and no goalie has won more than nine games.
Sorokin was named the First Star of the Week for the week ending Sunday, having gone 3-0-0 (.960 and 1.33) by beating Tampa Bay twice and Colorado once, while allowing only four goals. He won the First Star last season for the week ending February 1st, going 3-0-0 (.953, 1.33) and is the only goaltender to win the First Star twice in 2025.
Big Save Dave
David Rittich is 6-3-1 on the season. In his last five games (3-1-1), he has stopped 112 of 122 shots for a 2.12 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
Islander goalies not named Sorokin won only five games all last season (tying a franchise record for fewest by the non-winningest goalies on the team).
Most Ice Time by an Islander Teenager, Game
1. Matthew Schaefer 28:53 11/28/2025 vs PHI (SO)
2. Matthew Schaefer 28:12 12/9/2025 vs VEG
3. Matthew Schaefer 27:40 10/25/2025 at PHI (SO)
4. Matthew Schaefer 27:30 11/22/2025 vs. STL
5. Matthew Schaefer 27:23 11/23/2025 vs. SEA (SO)
6. Matthew Schaefer 26:04 10/11/2025 vs. WAS
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)
Schaefer has played at least 27 minutes five times and at least 26 minutes eight times. He is the first 18-year-old to do so since ice time became official.
Most Goals by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Matthew Schaefer 8
2. Bryan Berard 7
Most Assists by an Islander Teenage Defenseman
1. Bryan Berard 32
2. Matthew Schaefer 14
Schaefer will still be a Teenager for the next 135 Isles games.
Most Games Played as an 18-Year-Old (Isles history)
1. Tim Connolly 81 (14-20-34)
2. Dave Chyzowski 34 (8-6-14)
3. Mathew Schaefer 31 (8-14-22)
Home for the Holidays
The Isles are in a stretch where they play 13 of 17 games at UBS Arena through December 27th. They are 5-4-1 so far in this stretch (4-3-1 at home and 1-1-0 on the road).
Did Somebody Say Comeback?
The Isles have nine come-from behind wins this season, including four when they trailed in the third period. The opponents have come-from-behind to win six times this season, including twice in the third period.
Overtime Is Our Time
The Isles are 3-0 in games decided by an overtime goal, and they are 2-3 in shootouts.
Empty Netters
The Isles have scored 5 empty-net goals and allowed 6.
Most Career Empty Net Goals
1. Bryan Trottier 27
2. John Tavares 20
3. Mike Bossy 15
4. Brock Nelson 13
5. Jason Blake 11
Casey Cizikas 11
Building on a Lead
The Islanders have had a two-goal lead 15 times this season:
• Score the next goal: 6 times
• Allowed the next goal: 6 times
• Game ended with 2-goal difference: 3 times
Last Year vs. This Year
• 2025-26 17-11-3 for 37 points in 31 games
• 2024-25 12-12-7 for 31 points in 31 games
Offense from Defense
• Today: 0-2-2
• Season: 10-48-58
• Last Season (Final) 32-129-161
Rookie Scoring
• Today: 0-3-3
• Season: 14-26-40
• Last Season (Final) 19-30-49
The 14 rookie goals are tied with Montreal for the NHL lead; the 40 points are 2nd in the NHL.
Home and Road
The Isles are 17-11-3 overall; they are 8-6-2 at home and 9-5-1 on the road.
Vegas is 14-6-9 overall; they are 7-4-4 at home and 7-2-5 on the road.
East and West
The Isles are 9-7-3 against the East (4-4-2 vs. Metropolitan and 5-3-1 vs. Atlantic) and 8-4-0 against the West (3-4-0 vs. Central and 5-0-0 vs. Pacific).
First Things First
The Isles are 12-3-2 when scoring first and 5-8-1 when allowing the opening goal.
The Shots
Isles 13-6-8-0=27
Vegas 12-9-10-5=36
The Isles are 3-9-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0-1 when the shots are even and 12-2-0 when the opposition has more shots.
In the Nets
Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves; he is 11-8-2 this season and 5-2-1 vs. Vegas.
Carter Hart made 23 saves; he is 2-0-1 this season and 4-6-4 vs. the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 1-2 (3:31); Vegas was 0-4 (6:00).
The Isles are 9-3-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 8-8-2 when they do not. The Isles are 5-4-3 when they allow at least one power play goal and 12-7-0 when they do not.
The Isles are 10-1-0 when they outscore the opposition on special teams, 3-4-1 when they are outscored, and 4-6-2 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 14-2-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 3-9-0 when they do not.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 10-2-3 in games decided by a single goal including 5-2 in regulation. They are 3-0 in games decided in overtime and are 2-3 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
The Isles are 2-3-0 on the front end and 4-1-0 on the back end this season; the next back-to-back will be on December 19-20 when they host Vancouver and visit Buffalo.
The Isles are 4-3-0 when the opponent is on the back end, including 2-1-0 when the Isles also played the previous day.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Ryan Pulock (29:12); Vegas: Jack Eichel (24:30)
Bo Horvat led Isles forwards (22:19).
Face-offs
Isles 39, Vegas 36 (52%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 18 of 27 for the Isles; Colton Sissons won 6 of 8 for Vegas.
Hit Count
Isles 24 (Marc Gatcomb -9)
Vegas 18 (Pavel Dorofeyev -3)
Fights
None. Season total: 4 (Mayfield, MacLean, Lee, De Angelo)
Blocked Shots
Isles 10 (Adam Pelech -3)
Vegas 12 (Three with 2)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 53, Vegas 61
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 42, Vegas 41
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman +7
Vegas: Ben Hutton +5
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 8, Vegas 14
5-on-5: Isles 6, Vegas 5
Scratches
(Pierre Engvall-LTIR), (Semyon Varlamov-IR), (Ethan Bear-IR), (Alex Romanov-IR), (Kyle Palmieri-IR), (Jonathan Drouin -INJ), Adam Boqvist, Max Tsyplakov
Games Lost to injury: 138. (Last season's total: 304)
The Ironmen
Casey Cizikas is the Islanders' ironman, having played 139 consecutive games. Anders Lee (113) is the only other Isle to have also played every game since the start of last season.
National TV Games
Including tonight, the Isles are 2-1-0 in games that air on one of the NHL's US national broadcast partners. Their next appearance will be on ESPN+ on January 6th vs New Jersey.
Matinee Isles
The Isles are 1-3-2 in matinee games this season; the next matinee will be at 3:30pm on December 13th against Tampa Bay. 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 16-20-14 in matinees.
Challenges
Isles: 0 successful, 1 failure (No goalie interference – VEG 11/14)
Opponents: 0 successful, 4 failure (No hand pass – WAS 10/11), (No interference – DET 10/23), (No offside – WAS 10/31), (No interference – COL 12/4)
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 (2): DET 10/23, CBJ 11/2
Vs (4): BOS 10/28, COL 11/16, PHI 11/28, TB 11/30
Quick Responses (One team scoring within a minute of other team)
Isles responses (3): OTT 10/18, SJS 10/21, BOS 11/4
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 (5): 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 (17:23 11/13 VEG); Isles won in OT
Vs (2): 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
OT Winners
For (3): Mathew Barzal 11/10 @ NJ, JG Pageau 11/13 @ VEG, Matthew Schaefer 11/14 @ UTA
Vs (0):
Shootout Winners
For (2): SEA 11/23, VEG 12/9
Vs (3): PHI 10/25, BOS 11/4, PHL 11/28
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 928 * 5. Brock Nelson 901 6. Bobby Nystrom 900 ** 7. Clark Gillies and Anders Lee 872 …
20. Kenny Jonsson 597 * 21. Garry Howatt 596 22. John Tonelli 594 23. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock 591 25. Scott Mayfield 564 ** 26. Mathew Barzal 560
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 * 2. Bryan Trottier 500 3. Denis Potvin 310 **
4. Clark Gillies 304 * 5. Brock Nelson and Anders Lee 295 …
19. Mariusz Czerkawski 145 * 20. Mathew Barzal 143…
26. Steve Thomas/Matt Moulson/Mark Parrish 118 * 29. Casey Cizikas 117
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 * 2. Denis Potvin 742 * 3. Mike Bossy 553 …
5. Clark Gillies 359 * 6. John Tavares 349 * 7. Mathew Barzal 342…
18. Tomas Jonsson 249 * 19. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo 230 * 21. Anders Lee 227…
24. Ed Westfall 181 * 25 Noah Dobson 180 * 26. Ryan Pulock 176…
32. Ziggy Palffy 163 * 33. David Volek 154 * 34. Casey Cizikas 153
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 * 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 * 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
12. Bob Bourne 542 * 13. Anders Lee 522…
14. Derek King 499 * 15. Patrick Flatley 488 * 16. Mathew Barzal 485…
27. Ed Westfall 286 * 28. Casey Cizikas 270
+/-
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. JP Parise +67 21. Ryan Pulock +64 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…
13. Bryan Berard 31 * 14. Scott Mayfield 28 * 15. Adam Pelech and Vladimir Malakhov 27
Defense Assists
1. Denis Potvin 742* 2. Stefan Persson 317 3. Tomas Jonsson 249 **
5. Noah Dobson 180 * 6. Ryan Pulock 176 …
9. Jeff Norton 166 \\\10. Mark Streit 139 \\\ 11. Adam Pelech 137…
15. Tom Kurvers and Gerry Hart 108 * 17. Bryan Berard and Scott Mayfield 100
Defense Points
1. Denis Potvin 1,052 * 2. Stefan Persson 369 * 3. Tomas Jonsson 333…
5. Kenny Jonsson 232 * 6. Noah Dobson 230 * 7. Ryan Pulock 229…
10. Mark Streit 179 * 11. Adam Pelech 164…
16. Johnny Boychuk and Bryan Berard 131 * 18. Gerry Hart and Scott Mayfield 128
Goalie Games
1. Billy Smith 674 * 2. Rick DiPietro 318 3. Glenn Resch 282 **
4. Ilya Sorokin 274 …
8. Jaroslav Halak 177* 9. Glenn Healy 176 * 10. Semyon Varlamov 173
Wins
1. Billy Smith 304 * 2. Glenn Resch 157 * 3. Ilya Sorokin 136 …
7. Jaroslav Halak 88 * 8. Roland Melanson 77 * 9. Semyon Varlamov 76
Shutouts
1. Ilya Sorokin and Glenn Resch 25 * 3. Billy Smith 22 *
4. Rick DiPietro and Semyon Varlamov 16
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 8-11-1-1 on the season and are just two points out of a playoff spot. They are off until they travel to Laval on Saturday and Belleville on Sunday.
Leaders: Goals: Joey Larson- 9; Assists: Matthew Maggio-12; Points: Maggio-16
Goalies: Marcus Hogberg 4-7-2, 3.25, .876; Henrik Tikkanen 2-0-0, 1.92, .925
Season Series Stats
The Isles sweep the season series, 2 games to 0 (and 4 points to 2).
The Isles are 10-5-1 all-time against Vegas, including 5-2-1 at home. They won all four games against Vegas in calendar year 2025 and have won both games in the season series for the fourth time.
UP NEXT
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11th —ANAHEIM AT ISLANDERS 7:00PM
[MSGSN (pre-game at 6:30), WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, Isles + UBS Arena App]
The Isles will look for their fourth straight home win as they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to UBS Arena.
It is the first meeting of the teams this season; the Ducks won both games last season by a combined 7-2 score. However, the Isles had won the six previous games by a combined 31-11 score.
The teams will conclude the season series on March 4th in Anaheim; it is the fourth straight season that the Isles' California trip will be in March.
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.
